Pasta Vegan Alla Puttanesca

We are over halfway through Vegan MoFo 2014 and I have not been as diligent as usual about posting. Every other MoFo that I have participated in, I have done at least 20 posts. I know I will not make that this year. I am not beating myself up about it. I realize that my expectations are a bit different this year.

I have been cooking more than normal since the pregnancy now that food is becoming more appealing to me. I am starting to look forward to some meal times and I am having to remind myself less and less to eat. Mealtimes are becoming less of a chore for me. They are not up to where they were before, where I looked forward to the next one, but I am no longer dreading what I will eat next. I am also not having to worry about sickness as much. I still feel nauseated at times, but not the every minute deal like I felt before. New challenges have sprung up- such as every night I feel a pain in my right rib. I think it is my stomach being pushed into my ribs, but I am not for sure. I know my organs are shifting around to make room for the future little vegan one, but I just don't know where they are being pushed.
It is still warm here, in the 80's and our produce box through our CSA is flourishing. I am happy that we are still getting pints of cherry and sungold tomatoes. We are also getting larger varieties of tomatoes. They are amazing, as usual. One night when I looked at the pint of sungolds, I thought puttanesca. Lucky for me, we had kalamata olives in the fridge.  I had everything I needed to make a simple puttanesca dinner. 

I am not an expert on the original as it contains ingredients that I do not consume. However, as a note of substitution, I used pepperocini instead of anchovies for a mildly spicy bite. The other change was that I used sungold tomatoes instead of roma or other red tomatoes. Sungolds are orange and a bit sweeter.

Pasta Puttanesca

- 12oz gluten free pasta

- 1 garlic clove

- 1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped 

- pint of your favorite tomatoes, chopped

- 3 or 4 pepperocini- chopped 

- Olive oil

- Ground pepper

Cook the pasta according to the directions. Meanwhile, place the olives and garlic in a bowl and use a pestle to grind the two together to make a paste. If you don't have a pestle, chop both the garlic and olives small- set aside. 

In a medium pan, heat a little olive oil and add the tomatoes. When simmering, add the garlic and olive mixture and pepperocini and continue to simmer. You can cook this for as little or as long as you like. I like to have the tomatoes break down a little bit and I cook for about 15 minutes. Add ground pepper to taste.

When the pasta is done add a little more olive oil to the pasta so that it doesn't stick. Then add the sauce and serve. 

Fresh Tomatoes, Food Aversions, and Pasta. Oh My!

We continually sign up for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share each season that it is available. This season has proved to be interesting for us now that I'm pregnant. Instead of the cravings you commonly associate with pregnancy, I have had more aversions. Onions have been one of the largest culprits so far. And what do you think we have gotten pounds and pounds of each week? Yep, you guessed it! We have given them away to friends and hidden them in our vegetable crisper, hoping that they'd disappear. 

I always thought that pregnancy was filled with late night cravings for things like pickles, potato chips and chocolate ice cream. I expected to ask John to run out to the store several times a week to meet one of my cravings. That vision couldn't have been further from reality. While I have craved several things now and then (like a specific candy, potato chip, and pickles), it hasn't been constant cravings. What has been constant is my aversions to food. Each day has been different which what turns my stomach. It has taken John some time to understand that if I say I don't want something, I mean it. We have learned the hard way that forcing me to eat something could send me running to the bathroom.  

One of the things I have loved getting and eating consistently is tomatoes. I have quite enjoyed tomatoes. We have made fresh sauce, slow simmered sauce, pasta ponza, added them to vegan GF bagels, had tempeh/tomato/lettuce sammies, and so much more. One of my favorites is a vegan an gluten free version of Giada DeLaurentiis's Pasta Ponza. This dish is still delicious with store bought tomatoes, but I'm not going to lie- garden fresh, organic, farmers market, and CSA tomatoes are the best. 

Pasta Ponza 

• Olive oil for the bottom of the pan
• 4 cups (24 ounces) red/yellow cherry, grape, peach or small tomatoes, halved (larger tomatoes should be quartered)
• 1/4 cup capers, drained 
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning 
• 1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs, seasoned with about a teaspoon of dried basil and oregano 
• 1 pound gluten free ziti 
• 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast 
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Spray or rub the olive oil an 8 by 8-inch baking dish.

Place the tomatoes, capers, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in the prepared baking dish. Toss to coat. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the tomato mixture. Drizzle the top with olive oil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the top is golden. 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, following the package directions. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.

