i feel like i haven’t written in over a week-sad! i suppose school does eat up most of my time, and general married stuff too, so hopefully i can find a way to blog telepathically. i really feel that life would be pretty damn awesome if i could! anyways, the weather has been uncharacteristically warm these past few days; today is supposed to be 63 or so, and i wish i had the proper supplies to grill! oh well. here’s a run down of whats been going on in my kitchen the past few weeks, and hopefully i can give you 2 recipes:)
missed you!
mini vegan thanksgiving!
chickpea cutlets (a main staple in this house) from the veganomicon, and bryant terry’s citrus collard greens, and spiced mashed potatoes from the november addition of the vegetarian times. super, duper, yummy.
banana oatmeal pancakes from vegan planet, i didn’t have all purpose flour so i used 1 cup whole wheat and whatever the other half was (lol) i substituted oat flour. i also skipped the naner slices (warm mushy banana= ick) and added a generous amount of fresh ground nutmeg and cinnamon!
this is how i feel some days:)
sweet and sour tifu from vegan yum yum
sweet and sour tofu from the yegan yum yum blog! it lived up to its name, and i most definitely suggest going the broccoli almond route!the first pic is the tofu being pressed under every heavy condiment/canned good i had! ha!
easy west african peanut soup from vegweb.com
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=10092.0
i added 1 extra cup of soymilk, 1 extra carrot, and cooked it in a crock pot for 8 hours on low. before serving i pureed the soup w/an immersion blender, and added the scallions last. sriracha was a tasty addition!
Deconstructed Pasta aka Lasagna for lazy people
serves 6-8
1 lb rigatoni, rhombi, or another fun shaped pasta
2 zucchini, halved and sliced
8 oz button mushrooms, or crimini, quartered
1 medium red onion, 1/2 inch dice
1 bell pepper, 1/2 inch dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package firm tofu
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tbs cashew butter
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tsp each: parsley, thyme, basil
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 can (3 tbs) tomato paste
heat the oven to 350
this recipe is quite large, i needed to use my dutch oven to fit it all! if you don’t have a dutch oven, make only half, or find a really big lasagna pan:)
in your dutch oven, (or big frying pan) combine the onions and some olive oil and begin to saute over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. add the garlic, bell pepper, and the zuchini. cook until the veggie have softened up and begin to brown and set aside. meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta and make the tofu ricotta. cook the pasta until 3/4 of the way done. for the tofu, combine the nutritional yeast, cashew butter, and tofu in a food processor. blend until smooth and grainy.
in a medium bowl, combine the can of tomatoes, tomato paste, seasonings, and salt and pepper to taste.
to assemble:
to whatever jumbo pan you choose, put down 1/2 the tomato sauce, follow with 1/2 the noodles, 1/2 the veggies, and half the cheese. finish with the rest of the veggies, the rest of the noodles, the tofu, and then the sauce. sprinkle with pine nuts. cover and bake until bubbly, about 25-30 minutes. this won’t stay layered as you serve it, but that ok:)
feel free to up the sauce ratio if you like.
a big ol' pile of pasta!
i really was craving a tamale.
pickle on a stick: they’re everywhere!
