Homemade Alphagetti

Dearests,

My four siblings and I (plus our respective significant others) recently had another one of our bi-monthly-ish themed potluck dinners.  Our chosen theme was 'comfort food' and so rather than make yet another failed attempt at vegan mac-and-cheeze (does anyone know of a recipe that isn't absolutely disgusting?!  Send it my way PLLEEAAASSEE!!) I decided to make a homemade version of a childhood favorite: ALPHAGETTI!  You know, the canned alphabet shaped noodles in tomato sauce!  I think it might be a Canadian thing. . .  Alphagetti itself is actually vegan, but as I get older, I get more and more creeped out by things in cans (I don't know why) and homemade is always better anyways.  I also figured it was a good way to get ATM to stop hounding me about making her something with the alphabet shaped pasta she had brought home.  The girl sure loves her adorably shaped noodles. . .

Do I need to state the obvious and mentions that kids LOVE this stuff?  And ATM too :)

Homemade Alphagetti

Ingredients:

-1 box alphabet shaped noodles (you can use whole-wheat or regular, and whatever baby soup pasta shape you like, little stars would be cuuuuute!)

-1 jar of tomato pasta sauce (Any brand as long as it's smooth and plain, NO CHUNKS, I used Ragu Traditional Old World Style Sauce)

-1 tsp organic sugar

-1 tsp basil (I use freeze dried basil and if you do too, up it to 1 tbsp)

-S&P

Cook the alphabet pasta according to the packing instructions (you know the drill, boil water, cook pasta until tender, drain).  In a large pot, mix together the tomato sauce plus 2 jars worth of water.  Add the basil and sugar and the cooked pasta.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and reduce to a low simmer.  Let it simmer and the noodles suck up the sauce for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Season with S&P.  Sooo gooooooooood. . .



XOXO
V.V.

Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce

Hey Babes!

I may have already mentioned that I am a pasta FREAK.  I could eat it all day, everyday and I am always finding new ways to top my oodles of noodles.  This is my new favorite pasta sauce.  It is super duper simple to make and it is so delish I actually jumped up and down when fork met mouth.  All you have to do is roast a few heads of garlic and puree them with some olive oil, S&P and a squeeze of fresh lemon and you have a rich, luxurious sauce that will WOW the tastebuddies.  You can use any shape of pasta - I used capelli d'angelo this time, but next time I would choose penne rigate instead.  You can garnish this pasta with whatever you like.  I used julienned roasted bell peppers for this round but you could add steamed broccoli, chopped oilves, roasted eggplant, sundried tomatoes, wild mushrooms, hemp hearts, crushed dried chilies, maybe a teeny splash of white wine, your fave herbs, what ever you like!  Make it your own!



Roasted Garlic Pasta Sauce
Ingredients:
-6 large whole heads of garlic
-1 cup of olive oil (plus a drizzle or two extra)
-2 tbsp nutritional yeast
-the juice of one lemon
-S&P

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.  Place the heads of garlic into a pan (pie plates or cake pans are perf) and drizzle with a few tbsp of olive oil.  Toss them to coat.  Roast in the oven for 50 - 60 min or until the heads are lightly golden brown and they squeeze easily with a pair of kitchen tongs.  Let the toasty bulbs coooool right down.

Slice the heads in half (morbid?) crosswise, between the top and root end, with a serrated knife and squeeze out the soft, buttery cloves into a blender. 

Puree the garlic on low speed in the blender and sloowwwwllly drizzle in the cup of olive oil until you have a nice, creamy-dreamy sauce.  Add the nutritional yeast and lemon juice and blend again. 

Taste the sauce and season with S&P.  Pour over your favorite pasta and toss gently.  Add what ever garnishes your little heart desires (or none at all) and NOSH!

XOXOXOXOXO,

The Vivacious Vegan

Sprouts and Squash

Hey Lovelies,

Bee and I had a very special house guest recently, who when asked what she liked to eat, responded "I like brussel sprouts.  And spaghetti squash."  MUSIC to my ears.  Bee and I went grocery shopping seperately prior to the arrival of our guest and both returned home with squash and enormous bags of brussel sprouts.  And after they were all gone, as well as our wonderful guest (ATM, who we can't WAIT to see again!), we went out and bought more squash and sprouts.  YUMMY!  And such hearty, healthy and delicious winter fare. 

Here's a pasta recipe that was concocted late at night after many, many nights of celebrating the return of ATM.

Spaghetti with Sundried Tomatoes, Soy Chick'n and Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

-1 box spaghetti noodles

-3 tbsp olive oil

-1 cup brussel sprouts, quartered lengthwise

-6 cloves garlic, sliced

-chili flakes (to your taste)

-2 tsp dried basil (if you have fresh or freeze dried basil, use 1/4 cup!)

-1 cup chopped soy chick'n (you don't actually have to use it, but it's tasty protein!)

-1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

-juice of 1 lemon

-1/2 cup chopped fresh parsely

-1/3 cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
-S&P

Boil water in a large pot and cook the spaghetti until it's al dente (tender but still with a bit of bite).  Strain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water (it will become part of the sauce, the starches in the pasta water help to thicken!), and set aside.

