Category: vegetarian

Butternut Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli or deconstructed ravioli

I was so excited to use my pasta machine and ravioli press, so I came up with this recipe for the filling.  I’m in love with the filling!  But. . .

In the end I realized that I’m not very good at rolling the pasta into rectangles, and that it’s hard to seal the ravioli properly.  So I ended up with a few tortellini that lost their filling.  After making a bunch of difficult and misshapen ravioli I gave up and made a sort of deconstructed ravioli dish – I just put some hot filling on the plate, then topped it with some long strands of pasta, salt and pepper and a bit of butter.  Same amazing flavour, way less work!  You could just make the filling and use some store-bought pasta – much much simpler!

What you need:

1 recipe of homemade pasta

1 smallish butternut squash

sage

3 cloves garlic

optional: a splash of brandy

salt and pepper

butter or olive oil

What you do:

1.  Prepare pasta dough ahead of time; if you refrigerated it, make sure it come out of the fridge at least an hour before you want to roll it so it’s not too firm.

2.  Cut the squash in half and remove seeds.  Place cut side down on a baking pan.  Bake at 375F for 40-45 minutes. Wrap the garlic, in their papery covers, in a small piece of tin foil and place on the same baking sheet.

3.  Test for doneness by inserting a sharp knife into the flesh of the squash, at the thickest part.  If it goes in easily, the squash is done.

4.  Allow squash to cool before making the filling.  Then scoop it out into a bowl and mix in the garlic with a fork, along with a crumbling of sage and some salt and pepper and the optional brandy.  Taste and adjust seasonings.  They will vary according to the size of the squash and your preference.  I could eat a bowl of the filling alone – it’s soooo good!

5.  With a large pot of water on to boil, roll out the dough.  If you have a machine set it to the thinnest possible.  When you have rectangular shapes, place on top of ravioli press and add a dollop of filling.  Place the top layer of dough on it, and press the shapes out.

6.  If you can’t cook the pasta right away, place a cloth on top to keep it from drying out.  Add the pasta to a large pot of boiling water and cook for only a few minutes.

7.  Drain pasta, then plate it and drizzle a little olive oil on top (or a little butter) and some freshly cracked pepper and salt.  Enjoy!

Homemade Pasta

This is a basic pasta recipe that you can use for lasagna, ravioli, spaghetti, and any number of other noodle types.

What you need:

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon salt

up to 4 tablespoon water

What you do:

1.  Place the flour mixed with salt on the clean counter and make a well in the centre.

2.  Add the eggs to the well and mix them up with the fork.  Gradually incorporate some of the flour into the egg until it is combined.  Add a little water at a time as needed.  The dough should not be so sticky that it sticks to the counter, but you should be able to form it into a ball.  Knead for 7-8 minutes.

3.  Let the dough rest under a bowl for about an hour.  Alternately, you can refrigerate it, removing it from the fridge about an hour before you need it so it’s not too firm.

4.  Roll the dough using a pasta machine or rolling-pin and cut into your desired shapes.  If you’re not going to cook it right away, place a towel over the top of the pasta.

5.  Use a large pot to boil water to cook the pasta – it doesn’t need very long, only a minute or two for the thinnest pasta.  Lasagna noodles don’t need to be cooked before assembling your dish.

6.  Dry extra pasta by draping over a coat hook for a few days.

Broccoli Salad with Yogurt Dressing

Broccoli is packed with Vitamins C, K & A, as well as folic acid, fibre and a whole bunch of other nutrients.  So the challenge is to find new ways to serve it up, and preferably raw, as that’s the best way to keep all the valuable nutrients intact, or so they say.  I’ve adapted this recipe from one I found on everybodylikessandwiches.com.  I prefer to add the nuts and dried cherries on top – the nuts stay crisper, and the fruit looks prettier.  If you’re serving it all right away and plan to have no leftovers, you can get away with tossing it all together.

This one can be whipped up in no time at all!

