Lazy Lemon Spinach Pasta: One Pot Pasta

I like to think of this as perhaps the adult version of buttered noodles? It came about after watching a movie and getting home late, with bare cupboards and hungry bellies. Now normal TVP sauce pasta isn't exactly a kitchen marathon but I wanted something faster and with even less clean up.

Which is how the following recipe was born!

Optional Try hard: Save your lemon slices for the food porn ;)

Lazy Lemon One Pot Pasta

• 2 Handfuls of spaghetti (I used the veggie blend pasta for added nutrients but any whole grain would work, or white)
• 3 cups veggie broth (or bullion powder)
• 1/2 small lemon slices
• 1/2 T mince garlic (from a jar for added laziness)
• 3 T Earth balance/vegan butter
• 1 bunch spinach loosely chopped (any other light green would work)
• 2 T dried oregano (fresh would be better but my plant died :( )
• Splash soy milk
• Salt/Pepper/Nooch to taste

Combine everything in a large pot on medium heat. Cook with cover on until noodles fall into the liquid, stir occasionally for ~10 mins or until your pasta is done. I cooked it for about 4 extra mins with the cover off for the liquid to reduce, basically you want the soy milk/vegan butter to help thicken the mixture and you can pull out your lemon slices as the flesh dissolves.

boiling it should look like this and smell like heaven

Adding nooch helps to thicken it a bit and give it a flavour boost. I tossed my finished product with some toasted sesame seeds/hemp hearts but a vegan parm or nut parm would be nice too.

As the pasta cooks you can see the liquid thicken and envelop the noodles

Voila a bare bones pantry pasta with minimal clean up, one pot, no strainer and great leftovers. If you don't have fresh lemon you could easily give a few tbs or lemon juice from a jar and it would be just as good. I am so pleased with how well this turned out and it's likely something I will always have the required goods for.

Fork Ready!!

Hope this helps someone else who is hungry and lazy out there! <3 br="">

Veganmofo: lazy baking

Been a bit of a lazy day, but before I headed off to class last week I whipped up a batch of Banana bread from 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.

Like a good banana bread this one came together easily and quickly with lots of down time. The result was a soft subtly sweet centre and light crust. Great morning snack!

Sadly I had no walnuts to ad and didn't feel like chocolate chips. Eat Warm with Earth Balance and cold coffee.

Lasy cheap eats on the go

sanmich, a photo by B_A_Dxxx88 on Flickr.

Sorry for the lack of posting life has been crazy hectic and with working 7 days a week I feel like I rarely make anything post worthy.

Here is a terrible cell phone photo of my breakfast/lunch today, but it was such a good quick cheap last minute grab I had to share.

Running late and having not gotten groceries in a while, I was pretty hard up for food and have been taking instant costco oatmeal to work for breakfast and eating out for lunch.

BUT! This morning I stopped into pete's frootique to look around and decided to splurg on some 9.99/lbs guacamole. Finding pita chips at 3-4$ a bag, I decided to try to find corn chips when I happened by the bread section and found focaccia for 3.15 for a bag of 8 rolls from a local organic bakery.

So basically, these babies consist of toasted Focaccia, Guacamole, sliced organic tomatoes, dab of regular mustard and salt/pepper. So good, I'm eating one now for breakfast and toasted/wrapped another in the lunch room to take with me during my break along with the 2 costco kwiwis I am still trying to finish.


Here's the final score

8 Focaccia Loaves from a local organic bakery 3.50$
3 organic tomatoes 1.60$ (reduced produce score)
1 tub of Pete's Guacamole 6.15$
My total came out to around 11.60$ with taxes etc.
Added some mustard packets from the food section and take away salt/pepper and we are golden.

I figure it's not bad because this will make 6 meals because I'm generous with the tomato slices/guac, if I skimp I could make a full 8 meals, which for last minute 11.50$/8 =1.44$ a meal is pretty damn good.

Conversely I would now finally have bread for my veggie burgers if I decide to skip a meal or bulk one of the meals up with the frozen patties.

Small person, Big lunch

The problem of Pasta:

You need to make a giant overflowing pile of this wholesome goodness, you need and your body and soul crave it. I could gush about pasta for years, but I won't. I made this the other day for lunch, in true slacking style jarred sauce kicked up with spices and chopped veggies. It was good, very, very good. And I made too much and couldn't eat most of it, but thats what you do with pasta.


Simple, filling, warming and good. General method (because I make this different every time):
Boil water with sea salt
Add a box of whole wheat noodles of choice (or flax or multi grain etc)
While pasta cooks chop:
1 Onion
3 Garlic cloves (or more if you have them, or less because I'm not your mother and you can do as you please)
2 bell peppers (preferably one green and one red, again see above and do as you please)
(Other veggies that work wonders: Celery, hot peppers, mushrooms (cook these with onions and garlic for maximum yummy, my cafe does carrots and it's not so bad)

Saute the onions and garlic until soft and translucent, grind in black pepper, toss some rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, paprika and lots of it, crushed red peppers etc.
Cook down, then add veggies and cook until desired done-ness, also looks and taste really good when the peppers are a little scorched. Add sauce to cover veggies, re-spice and heat through.

For my lunch I layer pasta, grated vegan moza onto the noodles, layered more noodles, more vegan moza. Then covered in sauce and used vegan parm to coat the top. Serve with a bottle of Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chai. Enjoy

photos

I have them, someday my PC will work and i will fix this place up.

Today I have 6$ my mother gave me and pizza from last week.
I didn't sleep and was late for work.

The pizza was good when it was made, to lazy to describe it now, not as good as food porn anyways.

Working on the phone cords

Lunch again!
Bento inspired.... well shorta.
I made sushi :3
Today's dish:
Vegan Fumaki
Inari
no veggies on hand veggie roll (end of the rice, nori, too much vinegar, sesami seeds,carrots and green onions)
Can peaches
A green apple
More moisture bars -->Recipe here
Roast and salted soynuts
Apple/rasberry sauce
Irish cream coffee
Ice water

Hope your lunch was a tad more inspiring!
<3