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Plant Chat: Field Roast Chef Tommy McDonald

Sharon Palmer

Welcome Chef Tommy McDonald to my Plant Chat! Just like me, Tommy was born in Seattle, Washington and raised in the Pacific Northwest. He is the head chef at favorite plant-based meat alternative companies, Field Roast Grain Meat Company, where he also assists in flavor development and helps drive food-service growth in the burgeoning company. Tommy is the author of Field Roast: 101 Artisan Vegan Meat Recipes to Cook, Share, and Savor, a cookbook aimed at building vegan awareness in the kitchen. He strongly encourages people to make every meal a special occasion. Continue reading to learn more about Tommy’s thoughts on popular plant-based eating trends, the Field Roast Grain Meat Company, and more.

What are some hot plant-based eating trends in the Pacific Northwest?

Just like any other big city, Seattle is seeing so many fun and exciting new plant-based products and techniques, but one of the things I am most excited about is tofu. Seattle has some great Chinese and Vietnamese tofu houses that make it fresh every day, and often will sell it to you while it’s still warm, and at peak freshness. Of course, you can also enjoy it in sweet tofu pudding, a crusty (and ridiculously cheap) bahn mi sandwich, or my personal favorite, crispy tofu puffs, deep fried to crispy perfection. Spicy, smoky, sweet, crispy, sour, or creamy there are a handful of establishments all over Seattle’s international district that do tofu right. Check out ChuMinh Tofu and Deli if you are in Seattle, they have an awesome lunch plate.

Is there a certain plant-based eating style that is unique and popular in the Pacific Northwest?

Foraging is big in the Northwest, and for good reason. Out here, mushrooms are king. Oysters, Chanterelle, Morel, Lobster, Matsutake, Porcini are all regular visitors to the evergreen forests of Washington and Oregon. On top of a deliciously thrifty meal, you can also achieve a day amongst the old growth, a stroll through the rainforest, or hike across the forest fire scorched burnt out remnants of an alpine wonderland, whose rebirth is signaled by an annual visit from beautiful honeycombed black morel. Of course, if you don’t want to or don’t have the time to make the trek out of the city and into the wilderness there are plenty of local foragers that sell to local restaurants, specialty grocery stores, and at farmers markets across the city and the state. Also look for other wild treasures from the forest like tender green ramps, wild stinging nettles, or the quirky almost asparagus like fiddleheads. Of course, identifying mushrooms is best left to experienced individuals, so if you are interested, ask around and go with someone who knows what to look for.

What is the story behind the Field Roast Grain Meat Company? How did it get started?

Field Roast was started by a Chef named David Lee. He was working in Seattle at restaurants around the city, some of which are still around today and are considered local institutions, but was also consulting for a local food company that makes ready to eat meals and sandwiches available in grocery stores. He was focused on creating something delicious and meaty yet vegetarian that could serve as an option in some of their offerings. I know it couldn’t have been as easy as he makes it sound, but that was where the idea started. The rest of it is a story best characterized as a blue-collar tale of pulling yourself up by your boot straps, and an incredible example of pushing ahead and pursuing your passion in the face of detractors and doubters (aka haters). Vegetarians and vegans were not always looked at as the glamorous, clean living, social (media) butterflies that they are now, but in fact (and I’m sure most of us remember) were a much-maligned group, who had to band together into cooperatives to bulk buy their spices, oats, and whole wheat flour, who wore sandals with socks, and re-used old plastic hummus containers until there was nothing left of them. In David’s eyes there was a divide and creating a bridge would serve to bring health, happiness, and compassion to the masses in the way that they could fuel their bodies and nourish their families.

What sort of reception has it received by the public—what do they love most about these products?

It’s funny, we just hired a guy named Corey who came to us from a large national bread company. He knows his stuff as far as the food industry is concerned and has worked with some high-profile companies. We were recently in Chicago participating in an industry event (boring….), and as we finished up, we were walking back to our hotel in our Field Roast shirts. We must have gotten stopped three or four times in the span of a half dozen blocks by Field Roast fans each with a unique story about their favorite thing to make with our sausages, or how much it helped their Dad when his doctor told him he had to cut out red meat. Needless to say, our Corey was a little taken a back, but I think more than anything else, he got a sense of the importance of our work. As we walked away from a sweet young lady who had just finished telling us about how our Italian sausages had replaced their pork counterparts indefinitely in her kitchen, unbeknownst to her husband and kids (shhh) and how much better she felt about serving it to her family, Corey asked me if this happened everywhere we went. It does. At Field Roast we recognize that the food we make is the food that fuels and nourishes our customers. There is a level of trust there that we don’t take lightly. I think that translates to the folks that eat our food and connects with them on a level that is deeper than a hot dog usually inspires.

What are some of the future trends that we will see from the Field Roast Grain Meat Company?

I think our Chao Creamery line is exciting. Our three flavors of Chao Cheese Slices have taken the country by storm. Keep your eyes open for the next generation of Chao products.

What are some of your best tips for people who want to start eating a more plant-based diet, but don’t know how to get started?

You could check out our book (Field Roast, by Tommy McDonald), which has lots of tips, and tricks on how to veganize all kinds of meals, from quick and easy breakfasts to holiday feasts. After that, people need to fall in love with plants again, and I think that is best done with a spirit of curiosity. Ask the produce person in your grocery store what fruit and veggies are really awesome right now. I suggest frequenting your local farmers market, and eat more seasonal produce—it tastes better. All the best food always has a good story behind so try to learn a little more about what you put in your fridge. Try new things.

What are some of your favorite ways to use Field Roast products that people might not think of?

There is a really great recipe in the book for what more or less amounts to a vegan version of Orange Beef and Broccoli from a prominent Chinese fast food joint that you might find in the food court of a mall in the late 90’s. Of course, we have classed it up, and made it 100% plant based, but it somehow has just the perfect amount of nostalgia.

What are 5 plant foods you can’t live without?

  • Raspberries
  • Kite Hill (any, all, everything)
  • Beer
  • Really good bread
  • French fries (duh)

Check out one of Tommy’s favorite plant-based recipes below.

Print
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Smoky Banh Mi


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  • Author: The Plant-Powered Dietitian
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce or tamari
  • 2 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons roasted chili paste
  • 2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 medium-size carrot, peeled and shredded
  • 1 (2-inch long) piece daikon radish, peeled and shredded
  • 1 tablespoon safflower oil
  • 1/2 pound Field Roast Celebration Roast, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick steaks
  • 1 loaf vegan crusty French bread, cut into 4 sandwich-size pieces and sliced down one side
  • 1/3 cup vegan mayo
  • 1 small cucumber, peeled and cut into strips about the size of a French fry
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, membrane and seeds removed, cut into strips
  • 8 sprigs cilantro, trimmed at the base

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the sesame oil, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, and the chili paste, tomato paste, and garlic. Bring to a low boil, then lower the heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.
  2. In a medium-size bowl, combine the carrot, daikon, and remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar, toss thoroughly, and set aside.
  3. Brush the steaks with the oil. In a skillet or grill over medium-high heat, grill each steak for 3 minutes per side. Remove the steaks from the heat and cut each into strips. Toss the strips in the sauce, and return to the grill or skillet for another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.
  4. Lightly toast each piece of bread. Spread the mayo on the inside of each piece of bread, then layer on the roast, cucumber, carrot mixture, jalapeño, and cilantro.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1

 

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