Avocado Pesto and Tomato Pasta

In case today's 71-degree weather wasn't unseasonable enough for you, here's a summery dish that will bring a little warmth and brightness to your day.  This recipe for Avocado Pesto and Tomato pasta comes (slightly altered) from Chef Chloe.

A fresh-tasting, creamy pasta dish.

Given that tomatoes come at a high price during the winter, you might try making this dish with jarred, sun-dried tomatoes instead of raw, store-bought tomatoes.

Recipe:
Avocado Pesto and Tomato Pasta

• 1 pound whole wheat linguine
• 1 package frozen broccoli
• 1 small bunch (approximately .75 ounces) fresh basil
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 2 avocados, pitted and peeled
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• halved cherry tomatoes or sliced sun-dried tomatoes, for garnish

First, bring a large pot of water to boil and begin preparing the linguine according to the package directions. When approximately five minutes of cooking time remain, add the broccoli to the pot.  Once the broccoli and pasta are tender, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, prepare the avocado pesto.  Combine the basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, oil, and salt and pepper in a food processor, and process until smooth. 

Toss the prepared pasta with the pesto, top with tomatoes, and serve warm.

Yields 6 servings. 

Comments:

Taste:           

This is not your average, basil-heavy pesto dish.  Although basil does make an appearance in the recipe, its flavor is subtle.  Instead, the avocados and tomatoes take center stage, giving the dish a creamy, mild, fresh taste.  While this is one of the most naturally creamy pasta dishes I've enjoyed as a vegan, it is worth noting that the creaminess faded a bit once we reheated the dish as leftovers.  Next time I make this, I might try adding some crushed red pepper flakes to spice things up.

Accessibility:            

Unfortunately, this is a pretty pricey pasta dish.  The pine nuts and tomatoes--either cherry or sun-dried--are particularly costly.  To bring down the price, you could try using a different nut, such as walnuts (still expensive, but perhaps less so).

 Ease of Preparation:        

This is a quick and easy dish, as long as you have a food processor.  If you don't have a food processor or blender, try chopping up the ingredients and using a potato masher or spoon to combine.

Non-vegan friendliness:            

This rich pasta dish isn't missing anything.  Even though traditional pesto recipes often include Parmesan cheese, the avocado more than makes up for the lack of cheese. 

Seitan and Broccoli Bowls

I received The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions for Christmas--a book that I recommend you all check out!  More than just a cookbook, it's a how-to guide for working without dairy, eggs, meat, and animal by-products. Plus, it labels recipes as gluten-free, soy-free, etc.

We decided to try out the book's recipe for "Beef" and Broccoli Bowls, or, as my version is called, Seitan and Broccoli Bowls.  I made a few adjustments to the original recipe, as detailed below.

Seitan and Broccoli Bowl topped with Sesame Seeds and Scallions

Recipe:
Seitan and Broccoli Bowls

• brown rice (enough for 6 servings)
• 6 cups frozen (or fresh) broccoli florets 
• a heaping 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup white wine (or vegetable broth)
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1.5 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 24 ounces chopped seitan
• 3 scallions, chopped
• toasted sesame seeds, for garnish

First, begin preparing the rice according to the package instructions.  When about 15-20 minutes remain in the cooking time, set the broccoli to steam.  As the broccoli and rice are cooking, move on to prepare the sauce.

To make the sauce, whisk together the agave, soy sauce, wine, oil, corn starch, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  When the sauce begins to boil, turn down the heat and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens a bit.  Then, add the seitan to the sauce and continue cooking until heated through.

Finally, layer the rice, broccoli, and saucy seitan in a bowl, top with scallions and sesame seeds, and serve.

Yields 6 servings. 

Comments:

Taste:            

This flavorful, umami-filled dish is sweet, spicy, and satisfying.  The seitan, broccoli, and rice come together into a nice, substantive, healthy bite.  

