Vegan Chicken 555 reimagines a beloved South Indian street-style appetizer. Crisp golden tofu is coated in a richly spiced sauce infused with fennel, ginger, garlic, coriander, and peppers,  and enough heat to make you reach for seconds (and maybe a cold drink).  gluten free, nut free. soy free option.

This is another one in my series creating vegan versions of these amazing, meat-heavy, regional Indian appetizers. There’s just so much variety in all of these super delicious snacks and appetizers, and sometimes you don’t find those flavors and that spice in the vegetarian appetizers.

You can use this recipe with tofu, soy curls, chickpea tofu, chickpeas, or vegetables, like cauliflower. Basically, you coat your protein or vegetables of choice with this amazing, flavorful batter, and either pan fry or bake it. 

Then, we make this easy, spicy, and delicious sauce mixture. It’s kind of a dry sauce, and you toss the crisped tofu “chicken” in it. Oh my god, it’s so incredibly delicious and also pretty spicy!

You can adjust the spice level to your preference. There are four kinds of chilies in this tofu 555: Kashmiri chili powder in the batter, and green chilies, cayenne, and red pepper flakes in the sauce. To get the flavor with less heat, reduce any or all of those. The combination of peppers adds a ton of flavor, so you definitely want to use some of each, even if you don’t use the full amounts. You can use a milder green chili to manage the heat, too,  if you prefer.

Basically, adjust the heat based on your preference, but definitely try this vegan chicken 555. It’s just so fabulously delicious!

Tofu 555 is great on its own or in crunchy salads with juicy fruits like apples, pears, or mangoes, or with roasted or fresh vegetables. A cucumber salad with a simple lime, salt, and pepper dressing also pairs wonderfully with this Indian appetizer. Or, you can make wraps with lettuce, creamy dressing, and fresh green chilis or pickled jalapeños. 

No matter how you serve it, you have got to try vegan chicken 555!

Why You’ll Love Chicken 555

• crispy tofu in thick, spicy sauce with flavors of fennel, ginger, garlic, coriander, and 4 kinds of peppers
• easily adjust the heat to your preference
• use your plant based protein or use veggies of choice.
• naturally gluten-free and nut-free with easy soy-free option

Continue reading: Vegan Chicken 555 Appetizer

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This hearty bean salad features chickpeas, sweet mango, fresh veggies, and sweet roasted corn in a cumin lime toasted chili oil dressing. Mango chickpea salad is a perfect, one-bowl summer lunch! (gluten-free, soy-free, nut-free, oil-free option)

I wanted to make a quick salad that was hearty and not very salad-like. That means not too many leafy greens, because my niece doesn’t like to eat those, but she loves chickpeas. That worked out really well because we added some lime, cumin, and cayenne to give it that Indian chaat-style flavor profile.

This salad is perfect for making the most of ripe, summer mangos and fresh corn on the cob.

It turned out magnificent as is, and then we leveled it up by toasting some red pepper flakes in oil, creating a spiced oil that brought everything together. If you want to make it oil-free, just omit the oil and add the red pepper flakes directly, but the oil definitely adds a nice, smoky, spicy flavor to the salad.

There are three types of heat in this salad: 

1. green chilies
2. cayenne
3. red pepper flakes.

You can adjust the heat by using milder green chilies and reducing the amount of cayenne and red pepper flakes to your preference.

Serve this mango chickpea salad with pita chips, Indian papri/crackers or toasted pita bread for dipping.

Why You’ll Love Mango Chickpea Salad

• easy, 1-bowl salad
• sweet mango, earthy chickpeas, fresh veggies, and sweet, roasted corn
• delicious cumin-lime dressing and red pepper spice oil bring out the flavors
• quick and easy summer lunch
• naturally gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free
• easy oil-free option

Continue reading: Mango Chickpea Salad with cumin lime toasted pepper dressing

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Indian Chaat meets Tostadas! Cilantro mint lime chutney marinated beans on crunchy tostadas with sweet maple lime sauce and cooling yogurt, are an Indian fusion dish that’s a perfect starter, snack, or even entree! No cook (Options for soy-free nut-free gluten-free)

These no-cook tostadas use canned beans, prepared tostadas, and lots of delicious sauces – no cooking needed! The only cooking you’d need to do is if you are making your tostadas from tortillas. Prepared tostadas are readily available in most grocery stores.

I wanted to make a fun dish with beans, and I took inspiration from chaat, which is a family of Indian snacks or street food characterized by these awesome combinations of different textures and flavors. Especially papri chaat which has crisp crackers paired with mashed potatoes or chickpeas or both and chutneys, sauces and yogurt for a fantastic salad like hearty nachos if you will. Many chaat recipes have crispy, spicy, sweet, and tangy all together. They’re great as snacks or can be a refreshing meal.

