half marathon & pre-race pasta

Last weekend I ran in my first half marathon. I didn’t know the race was even going on until about 3 days beforehand, and I made a spur of the moment decision to sign up. I wasn’t sure if I was ready or not, but I am quite happy with how I did. I might be crazy, but now I’m considering doing a full marathon at the end of October. Completing a full marathon was something I had originally anticipated doing in 2011. I figure I can start training for it (in conjunction with triathlon training of course!) and see how things progress.

Anyhoo, the night before the race I wanted to make sure I got in some healthy carbs. I know the old school notion of carb-loading is not a good idea (gorging yourself silly), but eating a healthy amount and increasing the percentage of carbs in your meal is generally recommended. I had an avocado that needed to be used up and I immediately thought of pasta della California from Veganomicon.

I changed up the recipe to accommodate what I had on-hand. I used brown rice spaghetti, and subbed spinach for the arugula and tomato for the broccoli. I also added quite a bit less veggie broth so it wouldn’t be so watery (based on some reviews I had read). I thought this was delicious and it hit the spot and fueled me up for the next morning.

For years avocados make me ill and so I avoided them like the plague. Just recently I tried eating some avocado sushi and lo and behold – no sickness! This makes me happy as they are so yummy. I keep thinking of all of the different recipes I’ve shunned over the years – now I want to go back and make them all!

More food from Get it Ripe

I was on a Get it Ripe kick for awhile. I’m pretty much over that now as once again I am deep in the madness that is the end of the semester while still collecting data for my dissertation. Anyway, I wanted to share the last few things that I made.

Here is the alfredo. I must say that I was not a fan. I had to doctor this up quite a bit. I thickened it with cornstarch as it was way too runny. It also was very tasteless, so I remedied that with nutritional yeast, loads of black pepper, and some different herbs. All in all I wouldn’t make this version again, as there are already lots of great vegan alfredo recipes out there. I served this on spaghetti noodles made of quinoa.

Next to the alfredo are brussel sprouts baked with dijon mustard which I loved! They were super easy to make, too. I might play around with the recipe a bit in the future.

Dijon Brussel Sprouts

• 1 lb. brussel sprouts, ends trimmed (I slice the overly big ones in half)
• 2 tbsp. dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Lightly spray brussel sprouts. Toss brussel sprouts with dijon. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bake 10 min. Toss brussel sprouts. Bake anothe 10 minues, or until brussel sprouts reach desired tenderness.

Another thing I made from Get it Ripe was the lentil dahl. I really enjoyed the seasonings in this dish and I think I may combine it with my usual dahl recipe, as I prefer the texture of that one. I think the two combined would be great and I’ll have to play around with that in the future. I served it on a bed of baby spianch like Jae Steele (the author) suggested. I was skeptical at first, but it was actually really good! I omitted the oil to make this Eat to Live compliant.

Valentine’s Day Dinner

What follows is not healthy. It is full of white flour and olive oil and fat. And sugar (in the case of dessert). But it was good. Oh so good.

We decided to stay in for Valentine’s day, since my birthday is right around the corner and we are going out for that. So I made us stuffed shells (based on the recipe from Uncheese, but with a few modifications, more on that below), ceasar salad from Veganomicon, and garlic bread made with a loaf of fancy bread from my favourite artisan bakery that has garlic cloves baked right into the bread. The true way to the hearts of my bf and myself….lots of garlic.

For dessert I made Hot Fudge Sundae Cake from More Great Dairy-Free Desserts, Naturally by Fran Costigan. It tasted delicious, but I was expecting it to be a bit more firm. Yes I realize it’s pudding cake. But even as far as pudding cake goes it was runny. But still delicious. The bf had his with vanilla ice cream but I made cashew cream from Get it Ripe. This was also a lot runnier than I had anticipated. And although it tasted okay, I didn’t think it added anything to the dessert, so I probably wouldn’t make it again. Topped it off with some chocolate covered strawberries and there you have it: a lovely looking romantic dessert.

Stuffed Shells: (based on recipe from Uncheese cookbook)
-Tomato sauce (I used roasted garlic marinara sauce from Veganomicon)
-12 jumbo pasta shells, cooked according to package directions

Filling ingredients:
-1/2 lb. extra firm tofu, crumbled
-2/3 c. Vegannaise
-2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
-3 tsp. garlic powder
-3 tsp. onion powder
-2 tsp. dried parsley
-2 tsp. dried oregnao
-1 tsp. dried basil
-salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix filling ingredients together. Taste the filling and adjust as you wish.
3. Cover bottom of casserole dish with sauce.
4. Fill each shell with a couple of spoonfuls of the filling. Place each shell in dish.
5. Cover shells with remaining sauce. I don’t like mine too overly saucy, but each to their own.
6. Bake 30-40 min., until heated through.

