Harvest Spaghetti

My youngest loves spaghetti, and will stop by the grocery store to pick up noodles, canned sauce and vegan ground beef just to come home to whip up a snack. Occasionally I like to make a sauce from scratch, just to mix things up for him.

Harvest Spaghetti

One can diced tomatoes
One can tomato sauce (or 2 c. homemade)
One can mushroom stems and pieces
3 zucchini, sliced in quarters lengthwise, then diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
One small onion, diced
2 t. marjoram
1 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder

Heat everything in a Dutch oven to boiling, then cover and reduce heat. Simmer 45 minutes. Add 1/4 c. vegan parmesan cheese, if you'd like. Serve over spaghetti of choice. 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!

Spaghetti Salad

For the second year in a row, we've attended the lovely holiday get together at the home of our friend, Kristin. Everyone brings a dish to share and Kristin grills up a feast. It is a relaxed event and the company is always fascinating.

My offering this year was a pasta salad. I'm partial to them for summer get togethers because they are not only easy, but tasty, and most importantly, cool. When the temps hit three digits like they do here, cool is what you want.

Spaghetti Salad

One package spaghetti, broken in half
One bunch of broccoli florets (or one package frozen)
3 T. olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes
1/4 of a red onion, chopped

Cook the spaghetti and broccoli together, according to pasta package instructions, drain. Drain the tomatoes on top of the spaghetti and broccoli. In a large bowl, add the drained pasta and veggie and the chopped red onion. Mix together the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper and poor over the pasta and vegetables. Mix well and chill. Serve. Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Garlic Walnut Pesto

It never surprises me how often my youngest will eat spaghetti. He will go to the grocery store and buy a package of spaghetti and sometimes eat it with nothing more than vegan butter and cracked pepper. Okay, I taught him that, but he definitely eats it more often than I do!

Spaghetti with sauce is such a dinner staple for many people. And it's understandable - it's quick, easy and it tastes delicious! I've certainly made my share of it that way. But I also like to play around with it and try different sauces and toppings.

Spaghetti with Garlic Walnut Pesto

In a food processor, add:
1/2 c. walnuts
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. fresh parsley
1/4 c. vegetable broth
6 cloves garlic
1 T. bread crumbs
1/2 t. salt

Give it a good whir until everything is chopped fine and blended smoothly. Mix it with an additional 1/4 c. vegetable broth and pour it over a bowl of steaming, drained, cooked spaghetti. Serve. Enjoy!

Asian Spaghetti

I get together regularly with friends, and we often make it a potluck when we do. As the only vegan in the group, I am grateful my friends put forth effort to accommodate me. Not everyone is willing to do that, and when it happens, it is very much appreciated. Likewise, I try to take dishes that I think are pretty neutral. Pasta, for instance. Most people like pasta, and it is hard to go wrong with it.

This is the dish I shared recently with them.

Asian Spaghetti

One package angel hair pasta

1 c. sliced fresh mushrooms

4 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 T. olive oil

One garlic clove, minced

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 t. sugar

1/4 t. cayenne pepper

2 T. sesame seeds, toasted

 

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic in the oil until just softened. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, sugar and cayenne. When the pasta is done cooking and drained, add it to the skillet with the mushroom mixture and pour on the soy sauce mixture and toss to coat. Heat through. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

What little was left over I brought home to my youngest, who devoured it.

Garlic and Lemon Pasta

I was hosting a potluck the other day and wanted to try something new. I've warned friends and family in the past that potlucks are my opportunity to make guinea pigs out of them, LOL!

Garlic and Lemon Pasta

One package spaghetti
1/3 c. lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
1-1/2 t. agave nectar
1/2 t. dijon mustard
4 T. olive oil
1/3 c. walnuts, chopped
1/3 c. fresh parsley

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions and drain. Mix the lemon juice, garlic, salt, agave nectar, mustard and olive oil until well blended. Add the sauce to the spaghetti, along with the walnuts and parsley. Toss together well. Serve. Enjoy!

World Pasta Day

Today is World Pasta Day. It began with the World Pasta Congress held in Rome on October 25, 1995. That day, delegations from various countries discussed together the theme of the collective promotion in favor of pasta consumption, exchanging their ideas and experiences. Many things were decided, but the main objective of World Pasta Day is to draw the attention of the media and consumers to pasta, stressing the fact that pasta is *a global food, consumed in all five continents, has unquestionable merits, is appropriate for a dynamic and healthy life style capable of meeting both primary food requirements and those of high-level gastronomy*.

The World Pasta Congress is part of the International Pasta Organization. You should check out their website; they have plenty of recipes to back up their points!

Needless to say, this makes today a good day to try a different pasta dish. If pasta to you means spaghetti and meatballs or lasagna, or you grew up eating ravioli out of a can, here is your chance to expand your pasta repertoire. And I have just the recipe for you to try!

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Garlic

One package thin spaghetti
Two cans diced tomatoes, drained
4 cloves garlic, chopped
One can small pitted black olives, chopped
Red pepper flakes, to taste
1 T. olive oil
One lime
1 T. chopped cilantro
Freshly ground black pepper

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. In the meantime, mix the drained tomatoes with the garlic and olives. Sprinkle some red pepper flakes over the mixture, determined by the level of heat you enjoy. Mix in the olive oil and squeeze the juice from the lime. Add the cilantro and give a few twists of the pepper.

When spaghetti is done and drained, add to a large bowl and pour the tomato mixture on top. Mix well and enjoy!

This one was a big hit with my family. The uncooked tomato mixture heats up just slightly in the cooked pasta, making the flavors really wonderful.

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?

Noodles with Spicy Sauce

So I've had these noodles sitting around for awhile, and finally decided to use them. Interestingly, they had NO cooking instructions on them and the writing was all in a language I couldn't read, so I best guessed it. I figured between five and ten minutes would do the trick.

I worked on the rest of the dish and when I went to dump the noodles into the colander to drain, they were missing! What I had instead was a gelatinous goo.

Emergency trip to the grocery store for more noodles allowed me to find another package of these same mystery noodles (and again NO cooking instructions), but I voted against buying them. Instead I bought spaghetti and returned with a resolve to learn more about those pretty clear noodles.

Turns out they were cellophane noodles, and most instructions seem to suggest not boiling them at all, but rather pouring hot water over them. Lesson learned.

Noodles with Spicy Sauce

Spaghetti noodles (or pasta of your choice, but make sure you know how to cook them!)
1 c. peanut butter
6 T. tamari or soy sauce or Braggs Aminos
4 t. lime juice
2 t. brown sugar
1 t. red pepper flakes
1 c. water
Two cans of mixed or stir-fry vegetables. drained
Chopped roasted peanuts

Cook the noodles according to package directions. In a pot, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, red pepper flakes and the water, until smooth. Add more water if needed to make the sauce saucy. Heat the sauce over low heat, stirring often. Add the drained vegetables to the sauce and mix in well. Serve the sauce over the drained noodles and sprinkle liberally with the peanuts.

One word of caution: check the ingredients on the peanuts. Seriously. We made the sad discovery recently that some dry roasted peanuts list gelatin as an ingredient. Really? Gelatin? In a jar of peanuts? This seems to be a problem with Planters, but the store brands tend to list only peanuts and oil and salt as their ingredients. I haven't checked other brands, but wanted to issue that warning.

Enjoy! Oh, and have tissues handy. This stuff will clear up your sinuses!