Zoodles with Basil Tomato Sauce

I'm trying to incorporate more raw food into my diet. I have a dehydrator, but haven't braved it yet. But I did get a spiralizer last year and boy, do I love it! So much fun!

Zoodles with Basil Tomato Sauce

Zucchini, probably two per person (I used five; it's what I had at the time)
4 tomatoes
2 T. olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/4 c. fresh basil
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper

Spiralize your zucchini into noodles. I peeled mine first, but you can do it with peel or no peel. Add the remaining ingredients to a food processor and whirl until chunky. Pour the sauce over the zucchini noodles and mix well. Serve. Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Herbed Tomatoes

Spaghetti with Herbed Tomatoes

One package whole wheat spaghetti
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large or 3 small tomatoes, diced
2 t. basil
1/2 t. salt

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. While it is cooking, sauté the garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add the tomatoes, basil and salt and simmer until spaghetti is done cooking. Drain the spaghetti and place in a large bowl. Add the tomatoes and stir to mix. Top with your favorite vegan parmesan. Serve. Enjoy!

Simple Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

When you are in a hurry for supper, a lot of people, myself included, will grab a package of spaghetti, some canned or jarred spaghetti sauce, maybe a little something else to throw in for good measure, and call it done. It might feed everyone's hunger, but that's about it. No one ever walks away from such a meal and says, "Wow, that was fantastic!" It was quick, it was easy, it was probably cheap, but it wasn't delicious.

I like quick. I like easy. But I also want something that makes me sigh when I take the first bite.

Simple Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

One package pasta of choice (I prefer thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta)
3 tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
3 T. olive oil
2 t. basil
1 t. salt
1 t. coarsely ground black pepper

Boil the noodles per the package directions. Drain and place the noodles in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and toss to coat the noodles well. Serve. Enjoy!

See? Now wasn't that quick? Wasn't that easy? And wasn't it better than that ol' jarred sauce?

Walnut Basil Pesto and Pasta

I injured my hand recently and haven't been able to cook, so the other day my son treated me to lunch. I ordered what the menu described as fettuccine with basil pesto and walnuts. Yummy! However, while eating, I discovered underneath the beautiful green pesto was a sauciness I hadn't expected. Within an hour, I started feeling icky. Yep, it was dairy.

Boo!

Undaunted and determined, I decided to make my own version of what I should have been getting at the restaurant. Voila!

Walnut Basil Pesto and Pasta

1/2 c. walnuts
2 handfuls of fresh basil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. olive oil
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
2 t. lemon juice

In a food processor, whir together the walnuts, basil, garlic and salt. To this add the olive oil, nutritional yeast and lemon juice. Whir again until well mixed, but not quite smooth. Serve over your pasta of choice.

My son devoured three platefuls. Yeah, it is that good!

Tuscan Panzanella

Panzanella is a Italian type of salad based on bread and tomatoes, often with onions and basil, and dressed with oil and vinegar. It is very simple to put together and gave me an opportunity to make croutons for the first time.

Tuscan Panzanella

4 slices of bread, crusts removed
Olive oil
Basil leaves, chopped
1/2 c. sliced red onion (I chopped mine)
One can small black olives, drained
One pint of grape tomatoes, cut in half
2 cans white beans, drained
1 T. water
1 T. olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. black pepper

Cut the crustless bread into one inch cubes and arrange in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Spray or brush lightly with olive oil. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Combine the basil, onion, olives, tomatoes, and beans in a bowl and mix gently. Mix the water, olive oil, vinegar, garlic and black pepper together and whisk until well blended. Pour over the vegetables and mix gently, but well.

Dish the salad into a bowl and top with some of the croutons.

Enjoy!

I loved this salad, but might play around with the croutons. They were on the plain side. I think adding some herbs to the olive oil before brushing it on will liven things up a bit.

Roman Beans and Fried Pecan Okra

I've spent the first half of this year cleaning, organizing and redecorating my home. In doing so, some projects got pushed to the side in favor of more pressing ones, like organizing my craft room and painting my den. One project that has sat on the sidelines for way too long is culling my recipe collection. Four, count them, four boxes of recipes sat in my kitchen, off to the side. I don't even want to mention the four boxes of magazines still to be gone through...

At any rate, I finally tackled the boxes of loose recipes. Sitting beside me was a bag for any I no longer want or can't veganize to be recycled and a file box with labeled hanging folders to file any I want to try. To my satisfaction, more went to the recyling bag than into the folders; proof positive to me that I really can part with unnecessary things!

