"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!

Linguine w/ Mushroom Garlic Sauce & Roasted Asparagus w/ Lemon Thyme

Just a simple dinner kicked up with a little bit of fresh lemon thyme from the garden...
Super easy dish to make on a day that you just have better things to do other than slave over a fancy meal in the kitchen. I didn't have any lemon handy so I thought that using lemon thyme would be a clever way to impart the wonderful zing that lemon gives to roasted asparagus. A great choice indeed!

Linguine w/ Mushroom Garlic Sauce:

1/2 lbs. linguine, boiled and drained
3 T. Earth Balance Margarine
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 basil, dried
pinch of salt and pepper
1 T. extra light virgin olive oil
1 T. parsley, dried

Melt margarine in a large skillet, add garlic and saute for a minute. Add mushrooms, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook until mushrooms are tender, then add the oil, and toss in the pasta. Serve hot!

Roasted Asparagus w/ Lemon Thyme:

1 bunch of asparagus, rinsed well, hard bottoms cut off
1 juicy clove of garlic, sliced in half
1-2 t. olive oil
1 T. fresh lemon thyme, chopped to bits
a few dashes of dried thyme
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 F.
On a small cookie sheet lined with foil, take the halved garlic pieces and smash them hard against the sheet, rubbing it's juices thoroughly over the entire surface (I reserve the smashed garlic to add to my other dish). Spraying a bit of olive oil on the foil can help the process along a bit. Place spears in a single layer then drizzle with oil, sprinkle with lemon thyme, add a few dashes of dried thyme, add salt and pepper to taste. Coat the spears thoroughly and place in the oven for about 20 minutes, checking them once to turn slightly. These are so good that they still taste amazing right out of the fridge!

Chunky, Red Wine Spaghetti

Jazzing up a common dinner entree...
I felt really drained today, so I'm glad that spaghetti was up next in my meal planner. In just 30 minutes or so I had dinner ready without getting too stressed out. Earlier in the day I went to that wonderful farmer's market in Westchester/Culver City and was so pleased with the tasty little organic zuchinnis used in the sauce. I'm going to miss this little market so much when we have to move...
This spaghetti turned out great for such a simple dish. We had this with a salad composed of: baby lettuce mix, fried red onions, imitation bacon bits, a tiny sprinkle of soy cheese, with a light touch of Goddess dressing.

Chunky, Red Wine Spaghetti:

1/2 package of whole wheat spaghetti, boiled
2 T. extra light virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 small zucchini, sliced
1 1/4 c. diced tomatoes
1 c. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 c. veggie burger crumbles
as many artichoke hearts as you'd like
1 c. good dry, red wine (more if you want)
1/2 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1/2 t. dried basil
dash each of:
Italian seasoning
dried parsley
onion
garlic
salt and pepper to taste

In the same pot you used to boil your pasta, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onions until soft. Add garlic, stir, zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, crumbles, and artichoke. Add wine and let alcohol simmer off for a few minutes, adding more if you wish. Add spaghetti sauce and seasonings and let simmer for another few minutes. Spoon over pasta and serve hot!

"Tuna" Noodle Casserole & Deviled Carrots

It's been years since I had (or could eat) this dish...
Time to make a version that I can DEVOUR!!! Muahahahaha! Okay, now seriously--I was having a craving for foods that I used to enjoy when I was a little girl, and of course, my mind landed on this particular comfort dish and wouldn't budge. I used to be a BIG fan of the little Stouffer's frozen tuna noodle casserole, even though it grosses me out now to think about the mystery fish that was lurking in between the noodles, 3 slices of mushroom, and slathered cream sauce--but it was oh so good!
I decided to pair this mellow, creamy dish with a spicy carrot side (original recipe found by Jessica K located here). Anything spicy (or covered in "cheese") will always make Dane happy!

"Tuna" Noodle Casserole:

1/2 package of Fusilli, cooked
1/2 onion, chopped
1 c. celery, sliced thin
1 c. mushrooms, sliced
1/4 c. frozen baby peas
2 T. Earth Balance margarine
1 c. unsweetened soymilk
1 T. arrowroot powder
a dollop each of veganaise and vegetable broth
cubed tofu, as much as you want
2 c. crushed corn flakes
soy cheese
garlic powder
thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a skillet, melt margarine, saute onions and celery until soft. Add the mushrooms, peas, and let cook while you make a slurry with the soy milk and arrowroot. Add this slurry to the mixture and add veganaise and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Stir in as much soy cheese and tofu as you want, add spices to taste. Pour into a foil-lined 9x13 dish and cover with corn flakes. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes, 375 for 10. Let sit for a few minutes before slicing.

Low-Fat Cream of Celery Soup & Diz's 10-Minute Creamy Cajun Noodles

This week's theme: Savory Soup Week...
After Eclectic Americana week, I feel like I need to go on a light diet for a little while...that's why I think that it would be a grand idea if this week happened to be a (main-course) soup week! We're going from last week's "meat" and carbs to, well, more carbs, but with hearty vegetable goodness in every meal.
I decided to start the week out with one of the best "diet" foods: CELERY. I can't imagine just eating an entire plate of raw celery, nor do I like the idea of eating the stalks with plain old peanut butter--so soup it was! This low-fat recipe was inspired by a non-vegan, high-fat version found on 'Zaar by Lorac. The consistency is not as smooth as I originally intended it to be--I had a blending accident which made such an incredible mess--but please do blend away if you'd like. Just remember: If you're using a blender, do so in SMALL batches or else you will end up under a rain of very hot celery soup...which does NOT feel pleasant on the face.

Low-Fat Cream of Celery Soup:

2 T. Smart Balance Light margarine
2 c. celery stalks, sliced thin
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1-2 T. flour
2 c. water
1 c. unsweetened soymilk
1/3 t. vegan chicken base (optional)
3-4 drops of hot sauce
salt & pepper to taste

In a pot over medium heat, melt margarine, saute celery and onion until soft. Add garlic, stir, and add flour. Cook for a minute or two. Add the water, base, and bay leaf, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and blend in a blender until smooth. Return to pot and add the soy milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Simmer until ready to serve.

Diz's 10-Minute Creamy Cajun Noodles:
(No exact measurements)

Sauteed carrots and onions (optional)
Non-hydrogenated margarine
Your choice of boiled noodles, as much as you'd like
Splash of non-dairy or soy creamer
A couple tablespoons of nutritional yeast
A bit of mellow yellow miso paste (this is a tastier salt replacer)
A dash each of:
Old Bay
Cayenne
Onion
Garlic

Melt as much margarine as you'd like in a pot, add the noodles, stir, then add all other ingredients. Mix well and serve hot.