I guess it’s about time to write about some food.

When I made zucchini pie the other day, I had a bunch of leftover filling. Inspired by this blog (my new fav), I thought it would be a great idea to use it up by stuffing some peppers. I used the same filling from the zucchini pie, except that I added in about 1/2 cup of frozen peas and 1/4 cup of grated carrot. The result was great. It was tasty and used up some food before it was destined for the trash.

To go with our peppers, we had some penne topped with basil cashew cheese. I used the same recipe that I’ve always used, but I threw in a big handful of basil too. It was very, very tasty. Emma was not into this meal at all. She ate plain pasta and some peas. After dinner was over, she came back and finished off her applesauce. That girl can be so picky!

A glass of wine would have turned this into a very romantic meal. It’s also a little more romantic when it’s an evening without the child, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

The inspiration for this meal started with the Sweet Strawberry-Balsamic Asparagus Salad that I came across on Yeah… the other day. It looked and sounded so good that I had to give it a go. It’s constructed of lightly blanched asparagus spears, topped with sliced strawberries. I drizzled some of my pre-made balsamic dijon vinaigrette over the top and it was delish!

To go with our salad, I whipped up a pasta dish on the fly. I threw in whatever veggies we had in the fridge (zucchini, kale, basil), poured a little veg stock over it and let it reduce, tossed with with pasta and called it a day. The sauce was good, but the texture of the noodles was a little gummy. I used a sprouted wheat noodle and I guess that what I get for trying to be healthier in my noodle choices. 

I would make this again, but I would probably stick to a white noodle. For a little crunch, I garnished with some toasted pine nuts. Yum!

I used to make this pasta dish pretty often using half alfredo sauce and half marinara.  Since the cashew cheese recipe tastes so much like an alfredo sauce to me, I thought I would give it a try in this recipe.

Cook up your pasta (but under cook it by about 2 or 3 minutes).  Drain and put into a casserole dish.  Dollop the top with marinara sauce and cashew cheese sauce (be sure to thin it out a little with the pasta cooking water).  Move the noodles around a little so that the sauce can get down to the bottom of the dish.  Since I couldn’t make a crusty cheesy topping, I took some bread crumbs and added some chopped basil and olive oil to it, then sprinkled it around the top.  Bake at 475 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the sauces are bubbly.

This turned out just as good as it did when I made it with regular alfredo sauce.  The bread crumb topping added a nice crunchy texture to the noodles and I will make it that way from now on.

For our family gathering this past Saturday, I took a big platter of cookies as well as some pasta salad.  I forgot to take a photo of the pasta salad before everyone dug in, so I had to settle for a photo of the leftovers.

Pasta Salad

1 pound pasta, any shape

1 cup roasted red peppers, patted dry and chopped

1 cup olives, any kind, chopped

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

1 cup basil, chopped

Lemony Vinaigrette Dressing

Juice of 2 lemons

Zest of 1 lemon

1 TB agave nectar

1/4 to 1/3 cup olive oil

S&P to taste

Cook pasta per package directions.  Immediately after draining, rinse with cold water for several minutes and spread out on a baking sheet to cool completely.  Toss all of the veggies with the pasta and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.  If you are making this a day ahead, hold off on adding the basil until you are almost ready to serve.  When ready to serve, toss again and add more olive oil, if the pasta looks dry.

So easy to make, yet so yummy!  This would be great for summer picnics or even when it feels too hot outside to eat a hot meal.

The cashew “cheese” sauce that I wrote about before makes an enormous batch. Honestly, it takes exactly like an alfredo sauce, but is much easier to make and much better for you. I had a big tub left in my fridge that needed to be used up and I decided to serve it over some spaghetti noodles with some fresh basil. As I had suspected, it becomes more saucy with the addition of some of your pasta cooking water, so be sure to save about a cup of it to pour over the noodles when you mix your sauce in.

On the side, we had a nice salad made of organic red leaf lettuce, organic pears, and organic golden beets. I picked up some beets the last time I was at Sigona’s and they had been sitting in my fridge for nearly a week waiting to get used. I don’t cook beets often and I wanted to do something more creative with them other than boiling them and putting them on a salad. Well, that didn’t happen this time, but I’ll keep an eye out for a recipe involving beets that doesn’t involve salad.