Vegan MoFo: Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Sage Crumb Topping

We still have tons of pumpkin puree, so I decided to jump on the vegan blog bandwagon and try the pumpkin baked ziti from Veganomicon. Well, kind of, we didn’t have ziti so I used penne. I also used the tofu ricotta recipe instead of the cashew ricotta so the bf could eat it. Oh yes, and I left out the walnuts in the topping. Maybe it was my changes to the recipe, but we thought this was just “okay.” I’ve read a lot of raves about this recipe, so I think perhaps I just didn’t do that great of a job of making it nut-free. Excuse the bad picture, it was late, which implies bad lighting. Which I am sure I am going to have to deal with all winter. Boo.

Note: My Mom is here for the next few days staying with us, so I probably won’t be visiting your blogs as often as I normally do.

Vegan MoFo: Perfecting the Mac & Cheese

Oddly enough, I hardly ever ate macaroni and cheese in my lacto-ovo days. In fact I think I made it twice. But I seem to eat it a lot as a vegan. It’s my ultimate comfort food…easy to whip up…deliciously warm, creamy, and “cheesy.” Each time I make it I tinker with the original recipe a bit more. The last time I made it I think it was just about perfect. I used penne because I was out of macaroni, but I realized I loved it 100x more with the penne. Not sure why. But that’s what I plan on using from now on.

Ingredients:
-4 cups cooked penne (just boil and drain it)
-1 1/2 c. soymilk
-1/2 c. water
-1/2 c. low sodium soy sauce or tamari
-1 1/2 c. nutritional yeast
-1 tbsp. paprika
-1 tbsp. garlic powder
-1 tbsp. onion powder
-1/4 tsp. turmeric
-2 tsp. salt
-1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
-2 tsp. cornstarch
-2/3 c. earth balance margarine
-2 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
-2/3 c. panko breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Combine all ingredients except pasta and breadcrumbs in blender. Process until smooth. At this point taste the sauce. If you want to adjust the seasonings/spices now would be the time to do it.

3. Place cooked penne in large casserole dish. Pour sauce over top and mix so that sauce is evenly distributed. Sprinkle top with panko bread crumbs. I like to top my bread crumbs with a bit of paprika and pepper, but do whatever you like.

4. Place casserole dish in oven. Bake 15 minutes. You may broil the casserole for an additional few minutes to brown the top, if desired.

5. Let stand 5-10 min. before serving.

This makes a LOT. I like to freeze the leftovers to take for lunches.

Vegan MoFo: Spaghetti & Beanballs

I have had “spaghetti and bean balls” marked in Veganomicon ever since I bought my copy. But just now have I finally made this dish…and I’m sad I waited so long. The bf and I have spaghetti fairly regularly…but usually with just a veggie sauce. These were a great addition. I wasn’t sure the bf would like them as he is picky with his faux meats. Unfortunately for me he really liked them. I was looking forward to hoarding all of the leftover bean balls but as it turns out I had to share.

We baked them instead of frying. I think next time I will follow Isa’s advice and make them smaller. I just got lazy rolling out all of the balls and ended up making them a bit larger than recommended.

Still no computer…I’m keeping my fingers crossed it’s ready today. You think they would just hurry up and finish it so they don’t have to deal with me phoning them everyday to check up on it.

Absenteeism…and Alfredo!

Yes, I know, I’ve been neglecting this blog lately. I’ve been in and out of the city quite a bit, and then there’s the ever-looming dissertation that has been a beast lately. Excuses, excuses. And the bf’s sister is arriving tonight and staying with us for awhile so I doubt things will improve much in the free time department. However, here I will attempt to make it up to you with tidings of delicious vegan alfredo, that even my alfredo connoisseur bf liked:

The original recipe is from Lachesis over at the Post Punk Kitchen. Beware that this recipe makes a TON of sauce…I think I’ll be eating leftovers for days and days.

Vegan Alredo Sauce: (Adapted from Lachesis)
-1/2 c. Earth Balance
-2 c. soymilk (unsweetened)
-1 package extra-firm silken tofu
-2 tbsp. white wine
-2 tbsp. onion powder
-4 cloves roasted garlic
-3 tsp. sea salt
-3 tsp. black pepper
-1 pinch nutmeg

-3 tbsp. arrowroot powder (apparently cornstarch will work just fine)

1. Combine all ingredients except arrowroot in blender. Puree until smooth.

2. Pour mixture into saucepan over medium-low heat. Add a wee bit of the sauce to the arrowroot and mix to form a smooth paste. Add this to the saucepan.

3. Stir constantly over medium-low heat. Do not let sauce boil. It should start to thicken up. If you would like it thicker, add more arrowroot.

I served this with Marinated Italian Tofu from Veganomicon. The most exciting part of this was that the bf actually ate tofu that was NOT deep fried and said it was “okay.” I’ll count that as a victory.

To go along with the meal, we had nice fresh homemade baguettes:

Vegan Baguettes:
-1 cup warm (110 F) water
-2 1/2 cups bread flour
-1 tbsp. white sugar
-1 tsp. salt
-1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

Wash:
-1/2 tsp. cornstarch
-1/2 c. + 2 tsp. water

1. Mix yeast in water with sugar. Let sit for 10 minutes until foamy.

2. Add flour and salt. Knead dough until firm and elastic (around 10 minutes). Place dough in oiled bowl and cover with damp cloth. Let sit until the dough is doubled in size.

