Super easy meaty weeknight ziti

Sometimes I wonder why anyone bothers writing pasta recipes since it’s so easy just to throw stuff in that you’ve got in the cupboard, freezer, and fridge.  Here’s an easy weeknight pasta recipe anyway.

Beefy ‘shroomy ziti – serves one with enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow
1/4 bag/box pasta or whatever you’ve got open in the cabinet 
1 totally freezer burned vegan veggie burger
Hand full of frozen mushrooms covered in frost that you saved from the summer farmer’s market/CSA
Any remaining wine from wine glass from the day before when you fell asleep watching TV
Sprinkle italian herbs/garlic
2-3 big dashes of Tobasco
Any remaining Ragu or similarly jarred spaghetti sauce you find near the back of the fridge
Cook pasta.  Saute everything else together in pan and add pasta when done, then let cook another 5 minutes to absorb the sauce. 
Seriously and I wonder why I neglect the blog.  Clearly I need to cook more interesting stuff.  Me thinks it’s time to make some vegan cupcakes…look out!

Mofo 15 – Sexy Vegetables! – Daikon Radish

I picked up this well hung daikon radish at the Farmer’s Market in Lewes this morning. 
Daikon food porn…

The daikon was quite a bargain at $3.  It took up half the back seat.  I’ll make something Japanese with it tomorrow.

The Lewes Farmer’s Market.  Nestled in the wooded grounds of the Historical Society in downtown.

Now I’m headed to my High School reunion like Zach & Miri and Romy & Michele with a little Grosse Point Blank.

Candle Cafe at home (or work) Seitan Piccata!

I was grabbing a few vegan Kashi frozen meals for the office when I spied a familiar logo at the bottom of the Whole Foods freezer.  Can this be?  It’s Candle Cafe’s seitan piccata in frozen form!

I made it for lunch today.  I don’t have a microwave at home, but they’re pretty darn handy at work.  Five minutes later, I enjoyed my haute cuisine at my desk.

Sure it’s no substitute for the lovely ambiance of Candle Cafe or Candle 79, but as far as freezer food goes this was DELICIOUS!  At only 210 calories, this is some serious lean cuisine.  I think they’re usually about $6, but they were 2 for $9 with $1 off each coupon, so I got a super deal going on here.  

Mofo 3 – OMG the awesome juicer is the funnest invention ever!!

Sure it’s a little messy, but it’s so freakin’ fun!  I almost feel bad for the vegetables as I smash them to their doom.  If you have the means and want to make your own juice, definitely spring for the uber fancy model.  It’s easy to clean you can make a whole lot before it needs to be cleaned out.  You don’t even have to cut the vegetables up that much.
Left is super green with kale, spinach, celery, apple, parsley, lemon.  Middle is carrot, apple pear.  Right is all beet.  I’ll probably mix them together, but they’re so pretty alone!  

Vegan MoFo day 2 – Juicer inspired by the documentary "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead"

The vegan month of food blogging has arrived!  This is my 4th year participating and I’ve got a few things going on.

First off I bought a juicer yesterday.  I haven’t gotten the thing out of the box yet, but I’m getting ready to give it a whirl.  Just because I like to go all out on my gadgets, it’s the super awesome one.  The good ones range from $100-$500.    

Here’s the why and I’ll follow up with the how it’s going and what I’m making.

A.  I don’t fit into my pants.  I got a new job with an awesome driving commute.  The downside is that I don’t walk anymore as part of my commute.  I also miss the awesome fruit carts outside my downtown office where I would get fresh fruit and vegetable juices everyday.    

B.  My husband (a.k.a. the ninja) has been watching what seems like every streaming video documentary on Netflix.  On his own he stumbled on the man-movie Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead and decided he wanted to add more nutrients to his diet.  Knowing he’s not going to power down several plates of vegetables each day he figures he’d be more likely drink the vegetables.  The ninja still insists he’s not going to be vegan and doesn’t want to look like Moby (sorry Moby) but after watching Joe Cross (the guy in the movie) and Phil (and the trucker guy he meets) get healthy, the ninja is motivated to make some healthy lifestyle changes.  He doesn’t need to or want to actually lose weight, he just wants to get more nutrition.  

Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead – I’m watching it on streaming netflix now.

  
Yesterday I headed into the city to get my hair cut and stopped at a juice cart in Union Square for some veggie juices.  If you’re in NYC, definitely look for the fruit carts.  You can get veggie juices, smoothies, and fruit bowls for less than $5.  It’s the best bargain in town.  I was running a few errands, so I ended up going back two more times before heading home.  I was surprised that after only having 3 large vegetable juices, by 4pm I wasn’t totally starving.  I had a snack, then brought the ninja to Andy’s Pure Food in Rye.

