Tag Archives: Recipe

Penne Pasta with Roasted Acorn Squash Sauce

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Fall means squash, and I’m tired of cooking and eating the same things. So, tonight I tried something new and it was delicious. I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but here is the recipe.

Penne Pasta with Roasted Acorn Squash Sauce

1 medium/large acorn squash
1 small head garlic
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup veg. broth
1/4 cup soy milk
1 lb penne pasta

Preheat oven to 350*  While oven is heating, half the squash and scoop out seeds. Place the squash halves with the inside down on a baking dish. Wrap the garlic head in foil and place it on the baking dish next to the squash. Allow to roast in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the squash is fork tender.

Remove the squash and leave the garlic in the oven. Allow squash to sit while you start cooking your penne pasta. Cook pasta al dente.

Turn squash over and use a small spoon to scoop all the squash out of the skins into a large bowl. Remove the garlic from the oven and peel (or just squeeze out the roasted garlic) and add to the bowl. Add olive oil, vegetable broth, and soy milk and stir, mashing the garlic and squash until it creates a sauce that still has some texture.

Add penne and mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Vegan Orzo Salad

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On yet another super toasty day in July, I was left pondering this afternoon what to make for dinner. Remembering that there was orzo in the pantry, I surfed the web looking for recipes. I came across many recipes for orzo salads, but most were not vegan friendly, and many had ingredients that I didn’t have in the house. So, after I got home from work, I gathered things that seemed like they would go well and put together this dish. It was a hit with the people in the house who aren’t completely pasta picky (i.e. only like spaghetti and mac n cheese). I loved it and am looking forward to leftovers tomorrow!

Easy Vegan Orzo Salad

1 lb orzo
1 can cannellini (white kidney) beans
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 bunch basil chopped
4-5 scallions chopped
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 large tomato diced (or 1 cup grape tomatoes cut in half)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to directions, al dente, and then rinse with cold water. I add some olive oil to the pasta water, but that’s optional. While the pasta is cooking, juice your lemons, chop the basil, scallions, and tomatoes, and prep your beans. Combine lemon juice and olive oil and wisk. Place pine nuts in a skillet and toast gently. Mix all ingredients and serve at room temp or chill.

Yum!

Vegan Breakfast Casserole

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Photo: Dave Irving

For a Meatless Monday Morning.

We love breakfast casserole around the VeganAsana house. The omnis sometimes like theirs with some meat products, but are usually just as happy with a vegetarian version. For the rest of us, vegan is the way to go. We rarely get to have this for breakfast, due to the time needed for cooking, but it is a favorite dinner dish (and it pops up for special breakfasts, like on Christmas day). The “recipe” is pretty easy.

What follows is the amount that I make to fit in a large Pampered Chef casserole, so about the size that you would need for a 9×13 pan. This is enough for 4 of us to have a meal and have leftovers (that I hide in the fridge so that I can take them to school for lunch). Halve the recipe for a smaller group.

Breakfast Casserole

2 blocks extra firm tofu, drained
1 “roll” lightlife faux sausage (optional)
1 package frozen hash browns or tater tots
1 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 t turmeric
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t sea salt (ground fine)
olive oil
daiya or other cheese

Cover the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and add onion. Saute until soft. Add faux sausage and brown, chopping into small bits while cooking.

Place tofu in food processor or blender. Pulse until fully broken up and starting to get mushy, but not until liquified. Gently fold in nutritional yeast, turmeric, cumin, and salt. If you over blend, don’t worry about it. It will take longer for the tofu to firm up, but eventually it will.  If your tofu seems overly dry, you may want to add a little soy milk when you fold in the spices. This will help make the potatoes nice and tender.

Cover the bottom of a casserole pan with parchment paper. Add hash browns or tater tots (yep, tots). Sprinkle fauxsage evenly across surface. Add tofu mixture and spread evenly.

Cover with foil and cook at 350* until heated through and the tofu has begun to firm back up. Add Daiya (optional) and continue to bake until tofu is firm and Daiya is melted.

Remove from oven and allow to settle (covered) for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve with hot sauce, if desired.

YUMMY!