"Cheesy" Stuffed Shells w/ Herby Red Sauce & "Buttery" Beets and Green Beans

Still cleaning out my pantry...
Turned a bunch of "need to use now" items into an easy, satisfying meal for two! You can skip the baking part of the process if you heat up the sauce before hand, but I like to put it in my handy dandy new digital, conventional toaster oven to bake and keep warm.

"Cheesy" Stuffed Shells w/ Highly Herbed Sauce:

"Cheesy" Stuffed Shells:

12 large shells, cooked and drained

2 t. extra-light extra virgin olive oil
8 mushrooms, sliced
2 c. frozen chopped spinach
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. vegan burger crumbles
1/2 c. soy cheese, shredded
Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, Basil
Pepper
Pinch of salt

Herby Red Sauce:

3 c. of your favorite pasta sauce (not anything overpowering though)
Tomato, diced
Onion, chopped
1 T. Basil
1 t. Onion Powder
1 t. Itailian Seasoning

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl and pour into the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
Sautee all of the ingredients below cooked shells, adding one at a time (soy cheese goes in last) in a skillet on medium heat, until everything is cooked through and incorporated. Stuff shells and place on the sauce pan. When finished, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Sweet Potato Raviolis w/ Whole Wheat "Cream Cheese" & Chive Rolls

A good way to get rid of leftover wonton recipes from who knows when...
I had a sweet potato, a block of tofu, and some leftover wonton wrappers...um, ravioli night? Turned out pretty tasty once I added in a little vegan know-how and added a bit of nutritional yeast to make it cheesier and added some rubbed sage and other spices. The crumbled tofu gave the raviolis a kinda ricotta-ish texture and made the sweet potato not so...potatoey. The "cream" sauce was made from unsweetened soy milk, a "butter" and whole wheat flour slurry, and herbs and spices. Paired this with a whole wheat roll that had the yummy additions of tofutti cream chease and chives. Still prefer butternut raviolis to this, but it was well worth the effort in regards to my pantry crisis!

"Sausage" Orzo Pilaf & Green Envy Mix

Only 20 minutes to whip up dinner...
A clever and complete source of protein dinner it is! Idea was from Dancer^, but I kicked it up a bit and lowered the amount of fat to make it seem more like a healthy main dish. The green envy mix was purchased from Trader Joe's, to which I added a scant amount of Earth Balance margarine to--basically, it's a tasty mixture of soybeans, green beans, spinach, and broccoli.

"Sausage" Orzo Pilaf:

2 T. Earth Balance margarine
1 t. olive oil
1 c. orzo
3 T. vegan ground "sausage"
3 c. water mixed with
1 1/2 T. vegan chicken broth powder
5 cremini mushrooms, chopped
parsley
onion powder
pepper

Melt margarine in a medium saucepan on medium heat, add orzo and let brown for a few minutes. Add olive oil then "sausage" and let brown for another couple minutes, toss in mushrooms, parsley, onion powder, pepper, and broth mixture and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Let cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove lid and stir.

RFD's Faux Turkey Breast w/ Mushroom Gravy & Steamed Veggies w/ Diz's Sage "Butter" Sauce

Real Food Daily is my favorite place to eat...
And I don't mean just in the L.A. area, I mean in the whole WORLD! Ann Gentry is such an inspiration for me and always amazes me with all the creative bi-weekly specials at her eateries. She incorporates mostly macrobiotic aspects of healing through food in her meals and of course, as with the strict law of macrobiotics, she makes use of all the organic seasonal items around our area. It is just absolutely amazing what she comes up with! Tonight, I made her faux turkey that I love so much in the fall (no worries, still within macrobiotic rules!) and added a side of steamed broccoli and a very light drizzle of my very own sage "butter" sauce.

