Squash and Kale Pasta

I am not kidding when I say this may be the best thing I have ever made. Seriously, I was a cocking son-of-a-bitch for 3 full days after I made this, it was that impressive and good. This is so not my typical dish, flavour or style, but it is amazing! Much more sophisticated then my usual kitchen works. And look! there is even a real honest to goodness recipe!

this is the dish to go to for autumn filling.


Butter smooth squash, with a light creamy sauce coating pasta and veggies. And the crunchy, spicy kick of the roasted seeds (optional, but you'll be missing out!). A great seasonal dish! That is somehow rich and light at the same time!


Autumn Delight: Squash Pasta

1/2 lb. winter squash
1 medium onion diced
1/2 bunch baby kale
2-3 fat cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup veggie stock
1/4 cup non-dairy milk
leftover roux based sauce (optional)
nooch (optional)
1 recipe roasted squash seeds (optional)
1/2 lb. pasta (any short pasta)

Seasoning to taste:
Cumin
Cayanne
Pepper
Paprika
sage
mustard seeds
pinch of nutmeg
salt
thyme
rosemary
serves 1 with leftovers
time 45 minutes


1 Quarter, peel and de-seed the squash. Cut the squash into small cubes (no larger than 1/2"). chop onion into similarly sized cubes
2 Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat; add the squash, onion, pepper, mustard seeds and sauté, stirring from time to time. Cook until the squash is basically cooked-through, but still relatively firm (about 10ish minutes), seasoning to taste with salt,pepper and other seasonings.

3 Meanwhile, mince the garlic; wash the kale, chop stems and roughly tear up the leaves. When the squash is nearly cooked through, add the garlic and kale. Cook for another couple of minutes, until the kale is wilted and the garlic soft.
4 Add stock and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer, and continue cooking until the squash has reached a tenderness to your liking . If the mixture starts to dry out, you can add a little bit more stock (or even water). Once the squash is cooked properly, stir in the non-dairy milk and if you have leftover white vegan sauce that is made with a roux add that in chunks. Roux based sauces tend to thicken a lot when chilled and if you add some to your pan it's kinda like a soft cheese or bits of tofu.
5 Toss squash mixture with nooch, roasted seeds and cooked pasta. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with grated vegan cheese if desired and top with roasted seeds if using.



1 Recipe Roasted seeds
1 squash worth of seeds
2 tbs olive oil
Seasoning:
Cayenne
salt
pepper
garlic powder

pre-heat oven to 350 and place a piece of parchment paper onto a tray. Toss the seeds with oil and spices and arranged in a single layer on sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes stirring once or twice. Careful they don't burn!



Seriously!! I am not kidding go make this disk right now!

Veganmofo: Ok, I know it's over but I just got my swap today!

Over on the ppk we had arranged a mofo swap! Which was basically a care package to assemble and send to another lucky mofoer! Well my lovely (and talented) swap partner Kelly! or warriortwo so check her out.

I am so so so in love with this loot, check it.


3 PACKS OF JERKY!! I am a huge jerky whore, nomnomnom. Although Party wound up grabbing my opened bag of spicy 'chicken' flavour! RAWR -_-. I was not impressed, and it was considered a great lost. Not sure what it is about stonewall jerky, but man I cannot get enough!

Other look includes organic spices and body care samples!



Stickers, pins and zines oh my!



Soups!

Cookies!

And chimes!! Mango ginger to be exact and boy are they good.

She also made me a burnt cd "Got my mofo working!" which I am excited to play.



thank you so much kelly! and I am glad you enjoyed your package as well.

Veganmofo: Vegan Brunch!

What better way to start the weekend? Pancakes, Sausage and homefries! All vegan of course.



Brunch is just one of those things you look forward to like fall and cozy sweaters.


Today brunch features, Banana pancakes from Vegan Brunch! By Isa Chandra M. , followed my rosemary roasted garlic potatoes also taken from Vegan Brunch (sort of) and to round it out we ate some yves sausage rounds.

Yum!


Adam's plate

What are you eating for brunch?

Veganmofo: Simple eats

Yet another no measure recipe to share with you all.

Spaghetti, kale and bechemel!

This sauce recipe is loosely based of the lovely Joanna's from her book Yellow Rose recipe and a classic french cooking book i got through freecycle.



Ingredients:
2 handfuls of WW spaghetti.
1 hand full of kale, sliced with sears
2 fork fulls of Earth balance

Sauce:
2 giant spoon fulls of minced garlic (I'm using jarred stuff, fresh maybe 3-4 gloves?)
Enough olive oil to coat your cast iron skillet
5 fork fulls of earthbalance
enough WW flour to coat the bottom of your cast iron pan twice
Soymilk (enough to fill your pan and mix in your roux)
2 pinches of nutmeg
1 pinch of ground thyme
1 pinch of ground basil
1/2 pinch of ground sage
** ground is important for this smooth white sauce!**
as much fresh pepper as you can grind
Sea salt to taste.

