Mediterranean Pasta

This is a recipe that we've been making regularly because it's one of those easy meals that's great for a weekday night, while tasting like you spent a lot of time on it. You can prep all the toppings while the pasta boils. You can play around with the toppings, but I recommend at least keeping in the olive oil, vinegar and garlic, and making sure that some of the toppings will add salt for flavor. 

Mediterranean Pasta

Makes 4 servings (2 cups each)

20-30 minutes

8 ounces uncooked pasta (we use whole wheat penne)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp olive brine

3 garlic cloves, minced

4-6 cups loosely packed chopped spinach (if frozen, use 2-3 cups and thaw (frozen spinach is denser))

15 oz can navy beans, no salt added (or 2 cups cooked)

1/4 cup finely chopped olives

1/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts (to reduce sodium, you could use fresh or frozen and cook it)

2 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1-2 tomatoes, gutted and chopped

3/4 cup (3 ounces) crumbled feta cheese

1) Follow package directions for cooking pasta. Continue other steps while pasta is cooking.

2) Combine olive oil, balsamic vinegar, olive brine, and garlic in a small bowl.

3) Combine remaining ingredients together (spinach-pine nuts), except for feta cheese and tomatoes.

4) When pasta is done cooking, drain then quickly return to pot. Quickly add and stir the spinach mixture and oil mixture into the pasta. The heat from the pasta will warm the other ingredients and wilt the spinach.

5) Top with the tomato and feta.

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling

Charlie's grandma Jeanne is turning 90 this weekend! In celebration I made this cake. I took a Wilton cake decorating class last year but haven't tested out my skills since. The way we learned to decorate cakes in the class wasn't exactly health-the main frosting recipe we learned was based on shortening. So I set out to make a very special cake. I was worried that if it wasn't healthy, Charlie's grandmother wouldn't eat it. I didn't want it to taste healthy though. I also wanted it to be all natural and vegan. After looking through various recipes for ideas, this is the end result. I think it turned out well. It's not as healthy as eating a piece of fruit (although I did sneak 2 cups of fruits and veggies into this cake!), but as cakes go I think it's pretty good!

Cake batter:

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 1/4 cups flour (I used 1/2 all purpose and 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 Tsp Ener-G egg replacer + 1/4 cup water (you could use 2 eggs instead and omit oil)

2 Tbsp Canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups grated zucchini

additional water, if needed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl, then add wet ingredients. Stir until mixed, then add zucchini and stir until just blended. If the batter seems to dry, add more water, 2 Tbsp at a time until a better consistency. Coat 2-8 inch baking pans with cooking spray and pour mixture into pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pan then remove and completely cool on wire racks. This will make 2 short layers, if you want a tall cake you could double the recipe. The zucchini makes this very moist.

Raspberry filling: 

1/4 raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)

1/4 raspberry preserves

Puree raspberries then mix in preserves. This will spread pretty thin, if you wanted a thicker layer then you could use just preserves (but I find this to be too sweet). 

Chocolate frosting:

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup pureed raspberries (fresh or frozen, if you don't want the fruit you can sub water or soymilk)

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp smooth peanut butter at room temperature (or you can use coconut oil)

I had to use an immersion blender to get this to come together, since the peanut butter is a little hard to mix in. If the consistency is too thick to spread, add more water, 1 Tbsp at a time. The peanut butter in the icing will make the icing harden int the refrigerator. Although this doesn't sound like a lot of icing, it spreads easily so I even had some leftover. It tastes completely sinful too. Eating it, I can tell that there's peanut butter in the frosting but it's not the dominant flavor and it's not bad.

Buttercream frosting (for keeping filling inside and for decorating the top)

1/4 cup softened butter or non-hydrogenated margarine ( I used organic earth balance, which is vegan)

2 Tbsp pureed raspberries (or other berries, for color, sub water for white frosting)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus extra

Mix with a hand blender. Add powdered sugar if it's too thin, or water 1 tsp at a time if it's too thick. I had a lot of frosting left for the amount of decorating I did. I don't recommend making any less than this though because it will be hard to fill the pastry bag. I really like the flavor that the raspberries give the frosting. If I wasn't trying to cut down on the sugar I would consider doubling the recipe and frosting the whole cake with it!