I took inspiration from those flavors and textures. Usually, I make this chickpea potato chaat with small crackers, where you take some cooked chickpeas and cooked potatoes, toss them with some spices and chutneys, and layer them with yogurt, more chutneys, and some chopped crunchy veggies.

I turned that dish into this tostada, where we take crispy tostadas and make marinated beans that are soaked in a delicious green chutney, instead of chickpeas, along with cucumber and onion. We top the tostadas with these beans and then add a good drizzle of seasoned non-dairy yogurt and this sweet, tangy, maple-lime sauce to bring all of those flavors together. It’s absolutely fantastic and delicious! The maple lime sauce is a sub for tamarind date chutney. If you have tamarind chutney, use that for more Indian chaat flavor.
Try more Indian salads- Mango Zucchini chickpea Indian spiced oil salad and my Kachumber Salad !

This recipe is very versatile. If you want to control the heat, use less of the green chili, and choose a milder chili.  If you don’t have tostadas, you can make your own! Those instructions are in the recipe notes. If you don’t like cilantro, you can make a mint chutney with more mint leaves instead of the cilantro.

Chutney bean tostadas are just fabulously crispy, zesty, refreshing, and hearty. They are a perfect summer meal!

Why You’ll Love Chutney Bean Tostadas

• perfect warm weather meal or snack – no cooking required!
• incredible combination of flavors and textures! marinated beans, sweet and savory chutneys, creamy cooling cumin yogurt drizzle, on crunchy tostadas
• soy-free and nut-free with easy gluten-free option

Continue reading: Cilantro Mint Chutney White Beans over Crispy Tostadas (no-cook! Papri Chaat inspired)

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Tofu Koliwada is a plant-based version of the popular regional Indian appetizer. It’s like a tofu nugget with tons of fiery heat and so delicious served with green chutney or other of choice. It’s super delicious, crispy and packs flavor! (gluten free and nut-free with soy-free options)

I’ve been veganizing a bunch of decadent, meat-based Indian curries on the blog for a while, and I decided to switch gears. I wanted to explore these regional Indian starters and appetizers, which are just so flavorful —especially some of the meat-based ones. They’re pretty wild, with a lot of different sauces, flavors, and spices.

So welcome to veganizing some amazing appetizers! Let’s start with this delectable koliwada.

Koliwada is a popular crispy appetizer in Indian restaurants, especially around Mumbai city. It’s usually made with prawns ,is fried, and has a signature flavor. It originated with influences from Mumbai coastal cuisine and Punjabi cuisine.

The story goes that a man had moved down to an area close to Mumbai near Koliwada and created this dish, which became super popular.

Koliwada is usually made with prawns, shrimp, or chicken, but we’re using tofu. If you don’t want to use tofu, you can use an alternate protein of your choice.

It is usually served with a green chutney that is slightly different than the usual. It has onion tomato and tamarind and is vibrant and spicy sour with a hint of sweet!

Basically, all of the flavor is in the batter, the spices. It’s kind of like tofu nuggets or crispy fried chicken, but Indian, with tons and tons of heat. Serve it with the vibrant cilantro-mint chutney listed below or with Schezwan chutney, tamarind chutney, or mango chutney.

Why You’ll Love Koliwada

• crispy, super spicy tofu with adjustable heat
• delicious as a side or make it a meal by adding to a wrap or salad
• incredible mint chutney for dipping comes together in the blender
• versatile recipe – use dry coating or a batter, bake or pan fry!
• naturally gluten-free and nut-free with soy-free options

Continue reading: Tofu Koliwada (Indian Spicy Crispy Tofu) with Cilantro-Mint Chutney

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Spice up your dinner routine with this flavorful Berbere Sheet Pan Dinner! Veggies, beans and tofu cubes are seasoned with a bold Ethiopian spice blend, baked until caramelized, then drizzled with a creamy lemon tahini dressing. Glutenfree Nutfree, Soyfree substitute option.

Everyone loves a sheet pan dinner. Everything we love about a one-pot dinner flipped onto a sheet pan. I mean, what’s better than dumping some ingredients onto a sheet pan, popping it into the oven, setting a timer, and letting the oven do its magic while you move on to more fun things.

This vegan sheet pan dinner can be left completely unattended apart from the odd peek through the oven door. Clean-up is minimal as well because, again – just one pan.

