I'm Back, Y'all!

I have been busy moving the Vegan Cajuns across the country.  We relocated from Cajun Country to the Pacific Northwest!  We are enjoying Seattle, especially the weather that any Cajun would pay good money for in the month of August - 60s and 70s, breezy, beautiful, and sunny, sunny, sunny!  

It's also nice to be in a place where good vegan cuisine is easy to find and people don't look at you like you have two heads if you don't eat meat!  Supper tonight was a remake of an old Pampered Chef favorite, Brown Butter Tortellini.  

"Brown Butter" Ravioli

20 oz vegan ravioli or tortellini (I used Rising Moon Organics Butternut Squash Vegan Ravioli)

1/4 cup vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 bunch fresh baby spinach (about 6 oz)

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast ("nooch")

2 links vegan sausage, sliced or broken apart (I used Field Roast Sage and Apple Sausage)

Cook ravioli according to package directions.  Add spinach to a colander and drain ravioli over the spinach to slightly wilt it.

In a large skillet, melt margarine and toss in the nooch and whisk around.  This gives a nuttiness that you would otherwise get browning regular dairy butter.  Saute' sausage and red bell pepper until the sausage is browned and the pepper is just starting to soften.  Add ravioli and spinach and toss, adding salt and pepper to taste.  

Super quick recipe and VERY tasty!  

Today's Menu....

...is brought to you by the color ORANGE and the word SLEEPY.  

Yesterday I threw my hubby a surprise party for his 50th birthday.  I've been cooking, cleaning, and shopping in secret and yesterday was busy and long.  And I haven't gathered pictures and recipes from the party quite yet to share, but I do have tonight's quick and easy supper.  

The first recipe is a favorite of mine.  My first vegan cookbook purchase was Lauren Ulm's Vegan Yum Yum and this was an early recipe try.  This is an awesome, amazing, super duper easy soup that fills you up and warms you to the core.  I've made it for non-vegan friends and they all give it rave reviews.  And ask for the recipe!  My one complaint with Lauren's book is that her recipes don't feed ravenous wolves my hungry bunch, so I end up doubling most recipes.  This one is no exception.  But you just need leftovers, you know. It's too good to just eat once!  The recipe below includes the doubled amounts and will feed 8.  (Or four wolves plus a small amount of leftovers that will be fought over.)  

Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp turmeric 

2 15-oz cans of chickpeas (or about 4 cups cooked chickpeas), drained and rinsed

2 28-oz cans of diced tomatoes

2 tsp salt

4 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

2 cups hot water

Black pepper, to taste

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil to shimmering and saute the onions until softened.  Add the garlic, cumin, chili flakes, mustard seeds, and turmeric and saute another minute.  Add chickpeas and saute until the chickpeas begin to turn golden, just a few minutes.  Add tomatoes and salt and simmer for about 15 minutes. 

Transfer the mixture in batches to a blender and puree until smooth.  Be careful to vent the lid or the whole thing will explode on you.  Don't ask me how I know this.  *ahem*  Transfer back to the Dutch oven.  Add nutritional yeast and water and stir together until smooth.  Taste to adjust seasonings.  Enjoy!   

Calories per 1 1/2 cup serving:  198

Fat: 8 g

Carbs:  28 g

Protein: 7 g

This next recipe is a New York Times recipe and was made because I had two butternut squashes sitting on my counter just begging for me to cook them before they went bad.  So I took one of them and made this and it was scrumptious.  My belly was actually full from the soup, but when I tasted one cube of squash, I knew I had to go back for more.  The bowl pictured below is really a teeny tiny bowl so my serving was probably less than 1/4 cup.  This WILL be my before-bed snack, though, I can assure you!  It's like dessert...only with lots of garlic!  

Now, this recipe said that it needed to cook at 375° for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  I don't wait that long for much.  I bumped the temperature up to 400° and set the timer for 20 minutes.  Stirred it and popped it back in for another 20 and it was done.  Cooking it for 2 hours would have turned it to mush!  

Simple Provencal Winter Squash Gratin

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup bread crumbs (I pulverized two slices of leftover bruschetta from the party last night)

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (let me just say I am sure I have nowhere near 1 tbsp of thyme in this dish - I absolutely hate pulling those little tiny leaves off and I'm obsessive about not getting any little stems in there so I probably had somewhere closer to 1/2 tsp!  Ha!)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400°.  Toss together ingredients in a large stoneware dish or gratin dish.  Place in the oven and bake 20 minutes.  Stir and test one of the pieces of squash.  Return to the oven for an additional 20 minutes or until squash is fork tender.  Serves 6.  (Or one crazy butternut squash lovin' lady who worked up an appetite at Zumba.)  

Calories per serving:  154

Carbs: 21g 

Protein: 3 g

Butternut Squash Bisque

My middle child and oldest daughter is definitely a foodie and has been since she was tiny.  About six years ago when she was just 11 years old, Whole Foods opened up in a city near us.  We loved going, especially when they had samples.  One day we tasted a Butternut Squash and Crab bisque and Brooke instantly fell in love.  She decided that she wanted to make that for the family for Thanksgiving.  She had cooked before, but never something this "fancy" and with so many steps and definitely never for people outside our immediate family.  But she was excited.  We found this recipe online, which she followed to the letter, and the results turned out deliciously!  For many Thanksgivings, she has repeated this delicious soup.

This year, I asked if she'd make a vegan version for me.  She did and it was probably even better (to my memory) than the original.  So, here is (as much as we can figure) her adaptations.

1 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 cup dry sherry
1 cup Silk soy creamer
2 tbsp vegan margarine
3 shallots, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
cayenne pepper to taste (we used about a heaping 1/4 tsp)
salt to taste

Add margarine to a large stock pot and melt over medium heat.  Add shallots and cook, stirring, until soft.  Add garlic and cook for another minute or so.  Do not let the shallots or garlic brown.  Add the sherry and cook on high until almost all of the liquid is reduced.  Add the butternut squash and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and cook on a fairly high heat until the butternut squash is soft, stirring often so it does not stick and adding more water if needed to keep the squash covered.

Puree in batches, being careful not to fill the blender too full or you will have a hot mess on your hands - literally.  Don't ask me how I know this.  Wash out the stock pot and return the puree to the now pristine pot. Add soy creamer, salt, and pepper and cook on low until heated through.  If your squash is not very sweet, you may need to add a little sugar, but we have never needed to do this.

Enjoy!

Autumn Couscous

One of my friends went to Whole Foods today and posted a picture of a fall-inspired Israeli couscous dish.  I was hungry and had a butternut squash just waiting to be cooked, so my friend's lunch inspired me to do something I rarely do - make something up on the fly.  And it was delicious!  Perfect for a sunny fall day in Cajun Country.  Fall in Louisiana usually has nothing to do with cool temperatures.  At noon, it is already 81°, BUT the humidity is a low 39%!  No humidity = fall down South!

Ginger's Autumn Couscous

1 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tbsp olive oil

Toss together in an oven safe dish and roast at 400° for about 30 minutes or until butternut squash is tender.  

While the squash is roasting, toast:

1 1/3 cup Israeli couscous in 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add 2 1/2 cups of boiling vegetable stock, cover, and simmer over low heat for 12 minutes.  

When couscous is finished, turn into serving dish and add:

1/2 cup dried cherries or cranberries (if you want them to be softer, add them to the couscous with the stock)

1/4 cup toasted walnuts or other nuts

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

the roasted butternut/onion mixture

Toss together and add salt and pepper to taste.