What you need:

1 head broccoli, broken into small pieces

2 tablespoons finely diced red onion

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

3 tablespoons plain yogurt (I don’t use low-fat yogurt ever!)

juice of 1/2 lemon

a few dashes of hot sauce

1-2 teaspoons honey

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

1/4 cup dried cherries, cut in half (or raisins or cranberries)

What you do:

1.  Toast the almonds – I do this is a dry frying pan on my stove top.  I just heat it to medium-low, then give it a stir every once in a while, keeping an eye on it do it doesn’t burn.

2.  Combine mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice, hot sauce, honey, salt and pepper.

3.  Put the broccoli and onions in a bowl and toss them with the dressing.

4.  Top with dried cherries and almonds just before serving.

Brown Rice Lentils with Salsa

My mom gave me this recipe many years ago, and it was an old faithful of mine for a long time, especially when I was looking for something economical, healthy, and still yummy.  I’ve modified the original recipe only by adding more veggies.  It’s pretty easy to make!  Most of the time you need for this one is cooking time – you can be done in just over an hour, including 45-50 minutes of cooking time.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

8-10 mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

3/4 cup brown lentils, dry

1 cup brown rice

3 cups water or broth

tomato salsa, to serve

What you do:

1.  Heat a large pot to medium heat, and add the chopped onion once the oil is hot.  Let it cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until slightly browned.

2.  Add the garlic, mushrooms and carrot, cooking for a few minutes.

3.  Add soy sauce, lentils, rice and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook 45 minutes with a lid on.

4.  If it’s still a little watery at the end of the cooking time, just turn the heat up a little and cook it off.

5.  Serve with salsa, and you’re ready to go!

Green Beans, Sundried Tomatoes and Brazil Nuts

The cupboards are  bare except for the few ingredients I threw together to make these beans.  It’s surprisingly good – so good that I think I need to go out and buy more sun-dried tomatoes so I can make it again.

What you need:

green beans

sun-dried tomatoes, in oil

brazil nuts

salt

butter (or substitute for vegans)

What you do:

1.  Cut the ends off the beans and cut them in half.  Pour a few centimetres of water into a pot and bring it to a boil.  Add a teaspoon or so of butter to the water, then add the beans.  Cover and cook 3-4 minutes, until they are cooked but still a little crisp and bright green.

2.  Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, about 1/2 a tomato per serving.  Chop the brazil nuts, about one nut per serving.

3.  Drain and lightly salt the beans.

4.  Arrange the beans on plates, topping with tomatoes and nuts.  Enjoy!

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing

A creamy dressing that’s also vegan – yum!

What you need:

2/3 cup soft Silken Tofu

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/3 cup lactose-free parmesan or soy parmesan

1/4 teaspoon sugar or agave nectar

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 clove chopped garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil (or more as needed)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

What you do:

1.  Blend all the ingredients using a blender or immersion blender.  Add a little more olive oil if it’s too runny.

2.  Refrigerate for an hour or two, if you’ve got the time, to let the flavours mingle.

3.  Toss with romaine and top with croutons.  Serve with a wedge of lemon for squeezing on top.

And here’s a crouton recipe:

For 2 servings you need:

2 slices bread

olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon oregano

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Cut the bread into cubes.  Heat a frying pan to medium, then add a little olive oil.  Once the oil is hot add the bread, tossing until coated.  Add a little more olive oil if necessary.

2.  Chop up the garlic, and add to the frying pan, along with the spices.

3.  When the bread has browned on one side, turn it over and let the other side brown.

4.  Throw it on top of your dressed salad, scraping out the spices with it.

Kim’s Lasagna, Lactose-Free but still cheesy and flavourful!

I’ve been avoiding making lasagna for years because I can’t eat cheese, and a non-cheesy lasagna just doesn’t seem right – but now there are all these great lactose-free cheeses out there, and my whole lactose-intolerant world is changing! I’m not talking about those horrible soy cheeses – I’m talking about real cheese that happens to have no lactose.  It tastes like cheese and melts like cheese – because it IS cheese.  I also added some of my tofu ricotta, which is as creamy as the real thing… try it and see.

