Tag Archives: pasta

Jul 02 2012
7 Comments
Main Dishes, Recipes

Eggplant Parmesan for Dummies

My sister and I decided to have another one of our cooking challenges where we take a dish and make traditional and vegan versions of it. Our next dish was eggplant parmesan. I looked at several vegan recipes and decided that I was going to follow this one from Oh She Glows. It was a good plan until I botched a critical step (thus the ‘dummies’ part of the title). It doesn’t matter because I ended up with a great version of vegan eggplant parmesan anyway!

Vegan (and Soy-Free) Eggplant Parmesan

1 fat eggplant (I paid an arm and a leg for an eggplant from a place that rhymes with Shmole Broods and then saw prettier looking ones for $2 at a farmers market the next day. BLAST!)
1 c unsweetened and unflavored almond milk
3/4 c whole wheat pastry flour (use a gluten-free flour for a GF version)
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 c breadcrumbs
1 jar pasta sauce (I used Organicville Italian Herb pasta sauce)
1 pkg Daiya shredded mozzarella or other vegan mozzarella cheese

I cut my eggplant into 1cm slices and ended up with 14 slices. I then sprinkled some salt on the slices to draw out some of the water –I’m afraid I may have drawn out some of the flavor as well– and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Okay, now here’s where I screwed things up. While the eggplant was chilling out, I was supposed to mix together the milk, flour, vinegar, and spices. Instead, I mixed all that and the bread crumbs. Um. Yeah. Dummy. Oh She Glows calls for the eggplant slices to be dipped in the batter and then coated with the bread crumbs. There was no turning back once I added the bread crumbs, but I will say that it all smelled very good and mixed together nicely.

I had to get over my mentally challenged moment and work with what I had (big thanks to my sis for calming me down). First, I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. Then, I grabbed a deep roasting pan, sprinkled the bottom with the bread crumb mixture, laid the eggplant on the crumbs, and then topped it off with the rest of the bread crumbs. I stuck it in the oven and let it bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, I put a pot on the stove to cook pasta to go with the eggplant parmesan, cursing myself the entire time for being unable to follow a brilliant and simple recipe. I chose this spinach spaghetti from Shmole Broods. I tossed it in olive oil and freshly minced garlic.

After the eggplant had been baking for 20 minutes, I poured the entire jar of pasta sauce into the pan, sprinkled some more Italian seasoning on top, and baked for another 15 minutes. Then, I topped it off with the shredded Daiya (I didn’t use the entire package but you can) and baked for another 5 minutes.

It tastes as good as it looks, and I hope it looks good to you. Wondering how the traditional version turned out? We didn’t make one — this version worked for everyone, including my Italian brother-in-law.

I can now say that I’m pleasantly happy with how this turned out. I undoubtedly would have found a way to screw up the breading of the eggplant, and I probably would have ended up with a lot of unused breadcrumbs. This worked out quite well and is how I plan to make this dish in the future. –Melissa

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May 09 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Recipes

Weird-Looking Pasta Dish

I mentioned in a recent post that I have been having a gross-looking but tasty week in terms of food. If I were to rank the meals I had that fell into this category, my avocado pasta would have been the clear winner.

I wanted to use the items I had on hand instead of going to the store (the weather was crappy), so I had to get a bit creative.

1 avocado
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1-2 garlic gloves, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup button mushrooms
3/4 c penne, uncooked
salt, pepper and crush red pepper to taste

I put a pot of water on the stove for the pasta and then prepared the rest of my ingredients while I waited for it to boil and for the pasta to cook.

I stuck the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic into a food processor and mixed it until smooth. Believe me, I wondered why I even bothered with the food processor since it ended up as un-lumpy guacamole.

I don’t have pictures of the next steps, but I lightly browned the mushrooms with some garlic and then mixed it in with the cooked pasta and the ‘sauce.’

Looks gross… tasted great! I’ll admit that it would have tasted better with some tortilla chips instead and mushrooms and avocado are a bit of a weird mix. Still, it was a hearty meal and I was able to use ingredients that I already had at home. WIN! –Melissa

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Apr 03 2012
8 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Nacho Mac&Cheese: Not your Ordinary Mac and Cheese.