Place the pasta in a large serving bowl. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the pasta. Add the nutritional yeast and toss well. Thin out the sauce with a little pasta water, if needed. Season to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley and basil. S
erve immediately.

Sweet Potato Greens - Post 6

If you are like me, you probably never heard of sweet potato greens before. We have all had sweet potatoes, but who ever thought to eat the greens! These lovelies are in abundance in our Piedmont Biofarm CSA box each week. I love our CSA as they decided to harvest the greens and give them to CSA customers and sell them at their stand at the farmers market. How genius! I do not see these greens at the other stands that sell sweet potatoes.

It is difficult to describe the flavor of these greens as they do not taste like anything I have tried before. The texture of the leaf is soft and smooth and the leaf tastes smooth on your tongue. It does not taste like a sweet potato. While this green does not taste like spinach, it can certainly be used in place of spinach. We have sauteed it, eaten it raw, enjoyed it in smoothies, etc. They are very versatile and full of vitamins! They contain protein, potassium, vitamin A (a TON of it!), folate, just to name a few. 

 You will likely see several posts about the greens as we have a lot to use each week. Below is a picture of gluten free, vegan lasagna I made. I used rice noodles, vegan sauce, I made up a tofu ricotta from the cookbook Vegan Vittles, sweet potato greens, and of course Daiya! 

If you see these at your local market or grocery store, be sure to give them a try!

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

Post number 14 for VeganMoFo.

I was not sure this post was even going to happen today. My camera has been acting up. One minute it will take a picture and the next, I cannot get it to turn on. Maybe it is my rechargeable batteries, maybe I need a new camera. We will see, but I'm glad to report that I got some picture of our delicious dinner last night!

It would seem that we have been in the mood for pasta lately as several of my MoFo posts have been pasta related. We go on these kicks sometimes. A couple of months ago it was rice, then kale, now pasta. I will admit, we are still on a kale kick. Maybe I should do a kale pasta dish sometime. Anyway, we decided to buy shiitake mushrooms this past weekend at the farmers market. One of our favorite local farms was selling them, so we bought a couple. I heart mushrooms, but shiitakes have always been at the bottom of the list. Then, recently I started to enjoy them. The only caveat is that I do not like them in Asian food. The texture and taste does not work for me in a stir fry.


We picked out these beauties and decided to make a creamy mushroom pasta. We wanted to add another mushroom flavor, so we added my favorite-->**crimini mushrooms**. If a recipe calls for shrooms, I almost always use criminis. They have what some people describe as a "meaty" texture. I just happen love the flavor. We enjoyed the pasta with roasted brussels sprouts and I promise to provide a recipe for those in my MoFo post tomorrow.

Creamy Mushroom Pasta

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Earth Balance or other vegan butter
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped small
• 1 small onion, chopped small
• 4 cups of mushrooms (I used a mix of crimini and shiitake)
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of soy/almond/coconut creme or milk
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• Bag of gluten free pasta
  

Heat the olive oil and butter in a skillet on medium. Add garlic and onion and saute' for about 6 minutes. Add in the mushrooms, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook 6 minutes more until mushrooms are tender. Add in the creme and nutritional yeast and simmer for 5 minutes for the sauce to thicken.

Meanwhile, cook your favorite gluten free pasta. Drain, pour the sauce over the pasta, and serve.

Roasted Red Pepper and Wine Sauce

Post number 10 for VeganMoFo.

This is not another post about restaurants in Asheville...although I could continue to post about all of the lovely food. I think you get the point for now. John and I are home, settled in, and have gotten back into cooking. I enjoy eating out, but I prefer meals that we make. Maybe it is because I can always trust our kitchen the most.

We had some red wine in the refrigerator that had been used for cooking and for an occasional glass by John, so I thought I'd use it this week. One of my favorite sauce recipes uses roasted red peppers, shallots, garlic, tomatoes, and wine. I had all of those ingredients and decided to whip up a sauce. The only trouble was that I thought I had the right kind of tomatoes and more wine. Needless to say, this recipe did not come out as good as it normally does. We also had some elephant garlic and a mega shallot. Usually we have smaller garlic cloves and shallots.

Needless to say, I am going to post the recipe the way I usually make and love this dish. Keep in mind that the pictures mirror the what I made this week (with the mega garlic and shallots, less wine, and the wrong kind of tomatoes). Normally, the sauce would be smoother and there would be more of it. I served the sauce over gluten free pasta, with a slice of gluten free/vegan garlic bread, and a spinach salad with turnips and carrots.



