More Squishy-Love-Shared-Cooking!

N-A whipped up this pasta from scratch last week after we spent the humid summer afternoon lazing about. Maybe we should eat something, he said. Yes, maybe, I said. And so we did.

For some reason, I take the WORST pictures in his kitchen. Which is a shame because it's a damn cute kitchen. I must work on this. So please excuse the Bigfoot-esque quality to the pics:

The sauce was a mix of olive oil, ketchup, and seasonings. The vegetable portion consisted of red and green peppers, steak-cut shrooms, and portabellas. But what really made this noteworthy was the fact that he added strawberries to the mix. I was like, Wow, did you just throw STRAWBERRIES into that? And he was all, Yeah, pasta sauce always needs a little sweetness to it, and they kinda look like mushrooms but have a sweet kick to them. Brilliant? I think so. Because despite my skepticism, he was 100% correct. It was a nice burst of flavor to bite into a sweet strawberry every once in a while. And they actually complimented the sweet bitterness of the peppers quite a bit as well.

In return, I cooked an old repeat that I hadn't made in quite some time (Hit-the-Pan-Salsa Pasta), mostly because my jalapeno pepper plant has been BURSTING with jalapenos, so I wanted to finally use a couple of them (you can see them spooning below). I still dig this pasta sauce--it's perfect for the summer since it uses a wealth of fresh summery veggies. It also requires very minimal heat-producing time on the stove (five minutes at most), so you won't sweat up your kitchen. And it's not heavy or hot--it's a light, punch-filled pasta sauce.




On the side, I whipped up a very simple and yet AWESOMELY flavorful asparagus salad. I've made other versions before, but this actually is my favorite, and actually the simplest of all of them. And the balsamic is a much better choice of vinegar by way of flavor. Apple cider vinegar is kind of flat in comparison to the sexy depth that balsamic lends to strawberries. So yeah. There you have it.

SWEET STRAWBERRY-BALSAMIC ASPARAGUS SALAD

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 small container strawberries, rinsed and sliced


• 1 bunch asparagus, tough ends removed & cut into 2" pieces


• 2 T. balsamic vinegar


• 1 T. olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Toss your strawberries into a bowl. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the top of them, and let them sit for at least an hour.

In the meantime, heat up your olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Toss in your asparagus and cook for about 3-5 minutes. Toss in a little handful of water, and throw a lid over the skillet. Cook for a few more minutes, until asparagus is tender but not soggy. Remove from heat and let cool.

Add asparagus to the strawberry/vinegar mix. Toss. Serve.

You Will Eat Your Veggies, and You Will Like Them!

Along with the peanut butter stuffed peppers and the peanut butter-chocolate cheesecake this past weekend, I was tempted to pimp out my asparagus by adapting the peanut-buttery green-bean recipe from the April 2007 VegNews as well, but then I had a moment of clarity and thought to myself, Seriously, Lindy Loo, there *IS* such a thing as overkill. (Plus, I didn't wanna be held responsible for blocking my fella's arteries.) So instead I whipped these up.

As always, I'll take broiled asparagus over steamed ANY day. And this weekend was no different. Except this time I decided to toss in a few added flavorings to the mix.

End result: intriguing. The soy sauce and sesame flavoring worked well with the asparagus. Perhaps not the best side for a meal filled with peanut butter. But then really, what is? Other than a giant peanut? Mmmmm. Giant peanuts. ARGHLGHLGHLGHL.

SIMPLE SESAME ASPARAGUS

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 T. sesame oil


• 1 T. soy sauce


• 1/2 to 1 T. sesame seeds


• 1 bunch of asparagus

DIRECTIONS
Prep your asparagus by rinsing and snapping off the bottoms. Place them in a large bowl and drizzle the sesame oil and soy sauce on top. Let marinate for about 30 minutes at least, stirring it around every once in a while. Turn on your broiler. Spread the asparagus across a baking sheet. Place in the broiler until it's starting to darken and it's almost cooked all the way through (about 5 minutes or so). Remove and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Return to the broiler for just a minute or two (keep your eye on it because the sesame seeds will darken and burn very quickly). Remove and chow down.

Mango Asparagus (and Mango Sorbet)

Today's recipe is kind of a multi-tasker--really, it's two recipes in one, so hold onto your horses, o faithful readers.

