spaghetti and veggie sauce

Every Sunday I try to make a big meal that will last for my lunches through most of the week. But sometimes I don't have time or the motivation to cook. Sunday are for relaxing, after all. 

A couple Sundays ago I was short on motivation so I decided to use whatever I had lying around which resulted in this yummy veggie sauce! It made A LOT. So I had plenty for lunch all week.

I had mine over whole wheat linguine, but any pasta would do, or you could incorporate it into any dish that requires a tomato sauce base.

This recipe is very versatile, but for mine, I used:

1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 of a large onion, chopped
6 small tomatoes, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, to taste
salt, pepper & Italian seasoning, to taste
water

Place all of your ingredients into a blender and pour in enough water to almost cover your veggies. Blend until you achieve a sauce-like texture.

Pour the mixture into a sauce pan. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Allow sauce to simmer, covered, on low for 20-60 minutes (depending on how big of a rush you're in). This is just to allow the flavors to meld.

Serve hot over pasta.

Enjoy!
-A.

kalamata tomato sauce

 Now here's a recipe I can stand behind.

This I adapted from a recipe I read in "Better Homes & Gardens" about four years ago. I can't link to it, since I don't have it anymore. But also, it's come a long way since then and is probably not much the same anymore, anyway.

At the time I was living in my first ever apartment, above a gun shop on Main Street in Norway. I miss that little apartment. . . . And Maine in general. I'm finding myself very homesick today.

This is my favorite dish, I think, so it's the perfect thing to have while eating my emotions.

What I love most about this recipe is the flavor of the grape tomatoes and the Kalamata olives. It's kind of a fresher, lighter, more flavorful take on regular old spaghetti. 

I also love that it's quick, simple and makes a lot. I made this Thursday night and I'm still eating the delicious leftovers!

Here's what you need to make this: 

2 pints grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 pint baby portobello mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives (whole or sliced)

1/4 cup Kalamata olive juice

5-6 large basil leaves, chopped

2 small yellow onions, finely chopped

1 Italian pepper, finely chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup water

salt & pepper, to taste

1 Tbsp of coconut oil (you could use olive if you want)

1 Tbsp of olive oil

1 lbs pasta (fettuccine, linguine or spaghetti would all be fine)

In a medium-sized sauce pan, heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add your garlic, onion and pepper. Stir regularly to avoid burning. Once the onions have softened, add in your mushrooms. 

The mushrooms will begin to release their moisture and your mixture will become slightly more . . .well, moist. At this point, add in your tomatoes, olives, olive juice, water and basil. Stir to combine and allow to simmer on low while you bring to boil a pot of water for, and cook, your pasta. 

If your sauce begins to thicken too much, add a little more water. 

Once pasta is finished cooking, and drained, toss with your sauce, adding a little olive oil to keep pasta from sticking together. serve hot, or cold! It's delicious both ways.

Oh! I almost forgot, I added a can of small white beans to my recipe this time (pictured). That's totally optional. I like to add beans to things because it gives me some protein. 

Enjoy!

-A.

cauliflower mac & cheese: it was 'ok'

I was pretty excited about this recipe at first. It seemed like just the kind of thing that I want to be posting about on here. Things that are clever, delicious and good for non-vegans. 

It LOOKS good, right? 

But it was SO disappointing! :(

It's not that I expected it to taste like cheese. Cauliflower and nutritional yeast hardly a cheese make, but I was hoping it could at least be the friend I turn to when suffering the sad grief of my break up with cheese.

But it wasn't. It was just something else entirely. Not BAD, necessarily, which is why I chose to write about it, but just . . . too strong, I think? Too much cauliflower. Too much nutritional yeast, which I don't really like the smell or flavor of in the first place, but I kind of forgot that part.

My recipe was adapted from this and I'm gonna tell you what I did, and what I would do differently.

What you need:

1 head of cauliflower (just the florets, really)
2 large carrots, chopped and peeled (not in that order)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup water
1/3 olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp honey or dijon mustard
dash of nutmeg
salt, to taste
1 lb. pasta (elbows, or spirals or shells, whatever you like)

In a large pot, boil your cauliflower florets and carrots until mashable with a fork (15-20 minutes).

If you have a large and/or powerful blender or food processor, throw everything in there until smooth and creamy.

If you have a small weak food processor like mine, mash your cauliflower and carrots in a bowl and combine remaining ingredients. Spoon into your processor in batches and blend until smooth and creamy.

I hope you cooked your pasta in the meantime, according to box directions, because now you can mix the whole thing together and serve hot.

Now. If I do this again, which I may, I will make the following amendments to the ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
2 carrots
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup (or slightly less) nutritional yeast
1/2 cup of almond milk
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt

I've also read that it can be made with potatoes instead of cauliflower which would maybe make it better. That sounds a lot less healthy, but I'll have to try it with that sometime, too.

Anyway, try at your own risk!

Peace,
-A.