We had a Green Monster and an Iron Maiden.  He didn’t like the Iron Maiden, I think because it had cilantro in it.  I thought was good.  He liked the first few sips of the Green Monster, but then thought it had too much cucumber and tasted like pickles.  He drank about half.  He wants to make his own blend to find something he likes.  I think he’s just got more taste bud adjusting to do than me, so we’ll experiment.

Now off to Chef Central to pick out a juicer.  Everyone seems to recommend the Breville juicers which come in a range of prices.  After deliberating we went for the more power, easier to clean, and more metal parts option of the top of the line model.  It’s pricey, but I use my accounting skills to amortize the costs.  If I use it everyday for just over a year, that’s only $1 per day.  Then it’s free for the rest of it’s existence!  And I won’t need to buy new pants.

I picked up my CSA veggies this morning, and I’ve got really fresh beets, kale, apples, peppers, and carrots.  So I’m off to experiment!

Stay tuned…        

Sweet Treat Chocolate Truffles – Vegan Unplugged

You didn’t think they’d forget dessert in the apocalypse didya?  Vegan Unplugged has 9 easy peasy desserts to cheer up your palate in any emergency.  These yummy truffles are ready in a flash and are full of chocolatey peanutty goodness.  I ended up rolling them in coconut for no other reason than I found a package of coconut when I went digging for the chocolate chips.  These ingredients need to go in the 5 day meal box!

These confections benefit from some light refrigeration, but if that’s not available I assure you they are super yummy at summer room temperature (says an anonymous party who slurped a few down before waiting for them to chill!)

White Beans and Greens Soup – Vegan Unplugged

Sure you can buy soup already in a can, but homemade soup made from stuff that was originally canned puts you in control of the flavors!  This white bean and greens soup from Vegan Unplugged is comforting and delicious.  I didn’t have any cool shaped tiny pasta, so I used orzo.  This is a meal in a bowl that is perfect hurricane fare.  I’m gonna need a second helping.

It didn’t need them, but I added potatoes just because I’m fascinated by potatoes that come in a can.  Just a note on canned spinach.  It’s really important to taste it and rinse it before dumping it in any dishes.  Even if you lose some in the colander, it’s better to make sure there’s no dirt in it.  Nothing ruins a bite full of delicious soup like biting into grit.  I rinsed well and mine is A-OK.

This is a photo from the courtyard of my complex.  Yeah I know we’re not supposed to go outside, but this was done in total safety.  I don’t think I get to call this the eye of the storm, since it’s now a Tropical Storm it’s just the center, but we got some blue sky and a glimpse of the sun a little while ago.  We’re just getting sporadic high wind and intermittent heavy rain now as the storm moves out.

We never lost power despite my Vegan Unplugged preparations, but lots of people in CT and NJ are cooking over candles.  There’s also flooding in low lying areas.  I’m near the top of a big hill that leads to the Hudson so I’m safe and snug indoors.

Mom was not hit by the Tornado in Lewes, DE even though it was only about a mile away.  I don’t think anyone was hurt and sorry for whoever’s house got demolished.  Mom lost power in the late evening, but got it back by this morning.  

Best of luck to everyone dealing with the effects.  Be safe and let me know if I can bring you some soup!

Last Resort Lasagna – Vegan Unplugged

This is one of the easiest lasagnas I’ve ever made.  Vegan Unplugged rocks it again.  I cooked the lasagna noodles with the fuel efficient boil-and-let-them-sit method.  Then layered them with some cheater (Ragu) sauce and a delicious tofu and white bean seasoned “ricotta”, and topped with a little nooch.  
I’m finding that the best way to do this is to cook on low for about 20 minutes, then let it sit for a bit (while I took a shower before the major rains really started), then reheat again on low for another 10 minutes.  I found after the first 20 minutes, the sides were boiling while it was still cool on the top center, and letting it sit in the cast iron pan with the heat off did the trick.
Mom lost power in Delaware, so I’m figuring at some point I will too and will need these easy pantry recipes.  No need to wait for disaster, though, this is a perfect everyday recipe.  The ninja was impressed with the balance of flavors and knew it wasn’t real cheese, it just looked like cheese, but liked it anyway.  He’s going to share with a neighbor who’s girlfriend evacuated with the cats and left him to guard their basement apartment from flood and mayhem.  Sharing vegan food is the way to go!