Enchilada Pasta (One-Pan)

Yes, it's another pasta dish. I promise I make other dishes, I just don't get to blog everything I make and next thing I know there are recipes on the camera, all of one type. Oh well, I do love me some pasta and you'll love this dish. Everything and I do mean everything cooks on one pot. I found this cool recipe over at number 2 pencil and knew I wanted to make it vegan. I'm sure glad I did.

• 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 package Gardein beefless ground 
• 1 packet of low-sodium taco seasoning
• 2 cups no-chicken - chicken broth
• 2 10-oz cans red enchilada sauce
• 8-oz (about 2 1/2 cups) of dried rotini pasta
• 2 cups Daiya Pepper Jack cheese shreds
• Garnish: green onions, black olives, sour cream, pickled jalapeno, shredded lettuce

In a large skillet, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil over medium low heat until softened.

Add Gardein, pasta, broth and enchilada sauce to pan. Stir well.

Bring to a boil, then reduced heat to low and cover. Cook on low, with pan covered for about 15 minutes.

Then remove lid and let simmer for additional 5 minutes until pasta is tender and sauce has reduced.

Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of cheese.

Top pasta with additional cup of cheese and cover for a minute or two so the cheese melts.

Garnish with items of your choice and serve.

Enjoy!!

Baked Rotini with Italian Sausage

I love pasta, I love comfort food, I love one-dish wonders, I love flavorful food and I LOVE this dish. Oh my gosh, every time I heated up left-overs I was like "ummmmmm" this is so delicious. I really need to make this dish, it's that good. The pictures don't do it justice. This is a recipe I modified from "Cooking with Paula Deen".

• 1 package Tofurky Italian sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 1 (8-ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 (3.8-ounce) can sliced black olives, drained
• 1 (24-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 2 (8-ounce) cans tomato sauce
• 2 flax eggs (1 egg = 1 tablespoons flaxmeal + 3 tablespoons water mixed well)
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 pound rotini pasta, cooked
• 2 cups grated Diaya mozzarella cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 4-quart casserole dish. Cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente, remember it's going to bake in the oven so it'll be cooking some more. Drain and set aside.

In a medium skillet over medium-low heat, cook sausage until well done. Remove from pan and set aside.

Melt Earth Balance in a skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots, and cook for 5 minutes, or until tender.  Add mushrooms and black olives and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, and flax eggs. Stir in diced tomatoes, salt, basil, oregano, and Italian seasoning.

 Layer half of pasta,

half of mushroom mixture,

half of sauce mixture,

and half of cheese into prepared casserole dish. 

Repeat layers, ending with cheese.

Place on a baking sheet incase it bubbles over. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. 

Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Cup Brownies

I've been seeing the brownies on the web lately and they just looked to good to not make. So I grabbed my trusty vegan ingredients, ditched the peanut butter chips - I couldn't find any that were vegan. This is my version of this awesome dish. One tip that I highly recommend - use paper cups instead of spraying your muffin tins. It was a battle getting these bad boys outta that muffin tin.

To make this recipe you'll need:

 Bring to boil:

• 1 cup Earth Balance vegan margarnie
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cocoa

  Remove from heat; let cool.

In a bowl mix:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2  cup soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 flax eggs (1 tablespoon flaxmeal + 3 tablespoons warm water = 1 egg)

Add the cooled cocoa mixture to bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray or grease 40 mini-muffin cups (see my tip above - do yourself a favor and use paper liners.) Spoon batter evenly into muffin cups, about 1 heaping tablespoon in each.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top is set and toothpick inserted into center comes out slightly moist.

After brownies are out of the oven, wait for centers to fall. This will happen upon cooling. If not then tap the centers with teaspoon (or press with a clean thumb), this will make a indent for peanut butter.

• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup or more, I used about 4 semi-sweet chocolate chips per brownie

Put the peanut butter in a glass measuring spoon and microwave for about 15 seconds on high. Remove from microwave, stir well and heat again for about 15-20 more seconds. You want it to be thin enough to spoon into the brownies. While brownies are still warm spoon about half teaspoon warm peanut butter into the center of each brownie; top with chocolate chips. Cool completely in pan. Remove from pan and serve.

Enjoy!

Thai Red Curry Noodle Soup

I know the weather is really warm in much of the country. Here in Florida it's been in the high 80's, but I still love a bowl of soup. I saw this recipe over at Amuse Your Bouche and decided to tweak it and add some seitan for protein. I really enjoyed it but it could have been spicier for my taste.

1 tablespoon coconut oil

3 small carrots, sliced thin

4 ounces fresh snow peas, trimmed and cut in half

1/2 sweet onion, chunked

1 can bamboo shoots, drained

3 tablespoons sp red Thai curry paste (make sure it’s veggie!)

1 can coconut milk

4 ounces angel hair pasta, broken into 1-inch pieces

Salt

Black pepper

1 can water (use the can the coconut milk was in)

1 (8 ounce) package cubed seitan

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

Heat the oil in a pot, and stir-fry the fresh vegetables for around 5 minutes – you want them to be slightly softened, but still with a nice bit of crunch.

Add the bamboo shoots and seitan and cook for another minute.

Add the curry paste and mix well (I used 3 tablespoons but if your paste is particularly spicy, or if you just like a milder curry, you might prefer to only use 2).

Add the coconut milk, 1 can of water and the broken noodles, and season to taste. Cook over a medium heat for a few more minutes, simmering very gently, until the curry is hot.

Stir in the chopped coriander, and serve.

Enjoy!

Mongolian BBQ Seitan

I found this recipe over at ChooseVeg.com and knew I wanted to put my spin on it. I doubled the sauce and the seitan and used about half the amount of mushrooms the original recipe called for. I like lots of sauce on my dishes and this was so flavorful. I hope you'll enjoy it.

• 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons Bragg's
• 2 tablespoons agave
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chili-garlic sauce
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3.5 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 1 box (1.2 pound) seitan, cut into thin strips
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 ounces snow peas, strings removed
• 2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups cooked rice, for serving

In a small bowl, make the sauce by whisking together hoisin sauce, water, Braggs, agave, lemon juice, and chili-garlic sauce. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and stir-fry mushrooms and seitan until lightly browned and mushrooms have released their juices. Add ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Let cook for a few more minutes.

 Add the sauce and snow peas to skillet. Reduce heat to medium, and let cook until sauce has thickened. This may happen quickly. Turn off heat and mix in the scallions and cilantro.

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!