Diz's Sage "Butter" Sauce:

2 t. Earth Balance Margarine
1 t. Extra Light Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch of rubbed sage
dash of fresh ground black pepper

"Beef" Stew & Outback Steakhouse Bread w/ Whipped "Butter"

TVP comes as unflavored chunks too!!!
I LOVE this new place that we discovered in Santa Monica on Sunday called "Co-Opportunity" because their bulk section is engrossing! And yes, yes, most of it is organic and/or fair trade! Dane went straight for the wonderful chocolate-covered goodies and gazillion types of granolas, and I dove straight into the cooking corner filled with so many different types of flours, beans, and grains. I think it's awesome that all these little co-ops came together to produce a Whole Foods-ish type store with lots of variety and super produce. We went to Pasadena afterwards so we couldn't stock up on the perishables, but man, I WILL be going back soon! Thank you again nice lady at Whole Foods in Santa Monica for turning me on to my new favorite grocery store! This recipe below was inspired by a non-vegan stew by evelyn/athens. SJG3483's rip off of Outback's Honey Wheat bread from top secret recipes: http://www.recipezaar.com/64435.

"Beef" Stew:
(no exact measurements)

Unflavored TVP chunks, rehydrated with boiling hot water and a pinch of vegan beef base
olive oil
onions, chopped
carrots, halved, cut into chunks about an inch long
good-quality red wine, dry is best
roma tomatoes, diced (or can use canned diced tomatoes w/ juice)
a nice amount of each: oregano, basil, thyme, parsley
a huge dollop of hoisin sauce (VERY important, don't leave out!)
a bay leaf
equal amounts of arrowroot powder (or conrstarch if absolutely necessary) and water for thickening stew

Heat a little oil in a stew pot over mediom-high heat. Add the rehydrated TVP chunks (should not be dripping wet, drain first if necessary) and "brown" them for a bit. Push them to the sides of the pan and add a little more oil, add onions. Sautee until soft, then mix with the "beef". Add carrots and tomatoes with their juices, sautee until juices start to leave the flesh and meld with onion. Add the garlic, herbs, hoisin sauce, and bay leaf. Bring to boil and add more wine (adding as much wine as you would like for a stew). Cover and turn heat down to a high low. Let simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove bay leaf, season with salt and pepper if desired, and add the arrowroot/water slurry (I generally use 1 T. arrowroot to 1 T. water for 4 cups of liquid) to the stew. Bring heat up to a medium high and stir until thickened. Serve sprinkled with more parsley.

Two Weird Pizzas Night

Tomato, Basil, Soy Mozzarella w/ homemade garlic cream sauce & Sausage, Onion, Mushroom, Soy Cheese w/ spicy hummus...
Yum! Absolutely experimental this evening. Used fresh basil from the garden and whipped up the garlic sauce from available items from the pantry and fridge. The spicy hummus I thought would be a nice change from the usual tomato base...I was right!

Squashy Casserole & Carrot-Parsnip Mash

Trying to get back on a strict diet once again...
We had a great time in Denver, CO! Spent lots of time with wonderful relatives and had plenty of good times exploring the rocky terrain and having pleasant conversations over a glass of wine...if only those days could've been a bit longer!

Squashy Casserole:
(No exact measurements)

2 medium-sized mexican squash, sliced
2 medium-sized zucchinis, sliced
2 crookneck squash, sliced
chopped sweet onion
1 T. earth balance margarine
4 pieces of lightly toasted sesame Ezekiel bread, cut into cubes
about a 1/2 c. unsweetened soymilk
shredded soy cheese
1/4 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. paprika
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Sautee squash and onions in a large skillet with the melted earth balance over medium heat until soft. Add rest of the ingredients and mix well. Pour into a foil-lined loaf pan and plop into tthe oven for about 35-45 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Carrot-Parsnip Mash:

6 carrots, peeled, cubed
2 large parsnips, peeled, cubed
1 T. earth balance margarine (use more if desired)

In a steamer (I use the steam basket that came with my rice cooker), steam carrots and parsnips until they are very tender, but not excessively mooshy. Place them in a bowl and mash with the margarine until they're as smashed as you like them. Serve immedietely!