First thing, is make you sauce by preheating your cast iron pan with oil. Then adding your garlic and some pepper saute until browned. Then melt your earth balance, I know it is a lot, but this is "french" cooking.

once your earth balance has melted, stir with your spoon and get your whisk ready. Being pouring flour (WW!!) directly into your pan and stir until it combines to form a paste or roux. Continue mixing ad adding flour until you have a thick paste that doesn't look like it'll take any more flour (If you do push it past the intake point, just melt more earth balance and stir like mad).

Now you can add your spices and stir some more to insure you do not have lumps. cook for a little while to toast your flour and flavour your roux.

Now comes the hard part, begin pouring in your soymilk and stirring to combine. You may want to do this in batches to make stirring and checking for lumps easier. once it is all combined turn your heat way down to let it simmer, stirring occasionally as skin will form and it will continue to thicken (add more soymilk if you want a thinner sauce).

Once the sauce is simmering bring your pasta water to a boil and cook your pasta.



While that is doing its thing, take your sears and cut kale into small pieces in a cereal bowl. Add your forkfulls of EB and microwave with pepper for 3-4 minutes covering the bowl with a plate.

When everything is done combine onto your plate, top with bacos, nooch and sesame seeds. Yum!



On a side note, winter and no-natural light makes me sad.

And just a post to help out all those coming from google

And searching for "Vegans are unhealthy" or "unhealthy vegans" or "veganism is unhealthy" or "unhealthy vegan men" (? not sure why that brings you here, I have ovaries).


You will all be pleased to know that I am currently eating frozen oreos and drinking pepsi from the bottle as midnight approaches.


[This post was in recongition that a large chunk of my non-ppk and veganmofo traffic comes from people trying to google why or how veganism is unhealthy]

Veganmofo: I cannot believe it is almost over!!! bonus dog photos!

It's a sad, sad time of year when veganmofo comes to an end. But we all knew this day would come, I'm just sorry I didn't get anything more interesting accomplished for you all!! But I am hoping this mofo experience will re-invigorate my internal blogger and get me out of this student's rut and back into kitchen experimenting with posted results for you dear readers.

Tonight was another night out, eating sushi (the glorious dragon roll i posted about earlier). So here's some older eats to keep you mofo'ers happy!

Up first is HeartWood's Vegan Cafe's TLT!
Reheated in the cast iron, yum.


This sandwich took a lot of compressing.



And one of this month's prouder moments, may I present to you dear internet
MOTHER FUCKING GRILL MARKS


hells yeah, all thanks to my George Forman grill



Now the thanksgiving test-run, or the fist time I ever made isa's Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy (Good god why did it take me so long?)

Served it with some sauteed kale, mashed potatoes and chickpea cutlets. Yum!


Another look at my thanksgiving plate


And the failed techno-colour cheese cake


Ceaser salad and garlic pita


The studying hummus snack plate


And now on to the Party photos:



And tired after a hard day of modelling.

Veganmofo: unlikely pair

This is one of my current late night, no groceries and papers due in 6 hours meals.

Potatoes and sesame seeds!
Because protein is important, but not always present in my apartment.

Needs:
Cast iron skillet
Olive oil
Sesame Seeds
Potatoes
Garlic
cumin, mustardseed, sage, thyme, oregano, paprika, Cayenne, coriander, rosemary, pepper and anything else you find laying around.

Pre-heat oven to 400, dice potatoes and toss in oil, spices and seeds.
Throw your skillet into the oven with potatoes (I put extra oil over top, to be good and sure nothing sticks). cook for 20-30 minutes or until done.

Stir occasionally and enjoy!



Apologies for the bad photos, this was eaten late and our lighting is awful.

Veganmofo: Cheesy Potatoes!!

The other day I needed something for breakfast, and as my luck would have it Ms. Kittee herself was waking up and logging on. So I asked the expert who told me these three magical words: nooch, oil and Potatoes.



Scalloped potatoes it was!

Now, unfortunately there aren't any real measurements here just simple steps.

First:

Slice your potatoes as thinly as possible and pre-heat your oven to 350.

2nd:
Combine nooch and oil in a measuring glass. I had a cup or so of nooch the first time, but the flakes deflate when they get wet, so you might have to play with it a bit.



I used a fork to whisk the nooch and olive oil together with salt and pepper. I also added a bit of soymilk for creaminess. You'll know when you get the right consistency because it will be thick, creamy and saucy.



3rd step:
Toss your potatoes slices into a casserole dish and cover in sauce. If you need more sauce, repeat step two until adequate sauce coverage is achieved.



Step 4:
Cover in tinfoil or lid if you have one. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes covered (until potatoes are soft and sauce is bubbly). Then increase to 400, remove lid and cook for 15 minutes of until edge brown.



Optional: I added some vegan cheese to the mix, but it's totally not needed!
I do recommend you serve these hot! I find the next day the sauce tends to really dry out and they are more like nooch crusted potatoes.



For a more complete meal serve with some baked tofu and greens. Yum!

Veganmofo: The Magic of Tea!

Just quick post to sing the many, many praises of tea.
nothing beats a fresh hot cut of tea to warm you body and soul.


which brings me to this post, the ppk tea bag swap!

I received mine today from Anna, and I hope hers arrived safe and sound.

Lovely shot of my assortment, I cannot wait to try the cucumber tea! neato!