Toss the brussel sprouts with 1 tbsp of olive oil and season with S&P.  Bake in a roasting pan for about 15 - 20 min in a 375 degree oven, tossing them halfway through.  Set aside.

For the sauce, heat the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet over med-high heat.  Add the garlic, chilis, soy chick'n and bsail and saute until soy chicken is lighty browned.  Add sundried tomatoes, lemon and pasta water.  Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.  Add the spaghetti, lemon, breadcrumbs and sprouts and toss well so the pasta is well coated.  Season with S&P and serve!


YUM YUM YUM!!!!!
XOXOXOXOXOXOX
V.V.

Sesame Soba Noodles

HOLY TOLEDO IT'S COLD OUT THERE!

I know, I know.  I'm a Winnipegger and it's mid-January and it's -45.  Way to state the obvious, V.V.!

I'm just about to run off to school so I thought I'd leave ya a little recipe for something that you can take along for lunch.  If you've never tried soba noodles you MUST!  They are made from buckwheat flour and contain antioxidants as well as all eight essential amino acids.  They are high in iron, protein and fibre too!  AND they are cheap and filling so they make a great pantry staple for those days when you're broke and hungry!

The noodles are traditionally served either cold with a sauce or hot in a broth.  The version I'm sharing with you can be served hot or cold.  You can eat soba noodles any way your little heart desires: today I'm taking some for my lunch with grated zucchini, garlic and ginger, yum!

Sesame Soba Noodles 

Ingredients:

-2 oz soba noodles

-1 tbsp tahini

-1 tbsp shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)

-1 small garlic clove, minced

-chili flakes (to your taste, rebel)

-1 tsp rice vinegar

-2 tsp water

-any veggie toppings you like (I used roasted sweet potato and bok choi here, you could use ANYTHING YOU WANT!  Sky's the limit!  Grated carrot, broccoli, green onion, tofu, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc)

Bring a small pot of water to a boil.  Add the soba noodles, reduce the heat to simmer and cook until the noodles are tender (about 6-8 minutes).  Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them under cold water.

In your chosen take-away tupperware container, combine the tahini, shoyu, garlic, chili flakes (yow!), vinegar and water.  You may have to add more water if the sauce is too thick, tahini has a tendency to seize up.  Add your noodles to the sauce and toss 'em.  Top with your veg of choice, seal that lid and you are on your way!

XOXO

V.V.

We Got Vegan Cannelloni, Baby!

Ciao Bellas,

I had been dying for a comforting, rich, baked pasta dish and after my tenth failed vegan mac-and-cheese attempt (I just can't seem to find a good one), I nearly gave up.  Until I remembered one of my favorite pasta dishes: cannelloni!  I rushed to the grocery store and back and in no time at all whipped up a DEEEELISH and SUPER EASY recipe!
It uses tofu 'ricotta' but don't be frightened, it tastes just like the real thing.  If you use jarred or tinned tomato sauce you will save a ton of time, just make sure you check the ingredients to make sure they're vegan.  You can definitely use regular cannelloni noodles, I was just feeling very lazy at the time and couldn't be bothered to pre-cook anything.

Cannelloni with Spinach and 'Ricotta'
Ingredients:
1 box oven-ready cannelloni noodles
1 jar tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
6 garlic cloved, chopped
1 package of extra firm tofu
1/4 cup chopped basil or 2 tsp dried
pinch fresh ground nutmeg
juice of 1/2 lemon
S&P

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the water and sauce together and spread 1/2 cup of it on the bottom of a 9"x9" casserole dish.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan on meadium heat.  Sautee the onion and garlic until tender and translucent.  Add the spinach and cook until warmed through.  Crumble the tofu into the spinach mixture and add the basil, nutmeg and lemon.  Season with S&P.  Put the mixture into a blender and pulse until the mixture looks even but is not a totally green puree.  Or you can use an immersion blender.
Fill each cannelloni noodle with the spinach ricotta mixture until it is at capacity.  Place the filled noodles in even rows in the casserole dish.  Cover with the remaining sauce and any extra filling. 
Bake for 25 min and broil the top until it's bubbly.  Let it sit for a few minutes before serving, it's hot!

Enjoy ;)

xoxo
V.V.

Spaghetti Overload

Dudes and Dudettes,

I haven't posted for a week already, how time flies!  I made a huge pot of spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce (same sauce as the one from the Penne with White Beans recipe, minus the beans and you can leave out the wine and just replace it with a little of the water that your spaghetti has cooked in) and have been living on it for about three days.  I call it the Sophia Loren Diet ("Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." - Sophia Loren, when asked about how she maintained her famous figure). 