Accessibility:            

While you can make seitan from scratch, we ventured to Whole Foods to buy prepared seitan (sold in the refrigerated section, often near the produce); it's not sold at other nearby grocery stores.  Don't let the agave nectar scare you--we had no trouble finding it at our regular grocery store, in the syrup/honey aisle.  Also, we found a small (single/double serving?) box of wine at the grocery store, meaning we didn't need to buy a whole bottle just for this recipe.

 Ease of Preparation:       

While there are several things going on at once in this recipe, they are all pretty low-maintenance and easy to do.  Using "instant" brown rice can speed things up.

Non-vegan friendliness:            

I'm intentionally calling this recipe Seitan and Broccoli Bowls, rather than "Beef" and Broccoli Bowls: seitan isn't the same as beef, so there's no need to force a comparison between them.  This healthy, tasty dish is satisfying on its own. 

Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

I've made a few different peanut sauces before with varied levels of success.  Last night we made a new version with great success!  While some peanut sauces can be quite thick and heavy, this one was both light and flavorful.

We served this with Asian Cabbage Slaw on the side.  

A delicious dinner.

Recipe: 
Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

• 1 package whole wheat linguini
• 1.5 cups frozen broccoli
• 1.5 cups frozen snap peas  
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into 1/2" cubes
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1" chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 7 tablespoons (just under 1/2 cup) rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 
• 2 carrots, sliced finely or grated 

First, begin preparing the linguini according to the package instructions.  When about 4 minutes remain in the cooking time, add the broccoli and snap peas and cook with the pasta for the remaining time.

Meanwhile, brown the tofu.  Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet, add the tofu to the hot oil, and cook, turning the tofu every several minutes, until it has browned on most sides.  Set aside.

Then, prepare the peanut sauce.  Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and the garlic in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.  Add the crushed red pepper flakes, ginger, and brown sugar to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.  Next, add the soy sauce, vinegar, and peanut butter to the pan and use a whisk to combine the ingredients into a smooth sauce, cooking and whisking for another couple minutes.

Once the sauce is smooth and hot and the pasta/vegetables are cooked and drained, combine these together with the tofu and carrots and toss until everything is evenly coated.

Serve hot or cold. Yields 6 servings. 

Comments:

Taste:      

As I said above, this was a great peanut sauce.  It was light, unlike other heavier peanut sauces I've had in the past, which was unexpectedly nice.  The addition of uncooked carrots also added a nice crunch to the dish.

Accessibility:     

Compared to some other Asian-inspired dishes on this blog, this dish is pretty accessible.  We just used plain old whole-wheat linguini rather than rice noodles (we haven't had much luck with rice noodles in the past, unfortunately).

 Ease of Preparation:    

This recipe involves several steps; however, they flow together nicely and allow for multitasking.  Plus, it was pretty quick to make.  We cooked both the tofu and the peanut sauce in the time it took to prepare the noodles. 

Non-vegan friendliness:   

This dish has a great flavor and a variety of textures that would please any palate.  If you're cooking for someone who is suspicious of tofu, browning it is always a good bet--as is covering it in tasty peanut sauce!  This was a filling, satisfying dish. 

Pad Thai with Tofu

We've had "Pad Thai Rice Sticks," AKA rice noodles, sitting around ever since making Asian Pesto with Rice Noodles.  Yesterday we put these noodles to good use by making Pad Thai with tofu for dinner.  I love Pad Thai and I always get noodle dishes of some sort at Thai restaurants (I'm not the most adventurous restaurant diner...), so I was pretty excited about this. 
  

Pad Thai -- I probably shouldn't have put it in a bowl to take the picture...

Unfortunately the picture doesn't do it much justice, but SPOILER ALERT: it was tasty! 

Recipe:
Pad Thai with Tofu

• 8 ounces rice noodles (we used "Pad Thai Rice Sticks")
• 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• about 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 pound extra-firm tofu, pressed
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup broccoli, chopped (we used frozen broccoli)
• 1 cup snow peas (we used frozen snow peas)
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped

First, prepare the rice noodles according to the package instructions.  Keep them in a pot with a tight lid to keep them from drying out while you prepare everything else.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce.  Whisk together the peanut butter, sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl and set aside.