Baked Tofu

I am trying to come up with some better lunch options. Charlie and I usually either eat leftovers for lunches or make "Tofurky" sandwiches, which are somewhat processed and high in sodium. So I decided to try marinating some tofu myself for sandwiches and salads. Turned out great! Still maybe higher in sodium than I'd like so I might play with reduced the soy sauce more.

For this, I like the texture of the frozen tofu and you don't have to cook it as long because it gets the water out better. It also absorbs the marinade immediately so you don't have to let it set before cooking. You don't have to freeze it but the texture will be different and you would need to marinade the tofu overnight and bake it longer.

Ingredients:
1 package tofu
1/2 Tbsp powdered ginger (or fresh grated)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp Sriracha hot chili sauce (could substitute 1/8 tsp Cayenne)
2 tsp honey
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 1 Tbsp regular soy sauce + 2 Tbsp water)

Directions:
1) Tofu preparation (in advance)
Freeze and thaw, then gently squeeze out excess water

Slice tofu 1/8 inch thick. (or as desired, thicker=longer cooking time)

2) Whisk together remaining ingredients. Using a spoon or basting brush, spread thinly over tofu (it will absorb immediately if you froze the tofu)

3)  Place on parchment paper on a baking sheet (or lightly oil the pan). Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes until browned, then turn over and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until browned.

Vegan Chai Spiced Pudding-Yum!

I wanted something sweet and fast this afternoon so made this pudding. Yum! Makes six 1/2 cup servings (120 calories, 2 g fat, 3 g protein, 1 g fiber).

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt

Mix everything but vanilla together, heat on stove and stir until thickens (don't boil), and continue to cook/stir for 5 more minutes. Take off heat and stir in vanilla. Refrigerate.

Note: if you want to use vanilla soymilk, omit the vanilla added and reduce the amount of maple syrup to 1/3 cup.

More Yummy Dinner Recipes, and Some Sides

Easy veggie stroganoff
8 oz linguini
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion sliced
8 oz mushrooms sliced
salt and pepper
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp each dry thyme, marjoram, basil
1/2 c. broth
TVP already reconstituted with broth
1/4 c. sour cream

1. Start boiling noodles.
2. Saute onions in oil in a large skillet.
3. Add mushrooms and saute until soft, then add garlic and spices and saute 1 min.
4. Add TVP and vegetable broth. Cook until it starts to boil.
5. Turn off heat, add sour cream and noodles.

Mushroom Risotto-We use a pressure cooker for this, so I am not sure what the cooking time would be without it. This is a delicious recipe, it feels more sophisticated than a lot of the other things I make. We always double this and it goes fast.

1/2 lb mixed wild mushrooms (chantrelles, porcini, cremini etc.)
1 large shallot (or sub 1/4 c onion)
1 c. arborio rice
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 tsp fresh or dried rosemary (or if you love it like me, 1 tsp)
2 1/4 c. stock
1 Tbsp butter
salt, pepper to taste
grated parmesan

1. Separate and chop mushroom stems. Slice mushroom caps.
2. Saute mushroom caps in pressure cooker or skillet, pinch salt and pepper in the olive oil about 3 min, or until mushrooms are soft. Remove and set aside.
3. Melt butter in pressure cooker, then add shallot and mushroom stems. Cook 2 min.
4. Add rice and stir to coat with butter.
5. Mix in wine and rosemary, cook 30 sec.
6. Add broth and stir.
7. Lock lid and bring to high pressure, then stabilize pressure and cook 8 min.
8. Release pressure by running water over lid. Add mushrooms and cover, stand 5 min before eating. Add grated parmesan for serving.

Migas- this is our go-to recipe for a 10 minute meal. Migas is Tex-Mex, you are supposed to add your leftover broken tortilla chips, hence the name (there are also Spanish versions, but they are very different flavor-wise). I do not recommend using this for leftovers. This recipe serves enough for Charlie and me.

