Butternut Squash Mac and “Cheese”

When I found this recipe, I couldn’t wait to make it.  It sounded so delicious, but I was concerned about how good it would taste once I veganized the recipe.  It turned out so good, that my boyfriend loved it and never questioned it :)

The recipe called for brown butter, and I was wary about how well Earth Balance would brown, but it browned perfectly!

Ingredients:

Any type of small pasta such as shells.  I used tortiglioni.

Butternut squash sauce. I used about a cup.

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk or similar.

2 tablespoons brown butter*

Vegan cheese.  I used Daiya cheddar and mozzarella shreds, as well as Galaxy Foods grated parm.

Breadcrumbs.  I prefer Panko.

*To brown the butter, put 2 tablespoons or a little more of Earth Balance or other vegan butter in a sauce pan.  Heat until it begins to bubble, and whisk continuously until it turns into a brown liqud.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375, and bring water to a boil for pasta.

In a large, cast iron skillet, combine the butternut squash sauce with the milk and cheese.

Stir until blended, then add in the brown butter.

Brown butter poured into sauce

Continue stirring, then once the pasta has cooked, fold it into the sauce until all of the pasta is coated.

Top with breadcrumbs and any parm if you wish.  Bake in skillet in the oven for about 15 mins.

You can add herbs to top it off, or fold in some veggies into the sauce along with the pasta.  Mushrooms, spinach, kale, or broccoli would be yum!

Pizza With Butternut Squash Sauce

While trying to come up with ideas of what I could put butternut squash sauce on besides pasta, I decided to try it as a pizza sauce.

The result was amazing, in fact, I like it much better than tomato sauce.

I topped it with mushrooms, green peppers, broccoli, and spinach, then sprinkled some vegan parm on top. Not only was this one of the best pizzas I’ve had, it’s healthy too!

Butternut Squash Sauce

 

I love all things made with butternut squash, but I’ve never cooked with it, I’ve only had soups, sauces, etc that were already made.  I actually spent a good deal of time in the grocery store the other day debating whether or not I should attempt to make butternut squash sauce myself, or just buy it pre-made.   I finally sucked it up and bought the ingredients to make it, only after looking at a jar and getting the ingredients off of it (Dave’s Gourmet).   I do that from time to time… Moving on.

First you have to prepare the squash, which honestly was the biggest deterrent from my wanting to make this from scratch.

1. Preheat oven to 375F . Using a large, sharp knife, trim ends; halve squash crosswise to separate bulb from neck. Peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut both pieces in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scoop out seeds and discard.
2. Cut squash into 2-inch chunks and transfer to a baking sheet. Toss with EVOO  and sage season with pepper.  Roast until squash is very tender, about 40 minutes, tossing once halfway through.

• In a food processor, add the squash, chopped red bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, some onion and some celery.
• In a sauce pa, simmer the puree and add in 2 tablespoons or so of vegan butter, and some agave or organic sugar and salt and pepper to taste.
• Simmer for 15-20 mins

Butternut Squash sauce will taste good on any pasta, but I put it over the pumpkin gnocchi.  I’m not sure I have the patience to make this sauce again, but unfortunately, the only jar in the store wasn’t vegan.  I’m sure there are some out there though, so I’ll probably hunt them down next time.

Pumpkin Gnocchi

 

I love gnocchi, and every so often think about trying to make it.  The thought of making it myself always seemed a little intimidating, but this recipe is so simple to make with just a few ingredients.   The best part is, it’s vegan and gluten free, so I can eat gnocchi again!

Apple Braised Cabbage

This recipe could have been made during my cabbage experimentation, but it also ties in nicely with apple week. This side dish is simple to make, and the apple gives it a nice flavor without being too sweet.

Ingredients : 4 cups of shredded cabbage
1 peeled apple
Sliced onion (optional)
3 tbls apple cider vinegar
3 tbls vegan butter
3 tblsps water

Directions : Heat on medium in a large skillet, covered, for about twenty mins

I added a sliced potato to it, and made it a meal :)

Adventures in Cabbageland: Part 3

 

Just when I thought I was free of cabbage, my boyfriend brought home yet another monsterous sized head.  While I searched my kitchen in search of something to do with this thing, I suddenly remembered that there was a can of Margaret Holmes Field Peas and Snaps .

I shredded the cabbage and chopped some onion, then combined it with some apple cider vinegar in a large pan.  After a few minutes I added in the drained can of peas and snaps.  I added in a dash of cayenne, but since the beans were already seasoned, I didn’t want to over do it.  I let it simmer on the stove for about 15-20 mins.

