Linguine with Spinach, Artichokes, and Red Lentil Sauce

I love to cook- I hate to cook in the heat. My house, being built in 1941 does not do a good job of regulating temperature. Last week, I was craving a summer-y pasta dish that would not cause me to suffer from heat exhaustion in the kitchen- save that for the celeb-u-tards. I begin playing around online and came across a non vegan version of this recipe. With a few minor modifications, I made it vegan AND much tastier!

Linguine with Spinach, Artichokes, and Red Lentil Sauce

2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3/4 cup dried red lentils
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbs cumin
6 tbs lemon juice
1/2 pound whole wheat linguine*
1 bunch spinach, stemmed and roughly chopped
4 artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained and quartered

In a medium pot, heat mustard seeds over medium heat until they begin to pop, 2 to 3 minutes. Carefully add broth, 1 cup water, onion, lentils, cumin and garlic and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until lentils are very tender and falling apart, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and stir until lentils break apart to make a sauce (you may need to use a blender). Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add linguine and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes; drain and return to pot. Immediately add spinach, artichoke hearts and lentil sauce to hot pasta, toss well and serve.

This dish can be made creamier by adding almond milk or almond cream! Yummo!

What beer? Pilsner Urguell

Summer Squash Chili

I recently joined farm fresh to you, a company that delivers locally grown organic produce. The concept is great, but the price is way out of the market. I can get twice the produce from the Co-Op for the same amount of money. Anyway- I had a bunch of summer squash and needed a hearty recipe that I could eat for a couple of days. I made this on a Monday, and ate it for four nights! Each night, I added something different. One night was crackers, the other rice….This was really nice with a tall glass of ice cold pilsner.

3 Tbs, Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 small summer squash thinly sliced

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 large jalapeno chopped
2 pinches of kosher salt

2 cups chopped fresh tomato
1  package vegan ground beef
1 can tomato sauce

2 Tbs Mexican seasoning mix

3 Tbs chili powder
1/4 avocado, diced for garnish

In a large pan, sauté the onion, squash, jalapeno, garlic, salt on medium heat uncovered for about 10 minutes. Make sure you stir the veggies regularly to prevent burning. Add the remaining ingredients, less the avocado, and simmer for 20 minutes. This is the easiest summer chili you’ll ever make.

Want to jazz it up more? Add beans, add okra, add anything! Its chili, WHO CARES! YUM!!

Vegan Fettuccini Alfredo

Last week I was really craving some creamy noodles. I also ran a crazy amount of miles that day, and wanted something of real substance to eat, that would only take a few minutes to cook. I read multiple recipes online, and this is what I came up with. I took my favorite ingredients from about 6 different recipes until I got this! Enjoy!

Vegan Fettuccini Alfredo

2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

10 oz bag frozen cauliflower, thawed (or fresh steamed)

1 carton of silken tofu

2 Tbs of vegan butter

2 Tbs nutritional yeast

¼ cup salted and roasted cashews

Juice of ½ of a lemon

¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

Enough fettuccini noodles for 4

Sauté the onion on medium heat until translucent- add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.

While the garlic is cooking, add the cashews and a tiny bit of “milk” or water to the food processor, begin to blend. Add the onion mixture and all of the remaining ingredients except the parsley. Process until creamy, you may need to add a bit of “milk” to thin it out.

Move the mixture to a large skillet and cook on low. When hot, add the noodles, toss and serve!

I serve mine with lots of parsley and cracked black pepper! Yummo!