Despite all my autumnal cooking this weekend (or perhaps BECAUSE of it), I did manage to sneak in a lighter, more end-of-summery dish (or two?) as well (despite the fact that I coupled it with the braised seitan dinner I mentioned yesterday, which in all truth, it didn't fit in with really--but ah well).

My friend D has been trying to coerce me into making him mango sorbet ever since I brought in some of my avocado sorbet for him to taste. So this weekend I decided to tackle the task, all in the name of asparagus.

Yes, asparagus.

I wanted to add a vegetable other than mashed taters on with my braised seitan dinner, and asparagus is always my go-to guy. But since the temperature actually *was* in the 80s this weekend, I didn't wanna go my usual route of broiling it because it would've heated up my kitchen unbearably.

So instead, I decided that steaming the asparagus would not contribute too much to the stuffiness of my apartment, *AND* I could also top it with some mango sorbet for a bit of pizazz (which gave me a reason to actually *make* the sorbet finally).

The end results were mixed. Strangely, I really liked the asparagus topped with the mango sorbet--it was nice and light and the flavors were a lovely, crisp contrast to one another, but the sorbet on its own didn't do a whole heckuva lot for me. My avocado sorbet was luxuriant and creamy--the mango sorbet was moreso just icy and overly-sweet. It kinda had the came consistency as a lemon-ice. And the recipe seemed to call for way more sugar than necessary, seeing as mangos are naturally sweet. So really, I could take it or leave it. And next time around, I'll probably just leave it and try out a different recipe on the mango-sorbet front instead.

But here it be anyways.

MANGO ASPARAGUS
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 bunch of asparagus


• Mango sorbet (recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS:
Steam asparagus until tender but not too soft. Drain. Serve topped with mango sorbet. Way too damn simple.



MANGO SORBET

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. vegan sugar


• 3/4 c. water


• Juice from one lime


• 2 mangos, peeled and chunked

DIRECTIONS:
Put the sugar and water in a small pot on the stove. Bring them to a boil while stirring frequently. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Place mango chunks and lime juice in a food processor. Once sugar-water mixture has cooled, add this to the food processor as well. Pulse until well-blended and smooth. Place in a metal pan of some sort (I used a cake pan) and put in freezer. After an hour or so, remove and whip a bit. Return to freezer, this time covered in plastic wrap. Let freeze until frozen completely.

Bright Red Pepper Pesto Linguine with a Side of Asparagus with Lemon Butter

I ordered Amanda Grant's Fresh and Fast Vegan Pleasures (whose title sounds more like an enticing and erotic sex instruction book than a cookbook--but NO, that's NOT why I ordered it--ahem) from the library last week, and after flipping through it a few times, I decided I was going to try out a couple of recipes from it this weekend.

The first was for a spicy red pepper pesto sauce to put over linguine noodles. I thought it sounded light and spicy and summery for a pasta dish. It didn't dawn on me until after I purchased all the ingredients that a) it was going to be 90+ degrees this weekend, and b) some of the ingredients needed to be roasted in the broiler. Unfortunately, I had already bought the ingredients, so, not wanting them to spoil, I sucked it up, dragged out the window air conditioner, and sweated my armpits stank in the kitchen for an hour or so.

I also wasn't able to track down any red chili peppers (which is what the recipe calls for--I was told by a fella at the market that they're too expensive to drag in--$100 a case and he doesn't sell enough to come out even) so I ended up having to modify it and use green chili peppers instead. But that's ok, because it still turned out flame-licking and flavorfully good nonetheless. It is rich and roasted tasting and not for the faint-of-heart--the inclusion of three chili peppers infuses a lot of kick into this sauce.

I post the recipe here only because I've modified it enough that it shouldn't infringe on the copyrighting of the original (go out and grab a copy of the cookbook if you like the sound of this recipe, and try it out!):

Bright Red Pepper Pesto Linguine

INGREDIENTS:
4 red peppers, roasted, peeled, and deseeded
3 green chili peppers, roasted, peeled, and deseeded
1/4 c. of chopped hazelnuts, pan-roasted
2-3 cloves garlic
3 T. olive oil
1/2 T. nutritional yeast
1 big handful of basil leaves
Excess basil leaves, washed and reserved

DIRECTIONS:

Toss the basil, garlic, and hazelnuts into a food processor. Pulse until pasty. Add the red peppers and chili peppers and then slowly drizzle in the oil, pulsing all the while. Add nutritional yeast. Process down until a fairly-smooth paste.