Ok, we have one more dish because we make a little tahini sauce on the side to drizzle the sheet pan dinner with after cooking. While the tahini sauce is optional, it is totally recommended because the creaminess of the tahini really lifts the whole dinner to a completely new level of delish.

What makes this sheet pan dinner exceptionally good is the use of berbere – a spicy Ethiopian spice blend that contains over a dozen different ingredients.

Amongst them are red chili peppers, fenugreek, and ginger, as well as other warming spices like coriander, cardamom, allspice, cumin, peppercorns, cloves, and cinnamon.

You can find berbere in the spice or international section of any well-stocked supermarket or get it online or make your own!

More vegan sheet pan dinners:

Sheet Pan mediterranean dinner with roasted root veggies  

Sheet Pan Thanksgiving Dinner (Vegan)

Sheet Pan Veggie Dinner with miso maple dressing 

 Sheet Pan Fajitas Dinner with Chipotle Garlic Sauce 

Sheet Pan Cheeseburger Veggie Dinner with Garlic Mayo Dressing

Continue reading: Berbere Sheet Pan Dinner

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Two of three living members of legendary band Sublime, Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson, vocalist Bradley Nowell’s widow Troy Nowell, and others announced the band’s line of cannabis Reefers by Sublime. The cannabis line arrives in conjunction with a new live album and double LP $5 at the Door (Live at Tressel Tavern, 1994) featuring vocals from Bradley Nowell on April 21.

According to a Feb. 7 press release, it’s the band’s official launch of high quality cannabis products in partnership with Costa Mesa-based The Healing Plant, a licensed manufacturer of cannabis products in California. 

Reefers by Sublime uses art based off the band’s first album 40 Oz to Freedom cover art originally designed by friend Opie Ortiz. The Sublime sun cover art iconography is now legendary. Sublime recorded the most popular version of “Smoke Two Joints” on that album, originally recorded by The Toyes in 1983. The cannabis brand’s first offerings are based on the lyrics.

Three initial two-joint products are available in 0.7 oz bags: Smoke Two Joints in the Morning (Sativa), Smoke Two Joints in the Afternoon (Hybrid), and Smoke Two Joints at Night (Indica). Products are exclusively available now at select Southern California licensed retail dispensaries including 420 Central in Orange County. Check the website for a full list and map of locations that sell Reefers by Sublime.

Smoke Two Joints in the Morning features Santeria, which is Moonbow (Do-Si-Do x Zkittles and White Tahoe Cookies (The White x Tahoe Og x Unknown GSC cut). Smoke Two Joints in the Afternoon is Sancho OG, which is OG Kush (Chemdawg x Lemon Thai x Hindu Kush x Northern California). Smoke Two Joints at Night is Whoa Si Whoa (The White x Do-Si-Do)—testing at over 30% THC.

The strains are grown by Top Shelf Cultivation based in Long Beach, a family-owned and operated licensed cultivator renowned for its award-winning cannabis.

“Holistic wellness. Medical necessity. Adult preference. Whatever your need or personal choice, Sublime has its own weed now and it is quality!” said Bud Gaugh. “Vested and tested, by me, try ’em and see!”

Anyone familiar with Sublime’s music knows how much of a part cannabis plays.

“Cannabis culture has been a part of Sublime since the beginning, and I’m stoked that we now have our own line of products,” said Eric Wilson. “Cannabis takes me to that place when we were kids in the garage, playing music for ourselves. Reefers is for anyone whether it’s used for relief, creativity, alternative medicine, or to chill out.”

“Sublime has a legacy with cannabis that has spanned decades, steeped in positivity and its soulful importance to the reggae culture that was such an influence on their music and lifestyle,” said Troy Nowell, representing Bradley’s legacy with their son Jakob Nowell. “For Jakob and I, this is an opportunity to continue nurturing the memory of Brad and his musical gifts with a global community of family and friends. We are extremely encouraged by the positive impacts shown by cannabis in helping recovering opioid addicts, its medicinal benefits for a host of debilitating conditions, and its ability to provide holistic relief for many using its properties to achieve mental wellness.”

Robert Taft, founder and CEO of The Healing Plant, and business partner Robert Knohl, managing partner at R2 Capital Holdings LLC, will develop, source, and fulfill products for the line. Taft called it a “labor of love.”

Brian Danaher, co-founder of Top Shelf Cultivation, said “… Sublime is embedded in the DNA of our Long Beach cannabis culture and community. This is a family affair and all love for the plant and culture…” 

The band announced Feb. 7 that $5 at the Door (Live at Tressel Tavern, 1994) will be released on April 21, following the rollout of Reefers by Sublime. 

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