My multitude of siblings and their significant others (I was the ninth wheel) had a Mexican themed potluck dinner on Sunday night.  The Boom bought all the ingredients for my guacamole and I whipped it up for her (will post the recipe soon!) and my stepsista Teff made a DELISH couscous salad with black beans, corn, red onion, avocado, cilantro and lime...mmmmmmMMMMMMM.  I made a mock up of the twelve pound burritos of amazingness served at Burrito del Rio, all too conveniently located down the street from me here in Osborne Village.  Okay, maybe they aren't exactly twelve pounds, but the vegan burrito is ENORMOUS (when I carry it home, I carry it like a small infant...awww...but then I EAT IT!) and full of fresh, authentic flavours.  This ain't no Taco Bell, people!  My version of burritos is basically a filling made of up two cups of cooked brown rice mixed in a pot over medium heat with a can of diced tomatoes and a can of black beans that have been drained and well rinsed.  Then I throw in some sauteed onions and garlic, cinnamon, cumin, chili powder, cilantro, a drizzle of olive oil, maybe a splash of white wine if there's some lying around, and a squeeze of lime is nice too.  Season with S&P and roll 'em up in some homemade whole wheat tortillas.

It's Thanksgiving weekend coming up and I have a couple dinner's to attend so I will definitely have some festive recipes for ya!

Until then,
XOXO V.V.

Penne with White Beans, Tomatoes and Wine

Hey Babes,

The cold I had last week was the third I've had since April.  My Momma stocked my medicine cabinet with all kinds of vitamins and insisted that I start eating more protein.  Protein is a building block for a healthy immune system, my friends, thus I cooked up a bag of dried white beans and made this wicked pasta dish!

  Penne with White Beans, Tomatoes and Wine
Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat or brown rice penne
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili flakes (as always, more if ya like it HAWTA)
3 or 6 cloves garlic, minced (as garlicy as you like!!)
1 large glass of dry white wine
1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped basil
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 cup cooked or canned (rinsed well) white beans
S&P

Cook the penne in plenty of salted boiling water until it becomes al dente (tender but with a bit of a bite).  Drain the pasta and set aside.  To save yourself some dishes, just use the same pot you used to cook the pasta to make the sauce.  Heat the olive oil on medium heat and add chili flakes.  Saute the garlic for precisely fifteen seconds and add wine (watch out, it's gonna get steamy!), tomatoes, herbs and beans.  Stirring every so often, bring the sauce to a boil and then add the cooked, drained pasta and simmer for five to ten minutes (this lets the pasta and sauce become BFF's).  Season with Salt n' Pepa.  Shoop Shoop.  Enjoy!

XOXO
V.V.

Herbed Gnocchi with Tomato Lentil Sauce

Hello Lovers,

Making homemade pasta can be quite intimidating but it's actually so easy and SATISFYING!  I am kind of obsessed with dumplings of any kind and gnocchi is for me, the perfect Italian specimen.  Light and pillowy in texture but yet substancial and quite filling!  I used beautiful organic Yukon Gold potatoes from my Mama's garden but starchy baking potatoes like Russet work too.  It is extremely important not to over cook the taters otherwise they will require too much flour and will be far too dense.  Texture is KEY here, people!  Most recipes reccomend steaming the potatoes until a knife/skewer can be inserted but the tater is still firm.  I boiled mine, keeping a very close watch over them.  I kept the sauce nice and fresh to contrast the richness of the pasta.  This will serve two or three hungry peeps.

Herbed Gnocchi with Tomato Lentil Sauce

Ingredients:
for the gnocchi:
3 large Yukon Gold Potatoes, peeled and steamed or boiled until JUST tender 
1 cup flour
1 tsp dried oregano (I use freeze dried herbs, they taste just like fresh!)

2 tsp dried basil

½ tsp salt

for the sauce:
½ cup red lentils
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped basil

½ glass white wine

Pinch chilli flakes

Salt and peppa to taste

2 tomatoes

Using a food mill, ricer, potato masher or a fork and some upper body strength, mash the hot potatoes until fairly smooth (I think a few little lumps make the gnocchi more rustic).  Add herbs and salt and enough flour to make a firm, non-sticky dough (you may not need the full cup of flour, you may need more).  Knead dough for one or two minutes to ensure that it is well blended.  Roll the dough into logs that are about one inch in thickness and cut 1/2 inch pieces from the logs.  Gently use the tines of a fork to imprint grooves on the gnocchi (this helps hold the sauce).  Cook the gnocchi in a large pot of salted, boiling water.  As soon as the dumplings rise to the surface, they are donezo!  Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and drain well. 

Naked Gnocchi

Meanwhile...cover the lentils with just over a cup of water and bring to a boil in a large saucepan.  Reduce the heat to simmer and cook until lentils are very soft and water is completely absorbed.  While the lentils are cooking, cut the tomatoes in half and broil until soft and melted.  Chop said tomoatoes and add to lentils seeds, juices and all.  Use a fork to mash the lentils slightly with the tomatoes.  Add the wine, garlic, olive oil, chili flakes and continue to simmer sauce for a few minutes so the flavours can meld.  Add chopped basil and salt and pepper to taste.  Gently add the gnocchi to the sauce and let them become BFF's for about two minutes.  Serve right away with extra chopped basil on top!   

Delish, delish, DELISH!
xoxo