Roasted Red Pepper and Wine Sauce

• 2 tsp of olive oil or olive oil spray
  
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped small
• Small hot pepper, seeds removed and chopped small*
• 8-12 oz jar of roasted red peppers, chopped fine
  
• 1/2 to 1 cup red wine
• 8 oz of crushed tomatoes, no salt added
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 c fresh basil, chopped
• pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil. Saute' the shallots, garlic, and hot pepper in a skillet until the shallots are translucent. Add the roasted red pepper and cook for a few minutes. Then add the wine and crushed tomatoes and cook for five minutes. Season with pepper and the herbs and cook a few minutes longer. Serve over gluten free pasta.

*If you do not prefer spicy foods, then leave this ingredient out

xgfx Pasta Ponza xgfx

Post number 3 for VeganMofo!

One of my favorite things to do when I have spare time is watch cooking shows and veganize the recipes. Since going gluten free over a year ago, I now task myself with veganizing and gluten freeing recipes. Those of us that are vegan and gluten free like to call vegan and gluten free foods xgfx.

Half of my heritage is Italian and it can often be challenging to have an Italian xgfx meal. While I can think of some, very few dishes are naturally free of gluten, dairy, and meat products. Instead of becoming discouraged, I try and remake my favorites. Many of those favorites contain pasta. I'll admit it, I love pasta. I grew up with it at the table at almost every Baccari family occasion. When the family learned I had gone vegetarian, the fix was "roni" with butter (roni= macaroni). Since going vegan and then later gluten free, I have had to become a bit more creative.

Our garden this year has been more abundant than years past and has yielded a crop of tomatoes that are going strong. Our sungold tomatoes are still blossoming and yesterday I picked a quart full of ripe tomatoes. In addition, I purchased another variety of tomatoes from the farmers market, knowing this would be one of the last weeks that they were in season. Having so many tomatoes in the house, I thought it was time for a pasta dish that I had veganized years ago. It is a dish created by a Food Network star who feels that butter and cheese are essential to every dish. I disagree. Here is my version of Pasta Ponza.

xgfx Pasta Ponza xgfx

• Olive oil spray
• 4 cups of tomatoes (sungolds, red cherry, grape, or yellow cherry will do)- chopped
• 1/4 c capers, liquid drained
• 1 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
  
• pepper to taste
• 1/2 c gluten free breadcrumbs*
• 1 lb of gluten free ziti or short tube pasta
• 1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
  
• 1/4 c fresh basil leaves, chopped

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8 x8-inch glass baking dish. Set aside.

Place the tomatoes, capers, olive oil, and pepper to taste in the baking dish. Toss to coat. Sprinkle the GF breadcrumbs* over the tomato mixture. Drizzle the top with additional olive oil and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add gluten free pasta and cook until tender, but still firm. Drain and reserve about 1 cup of the pasta water.

pleace the pasta in a large serving bowl. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the pasta. Thin out the sauce with a little cooking water, if needed. Season with more pepper. Sprinkle parsley and basil over the top and serve.

*To make the breadcrumbs, I ground up gluten free vegan bread and seasoned them with pepper and dried herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, parsley, etc)

Fresh Tomato, Garlic, and Basil Pasta

It is summer and the farmers markets are filled with sun-ripened, organic tomatoes. It is hard to pass up the beautiful tomatoes each week. Even at $3 a pound, we still indulge. There really is nothing like a fresh grown tomato from the garden or the farmers market. When I come across someone who claims to dislike tomatoes, I usually ask them if they have tasted a tomato straight from a garden. The answer almost always a no. The flavor is just so different than a tomato from the grocery store. There really is no comparison.

Each week, we buy a bunch of tomatoes and savor each bite. Recently, we decided that we would make an old Italian favorite of ours. We love this dish it for the simplicity and freshness. It involves only a few ingredients and I probably change the proportions and ingredients each time I make it. There really is no wrong way to make this dish. We usually enjoy this pasta dish with a fresh spinach salad including seeds and various nuts.


Fresh Tomato, Garlic, and Basil Pasta

• 8 oz box of gluten free spaghetti
  
• 4 or 5 tomatoes, chopped
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  
• 10-15 basil leaves
• 10 leaves or oregano
• Fresh ground pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. In the meantime, place the olive oil in a small skillet and let it warm over medium heat. When warm, add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Let the simmer for about 5 minutes. Make sure that the garlic does not burn, so watch carefully. Turn the heat off and let the flavors sit while waiting for the pasta to finish.