3. Make cornstarch wash: mix cornstarch with 1 tsp. water. Add 1/2 cup water. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir. Microwave for another 30 seconds.

4. Punch down dough. Separate dough into two equal balls. Shape into baguettes (tutorial here). Slit tops of baguettes four times. Brush baguettes with the cornstarch wash.

5. Cover baguettes with damp cloth. Let sit until doubled (about 45 minutes).

6. Preheat oven to 375 F. Bake baguettes 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

Ceasar salad, Pesto, and Rhubarb Pie

This morning we were at the farmer’s market and saw David Adjey! I have no idea what he’s doing here, I heard it’s for some festival or some such thing. I don’t know if non-Canadians will know who he is…but he used to be on a show called Restaurant Makeover on Food Network Canada. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me…I really would have loved a picture with him. I didn’t even have a pen and paper for an autograph. And I was too shy to go up and talk to him. So I was just creepy and kind of gawked from a distance. Smooth. Anyway, the point of talking about the farmer’s market was to talk about all of the nice, fresh ingredients I acquired for tonight’s dinner.

First up, a lady had some really nice looking basil for quite a reasonable price, so I made some sun-dried tomato pesto, inspired by the one in Vegan with a Vengeance. My basil plants are still waaaay too young to make pesto. Anyhoo, the bf is allergic to nuts so i left those out. Is it still called pesto without nuts? I’m not sure. Anyway it was still good! my tomatoes were the kind packed in oil so I didn’t have to boil them in water like the recipe says. However, in the original recipe you’re supposed to use this water afterwards in the actual pesto. So this resulted in me eyeballing the ingredients. The bf has never had pesto before and he really seemed to like it. I have quite a bit leftover, I think it would be awesome on pizza.

To go with it I made ceasar salad from Veganomicon. I even roasted the garlic bulbs in the oven and made croutons out of some homemade french bread I had in the freezer. No being lazy for me. I can’t remember what real ceasar dressing tastes like (it’s been 10 years!) but it tasted what I think I remember it tasted like. The bf said it wasn’t the same, but that it was still good. I have tons of dressing leftover…looks like ceasar salads for me for the rest of the week.

Also at the farmer’s market we got a huge batch of fresh rhubarb. What do you do with that much rhubarb other than make a pie? My recipe was based on this one, but I made some changes.

Rhubarb Pie:

• 1 recipe for a double 9″ pie crust (whatever one you like to use)
• 4 c. chopped rhubarb
• 1 c. white sugar
• 6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp. earth balance

Preheat oven to 450 F. Combine sugar and flour. Sprinkle 1/4 of the mixture on the bottom of the pie. Pile rhubarb on top. Sprinkle remaining flour/sugar mix on top. Dot earth balance in small gobs on top of this. Put on top of pie crust.

On lowest rack in oven, bake pie for 15 min. Lower temp. to 350 F and bake for another 40 min.

Spaghetti & Garlic Toast

Tonight for dinner the bf made spaghetti and sauce. He loves making sauces and tinkering with them for hours. I don’t know how he does it. I definitely do NOT have the makings of a saucier. I simply don’t have the patience for it. But he seems to enjoy it and it always tastes damn good.

I’d love nothing more than to post a detailed recipe for you, but quite frankly he doesn’t really follow a recipe when making the sauce. But here’s what he does: (1) fry some onions and mushrooms in a bit of oil, (2) add 1 cup of veggie ground round, (3) add tomato sauce, (4) tinker around with garlic, spices, and herbs until he’s finally happy with it. Not much of a recipe is it?

Anyhoo, I sprinkled mine with some nutritional yeast and we made garlic bread out of Sunday’s ciabatta bread with olive oil, crushed garlic, and parsley. Yum.

Vegan Mac & ”Cheese”

Last night for dinner I made vegan macaroni & cheese. While I probably wouldn’t call it macaroni and cheese per se, it was very very good. If you don’t expect it to taste like mac & cheese that is. The sauce really tastes like soy sauce and nutritional yeast, so if you like those two things then you should love this.

Based on reviews of the recipe I changed things up a bit. I cut waaay back on the salt as a few people complained about the saltiness. I also added a wee bit less soy sauce and omitted the water called for in the recipe. It would have been waaay too runny if I had added that. Finally, to top it off, I sprinkled the top with homemade breadcrumbs. I really think this helped the dish a LOT. Without the crunchy texture to balance things I think this would have been just a bowl of nutritional yeast and soy sauce on pasta, which probably wouldn’t be all that appetizing.

I served this with chickpea cutlets, which I love, but the bf certainly did not like. He hated the texture and couldn’t finish his. Meh, more for me. He did however have two helpings of the macaroni. He said it was really different and he couldn’t tell if he liked it or not, but at the end of it all I asked if he would eat it again and he said yes, but only as a side dish. Fair enough.