Outside the Kitchen--a non Veganmofo post--

I wrote them a quick e-mail, telling them how annoyed I am that Dollhouse is being put on hold for a month and an appeal for a third season.

If you haven't already, guys please tune into the show, tivo it, watch it on hulu and show some mad love for this series. Maybe even write your own letters, phone calls or e-mails.

Thanks

I just have to say that I was extremely upset and disappointed to learn that you will be withholding episodes of Joss's Dollhouse for an entire month. Surely, you have seen what an amazing program this series is. You have a really amazing opportunity to be part of something great, yet you seem to be consistently taking this for granted. Let's face it, the majority of your programing is just plain awful crap. Followed by remakes and re-packaging of the same crap. There is only one night a week I would ever dream of tuning into your network and that would be Friday nights for Dollhouse.

This series has so much potential, and its story is only just developing. You've seen the fan base Joss's series generate, the long lasting and loyal viewer-ship and fans his shows earn. The quality writing is something that is solely lacking from broadcasting today, and I would sincerely ask that you think about that when considering to re-new this series. It is worth it. Please re-new an amazing series and be one of the few networks to actually provide some quality broadcasting. I would hate to have my only reason for tuning into your station taken away. We all know these shows get better with time, please allow Dollhouse to get there and you will have thousands of thankful fans like me.

please carefully consider dollhouse's fate for the upcoming season. I will be anxiously awaiting novemeber's end so I can tune back in for my favourite program to return. And I hope it will continue to return again after that. Please, Please, Please give this amazing show a chance for a third season and keep your viewers happy.

Thank you for reading this and please remember that there are all kinds of fans who are hoping that you save this show.

-Amanda Dickie


With Love, Amanda Dickie
"As long as people will shed the blood of innocent creatures there can be no peace, no liberty, no harmony between people. Slaughter and justice cannot dwell together."
- Isaac Bashevis Singer,Writer, Nobel laureate (1904-1991)

Veganmofo: Student's best friend, the leftovers

Here is a just quick follow up post because I posted yesterday's entry today (oops) which has put me a little behind. Anyway, to follow up on the vegan student's chili I got some handy advice from the ppk on the many applications of leftover chili.




Today I went with the chili spaghetti!Just use your chili in the place of sauce, great for a quick meal and good use of leftover chili (using yesterday's recipe).


Heat your chili (I added some extra garlic and basil to mine as it cooked), cook your noddles and if desired add some vegan cheese/nooch.

Voila! chilli noodle bowls.

After some coffee and a few bowls of this your ready to get back to the books for midterms.

Plus if you are even more strapped for time, and microwave friendly. Zap your noddles in water add your sauce and zap some more until heated through.

Veganmofo: Student's Chili

Here's a simple and easy chili recipe. I threw this together last night for supper and it made enough for lunches for the next few days plus more the freezer. The main point of this meal was to make use of the last little bits we had running around. Depending upon what you use it can be fairly budget friendly as well.



One thing I like to do with jars of salsa and tomato sauce (or really any kind of sauce, pickles, jams etc) is once the jar is empty to add hot water to the jar and shake to get all the little bits of sauce left. And I normally save these remnants for sauces, soups, stews and other dishes that cook for a while. Not only does this make cleaning the jars for later use a breeze but it also ensures you get every last bit of sauce


Hungry Student's chili

1 can kidney beans
3 cups leftover beans
1 pack veggie grounds
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
leftover spaghetti sauce, salsa, black strap molasses
asian chili sauce
olive oil
cooking sherry

Spices:
Mustard seeds
cumin
garlic powder
crushed red pepper
paprika
Cayenne pepper
oregano
sage
thyme
dried rosemary
fresh ground pepper
fresh rosemary

Optional: corn starch

In a large pot heat your oil and add your onions mustard seeds and cumin. Sautee until onions are translucent while grinding in pepper. Once the onions begin to turn add your remaining spices and continue to stir, being sure to scrap the bottom. Now add your diced garlic and continue to cook until fragrant, keep scrapping the bottom.

Once your garlic is fragrant add your veggie grounds and cook until browned. De-glaze the pan with cooking sherry, keep the heat high and scrap the bottom. Now add more red pepper flakes, paprika and cumin.

Be sure to drain the beans if using canned. Add beans to pot and stir, cooking for 3 minutes and adding more pepper.

Now add your leftover bits of sauce, salsa and molasses. Stir and adjust for seasonings. Add your tomato paste and canned tomatoes, rinse cans and add liquid. Don't forget the chili sauce if you have it, a tsp or so should do.

Continue cooking and tasting, adjust seasoning but be careful as your pepper flakes/overall spice will increase with the cooking time. Cook for about an hour, stirring occasionally.

If your chili seems to thin, remove some of the liquid with your spoon and place into a mug/bowl and create a slurry with a bit of corn starch. But sure to stir until starch is completely dissolved before adding back to the pot. Cook for an additional 20 minutes, repeating as needed.



Remember chili gets better the longer it cooks. But once you cannot wait any longer dig in! And enjoy

Also this recipe makes leftovers, so freeze some for latter use.