This was an evening when the man-meat and I just wanted to chill out so we made something super fast. Brent prepared the pasta (as I’ve noted in previous posts, I can’t be trusted with parts of a meal that require patience) and I added a tablespoon of olive oil and about 2 cups of chickpeas (1 cup of dry beans, soaked or 1 can, drained) and fried them lightly with some chili powder.

To this I added a tin of diced tomatoes. I used a tin of “Rotel” mild with diced green chilis.

After this was looking and smelling amazing we shredded some basil (cilantro would have been better but we didn’t have any) into it and then added the cheese. You can also add some nutritional yeast for a flavor boost and nutrients.

This cheese is called “Ste. Martaen” and we used their pepperjack variety. I don’t like this cheese for eating: I find the texture disturbing. It’s great for cooking since the flavors are fabulous and it melts well. It’s made with an agar base (that’s a seaweed based gelatin, very sustainable and low calorie) As you can see, we’ve got a cheesy mass of chickpeas and tomato that’s still very low in calories, cholesterol free and high in nutrients like protein, vitamin C, and fiber and we haven’t even added the quinoa pasta yet!

This is the finished product. We devoured it and vowed to make it again. The creamy sauce was spicy and cheesy and the bite of the peppers was balanced by the smooth chickpeas and mellow tomato.

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Mar 31 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

The Enigmatic Butter Bean

Butter beans are new to me. I was desperate for something ‘meaty’ to eat this past week: I realized that I was eating a lot in the way of cauliflower, asparagus, tomatoes, cucumbers, and cabbage, but not much in the way of beans or legumes or soy protein. I explored my parents’ pantry and found a can of butter beans. Hmm… what can I do with this?

At the risk of sounding like a complete bonehead, I was shocked when I saw the butter beans out of the can. I mean, there’s a picture of the beans ON the can… but I still wasn’t prepared for what looked like mutant, non-green lima beans.

I sauteed the beans – they heated up really quickly and also got mushy pretty quickly. But they are meaty and have a nice texture – a little crunchy on the outside and quick to pick up the flavor of the garlic I cooked with it. I added some tomato paste and ate it with some garlicky fried rice and fresh grape tomatoes and cucumber:

I had leftovers, but I was already bored. So, the next day, I made myself a butter bean burger. I added a little flax meal, nutritional yeast, fresh chopped parsley, and herbs de provence, mixed in a little water, and then mashed it into a burger patty and pan-fried it in safflower oil. I had a ripe avocado, so I mashed it into a spread with some cilantro, and topped my burger with it:

I still had a chunk of beans leftover, so for my next dinner, I cooked some whole wheat pasta in a tomato pesto sauce that I made. I topped it with the beans and some Parma and capers:

One can of butter beans. Three hearty and satisfying meals. I like this bean and I look forward to cooking it in many other ways… including making a butter bean cookie! Nah, I had the worst baking experience today (will blog about that later) so I don’t think I will be making cookies anytime soon. But, just so ya know, butter bean cookies are a thing!

Hope you’re having a great weekend! –Melissa

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Feb 11 2012
9 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Vegan alfredo!

A few days ago, LuminousVegans posted a creamy alfredo recipe and reminded me how delicious creamy pasta sauces are. I’m making my own soy-based creamy alfredo which can be made nut free for those of you with nut allergies. If you’re sensitive to soy (or even if you’re not), definitely try LuminousVegan’s alfredo recipe. Her recipes are amazing!

The ingredients are as follows:
1 12 oz. box silken tofu (I like MoriNu)
1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1-2 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch nutmeg
soy or almond milk as needed
garlic or sea salt and crushed red pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding soy or almond milk as necessary until you get a rich creamy sauce. That’s it, you’re done making high protein, low-fat, low-calorie alfredo sauce. I do recommend heating it either by microwaving or in a skillet with some white wine but this isn’t necessary, it just helps to marry the flavors.

I tossed it with hot pasta and a sliced soy sausage that I browned with some garlic.

I also added some raw red and yellow bell pepper. I tore up some more fresh basil for presentation but it wasn’t pretty for long because I ate it.