Then heat the canola oil in a skillet over medium-high to high heat.  When the oil is hot, add the tofu and sauté until the tofu browns on most sides, turning the tofu every few minutes.  Sprinkle on salt and pepper while it's cooking. When the tofu has browned, move it to a bowl and set aside.

Lower the heat to medium-high and add a bit more canola oil (or water) to the same skillet.  Add the garlic, broccoli, and snow peas and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables become bright green.  Add the green onions and sauté for another minute or two.  Then, add the tofu, noodles, and sauce to that pan and stir to combine.  Cook until all ingredients are heated through.



Garnish with sliced lemons, chopped cilantro, or chopped peanuts if desired.  Yields 2-4 servings. 

Comments:
Taste:      

I was surprised at how close this tastes to restaurant-style Pad Thai.  The lime juice really makes the dish.  Unfortunately, our Pad Thai was a bit soupy/mushy.  We had trouble cooking the rice noodles correctly the last time we used them, and it was the same story this time.  Let me know if you have any tips on cooking rice noodles!

Accessibility:        

I wasn't able to find all of the ingredients I wanted to use in this dish.  I'd recommend adding 1 cup of bean sprouts near the end of the cooking time, if you can find them.  They'll add a nice crunch.

 Ease of Preparation:   

This dish isn't very difficult to make and involves minimal chopping, but the rice noodles take a pretty long time to prepare even before you start the real cooking.  The instructions on our noodle package said to soak them in warm water for 45 minutes.  We kept the water pretty hot by heating the pot of noodles over medium-low heat throughout the soaking process, but it still takes a while.        

Non-vegan friendliness:   

The Pad Thai had a great flavor, but between the somewhat mushy noodles and the tofu, it might not be a non-vegan's favorite dish.  Still, we all really enjoyed it. 

 One last note: I think it tasted better today (one day later).  Hooray leftovers!

Tofu and vegetable stir fry with peanut sauce

Dinner on Monday: stir fry.  The beauty of stir fry is that it doesn't require precision (at least, in my experience).  I'll list the recipe below, but you can really use any vegetables or other ingredients you like.

Recipe:
Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup oil (I used canola oil because that's what we had; but, sesame oil would be best)
  
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce (we used low-sodium soy sauce)
• 2 talbespoons water
• 1/4+ teaspoons cayenne pepper
  
• Assorted vegetables--we used a bag of frozen "stir fry vegetables," including snap peas, broccoli, carrots, water chestnuts, red pepper, and more.
• One package extra-firm tofu, pressed and cubed

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients to create the peanut sauce.  Set aside.
In a large skillet, heat up a small amount of oil over medium-high heat.  Add the tofu and brown it by letting it rest on each side for a few minutes.
Once the tofu looks generally golden brown, add the vegetables.  Heat until warm.
Add the peanut sauce, and heat until warm.

Rice:
Meanwhile, prepare rice according to the package instructions.  We used brown rice.

Once the rice and stir fry are both ready, serve together.  We also splurged at the grocery store and bought spring rolls, which are always great.  Mmm.

Comments:
Rachel really liked the stir fry and hopes we make it again.  She also enjoyed the spring rolls, but none of us can take any credit for that :) 

Simon thought using frozen vegetables was a good way to get a variety of vegetables (spoken by someone who likes a frustratingly low number of vegetables...).  He gave dinner 7 thumbs up.

I thought it was very good and very filling.  I'm traditionally not a huge fan of tofu--I wouldn't choose it over some other meat substitutes--but I enjoyed it here.  Browning it is key.  The major benefit of this recipe is that it's quick and low-maintenance (especially when using frozen vegetables).  My mom has noted in the past that vegan cooking requires a lot of prep work, but this recipe is an exception.