Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe With Rotelle

So I have to admit that when I got the cookbook "Veganomicon" for Christmas last year I was thrilled to try out what my friends called the "Vegan Bible". Sadly, since the initial read-through, this cookbook has been relegated to the back of my bookshelf and has rarely seen the light of day. I pulled it out last night, desperate to find a good recipe for the tempeh sitting in my fridge. And promptly realized why I never use it. As a single professional, I usually only have a few staple ingredients on hand to cook with. The recipes in Veganomicon always call for more ingredients than I have in my pantry and more time than I have on hand. So I was surprised and pleased to realize I had everything to make one of the many tempeh recipes in there last night. Well, everything except the broccoli rabe....but I did have a bag of frozen broccoli in my freezer. The tempeh marinade was actually delicious and the perfect amount of spicy for me.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb whole wheat spiral pasta

Spicy Fennel Tempeh:

1 (15 ounce) package tempeh, cubed

1/2 cup vegetable broth, plus 2 tablespoons vegetable broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 tablespoon fennel seed 

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (to taste)

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Broccoli rabe:
1/4 cup olive oil
5 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 bunch broccoli rabe, tough stems trimmed, chopped coarsely (1/2-3/4 pound)  * I used a bag of frozen broccoli cut into small pieces
2 -3 tablespoons white wine or 2 -3 tablespoons water or 2 -3 tablespoons vegetable broth
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar or 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
salt & freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, usually about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, toss with a teaspoon or two of olive oil and keep covered either in a large covered serving bowl or the cooking pot. While your pasta is boiling, prepare the other ingredients.

 

2. Tempeh: Place the tempeh in a large, nonstick skillet. In a measuring cup, whisk together the vegetable broth, tomato paste, soy sauce, garlic, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, and oregano. Pour over the tempeh, stir to coat, and cook over medium heat until the liquid starts to simmer. Cover the pan and steam the tempeh for 8 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed and the tempeh is tender. Stir a few times while tempeh is steaming.

 

 

3. Transfer the tempeh to a bowl and crumble about half the cubes with the back of a spoon.

 

4. Wipe down the skillet to remove any leftover tempeh sauce, return the skillet to medium heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. To test the heat, drop a bit of tempeh into the oil- when it sizzles, the oil is hot enough. Add the tempeh and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to brown. Remove from heat, add to the pasta, and keep covered.

 

5. Broccoli rabe: Pour the remaining olive oil into the pan and add the sliced garlic. When the garlic begins to sizzle, stir and cook it for about a minute. Add the broccoli rabe (or defrosted broccoli, in my case), stir to coat it with the oil, sprinkle with a little salt, and cover the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the white wine and steam for 8 to 10 minutes, until the broccoli rabe is bright green and its stems are tender (you may need to do this in 2 batches, just add the second batch of broccoli rabe when the first batch has wilted enough to leave room in your pan)

 

6. Remove the cover and continue to saute for an additional minute or two, until any excess liquid is evaporated. Pour the cooked broccoli rabe onto the tempeh and pasta, sprinkle with red wine vinegar, season with salt and pepper, and toss everything to mix.

 

Pasta alla Formiana

I found this recipe in Giada's book, Weeknights with Giada, and made a minor tweak to make it vegan. The recipe is super easy....the end result was good but bland. Next time I will be adding add red pepper flakes and basil.

Ingredients:

Olive oil spray

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1/2 cup vegetable broth

1/2 pound (8 ounces) pennette

1/3 cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

1/4 cup dried oregano

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 to 5 very ripe, extra-large tomatoes cut into 1/2-inch thick slices

Directions:

  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray an 8 by 8-inch baking dish with olive oil and set aside.

In a food processor, blend together the crushed tomatoes, garlic, and vegetable broth. Pour into a saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove. Add the uncooked pasta, 1/3 cup olive oil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss until all the ingredients are coated.

Line the bottom and sides of the baking dish with tomato slices. Pour the pasta mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Arrange the remaining tomato slices in an overlapping layer on top of the pasta mixture, making sure the mixture is completely covered. Drizzle with olive oil and place dish on a baking sheet. Cook until the tomatoes are slightly crispy and the pasta is cooked, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables & Basil

This bright and colorful pasta loaded with fresh vegetables makes for a quick, satisfying dinner. Leftovers became a pasta salad for lunches during the work week.

