First Pesto of the Season

I love me some pesto. Short of avocado--which is the sexiest beast alive when it comes to food--pesto is one of my very favorite foods of all time. Needless to say, I love basil season. And although we're not quite there yet, in excitement and preparation, I decided to try the Appetite for Reduction edamame pesto.

I've fiddled with many different pesto variations over the years. And I love edamame, so I figured it'd be an easy success. And it was. Not only is it much cheaper than most homemade pestos (this required less basil than most, and edamame is cheap as hell if you go to the right place to buy it, especially in comparison to pine nuts which are INSANELY expensive right now or even walnuts) but it also has a lightness and brightness to its flavor that sings of spring and summer and sunshine and gardens. It was really damn good is what I'm saying. So much so that I can't wait to bust it out in the summer knowing that it'll also definitely make my basil stretch further (1 cup of basil yields about the same amount of pesto in this recipe as 3 cups does in most standard pesto recipes). And it's way healthier too, of course.

So yes, for those of you bumping about in Appetite for Reduction cookbook trying to figure out what to cook next: this should definitely be at the top of your list.



INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cloves garlic, chopped


• 1 cup packed basil leaves


• 14 oz package shelled edamame, thawed


• 1/2 cup vegetable broth


• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


• 1 teaspoon olive oil


• 1 teaspoon salt


• optional: 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

DIRECTIONS

Place garlic and basil in food processor and pulse a few times to get it chopped up. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until relatively smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula to make sure you get everything. Add a little more vegetable broth if it seems too stiff. Set aside until ready to use.

(from Appetite for Reduction, reposted at The PPK)

Vegan Bolognese Sauce with Red Wine

I don't know what possessed me to try veganizing Bolognese Sauce since I always LOATHED meaty-spaghetti sauce when I was little. But for some reason I was craving a heavy-duty, hearty spaghetti sauce this weekend. So I ended up veganizing a recipe from my giant pasta book.

It was tasty and hearty, though nothing that knocked my socks off. Who knows though--if you're a meaty pasta-sauce lover, maybe it will knock YOUR socks off at least. Which would be kinda sweet. If that happens, I'd appreciate it if you could videotape it 'cause I've never actually SEEN it happen before, though I've heard much about it.

Thank you, and good day.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium onion


• 1 small carrot


• 1 celery stalk


• 2 to 4 garlic cloves


• 1 to 2 T. olive oil


• 1/2 c. of veggie "beef" crumbles


• 1/2 c. red wine


• 1 c. tomato sauce


• 1 T. tomato paste


• 1 t. dried oregano


• 1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley


• 1/4 c. veggie stock


• 8 baby Italian tomatoes (optional)


• Salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Finely chop all the vegetables. (I used that mixer-chopped thing until they were finely diced.) Heat the oile in a large saucepan and add the veggies. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Add the veggie crumbles and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the wine and mix well. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, herbs and stock. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and bring to a boil.

Cover the pot and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomatoes (if using) and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes more. Taste for seasoning, and serve over fresh pasta.

Fire-Roasted Tomato Pumpkin Sauce

For some reason, (what I think was) Creed's only quote from last week's episode of The Office has been popping into my head all day and making me grin: "When Pam gets Michael's old chair, I get Pam's old chair. Then I'll have two chairs. Only one to go."

He is so creepy and the comment is just so inexplicably menacing that it delights me.

Anyways, this is "portabella mushroom cap grilled on my hubcap topped with angel hair and Celine's fire-roasted tomato pumpkin sauce." Portobella mushroom: juicy and plump. Sauce: delish... sweet with a hint of autumn from the pumpkin.

I am easily distracted today, so I'm not gonna yammer on about this recipe much more than that.

Oh, and I used diced tomatoes because my stupid grocer doesn't carry fire-roasted whole.

Oh, and I tossed some fresh basil on top. Its sweetness complimented the pumpkin well.

Your mom.



FIRE-ROASTED TOMATO PUMPKIN SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

• 28 oz. can fire-roasted Muir Glen whole tomatoes, mostly drained


• 1/2 c. pumpkin puree


• 1 big garlic clove, pressed


• 1 t. onion powder


• big pinch cumin powder


• big pinch oregano powder


• generous amount freshly ground black pepper, or to taste


• 1 T. chili powder

DIRECTIONS

Place everything in a medium saucepan, squeezing the tomatoes as you put them in (or if you use diced, just put them in). Heat until it starts bubbling a little, then lower heat. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.
Serves about 4.

(recipe from Have Cake, Will Travel)

Sweet & Heart-y Winter Pesto Gnocchi

I am so lazy.

And senile.

I am so lazy.

And senile.

(Get it? BAHAHAHAHAHA. Mother of god do I crack my shit up.)

Anyways, that's why I'm dragging ass when it comes to posting recipes.

Like this one for example.

I forget how I made it. <--- senile

I wrote it down somewhere, but I forget where I wrote it down. <--- senile

I could go home and try to find it, but I won't. <--- lazy

I give you the general gist below.

Urban Vegan's Winter Pesto recipe is exact though.