Yes, this recipe is a bit of work, or a lot of work.  But it’s soooo good!  There’s the tomato sauce, a ricotta layer, mushrooms, pesto, and a white sauce.  Lots of flavour!

What you need:

1 & 1/2 to 2 recipes of tomato sauce (recipe here!)

tofu spinach ricotta (recipe here!)

1 lb mushrooms, fried

pesto (recipe here!)

9-12 lasagna noodles (I used the no-boil ones for this)

1 cup lactose-free mozzarella, grated

white sauce: -2 tablespoons butter/soy butter

-2 tablespoons flour

-3/4 – 1 cup soy milk (regular if you’re not concerned about lactose)

-1/2 of a  227 gram tub  of soy cream cheese

-salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a small pot. then whisk in the flour.  Cook for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Don’t let it brown!  Very gradually add the soy milk, a little at a time so it boils.  Mix it in so it has no lumps, then add a bit more until it has a runny-pudding consistency.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

2.  You have all the parts ready to assemble the lasagna, so now you just have to build it.  This is the layering I did – of course you can experiment with this to make it your own.  If you are using no-boil noodles you just have to make sure you have enough moisture to cook them, or they will be a little crunchy around the edges. Use a 9×12 pan for this amount of lasagna.

– spread about 1/3 of the tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan, then lay down some noodles

– sprinkle the tofu ricotta. then the mushrooms, then another layer of noodles

– spread on another 1/3 of the tomato sauce, then the pesto, then another layer of noodles

– the final layer consists of the remaining tomato sauce, the white sauce, and the mozzarella cheese

3.  Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for about 15 more minutes.  For the last minute I switched to broil so it would brown on top – since real cheese actually browns, I like to take advantage of this feature!

4.  Allow the lasagna to rest for 15 minutes before cutting it.  This will increase the chances that the pieces can be cut and stay together as you serve them.  And it won’t be too hot to eat.

Enjoy!

Note: if you’re one of the many people who can’t eat wheat, try out the brown rice, kamut or quinoa noodles – they’re great!  So great that they are all I usually eat.

Beets with Maple-Grapefruit Glaze

Beets are a beautiful vegetable to make for a winter feast.  The glaze is tangy yet sweet, and can be served hot or cold.  I’ve served them hot as a side dish, and cold on a green salad with some ground toasted sesame seeds.

What you need:

1/2 pound beets, cooked (You can use beets that have been boiled or baked, with the skins rubbed off.)

juice of 1 pink grapefruit

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 or more tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon corn starch

What you do:

1.  Bring the grapefruit juice and vinegar to a boil, then mix the corn starch with a little cold water.  Mix it so there are no lumps, and stir it into the boiling juice. Make sure it is boiling when you add the cornstarch or you will get lumps.

2.  Add maple syrup to taste.  Remember that the beets are sweet, so you don’t want the sauce to be too sweet.

Easy Pesto

Here’s your basic pesto recipe.  You just need a food processor or mortar and pestle, some lovely fresh ingredients, and you’re set!

What you need:

1/4 cup very lightly toasted pine nuts

3/4 – 1 cup basil

1/2 clove of garlic

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan (I use lactose-free l’Ancetre brand)

olive oil

salt

What you do:

1.  Toast your pine nuts very very lightly; you still want them to be creamy when you puree them.

2. Place the pine nuts, basil,  and garlic and a bit of salt in the food processor and add as much olive oil  as you need to make it smooth.  Then add the parmesan and give it one last whirl.

3.  That’s it – use it on some pasta, add it to hummous, make a lasagna, add it to eggs, whatever you want!

The Easiest Tomato Sauce Ever

Here’s a tasty tomato sauce, and really really easy – thanks Chad for the recipe!  I made it to use in a lasagna, and it was fabulous . . . I would imagine there are many other uses for it.

What you need:

1 – 750   mL tin whole tomatoes

1/2 onion

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  Put the onion and butter in a pot with the tomatoes and cook for 45 minutes or so.

2.  Take out the onion, season with salt and pepper, and voila, a fabulous sauce.

For the lasagna I pureed the tomatoes, and I added about a teaspoon of brown sugar.