This dish would be great with some corn bread and maybe even some BBQ tofu!

Drunken Refried Beans

My family and I usually have a Mexican night for dinner at least once a month, but unfortunately we haven’t cooked up a Mexican style feast since the beginning of summer.  That’s not say we haven’t gone to plenty of Mexican restaurants in the meantime, but we always have more fun when we do it ourselves.

The other day I was flipping through my dad’s latest copy of Food Network Magazine, with hopes of finding some veggie friendly recipes, when I spotted an ad by Ro*Tel that included a recipe for Drunken Refried Beans.  I knew immediately that Mexican night was in order this weekend.

Adventures in Cabbageland Part 2: Cabbage and Potatoes

For my second adventure in cooking cabbage, I kept it simple again with a classic cabbage and potato dish.  I added in some onions, and a little paprika to help brown everything and to add a hint of spicy flavor.  It makes a great side dish, but we ate it as an entree and it was pretty filling.  I’m looking forward to making this again once the weather turns chilly.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons vegan butter
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 Yukon Gold potatoes, diced and sliced
1 white onion, diced
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 head cabbage, shredded (In my case, it was about 1/4 of our monster cabbage)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I added a TBSP of apple cider vin as well)
1 to 2 tablespoons of lager and/or water (I added more beer than that. I liked the excuse to drink while cooking :)

Parika to taste

Directions:

1) Add vegan butter and olive oil to a medium sized pot or large frying pan, and allow to melt.

2) Add potatoes  and allow to become golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes.

3) Add onion, salt, and pepper, mixing to combine. After the onions have become translucent, add the shredded cabbage. The cabbage will begin to wilt. As it does this, add the red wine vinegar and the lager and/or water. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Adventures in Cabbageland Part 1

I didn’t bake the cabbage on the foil, I just used it in the photo to hide my dirty pan :/

Although I’m a city person for the most part, there are things that I love about the middle of nowhere as well.  Perhaps “middle of nowhere” is a bit over dramatic when describing the rural-suburban town that my boyfriend’s family is from, but it’s too far away for my tastes.  The town itself does have some charming qualities, such as a mini farmer’s market every Tuesday.

There are a lot of Amish in that area, and some of them have tables set up at the market, selling fresh, organic veggies for super cheap prices.  Hooray for Amish!

While in the area last Tuesday, my boyfriend and I decided to add a large head of cabbage (for $1!) to our basket of vegetables.  Heck, with prices that low, we could buy the whole farm! Ok, not really, but cabbage seemed like a worthy bargain.

The only problem was figuring out what to do with it.  My boyfriend had all sorts of ideas, but they all involved meat.  So it was up to me to find some vegetarian cabbage dishes.  The first recipe I found was from Martha Stewart for cabbage wedges.

Veggie Casserole

 

As much as I love to cook, I always find it difficult to share my own recipes on here.  When I share someone else’s  recipe, they have everything so nicely organized into measurements.  They also know what it is they have a recipe for…

I started out with the idea that I would make a zucchini casserole, but all I had was one yellow squash, so it turned into more of a various vegetable casserole.  With casseroles you can get pretty creative;  the more you throw in, the better!  So I guess you could call this a summer veggie casserole.

I tend to experiment a lot when I cook, so I was nervous how this would taste, but it turned out to be really delicious.  Here’s what I used:

This equaled about 4 servings

1 yellow squash

2 carrots

some chopped onion

chopped asparagus (I used about 5 stalks)

about a cup of lentils (maybe more?)

mushrooms

a small can of garlic tomato sauce

about a tsp. of turmeric

vegan shredded cheese

salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste

panko bread crumbs

Directions:

First I put the dry lentils on to simmer because they take about 25mins to cook.  Then I sauteed the veggies in a pan using just water (I’m cutting back on using olive oil). You don’t want to over cook them since they’ll be going into the oven to bake, but make sure they’re on the soft side.  I added dashes of turmeric to the veggies while they cooked, as well as to the lentils.  I also added dashes of salt, pepper and Italian seasoning blend to the veggies.

Once everything was cooked, I spread them into a casserole dish, then poured in the tomato sauce on top.  I then added a layer of vegan shredded cheese on top.  I did mix the bread crumbs with a little olive oil in a small bowl before sprinkling them on top, just to keep them from being too dry and crumbly.  Just bake at 350F for about 20 mins, and you have a warm, satisfying meal!