Tag: vegan

2 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse With Citrus + Lychee

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Lychee is one of my favorite southeast Asian fruits, second only to mangosteen. Its pink-white flesh is glossy, delicate and aromatic…the vibrant taste is absolutely unique. Think of a grape, but juicier, with smooth floral, rosy notes and pear undertones. Even comparing it to a grape is slightly insulting, because its freshness and flavor is on an entirely different level.

lychee fruit (1 of 2)

Clearly, lychee is my valentine this year.  Lychee is also considered a lucky fruit in Chinese culture, symbolizing family abundance and harmony, so this dessert would be a fun fusion dish for Lunar New Year gatherings this weekend. Red and golden hues make a lucky color palette. Continue reading →

Vegan Bulgogi Fusion Tacos

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Happy Taco Tuesday!

For my first post of 2018, what could be better than sharing a recipe for these gorgeous fusion tacos? As always, I must apologize for my absence–life’s kept me on my toes lately. For instance, I wrote this entire post at the print shop yesterday, while waiting for my portfolio to print! And I had to squeeze in the photo shoot a few weeks ago as the sun was setting! I can’t believe my to-do list sometimes. You ever feel like your week’s been crazy, and you look at the calendar to see that it’s only…Monday? Haha.

One of my intentions this year is to let go of my perfectionism and share as many recipes and inspiration as possible, even when I’m inclined not to share them because of my intermittent bouts of Imposter Syndrome (not to mention, my unpredictable grad school schedule). I’m making an effort to share more of my meals on Instagram. In grad school, you eat a lot of random meals, and they’re not always photogenic.

Speaking of photogenic…I’m so happy about how colorful these tacos are! For Christmas, my good friend Lesley got me a marble backdrop for food photos, and it’s pretty much the best thing ever. I am IN LOVE (thank you so much, Lesley). Lesley’s one of my favorite people ever from my hometown. I don’t get to see her often but I love that we always encourage each other’s creativity! One of these days we’re going to make some vegan Disney-themed food for her Youtube channel. 🙂

Vegan Bulgogi Fusion Tacos | plantcrush.co

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Chinese Five Spice Gingerbread Cookies

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Happy Christmas Eve, y’all! 2017 is coming to a close–I can barely believe it! I’m in the mood to bake spicy cookies and drown my stress in hot chocolate, how about you?

Needless to say, grad school life has kept me quite occupied this year. I actually got sick twice this semester (currently still recovering)–which is absolutely insane to me, because I hardly ever get sick. This semester seriously took a toll on me. I have another year left–my thesis looms ahead! Cue the tears and hot chocolate…and Chinese five spice gingerbread cookies.

gingerbread scene final-B

Chinese five spice, ngũ vị hương in Vietnamese, is one of my favorite things to reach for in the kitchen. It has a complex balance of flavors: sweet, savory, sour, and bitter. Around this time last year, I shared a savory recipe featuring it–Fusion Jackfruit Bao Bites. This year, I’m showing you how I decided to throw it into some cookies…it turned out to be a success at a vegan Christmas cookie swap I went to, so I decided to refine the recipe to share with you!

Finishing Process2

Chilling the dough before and after rolling keeps cookie shapes intact–but I also like the cute mistakes that occur when I forget to chill the second time, like this little dancing cutie!

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Lemon Lavender Candied Ginger (Mứt Gừng) for Chinese New Year (Tết) | plantcrush.co

Lemon Lavender Candied Ginger for Chinese New Year (Mứt Gừng)

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Like any new year celebration, Chinese New Year is about new beginnings. Sweet treats are popular cross-culturally, as they symbolize a sweet, joyful start to the upcoming year. I think we can all agree that we definitely need more joy this year. This year, I was honored to be invited by the lovely Christine (Vermilion Roots) to participate in a Chinese New Year sweets party with several other Asian bloggers. It’s kind of like a virtual potluck—I urge you to check out the participating blogs below, to get a taste of the lunar new year from various parts of Asia! Continue reading →

Fusion Jackfruit Bao Bites

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Hi lovelies! It’s been way too long–I literally haven’t blogged since last year! I owe you a lot of recipes. But I will make it up to you guys, starting with these adorable little bao bites…yes, I knooow, they look incredible and more importantly, they taste just as delicious as they look–you’re welcome. 😉

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V Eats Modern Vegan at Trinity Groves | Preview Dinner Thoughts

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Last weekend, I had the chance to attend a wonderful menu preview dinner at V Eats Modern Vegan–Troy Gardner’s new vegan restaurant at Trinity Groves in Dallas. The event was hosted by none other than my friends The Harvest Hands. Thank you, Courtney and Zak, for inviting me to this stellar menu tasting!

salisbury-steak-by-v-eats-plantcrush-co Continue reading →

Vegan Valentine’s Dinner Pop Up

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Vday Vegan Dinner-9Vday Vegan Dinner-10

Going out and doing things on the weekend is a rare occurrence for me, now that I’m consumed with grad school life. However, last weekend, I made sure to make time to attend another event hosted by my dear friends, The Harvest Hands, in collaboration with Living Life Fresh and Compassionate Collective Co. It was such a delight to spend the evening with some of my favorite people, and I met some new people too, including Madeline Alcott (Petit Vour)!

Vday Vegan Dinner-8
Vday Vegan Dinner-4

My friend Veronica Rouly (Cherries Roses Chains) and I went together as galentines! Veronica is a passionate YouTuber and fellow vegan foodie. So as you can imagine,  we had a great time obsessing over all the food and discussing future plans for online content collaboration! Continue reading →

2015 Best Nine on Instagram | Behind My Best Nine

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plantcrush

I almost didn’t finish writing this post because I found myself critiquing every flaw in my 2015 best nine photos on Instagram–it was starting to read like a list of my 2015 worst nine. Eek! However, one of my personal resolutions is to accept my mistakes and go forward from the experiences, instead of obsessing, and to focus on the positive!

My 2015 best nine was all photos of food, which came as no surprise to me. Since I get asked about my photo process pretty often, I decided to share some notes about my photo set ups and styling for each of my top nine photos. I don’t claim to be an expert and there’s always room for improvement, but hopefully these notes will be useful to somebody out there! 🙂  Continue reading →