Spinach and Sweet Potato Pie

I'm a big fan of dinner pies.  It's always such a good feeling to puncture the crust and release the savory steam trapped inside.  Plus, dinner pies are a pretty low-maintenance way to prepare veggies in a filling way.  This Spinach and Sweet Potato Pie puts a Mexican spin on more traditional pot pies. 

The full dish.

While I've used standard pie crust to top other pot pies, we tried puff pastry on this one (with limited success, as I'll explain below). 

Recipe:     
Spinach and Sweet Potato Pie

• 1/2 pound puff pastry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
• about 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (enough to cover the potatoes in the pot)
• 2 cups frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 - 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• a dash of pepper
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• hot sauce to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and set out a casserole dish.  Take the puff pastry out of the freezer to thaw as you prepare the rest of the dish.

Then heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown.  Then add the jalapeno and garlic and cook for another minute.

Next, add the sweet potatoes and vegetable broth to the pot and stir.  Cover the pot and cook until the sweet potatoes are slightly softened.  Add the spinach and cook (uncovered) for another two minutes.  Then add the black beans, cumin, lime juice, pepper, nutritional yeast, and hot sauce and cook until the vegetable broth is mostly absorbed. Stir in the cilantro.

Finally, pour the mixture into the casserole dish and lay the pastry over the top, folding over any extra that would otherwise extend beyond the edge of the dish.  Bake for about 16 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Yields about 8 servings.

Comments:
Taste:            

We enjoyed this dish; but, as Rachel put it, it was unexciting.  As I alluded to earlier, the puff pastry caused some problems: it didn't puff up, and it tasted a bit doughy despite the fact that the top had seemingly browned sufficiently.  Perhaps we could have cooked the dish a bit more without burning it, so I'd give that a try.  I would also use another can of beans next time, since the black beans were a bit lost among the spinach and sweet potato.  That said, the dish had a good, almost smoky flavor and I did enjoy eating it. 

Accessibility:          

The puff pastry was on sale (at least it had that going for it!).  On the whole, the ingredients list is pretty accessible, but unfortunately nutritional yeast has yet to hit mainstream market shelves.  We went to Whole Foods to find it.   

  Ease of Preparation:          

Considering this recipe requires both cooking and baking, it's pretty fast and easy to handle. 

Non-vegan friendliness:           

This is a filling dish and I wouldn't say it's missing any obvious animal-based ingredients.    

Avocado, Spinach, and Sun-dried Tomato Panini

Every once in a while I browse Vegetarian Times' website for recipes.  They have a pretty decent selection of vegan recipes, though, as I've said before, most recipes contain dairy products.  The other day I found an intriguing panini recipe: what I like most about it is that it doesn't assume I have a panini maker (I don't).  Plus, anything with sun-dried tomatoes and avocado catches my eye.     

The perfect summer sandwich--even in October.

Here's the Vegetarian Times recipe with a few of my own adjustments.

Recipe:     
Avocado, Spinach, and Sun-dried Tomato Paninis

• 1 - 8.5 ounce jar julienned sun-dried tomatoes in oil
• 3 avocados, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 small red onion, sliced thinly
• 3 cups lightly packed baby spinach
• 6 ciabatta rolls, cut in half

First, use a fork to remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the oil; set aside.  Next, layer each roll with  avocado, sun-dried tomato, onion, and 1/2  cup spinach.  Then lightly spray the exterior of each roll with cooking spray.  

Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Place one or two paninis in the pan and weight them down with a smaller-diameter saucepan weighted with one or two cans.  Cook for about two minutes, remove the weight, carefully flip the paninis using a spatula, replace the weight, and cook for another two minutes.

(If you do have a panini maker, cook for four minutes using the panini maker.)

Cut in half and serve.  Yields 6 paninis.

Comments:
Taste:          

Our paninis struggled a bit because our rolls were pretty small (they were square-shaped and maybe four inches wide).  It was difficult to keep all of the ingredients in the panini, let alone get all of the ingredients together in one bite.  As a result, I recommend using medium or large ciabatta rolls to ensure the structural soundness of each panini. 

When all of the ingredients did come together, it was a delicious bite.  The firm, toasty bread contrasted nicely with the smooth avocado, and the sun-dried tomatoes added a smoky, sweet flavor.  

Accessibility:        

We had trouble finding appropriately-sized ciabatta rolls at our regular grocery store (it doesn't have the greatest bakery section).  Everything else was easy to find, though the ingredients are a bit expensive as far as sandwiches go. 

 Ease of Preparation:         

While assembling the sandwich is quick and easy, it was a little difficult to flip the paninis in the pan without spilling some ingredients.  Again, I think larger rolls would help solve this problem. 

Non-vegan friendliness:         

I could see this panini on the menu of any café or sandwich shop.     

Creamy Noodles with Spinach and Green Peas

Sometimes recipes don't turn out as planned.  Yes, that can be a bad (burnt, crumbly, bland) thing, but in some cases it turns out to be a wonderful thing!  Last week we set out to make fettuccine Alfredo and ended up with a pasta dish that tasted nothing like the classic comfort food.  Instead, we ended up with a creamy, fresh, slightly sweet pasta dish that I'll definitely make again: Creamy Noodles with Spinach and Green Peas.

I love the two different shades of green from the peas and spinach.

