Temari Rabbit Bento Bowl #31
When I am laid up in bed, I often watch YouTube videos, as you may know from my reference to being inspired to make Japanese potato salad after watching a particular bento channel. Recently, I discovered Chef Jana. She's so creative and has such a pleasant way of presenting her recipes, I got sucked in.
I'd never actually heard of Olivier or Russian salad, but it looked amazing. I didn't make my own mayo like she did (I used Vegenaise), I didn't have dill pickles so I substituted cornichons, and I substituted chopped smoked tofu for the vegan ham. It was really great! This is my kind of main dish salad. I will definitely be making it again once I get some dill pickles.
Jana notes that this salad dates back to 1860, which seems about right. I've also been looking at some 19th century cookbooks online when laid up in bed and most seem to involve heavy use of mayonnaise. They are also definitely people in an era that would have suggested cutting all your solid ingredients to be roughly the same size as peas. Fortunately, it holds up well in this 21st century version--which is very much not the case for a lot of those 19th century foods.
This is, incidentally for those of you who are looking for ideas, a gluten free lunch.
I watch a lot of youtube cooking shows and travel food shows myself! Most actually aren’t vegan, but i’ve certainly found meal inspiration from new sources.
ReplyDeleteThat russian salad sounds good! I was traumatized by a terrible version many years ago, i swear there were canned peas and carrots involved and both of those are serious dealbreakers for me.
Your fruity side is so colorful! I am not patient to cut my fruit into nice cubes like that ;))
Ttrockwood
A lot of recipes do suggest canned peas and carrots. This is just wrong! Especially when frozen peas are so easy and so much better and carrots keep for ages in the fridge.
DeleteYes, I love watching YouTube cooking shows! I love the creativity that is present on YouTube and I think that it is nice that you don't have to worry about it being contrived for TV and to fit a network's image. I just love when people are being themselves and loving the food they are creating.
ReplyDeleteI am still incredibly jealous of your strawberries and the salad sounds interesting! You've been making some great meals!
Thanks! That, alas, was the end of the strawberries. Oh, well. Spring will bring more, I know.
DeleteI have never got into YouTube as a regular watching format, but I know there are a lot of great cooking channels on there I should check out.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of mesmerizing sometimes. I rarely cook what the YouTubers are cooking but every so often I do get inspiration that way.
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