I decided that I would plan many of my meals around Dr. Neal Barnard's Power Plate idea - dividing a plate into four sections - legumes, vegetables, fruit, grains. It might make for some odd, but interesting, meals, but a bonus is I get to further cull my recipes while also trying out some new ones!

Roman Beans

One onion, chopped
One carrot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Olive oil
One can diced tomatoes
2 t. basil (I used fresh basil from my garden)
1 t. oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
One can kidney beans, drained

Saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add tomatoes, herbs, salt and pepper and kidney beans, heat through and let simmer to blend the flavors.  Serve over rice.

Pecan Fried Okra

One c. chopped pecans
Baking mix of choice (I used cornmeal and flour mixed with salt and pepper)
One package of frozen whole okra
Peanut oil

Whir the pecans and baking mix in a food processor to blend well. Thaw the okra. Coat the okra in the pecan mixture and fry in the hot peanut oil in batches.

I thought the beans had a really nice flavor, but the okra could use more seasoning. I will play around with that more next time. To round out the Power Plate, I included fresh blackberries for dessert.

Now back to tackling the boxes of magazines...

Green Food for Green Thursday

Today Catholics all over the globe celebrate Holy Thursday. In the Czech and German traditions, it has another name: Green Thursday. They celebrate it by eating large green salads, so I thought, well, let's expand on this a bit. So, I made an all green supper.

Green Goddess Salad with Green Goddess Dressing

Green, leafy lettuce
Cucumber, peeled and chopped
Tomato - cut into bite sized pieces
Half of a red onion, chopped
One can of black olives
1/4 c. pine nuts, roasted
Fresh parsley, chopped
Green Goddess Dressing
Faux Feta

Mix salad ingredients together and toss well to coat.

Green Goddess Dressing

2 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. tahini
2 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. black pepper

Combine all ingredients and blend well in a food processor. Add to salad.

Faux Feta

One package firm tofu, drained and pressed and frozen, boiled, pressed again
2 T. olive oil
2 T. water
1/4 c. red wine vinegar (actually a little less, we thought it turned out a little tangy)
Fresh basil, chopped
1 t. salt
1/4 t. dried oregano
1/4 t. dried dill
1/4 t. black pepper

Crumble the tofu and mix with remaining ingredients. Let marinate at least an hour.

Green Beans with Brazil Nuts

Frozen or fresh green beans, steamed
2 T. olive oil
One onion, chopped
1/4 t. salt
Brazil nuts, chopped
Fresh basil, chopped
Lemon juice

In the olive oil, saute the onion, nuts and basil. Add the green beans and salt, sprinkle in a dash of lemon juice, mix well and heat through. Serve.

Okra Strips in Lemon-Tarragon Viniagrette

Frozen whole okra, thawed, ends trimmed and pods cut in half lengthwise
Flour mixed with Cajun spices of choice
3 T. lemon juice
1 t. red wine vinegar
1 t. Dijon mustard
One clove garlic, minced
1 t. dried tarragon
8 T. olive oil

Coat the okra in the flour mixture and set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in a frying pan and mix well. Heat to medium high and add coated okra. Cook until brown. Serve.

The plated food looked really lovely, even if it was heavily green!

Let the Days of Grilling Begin!

You know the weather is warming up when the familiar smell of charcoal permeates the air. You decide you want to throw something on the grill but before you even start you can tell your neighbors have the same idea. Nothing really says it's the weekend like that smell.

We actually have two grills - one charcoal, one gas. Hubby likes the charcoal grill, but I'm seriously considering designating the gas grill as mine and vegan only. I should probably learn how to use it first.

Hubby is really good about it, though - he scrubs the grill before he cooks our stuff, and always cooks the vegan stuff first. He announces his desire to grill and follows it with a directive to me to find something for the vegans in the house to grill, so we can join in on the grilling goodness.

I am particularly fond of The New Vegetarian Grill, and adapted the following recipe from it:

Grilled Veggie Salad

One eggplant, sliced thickly
One zucchini, cut in half lengthwise
One yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise
Two large tomatoes, sliced thickly
One red bell pepper, cut in half lengthwise
One large sweet onion, cut in quarters and skewered
1 T. balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh basil, chopped

Over a medium hot grill, place the veggies. Brush liberally with olive oil and grill until nicely done. When cool enough to handle, cut the veggies up in bite sized pieces and place in a large enough bowl. Add balsamic vinegar, basil and salt and pepper. Mix well and let set for about 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Enjoy!

To accompany our salad, I marinated some tempeh strips in some bourbon laced barbecue sauce. After hubby grilled the tempeh, I chopped it up fine with some onion and had myself a delectable sandwich. It was a great Sunday afternoon meal for a beautiful day.