Recipe:     
Creamy Noodles with Spinach and Green Peas

• 1 pound whole wheat fettuccine
• 1.5 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 - 14 ounce can coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 ounces Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese (or another vegan cream cheese)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 - 10 ounce package frozen spinach
• 1 cup frozen peas

First, cook the fettuccine according to package directions. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the corn in a food processor and process until well-blended.  Add the coconut milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and nutritional yeast and process until combined.  Set aside.

Then heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the onion once the butter melts.  Sauté the onion for five minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then lower the heat to medium-low, add the cream cheese, and allow the cream cheese to melt, stirring occasionally. 

Next, add the corn mixture, nutmeg, and frozen vegetables to the pot and heat until just boiling.  Use a wooden spoon to separate the spinach as it cooks. 

Once the sauce is hot, toss with the pasta, salt to taste, and serve hot. Yields 6 servings.

Comments:
Taste:          

This pasta dish has a pretty unique flavor and texture.  The onions and blended corn add a bit of a crunch to the generally creamy dish, while the sweet, earthy flavor of the corn is noticeable but not overpowering.  Some dishes made with nutritional yeast can have a very particular (some say unappealing) aftertaste, but that's not the case with this one.   

Accessibility:       

While vegan cream cheese is now pretty easy to find in most grocery stores, nutritional yeast hasn't quite hit the mainstream.  We had to go to Whole Foods to get it--on the plus side, it's REALLY inexpensive (we bought about 1/2 cup for less than $1). 

 Ease of Preparation:         

This is a pretty quick recipe to make, and if you time it right, the noodles will be done cooking just as it's time to toss them with the sauce. 

Non-vegan friendliness:        

This is a tasty dish, but Simon noted that the taste didn't match his expectations based on the dish's appearance.  In other words, the dish looks like a cheesy-flavored dish, but that's not what it tastes like. 

Spinach Lover's Lasagna

Hello Loyal Readers!  After nearly 10 months of avidly following Dinner Is Vegan, you surely know and adore Carol's affable prose and are presumably familiar with Simon's guest posts (spicy corn pakoras, anyone?).  However, I have no doubt that you've all been wondering for ages about this mysterious third roommate, the other half of the non-vegan contingent of the apartment.  Time for the big reveal!  I, Rachel, took the lead on making tonight's culinary creation, and am writing my inaugural guest post about our wonderful Spinach Lover's Lasagna.  In addition to being loaded with vitamins and calcium, this delightful iron-rich entree also gives you big Popeye muscles.

Thar she blows.

A single serving.

Recipe:     
Spinach Lover's Lasagna

• 1 pound lasagna noodles
• 2 packages (10 oz each) frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 - 16 ounce package lite firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4.5 cups tomato sauce

First, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and set on a large pot of water to prep your lasagna noodles.  Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, thaw your frozen spinach in the microwave.  I recommend breaking up the icy chunks with a knife / fist to facilitate the thawing.  In the end, ours took about 15 minutes to thaw on the defrost setting, much to Carol's chagrin.  By the end, there should be no ice crystals remaining, and squeeze all excess water out of the spinach.  I literally grabbed hunks of it in my hand and squeezed over the sink.  Set aside in a large bowl.

Get out your trusty food processor.  Place pressed tofu (I recommend cutting into large chunks instead of cramming the whole block in there), sugar, milk, garlic powder, lemon juice, basil, and salt in the processor and blend until smooth.  The mixture should be creamy but not liquidy.  It really does look and feel like ricotta cheese.

Put the tofu and seasoning mixture into the big bowl with your squeeze-drained spinach.  Combine thoroughly.  At this point you could add some more salt if you like but I found that the 1 teaspoon I added to the blended mixture was plenty.

Then, cover the bottom of your 9 x 13 inch pan with a thin layer of tomato sauce.  Then put down a layer of noodles (probably about 5 noodles, somewhat overlapped, about a third of your total noodles).  Then put down a layer of the tofu filling (use half of the tofu-spinach mixture), and spread evenly.  I recommend putting small dollops all over the noodles and then spreading them out by hand.  Then pour over about half of the remaining tomato sauce, and then another layer of noodles.  Add the rest of the tofu filling and cover with the remaining noodles and finish with the remaining tomato sauce.  To recap, the layers are sauce, noodles, filling, sauce, noodles, filling, noodles, sauce.

Bake for about 40 to 45 minutes, until piping hot and bubbling.  Remove from oven.  Narrowly avoid scalding mouth, impress Olive Oyl, repeat. 

Makes one 9"x13" pan.

Comments:
Taste:          

This lasagna is a really solid dish.  It's not anything particularly exciting or exotic, but it tastes really good and there is some heft to it because of all the layers of filling and noodles.  It reheats well so it's a good dish to make for the week.  Carol describes our version of lasagna as a "less-artery-clogging comfort food" -- a great taste without mounds of cheese and meat!

Accessibility:      

All of these ingredients are inexpensive and pretty easy to find.

 Ease of Preparation:         

We had some struggles with trying to get the spinach to thaw in the microwave, but the "ricotta" filling was easy and the layering of ingredients in the pan was pain free.  Pro tip:  try putting the spinach in the fridge the night before you make the recipe so that it will be already thawed.  The only bad part about this recipe is that it needs to cook for a long time, which is frustrating to growling tummies.

Non-vegan friendliness:        

I think this is a fully satisfying replacement for meaty lasagna.  Carol thinks the tofu does a good job of mimicking ricotta cheese.  She added that it doesn't taste like cheese, to which I reply, ricotta doesn't taste like cheese anyway!