Spinach-artichoke pasta bake

Adapted from the amazing thugkitchen.com. This can easily be both vegan and gluten free, and is definitely delicious.

Tofu-artichoke sauce

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup almonds (slivered will blend best)

1 can (14 oz) water-packed artichoke hearts (not marinated), drained

1 box (12 oz) silken firm tofu, drained

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Spinach

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 yellow or sweet onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

12 cups baby spinach

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pasta

1 pound penne pasta (gluten free if you wish)

1 jar (3 cups) tomato sauce

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta according to its package directions.

In a food processor or strong blender, blend the tofu-artichoke sauce ingredients until smooth (a few little chunks of almonds might stick around, but that's ok). This will take a while. You can add some water, one tablespoon at a time, if it won't blend.

Cook onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic, cook for one minute. Add spinach and salt. Cover with a big lid, and cook (stirring often) until spinach is wilted. Stir in lemon juice and take spinach mix off the heat.

In a large mixing bowl, combine pasta, spinach mix, and tofu-artichoke sauce and stir until totally mixed.

Line the bottom of an 8x8 (or bigger) baking dish with one cup of tomato sauce. Pour pasta mixture over the sauce. Pour remaining two cups of tomato sauce on top of pasta and spread it around with a spoon or spatula until evenly distributed across the top of the pasta. Sprinkle last two tablespoons of nutritional yeast over the top of the dish.

Cover your baking dish and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover the dish and bake for 10 more minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes before serving.

A Wild Mushroom Stroganoff

After discovering that mushroom hunting is the best way to spend a Sunday afternoon, we made our mushroom stroganoff recipe (without seitan) and topped it with our wildcrafted violet cort, fluted elfin saddle, angels wing (aka osyter mushrooms), belly button hedgehog, chanterelle, pigs ear, shrimp rusula, and winter chanterelle mushrooms. Despite what it sounds like, no animals, elves, or angels were harmed in the making of this eight-mushroom stroganoff.

Potato Gnocchi

These are exceedingly simple little pasta-like dumplings. The only hard part is deciding how you want to shape them. Serve them with any sauce you would normally have with pasta: pesto, marinara, oil and balsamic vinegar, etc. We had them with an exciting dandelion-greens sauce that Jennie made.

2 lbs russet potatoes, peeled
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 to 1 3/4 c unbleached white flour

Bake, boil or steam the potatoes until they are all soft. Make sure they cook evenly (we had problems with some less-cooked chunks sticking around).
While they are still hot, mash potatoes with salt and pepper.
Gradually add flour, stirring until you have sticky blob (sounds tasty, eh?).
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead dough for about 3 minutes, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky to handle.
Pat dough into a rectangle, cut into long strips about an inch wide.
Roll strips into thick ropes (like you're playing with clay), cut into 1/2 inch thick cylinders.
Now the really fun part: decide how you want to shape the gnocchi. We followed a cookbook's directions and pressed the dough between a thumb and fork. They turned out a little funny looking, but that didn't stop them from tasting good!
Drop gnocchi into a pot of boiling salted water in batches small enough that the pot won't be too crowded.
Gnocchi are done when they float to the top.
Drain cooked gnocchi in a colander. If you're making a big batch, you may want to pour a little oil over the waiting gnocchi to keep them from sticking.

This recipe served three of us, but should be good for at least four if Branden isn't there.

Mac'N'Cheesey-Sauce

This is one of my favorite comfort-food type meals. It is rich and creamy, full of b-vitamins and complex carbohydrates to make you happy. This recipe makes a very flavourful, saucy casserole; if you like a drier casserole or a more subtle sauce you can easily adjust the proportions.

1 lb macaroni or other pasta (preferably whole wheat)
1/4 c margarine
1/4 c flour
3 c soy milk
3/4 c + 2 T nutritional yeast
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/2 t mustard powder
1/2 t basil
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t onion powder
pinch of turmeric
1 onion, diced

Cook pasta according to package directions just until al dente, then cool completely under cold running water.
Meanwhile, melt margarine, whisk in flour, stirring until a thick paste is formed.
Add soy milk and seasonings, whisking to combine thoroughly.
Adjust seasonings according to taste.
Add onion.
Cook over med-low heat until it just starts to bubble, stirring frequently and being careful not to let it stick or burn.
Combine sauce and pasta in a deep casserole dish.
Top with a little extra nutritional yeast and paprika.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned.