1/2 tsp veg. oil or nonstick spray
pepper
1 green pepper chopped
1/2 cup onion chopped
1 jalepeno chopped (optional, seed and derib to reduce heat)
1 roma tomato chopped
2 whole eggs
3-4 egg whites
1/4-1/2 c. broken tortilla chips (optional)
1/4-1/2 cup grated cheese (we use Mexican cheese blend or cheddar)
3 Tbsp salsa
tortillas or tacos for serving (optional, recommended if no leftover tortilla chips)

1. Heat large skillet and add oil and pepper. Saute all vegetables except tomatoes until soft.
2. Add tomato and saute 1 min.
3. Scramble eggs and add to the vegetables. Let set 1 min then mix to cook.
4. When eggs are mostly cooked, add the leftover tortilla chips.
5. When eggs are fully cooked, add the cheese until melted.
6. If desired, heat each tortilla individually over the egg mixture (if you are cooking a large batch, you can heat them in aluminum foil in the oven).
7. For serving, add salsa and if desired, extra cheese for garnish.

Falafel-This recipe is great and no deep frying necessary! The leftovers are also great for lunch. You do need a very good food processor, a potato masher may also work. We replace the cilantro with parsley, but it also does well without either. We've found we only need a half recipe of the sauce.

Pizza Dough and Sauce-Time consuming for sure but we love it. We use a pizza cheese blend  and each top our half with what we want. Dough: I add 1 Tbsp sugar and usually add a few Tbsp of wheat gluten to make the dough more stretchy. Sauce: We have found the sauce can use a little extra wine (we usually use sherry) and does need 1/4 tsp salt. Charlie likes spicier sauce and so he adds red pepper flakes to his side of the pizza.

Sweet Potato Casserole-Before I found this recipe, I only ate sweet potato casserole at Thanksgiving and Christmas (when someone else made it). But this side I'll eat all the time. The orange juice in this is amazingly refreshing and the recipe is not too sweet (maybe fresh over candied yams make the difference?). Also, I think grating your own nutmeg makes a big difference for the flavor.


Summer zucchini-squash saute-I know, I know, many of my recipes are all out of season but I'm typing them out now so. This is my favorite vegetable side. The vegetables will cook faster with a lid on, but then to evaporate the liquid you will need to remove the lid. The key  is to keep cooking until the liquid evaporates so the flavors don't run off the vegetables. I honestly am completely guessing on these quantities but I think it's pretty fail-proof. You can use a large skillet, but I often use a pot so I can put a lid on the veggies.

2 Tbsp butter or margarine
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb zucchini, chopped
1lb yellow squash, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
grated parmesan for serving
salt to taste

1. On medium heat, saute onions until soft in the margarine.
2. Add zucchini and squash, cook until soft.
3. Add tomatoes. Continue cooking until all of the water evaporates. Serve with parmesan.

Some Dinner Recipe Favorites

I have not been inspired to blog recently, but my friend Bridget often posts her meal plans so I am inspired to post some of my favorite recipes.

"Spicy peanut pasta" this recipe is from the magazine Cooking Light and also in my cookbook from them (their website also has lots of recipes). This recipe is delicious and fast. Note: you absolutely must use an all natural peanut butter for this to be tasty. Nothing with added sugar, etc. We also make a few amendments: we use sauteed firm tofu cubes instead of shrimp, and we do not add any salt, chopped peanuts, cilantro or lime. The green onions are also optional. We also often add more cucumber and bell pepper.

Butternut squash lasagna this is also from Cooking Light. It's more time consuming, but can be prepped in advance of cooking, and makes tons of yummy leftovers that also freeze well. The parsley is optional I am not a fan of eating much dairy, so I usually substitute mashed tofu for some or all of the ricotta.

 Veggie Gumbo, serve with rice. Technically not a gumbo since we don't make a roux, but it does taste like it. Also makes lots of yummy leftovers.
1 small green pepper chopped
1 small red pepper chopped
3 celery ribs chopped
1 medium onion chopped
2 c. okra chopped (I usually prefer frozen precut)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tbsp veg. oil
3 c. broth
1/2 Tbsp no salt cajun spice (double if salted)
1/2 tsp salt (omit if adding salted cajun spice)
2 soysausage patties, cut into small pieces (optional)

1. Sautee peppers and onions in oil in a medium pot.
2. Add okra and celery and saute until tender, then add garlic and saute another 1 min.
3. Add broth, spices and soysausage, cover and simmer.

