Baked Pasta Shells and Broccoli (pg 224)
Broccoli and pasta both go great with cheezy sauce, so combining the two is guaranteed to be awesome. The recipe calls for the florets of one medium bunch of broccoli, but I would double or maybe even triple that (and then steam the left over stems for snacking on the next day at work). The recipe also uses Mornay-Style Cheeze Sauce (pg 552) - it calls for three cups, so you need to double the sauce recipe (as it is only for 2 cups). I had read that this tended to come out of the oven a little dry, so I used an extra half-cup of sauce and it was great. Leftovers of this with some sauteed vegan sausage and some ketchup mixed in will blow your mind!
Spicy Sesame Noodles with Green Beans (pg 240)
Soba noodles with lots of vegetables in a tahini-based sauce. I upped the vegetables by using extra green beans, some carrots in the place of red capsicum, and some broccoli just because I could. Served with the delicious Soy-Glazed Tofu (pg 283), that I have used a zillion times before.
Singapore Noodles with Tempeh (pg 241)
This recipe called for 8 ounces of rice vermicelli, I used 200g and as you can see - it made a LOT! There are a lot of yummy vegetables - carrot (in place of capsicum), cabbage, peas and green onions, but next time I would decrease the amount of noodles.
Italian Truck-Stop Artichoke Risotto (pg 274)
I love getting my zen on stirring up some risotto. This was a delicious, creamy risotto that is very simple ingredients-wise. I served it with some of Isa's Italian Marinated Tofu. Risotto leftovers are also delicious with some nooch on top or mixed through.
Pad Thai (pg 236)
I love pad thai, so I had some pretty high expectations for this. It definitely delivered. While it didn't knock VWAV's Brooklyn Pad Thai of its throne of best home-made pad thai, it certainly hit all the right notes. The recipe called for 12 ounces of dried rice noodles, I used 200g of Pad Thai noodles and again, you can see that this made a great heaping mound of Pad Thai goodness.
Green Tea Rice with Lemon Snow Peas and Tofu (pg 269)
This has a great flavour! The rice is cooked in green tea instead of water, so you know that is going to be some tasty stuff. I cooked the green tea rice in the rice cooker with no problems. I found this made a bit too much rice overall for my tastes. Next time I would decrease the rice to 1 cup (and the green tea accordingly) and increase the amount of tofu and snow peas (I already had extra snow peas). I served it with some gai lan sauteed in some mushroom oyster sauce.
Caribbean Rice, Squash and Peas (pg 268)
I made this recipe to use up the last of my frozen stash of black eyed peas. Again, this cooked up a lot of rice for me. My personal preference is less rice and pasta (as much as I love them) and more vegetable and protein, it just makes me feel more balanced. This meal is kind of bland, but in a really good way, if that makes sense. I served it with some roasted green beans.
Mac and Chard (pg 223)
This recipe uses pretty rainbow chard, which I can only ever find when I go to the markets, which is not very often. This recipe evokes strong emotions in me - I made it during Sahara's stay in hospital last August. For those not in the know, Sahara became incredibly sick all of a sudden, and then two days later was miraculously fixed. I still have no idea what was going on, but it was 48 distressing hours of her being sick and in pain and in hospital at work. :( I needed something comforting, and this really did fill that need. I used 250g of macaroni, instead of 12 ounces, and I baked it in a 9 inch square casserole, instead of a 9 x 13 inch. Served with some Sanitarium gourmet sausages that I picked up on the way home from visiting my sick kitteh.
Kasha with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Peas (pg 280)
The main flavour here comes from the sweet potatoes and peas, which are great against the earthy backdrop of the kasha. I love kasha, it just makes me feel so... you know... homey.
Cheezy Tomato Macaroni (pg 225)
Love at first bite. What is it about cheezy pasta and tomatoes that just go so well together? This also makes use of the Mornay-Style Cheeze Sauce (pg 552). There are crushed tomatoes in the bake itself, and then you make it pretty with a ring of tomatoes on top.
Pastitsio (pg 226)
I first made pastitsio several years ago for a dinner party, from a book called Easy Vegan Cooking, and it was love. That recipe used lentils, this recipe uses chickpeas for equally yummy results. This recipe calls for 2 cups of Vegan White Sauce (pg 551), so you will have some white sauce left over (great over steamed broccoli).
Brown Rice with Artichokes, Chickpeas, and Tomatoes (pg 273)
This is pretty much a meal in a bowl (I say pretty much, because of course I had some green leaves on the side). It is easy and comforting, and is taken to new levels with generous sprinklings of nooch. Yes, I have a nooch addiction, but no, I don't think I need help for it. Now, hand me that bag of nooch, and a spoon!
Spanish Rice and Beans (pg 272)
I had to cook the rice for a little bit extra to get it soft all the way through, but other than that this was a nice little dinner. I used zucchini instead of green capsicum.
Cute Kitty Photo of the Post
The final photo of Sahara in the wheelbarrow. Check out her adorable little feet! (Her tail is curled up, but you can still see it River... not quite as funny as the last one where it was sticking out straight though). Oh, I heart my wheelbarrow kitty!
Next post I promise a change up - something other than a 1000 Vegan Recipes round-up, and Dim Sim and Gizmo are getting a bit miffed at the three days in a row of Sahara photos, so one of them will get their turn tomorrow!
(% 1000 Vegan Recipes Blogged: 15.5%)
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