(makes around 4 large servings)

Ingredients:
1 small eggplant
1 zucchini
1 red pepper
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1 tsp salt
8 oz whole wheat pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp pepperinco (or hot pepper) oil (or more, depending on spice preference)
1 handful of basil, roughly chopped.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425'.

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil. Peel and chop all vegetables into small, 1 inch cubes. Toss vegetables with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 tsp of salt. Roast for 20 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through.

Meanwhile, heat remaining two tablespoons of olive oil with the hot pepper oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic cloves and simmer in the oil until cloves have turned brown. Remove garlic cloves. Prepare pasta according to directions.

Add pasta to the oil mixture as well as the roasted vegetables. Toss to incorporate thoroughly and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add the chopped basil and serve.

Broccoli Pesto Fusilli with White Beans

This broccoli pesto recipe was on the bland side but healthy and very easy. It is also a kid friendly recipe - an easy way to get vegetables down. I added a little sriracha to my dish for an added kick (if you know me, I add sriracha to almost every dish) and enjoyed this quick, relatively no-cook pasta meal.
Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 15.5 oz can of white beans
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon lemon juice
10 ounces whole wheat fusilli

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook broccoli until just tender and bright green, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer majority of broccoli to a food processor. Reserve a few small florets in a bowl. Return water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. When draining the pasta reserve 1 cup of pasta water.

Add oil, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, pine nuts, and 1/4 cup of white beans to the food processor with the broccoli. Puree until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down side as needed. Transfer pesto to the pot with the drained pasta. Stir to coat, adding enough reserved pasta water to make a creamy sauce. Stir in remainder of the beans and reserved broccoli and heat over medium until warmed through.

Season with salt and pepper.

Creamy Avocado Pasta

After a two hour hot yoga class last night finishing at 7:30PM, I was not really in the mood to do much cooking when I got home. Luckily, I found this recipe by Angela Liddon, who writes an awesome vegan blog called “Oh She Glows”. I had half an avocado on hand so I halved the recipe and added in some cherry tomatoes.  It was delicious and came together so quickly, I was able to sit down to eat before 8PM!


Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized ripe Avocado, pitted
• 1/2 lemon, juiced & zest reserved for garnish
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1-2 garlic cloves (I recommend one clove, unless you are a big garlic fan)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 6oz servings of pasta (I used whole wheat angel hair)
• 2 tsp pine nuts
• 8 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
• Black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring several cups of water to aboil in a medium sized pot. Add in your pasta, reduce heat to medium, and cook until Al Dente, about 8-10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the garlic cloves, lemon juice, and olive oil into a food processor. Process until smooth. Now add in the pitted avocado, salt, and 1 tablespoon of water. Process until smooth and creamy.

3. When pasta is done cooking, place pasta into a large bowl with tomatoes. Pour on sauce and toss until fully combined.* Garnish with lemon zest, pine nuts, and black pepper. Serve immediately. Makes 2 servings.

*Note - Reserve a little pasta water in case you need to thin out your sauce.

Pasta with Roasted Peppers & "Sausage"

Last night I wanted to use up the remaining meatless sausages I had from on hand, leftover from my chickpea, brussel sprout, and sausage salad earlier this week. The sausages were Trader Joe's "Sausage-less" Italian sausages and were really quite good. Probably one of the best meatless sausage products I have tried so far.

I came across this recipe on FatFreeVegan and was inspired to make a similar one. I used a more traditional red sauce for the base than the original recipe called for, but loved the idea of roasting the peppers and sausage before adding them to the sauce. It turned out delicious!

Ingredients:
2 meatless sausages, sliced (I used Trader Joe's Sausage-less Italian Sausages)
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
8 ounces whole wheat rotini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28 oz can of whole peeled plum tomatoes
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1 teaspon dried basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste



Spray a baking sheet lightly with olive oil, put it into the oven and preheat to 450F. Once it’s heated, spread the peppers on one half of the sheet and the sausages on the other. Give them a quick spray of olive oil. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until the peppers just begin to get charred along the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm.
Heat olive oil in a medium sized pan on medium-high. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and dried basil and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of water. Let the tomato sauce reduce and thicken over a medium heat, breaking up the plum tomates as they cook for around 20 minutes.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

Once the sauce has thickened, add red pepper flakes, and salt and black pepper to taste. Add the sausges and peppers and heat for an additional 2 minutes. Toss with the pasta to coat.