And I'm pretty certain the other crappola is close to exact as well.

All in all I was pleased with this recipe. It was pretty to look at. And it was sweet and flavorful.

And I was surprised by the winter pesto itself. Granted, spinach is no sexy sumptious basil, but it makes for a surprisingly tasty (and healthy) pesto.

However, using store-bought gnocchi reminded of how much store-bought gnocchi sucks in comparison to the real thing.

So if you're lazy, you can use the storebought shit. <--- lazy

Otherwise, make your own, for god's sake. It's so much better.

Otherwise, make your own, for god's sake. It's so much better. <--- senile



WINTER PESTO



(This pesto pic looks like it
should be accompanied by a
harmony of angels' voices)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 c.s fresh organic spinach (or arugula), packed


• 1/2 c. + 1 T. extra-virgin olive oil


• 6 cloves garlic


• 1/2 c. walnuts (or pine nuts, or a mixture)


• 1/4 t. salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste


• Nutritional yeast (optional--I tossed in a T. or so)

DIRECTIONS

Place all ingredients in food processor. Process 'til smooth, scraping sides of processor as needed

Makes about 1 1/2 cups pesto

(Pesto recipe from Urban Vegan)




SWEET & HEARTY WINTER PESTO GNOCCHI

INGREDIENTS:

• 16 oz. gnocchi (fresh or store-bought--Gia Russa Potato Gnocchi is vegan), cooked


• 2 red peppers, roasted and sliced


• 1 small jar/can quartered artichoke hearts, drained (I can't remember the size, maybe 8-oz?)


• 1/4 to 1/2 c. winter pesto (depending on how pesto-y you like it)

DIRECTIONS

Throw your (hopefully still-warm) cooked gnocchi in a large serving bowl. Add sliced roasted red peppers, artichokes, and winter pesto. Stir. Serve.

(You could either serve this heated or at room temperature. I threw my pesto into the microwave for a few minutes before tossing it in with everything else.)

Serves about 4.

Sun-Dried Tomato Alfredo

Back when I first went vegan, my very sweet and very animal-loving friend dorklepork bought me the VwaV cookbook and also included photocopies of some of her tried-and-true favorite recipes from various other sources. I had the pleasure of trying out her Big Bread at my Vegan Barbecue this summer, and finally finally finally this past weekend I got around to trying out the vegan alfredo recipe as well. And man alive is it yummy.

I had a bit of trouble hunting down some vegan parmesan (again, we run into that dastardly idiocy that is milk-derived products in non-dairy cheese--*fart*) but I finally managed to track some down at Nature's Bin (which I really wish I would've explored a bit earlier-on in my veganism as it is pretty damn kick-ass).

Also inspired by the plethora of stuffed-tofu recipes I've been seeing pop up on people's food blogs, I decided to attempt a stuffed-tofu recipe of my own on the side. This ended up being not so fantastic as the alfredo recipe, so I'm not gonna post the recipe. But I will tell you what was in it: I sauteed up some spinach, baby 'bellas, garlic, and tomatoes and attempted to stuff two tofu-halves with it. Baking them in the oven was taking too long and they weren't goldening up at all, so I ended up tossing them in the broiler instead, which did work better, but the end result was still a disappointment. It was by no means gross or inedible; it was, simply, boring. Next time, I am going to take a little bit more guidance from other people's stuffed tofu recipes, because there's got to be a better way to cook 'em then the way I did.

Despite the failure on the tofu-front, the alfredo definitely made up for it. I un-low-fattified (yes, that IS a word, thank you very much!) the recipe, and I also tweaked it a bit to give it more flavor, and the end result was delightful. My fella even called me up the next afternoon out of the blue to say that the sauce was fricking awesome (he was randomly chowing down on some leftovers for lunch), and if a sauce is good enough to compel someone to actually call you to tell you how much they like it, it's gotta be a decent sauce.

So despite the ugly, 1970's-ish picture (damnable apartment-lighting!), this alfredo is worth your while.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pkg. silken tofu


• 3 T. vegan margarine, room temperature or melted (I used Earth Balance)


• 1/4 cup vegan soy parmesan


• 2 T. nutritional yeast


• Soy milk


• 3-4 sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated


• 3-4 cloves of garlic, diced


• Salt and pepper to taste


• Wheat linguine noodles (cooked according to the package)


• Thinly-sliced basil

DIRECTIONS:
Toss all your ingredients (minus the noodles, soy milk, and 1 T. of vegan margarine) into a food processor and process. Gradually add soy milk until it's a smooth and creamy consistency. Toss the remaining tablespoon of vegan margarine into a saucepan along with your garlic and heat until fragrant. Then transfer your sauce into the saucepan as well and heat gently, stirring frequently. You may find yourself needing to add more soy milk as it heats, simply because it thickens up crazily. So do so if necessary. (If you have leftovers and reheat them the next day, you will probably need to do the same.) Serve over pasta with some thinly-sliced basil sprinkled on top.

Some of the comments left about the original recipe complained that it tasted too tofu-y, but (despite it being the main ingredient) I didn't taste it at all.

Original recipe: HERE