Mom's Visit Day 6 - Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers, Jicama Cilantro Fiesta Slaw, Vegan Mayo, and The Banana Leaf

Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers

For lunch we made Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers. The recipe was very flexible. The place we got the recipe from recommends using whatever seasoning you like. We tried it with Cajun, but couldn't really taste it. Whatever seasoning we use in the future, we'll add more of. We coated the burgers with plain panko. Maybe mixing some seasoning into the panko might help with the under seasoned flavor... Overall the Sweet Potato Burger was good. My little brother tried it and said that it was good, but didn't taste like much. I think this would be a great veggie burger recipe to keep around (with increased seasoning of course). The versatility and texture (creamy and slightly crunchy) make it a winner.

Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise (all ingredients pictured except salt)

In order to have something to spread on our burger buns, we made some vegan mayonnaise. I don't have much experience with Vegenaise, Nayonaise, or similar products, but Mom has tried them before. The blog that we got the recipe from talks about her search for a good tasting, less oil filled, vegan mayo (click the link on the photo caption above). Even without really knowing what the alternatives taste like, I know that I like this recipe and will make it again. When I first put everything in the Vitamix to blend I'd forgotten to add salt. We tasted it, added salt, and it was even better. The salt brought out the mustard (we used spicy brown). The mayo was tangy and good.

Cilantro Jicama Fiesta Slaw

We made some beautiful slaw to accompany our Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers. Not only were the colors gorgeous, but it tasted great too. When following the recipe, we decided to use pumpkin seeds and to sub the apple cider vinegar with fresh lime juice. We tried it without mayo first, then added some of our vegan Tofu-Cashew Mayonnaise that we made earlier. Both ways were good, but the creamy version cut the tahini taste a bit. The only thing I would do differently is add less onion. Mom said that she added a little extra because it was a Vidalia sweet onion, but it wasn't very sweet raw.

Banana Leaf  - Sri Lankan Shrimp Kothu (Top) Pa'an (Middle Left) Rice (other middle left)
Ceylon Chicken Tikki Masala (bottom left) and Mango Chicken Sautee (bottom right)

For dinner we went out to eat with Andrew. We decided to try the Banana Leaf in Provo, a Sri Lankan and Singaporean restaurant. Mom and I decided to loosely follow the Engine 2 diet a little over a month ago. Since that time, we've talked a lot about what we'd do after we'd tried it for four weeks. We both decided that we didn't want to be vegan the rest of our lives, but we do want to incorporate a lot of vegan and vegetarian alternatives into our diet, focus more on a plant (and fruit) based diet and keep meat and dairy to a minimum. I think it's about finding the right balance that works for you individually.

With all of that being said, we did something out of our (recent) character, we ate meat. Not a lot of meat. When we asked the server at the Banana Leaf what she recommended, she told us that the Ceylon Chicken Tikki Masala was the customer favorite and that she liked the Chicken Coconut Curry, Sri Lankan Shrimp Kothu, Singapore sizzlin' Garlic Shrimp, and Mango Chicken Sautee. 

We ordered a few of her favorites and the Tikki Masala. The customers were right, the Tikki Masala is good! It was Andrew's favorite. Mom thought it tied with the Shrimp Kothu (minus the shrimp) for her favorite and I agree. 

I don't think we'd get the Mango Chicken Sautee again, it was our least favorite dish and it was the most expensive thing we ordered. The sauce was more like a jelly and  was too sweet. Both mom and I tried a piece of chicken off this dish and almost spit it out. It just tasted too much like meat. Okay, that makes no sense, but the chicken tasted like biting into flesh. 

We also tried a shrimp off the Shrimp Kothu. I used to love shrimp. I don't know if it was the way the shrimp was cooked (Andrew didn't like it either), but it was bland, slightly fishy, and rubbery. We all decided that the Kothu was great. Interestingly enough, when we were ordering, I asked the server about the Vegetarian Kothu and she said that the shrimp was better. We'll definitely order the vegetarian next time.