Variations:
Before baking, cover with a layer of bread crumbs and dot with a little extra margarine.
Add vegetables before baking, my favorite combinations are broccoli and carrots or zucchini and fresh tomatoes.
To make a lower fat version, just reduce the margarine and flour by equal amounts, it will make a thinner sauce but will still taste great.
This sauce is also especially good over quinoa and stir-fried vegetables.
Tonight we tried dipping bread, pears, and random veggies in the sauce for a sort of fondue; it was good, but I think a less strongly seasoned sauce would be more appropriate for fondue.

Mushroom Stroganoff of the Gods

This was heavenly. I am still blissed out from eating it. I had a bunch of cashew gravy leftover still, and this dinner was the obvious solution for my overabundance of gravy. I also found a bag of oyster mushrooms that Branden picked up for free at work but never told me about in the refrigerator, luckily they were still good. I think that was divine intervention. I served this with a bunch of swiss chard sauteed with garlic and olive oil as a side dish.

1 lb fettucine pasta, cooked, drained, and rinsed (but still warm)
1 large onion, sliced
.5 lbs oyster mushrooms, mostly whole, only the biggest sliced
.5 lbs cremini mushrooms, sliced thick
Salt and pepper
1 box seitan (.25 lbs), cubed
1 batch cashew gravy
Margarine
Parsley, chopped

Saute onions in margarine until translucent.
Add mushrooms to onions, season with salt and pepper, and saute until soft.
Meanwhile, fry seitan until browned.
Heat gravy, thin with extra soymilk if it looks too thick.
Place pasta on a plate, top with gravy, then mushrooms, then seitan, and garnish with parsley.

Parsley Poppy-Seed Pasta

Another simple but fantastic dish. Definitely comfort food.

1 lb fettucine pasta
2 T margarine
2 T parsley, chopped fine
1 T poppy seeds
salt

Cook pasta.
Drain, strain, and rinse pasta briefly under cold water.
Mix pasta with remaining ingredients, adjust seasonings to taste.

Sci-Fi Wasabi Pasta Salad

Quick, creamy, spicy, good!

Sauce:
8 T vegenaise
7 T plain soymilk
2 T rice vinegar
1-3 t wasabi, depending on desired spiciness
.5 t ground ginger
.5 t garlic powder
2 t nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

1 pound pasta, cooked (I used whole wheat spirals)
1 package shelled edamame, cooked just until tender
1 medium carrot
2 small stalks celery
4 green onions
sesame seeds

Drain pasta and edamame as soon as they are cooked, then cool under cold running water.
Shred carrot using a vegetable peeler into (short or long) thin strips.
Slice celery and green onions very thin.
Blend dressing ingredients in a large bowl with a fork or whisk.
Add pasta to dressing, stir to coat.
Add vegetables, mix.
Adjust seasonings (I found it needed more salt and pepper than I expected).
Serve with sesame seeds on top.

Udon Stir-Fry with Tofishies and Thai Peanut Sauce

Last night, this was simple, quick, and yummy.

0.5 lbs shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2T fresh ginger, diced
1 head's worth of broccoli stems, peeled and chopped thin
1 can sliced water chestnuts
2*200g packages of Udon noodles (cooked, or lighter wt dry)
0.5 head garlic, diced
1 head's worth of broccoli florettes
3 green onions, chopped, as garnish

Stir fry in that order, more or less. Serve with one batch of Tofishies and Thai peanut sauce.

Fussili with Mushrooms

Ingredients:------------------------------------------------------
about a pound of fussili pasta.
1 cup brown button mushrooms.
1 cup Shitake mushrooms.
1 cup oyster mushrooms.
olive oil.
thyme.
2 cloves of garlic.
Instructions:------------------------------------------------------
cook the fussili until soft in boiling water with a little bit of olive oil.
saute the mushrooms and garlic in olive oil, or earthbalance, until the mushrooms are soft make sure not to burn the garlic.
drain the pasta and ad the mushrooms, garlic and thyme.
server hot or cold with salad dressing.

enjoy
-morgana