To me this recipe is like chili, you can cook it as long as you want or eat it quick.

For homemade no salt Cajun Seasoning:
2 Tbsp white pepper
2 Tbsp black pepper
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2-4 Tbsp cayenne
2 Tbsp paprika
Optional-2 Tbsp thyme, oregano

Note: most cajun spices are about 1/2 salt, so if you use this for other recipes you want to cut the amount of seasoning in half! Otherwise burn your tongue.


Beans and Rice-I use a pressure cooker but if you don't have one, it will cook in about twice the time (it may also require a little more liquid to account for water loss). I usually double the recipe to make lots of leftovers.
1/3 cup black beans, soaked
1/3 cup black-eyed peas, soaked
2/3 cup brown rice
1 large green pepper, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp thyme
2 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes chopped
2 oz veggie sausage (optional)
1 Tbsp veg oil (double if no sausage)
cayenne, salt and pepper to taste
(we use low sodium broth and then add 1/4 -1/2 tsp salt)

1. sautee vegetables until soft in pressure cooker.
2. add garlic and thyme, cook 1 min.
3. add all other ingredients, stir and place on lid.
4. heat on medium heat to high pressure. Reduce heat to stabilize pressure.
Cook: 24 min brown rice. If using white rice, cook 16 min.
5. release pressure by running cold water over cover. Let stand, covered but unlocked, 5 min.

Notes: Can use jalepenos instead of cayenne. If you add extra vegetables, you need to reduce the amount of broth added.

 Broccoli Rice Casserole-This recipe is from the cookbook The Compassionate Cook. While it is a PETA cookbook, it is one of the least "stuck up" vegetarian cookbooks I've found. What I mean by that is it doesn't call for a lot of weird ingredients or call for a million different preparations to complete the recipe. And the recipes are usually tasty too! Being a casserole this particular recipe does take prep work. I usually steam the broccoli in the microwave and use instant brown rice. I also add tempeh for protein. In spite of not having cheese, the nutritional yeast makes it taste cheesy. I omit the salt, especially since I am usually using salted margarine or butter.

For meringues, fourth time's a charm!

Normally I find meringues too sweet, but a few years ago I tried Trader Joe's Chocolate Meringues and fell in love. Of course since I loved the product it must have been discontinued, at least our Trader Joe's has not had them for about 6 months. I have tried some other meringues but they just haven't been as good.

I have been feeling more inspired to make meringues since we got an awesome stand mixer for our wedding, it whips egg whites into stiff peaks in just a few minutes. Above is my culinary triumph (I found the recipe here), the fourth time I made the meringues was a charm. I didn't know how to make meringues and was doing it all wrong. The first time I tried them, they came out too soft. It turns out I didn't let them dry out, and I probably used sugar that was too course to dissolve. And apparently you can only add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time or the batter will become too moist (I don't pretend to know why this happens but I've decided to follow the rule). The last two times I tried to make meringues they came out like crackers. So the egg white part is very important. One, you cannot use pasteurized eggs, the heat damages the protein so it doesn't stretch as much. I tried this shortcut with the egg whites in a carton. Also, after separating the egg whites they have to sit at room temperature for a half hour. This also lets them expand more than they would if they were cold. Other things that meringues are really sensitive to: fat. Any fat and the eggs won't whip up. This means ditching an egg white that gets even a little yolk in it, and it means no plastic mixing bowls, since they can absorb fat. Anyway, if you have the patience for all of this, I highly recommend it, it was "easy" the fourth time, and I am also excited by how simple and cheap the ingredients are.

I also made a few other things this weekend:

Veggie pepperoni, a great high protein snack (recipe in Vegan Vittles, good cookbook too). I sliced it with the slicing blade in my food processor, which made the pieces thinner than I could slice.

Cinnamon granola with almonds and coconut, also yummy.

Wild mushroom risotto. The picture does not do it justice. We should've doubled the recipe because there wasn't much left it was so good!