I love the sienna with the red and yellow on the creamy backdrop and vivid green. I’m a sucker for food that’s beautiful as well as delicious and good for you. Food should nourish your mind and your body. I love the sweetness of the pepper, the spice of the soy sausage with the creamy tofu and savory nutritional yeast and pasta.

If you want creamy pesto instead, add a generous handful of raw basil, a dash of lemon juice and about half a bulb of garlic.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Jan 06 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Lasagna… hold the meat and cheese, please.

I usually use eggplant in place of lasagna noodles because of the whole… alergic to pasta thing but I encourage you to use it if you’re so inclined. The great thing about eggplant is that it’s also low in calories relative to traditional semolina pasta and has a lot of fiber and nutrients that pasta lacks. I’m biased. I dig plants.

For this recipe I took a large sized eggplant (2 medium would do) and sliced it thin. I wouldn’t recommend soaking the eggplant for this recipe since it can get kinda soupy if you do.I leave the skin on but you can remove it if you want. Pre-cooking the eggplant will result in a softer texture, you can do this by pan frying it or baking it until golden brown. This is my recipe for vegan ‘ricotta’. It’s a little more flavorful than regular ricotta cheese but I doubt anyone will complain.  In your blender or food processor, combine the following:

1 16oz. box firm silken tofu (I like Mori-nu for this recipe)

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional but recommended)

1tsp garlic powder

1 2 tsp starch (I used arrowroot)

1 pinch nutmeg

garlic salt to taste

Blend all of this until it’s uniform and creamy. After this mixing step, I added 2 generous handfuls of spinach – this is optional but a girl needs her iron.

I blended it lightly and then spread it on a layer of eggplant that I had positioned on a lightly oiled baking dish.

I put another layer of eggplant on top, (you can make more layers if you want but it’ll take longer to cook) followed by a generous helping of your favorite pasta sauce. I buy whatever is vegan, gluten-free and on sale. Cover with foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove the foil, toss on some crushed walnuts, if desired and bake another 20 minutes.

I served it garnished with some sliced olives and fresh basil.

This is Christie, signing off… I will probably eat that whole dish of lasagna tonight.

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Dec 01 2011
3 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Penne with Portobello Mushrooms, Artichokes, & Spinach

I enjoy cooking, but I don’t do it very often. My parents always make plenty of food for the entire family. Therefore, I tend to eat a lot of Filipino food, which I LOVE, but Filipino food can be hard to vegetarianize, let alone veganize. Clealy, I need to start cooking to minimize cheating on my vegan diet. I can only eat so much tofu, so I decided to cook some pasta for dinner. I had portobello mushroom caps and a can of artichokes, so I thought about those two ingredients for a bit, and then went online searching for “penne portobello artichoke recipes.”

I don’t often impress myself when it comes to cooking, but I will happily brag that I knocked this out of the park! First, I need to give credit where credit is due, and tell you that I found the original recipe on Tastebook by way of Google.

Ingredients:
8 oz of your favorite penne pasta: I used whole wheat
1 can artichokes in water, drained
2 portobello mushroom caps
handful of walnuts
a bunch of spinach
“balsamic vinegar”: I didn’t have balsamic vinegar so I mixed together 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1 tsp sugar and used about half of the mixture
olive oil
minced garlic: I ended up using about 4 cloves
red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta and drain. Clean and de-rib the mushroom caps and chop (I went to YouTube for a tutorial on cleaning and de-ribbing the mushrooms.) Saute the mushrooms and garlic in olive oil. Add the artichokes, spinach, and walnuts and stir gently until the spinach is wilted. Add the balsamic vinegar and red pepper flakes. Gently mix everything. Add the pasta and stir until it’s heated through. Put some on a plate or in a bowl and pig out.

Some notes: I added a bit of olive oil to the mix two or three times from start to finish, and threw in more garlic after adding the pasta to the sauce. The red pepper flakes actually infused their spicyness into the veggies while cooking, so every bite had a kick. I absolutely LOVED it, but you may want to consider adding at the very end or simply putting it on the table to add as you eat the dish.

I’m really happy because, not only was the end result delicious, I had a LOT of fun cooking this. I had a really good rhythm in the kitchen with this one. Yay!

xoxo and happy cooking… melissa

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