Stack the basil and oregano and chiffonade (you could chop here, but I prefer to chiffonade herbs).

When the pasta is finished cooking, drain and place in a bowl. Mix in the chopped tomatoes, olive oil mixture, and pepper to taste. Sprinkle the herbs and serve.

Fresh Roasted Tomato Sauce

Tomato sauce was part of my life and family gatherings as far back as I can remember. As a child, I didn't like tomato sauce and my grandma (Ma) would make me noodles or gnocchi with butter. I am not sure when I started to like sauce, but it is now one of my favorites. My Mom and Ma make their own slow cooked sauce (you probably already guessed they are Italian). The slow cooked sauce is great, but I also enjoy a quicker cooking sauce.

I never had bottled sauces until I left home and went to college. It was quicker and I didn't want to deal with the fuss of making sauce from scratch. By the time I got to graduate school, I realized that bottled sauces were not for me any longer. They are high in sodium, sugar, and contain unneeded ingredients. In an effort to cut out more processed foods, I cut out the bottled sauces. I quickly learned that making sauce does not have to be expensive and time consuming. The main ingredients are readily available in any grocery store and are affordable. One can make a quick sauce with plain, no salt added tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, sauteed onions, garlic, and spices.

If you are not a fan of canned tomatoes or want to go fresh, a quick sauce is still a delicious option. Organic tomatoes are available in most grocery stores and farmers markets and can easily be roasted and turned into a quick sauce. A sauce containing organic and roasted tomatoes is one of our favorite sauces to serve over gluten free pasta. The following dish is served with a fresh salad.

• Three lbs tomatoes
• 1/2 onion, cut in half and sliced
• 2 carrots, chopped
  
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme (if fresh, use more)
  
• 1/2 tsp basil (if fresh, use more)
  
• 1/2 tsp oregano (if fresh, use more)
  
• Fresh rosemary sprigs
• Ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425. Cut the tomatoes in half and remove the core. Place the tomatoes face down on a rimmed baking sheet. Peel and crush the garlic cloves and add them to the sheet along with the onions and carrots. Sprinkle the spices over the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil. Roast until they are tender, about 45 minutes.

When the vegetables are finished roasting, remove them from the oven and use tongs to place the vegetables and juices into a food processor or blender. Pulse several times until the sauce has reached the desired consistency. Serve warm over your favorite gluten free pasta and enjoy!

Gluten free and Vegan Mac n "Cheeze"

Blog #8 for the vegan MoFo 2010 challenge!

Do you ever just want comfort food? I don't think it is a good habit to eat it on a regular basis, but sometimes it is fun to have. Sometimes you want fattening food, knowing it is fattening. Like many of you, I want the comfort food without the cruelty. I love it when I am able to recreate a classic comfort food to be vegan. My go to classic is Mac n Cheeze. I want it cheezy, warm, and baked! We recently came across and perfected a recipe that we love. I guess I can technically call it our recipe since we made changes. Note that it is adapted from The Virtuous Vegan cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces of gluten-free or regular pasta, we used Quinoa spirals
  
• 1.5 cups shredded vegan Cheddar Cheese
  
• 1.5 cups shredded vegan Mozzarella Cheese
  
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter
• 2 cups unsweetened vegan soy or almond milk
  
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• Couple of dashes of hot sauce
  
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
  
• 1/4 cup vegan parmesan cheese
• Slice of gluten free bread, ground to make crumbs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cook the pasta for only half of the time listed in the instructions. Drain the pasta and set it aside. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. When melted, add in the soy milk and 3/4 cup of the cheddar and 3/4 cup of the mozzarella. Cook on low-medium heat until melted, stir frequently. When this is melted, remove from the burner and add the spices, nutritional yeast, and hot sauce. Pour the pasta into the sauce and mix together. Then add in the remainder of the cheese and stir. When combined, transfer the mixture to a prepared 8x8 pan or casserole dish. Top with the bread crumbs and back for 30 minutes uncovered. The top should be slightly brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and top with the Parmesan.

The end result is a warm, comforting bowl of baked heaven. This is the closest recipe to conventional baked mac and cheese that we have made. You can add more heat or spice to this recipe. It is also tasty with lightly steamed broccoli. Make sure to cut the florets small though.

Whatever you do, just enjoy it and remember that it is ok to indulge in comfort food!