So the salad was really simple. A bed of leaf lettuce, some pears, the beets, and some toasted walnuts, pine nuts and pistachios, topped with my favorite vinaigrette:

Balsamic Dijon Vinaigrette

1 heaping tsp dijon mustard

1 tsp agave nectar

Splash of balsamic vinegar

Olive oil to taste

S&P to taste

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, agave nectar, balsamic vinegar and S&P. Whisk in enough olive oil to suit your taste. I prefer my vinaigrette dressings to be heavier on the vinegar and lighter on the olive oil, but feel free to adjust the quantities to your preferences.

Sunday was Emma’s 2nd birthday, so I decided to make a meal of some of her favorite foods. We had corn on the cob, steamed artichokes, tofu triangles and an orzo salad. Aside from the orzo salad (which I made more for Matt and I), these truly are her favorite foods to eat. We ate the entire meal wearing our Elmo party hats and had some vegan cupcakes for dessert. It was a fun meal!

Orzo Salad

1 cup orzo pasta

1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

1/2 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1/2 cup artichoke heats, chopped

1/4 fresh basil, chopped

juice of 1 lemon (a couple of tablespoons)

1/4 cup olive oil

S&P to taste

Cook the orzo per package directions. While the pasta is cooking, chop the red peppers, olives, artichoke heats and basil and put them in a large bowl. In another small bowl, mix together your dressing (the lemon juice, olive oil and S&P). When the pasta is done cooking, strain it and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. Spread out on a cookie sheet and allow it to cool. When it has cooled, add the pasta to the bowl of veggies and mix. Toss with the dressing and refrigerate for at least an hour. The pasta will absorb the dressing as it sits, so don’t worry if it looks like there is too much dressing initially. This recipe is so good, and only gets better the longer it sits.

For dessert, I decided to make vegan chocolate cupcakes from Joy of Vegan Baking. I’ve made these cupcakes a few times before and they never disappoint. I think they are better than regular cupcakes, to be honest. I normally make the chocolate frosting to go on top, but decided to leave out the cocoa this time. I added in an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla for a yummy vanilla frosting. I topped each with a raspberry (organic, of course). I’m a sucker for baked goods and to save myself from myself, I only frosted four cupcakes. I put the rest in the freezer along with the extra frosting, which I’ve never tried to freeze before and I’m not entirely sure it’s freeze-able. It’s worth a shot- the cakes should be fine, I’ll probably just have to whip up a new batch of frosting.

I came across this recipe for a cashew cheese sauce and thought I had to give it a try. It didn’t sound particularly delicious, but the recipe seemed so easy and so versatile that I couldn’t pass it up.

Man! I was dead wrong. This “cheese” sauce was so good, and it tastes exactly like an alfredo sauce. I made up a big batch of it (yes, it makes a ton!), served it atop some penne and topped the dish with some fresh basil. It was delicious! One recommendation, especially if you plan to serve it with pasta, is to add a bit of your pasta water to it before tossing in the cooked pasta. I found that the sauce was extremely thick (despite having adding more water than the recipe called for). I cooked up some kale to serve on the side. What a tasty meal this was!

We were nearing the end of the week (i.e. we needed to do some shopping), so I decided to make my favorite pasta dish since it is made with things that I try to keep stocked in the pantry. I love this pasta dish and I make it often. The recipe is so versatile that you could do a lot with it- throw in some extra veggies or some faux meat, if you’d like.

I got the idea for this recipe from New Vegetarian Cooking by Rose Elliot. After making her recipe for “Linguine with Peppers, Basil and Pecorino” once, I decided to change it up a bit (and veganize it):

1 TB olive oil

pinch of red pepper flakes (or more if you like it spicy)

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 cup olives, chopped (I typically use a mixture of green kalamata)

1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped or sliced

Fresh basil leaves, either torn or chopped

Any kind of pasta noodle (I typically stick with linguine)

Boil your noodles per package directions. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the red pepper flakes and garlic and let them saute for a minute. Add in the roasted red peppers and olives and let them heat through. When the pasta is cooked, toss it in the skillet with the veggies. Do a taste test for seasoning and add a little salt and pepper, if needed. Be sure to taste first- the olives are already very salty. Throw in the basil and toss through.

This dish is so easy to make and can be made a million different ways. I’ve added blanched broccoli florets to it and have also wilted in some baby spinach leaves. For this particular batch, I threw in some artichoke hearts. As I’m sitting here typing this, I just had the idea to add some toasted pine nuts next time. Wouldn’t that be tasty?!