Serve over pasta noodles and top with fresh shredded basil.

Makes enough for about 4 servings.

* * * * *

As a side dish, I decided to try a variation on asparagus--normally I'm all about broiling it as it gives the asparagus and rich, full, almost nutty flavor, but since my kitchen was already sweltering, I figured some sort of steaming/frying recipe would work out better.

I snagged the recipe from the cookbook I always refer to as "The Big White Vegetarian Cookbook" (because I suck at remembering its name) but which is actually titled 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles, and I veganized it. The end result: a very nice and light asparagus with some summery zip to it, courtesy of the lemons.



Asparagus with Lemon Butter

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch of asparagus
1 T. of fresh lemon juice
1 T. vegan margarine

DIRECTIONS:

Steam the asparagus until nearly done. Remove from heat. Heat up a frying pan and throw in the asparagus and vegan margarine. Once the margarine's melted, add the lemon juice as well. Cook for a minute or two until the buttery-lemon mixture has coated the asparagus. Serve.

Makes enough for 2 servings.

* * * * *

Both are relatively simple recipes and (if you can track down some already-roasted red peppers and chili peppers) perfect for summer. The pesto and pasta can be served cold or warm. And the asparagus makes a nice, quiet (but flavorful) sidekick.

White Wine Portabellas Over Garlic Angel-hair (w/ a Side of Grilled Asparagus)

What's THIS crap, Lindyloo? It's just mushrooms on a bed of plain pasta? Why even waste our time posting it? My two-year old could whip this up, both hands tied behind her back and blindfolded!

Oh no, my vegan friends. This ain't just mushrooms and noodles. That's what I thought as well when I first saw it. It's actually a mindblowing fireworks-explosion of flavor packed into an extremely non-assuming and deceptive package.

I cannot take credit for this dish, as it was my feller's weekend to cook, but I wanted to post it here nonetheless as it was a surprisingly good recipe, despite seeming simple and basic enough that it couldn't *possibly* be chock-full of exciting flavors. But I was wrong wrong wrong.

And with the encroaching summer months, this is the perfect recipe to set aside for those swelteringly hot days because a) it'll only take you 1/2 an hour to cook, b) it just requires use of a stovetop and no oven, and c) it's very light and delicately flavorful, not super-rich and heavy at all.

Perhaps I should tone down my enthusiasm just a TINY bit so you don't come back to me saying, "What the hell, you crazy bitch--it *wasn't* all that after all!" But seriously, for the simplicity of this recipe, it packs a lot of flavor in--you've gotta love dem portabellas.

The Noodles:

1 lb angel-hair, cooked al dente in salted water
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. olive oil

Drain but do not rinse pasta. In a pan saute the garlic in the olive oil. Once the garlic has browned slightly, add to the noodles and stir until all noodles are coated. Cover and set aside.

The Shrooms:

12-oz of portabella mushrooms (two 6-oz packages)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. olive oil
1-2 C. dry white vegan wine (E used Yellow Tail Chardonnay but recommends a Frey Wine* if you have a bit more cash to burn)

Saute garlic in the olive oil. Once the garlic has browned, add two packages of sliced portabella caps. Add 1-2 cups of vegan dry white wine and simmer the mushrooms until just limp but not mushy--salt and pepper to taste.

To serve:

Place noodles on a plate and put 5 or 6 mushroom slices on top of the noodles. Voila!

Grilled asparagus:

1 lb. asparagus, cleaned and snapped
1-2 t. olive oil

Place both on a grill over medium heat. Shake your favorite spices over the asparagus as it grills. Turn once, after about 2-3 minutes. Cook until the asparagus turns bright green. Do not cook too long or it will be limp.

----------
*For some reason their website is not working. Here is a site for organic wines though: Ecowine.com...

Angel Hair with Asparagus and Tomatoes

E made us Angel Hair with Asparagus and Tomatoes Friday night and, despite his complaints, it was very good, so I figured I'd post it here, including his caveats with the recipe.

RECIPE: Here

Caveats: He thought that it could've used double the amount of sauce/veggies for the same quantity of pasta. I concur, so if you venture into trying it, you may want to keep that in mind.