Pasta with Artichokes and Broccoli

This is a quick, easy and delicious dinner I made the other night.  G usually just gulps down what I make with nary a comment, unless he really doesn't like or really does like something.  This one earned a comment for the latter, so I knew it had to be blog-worthy.  The ingredients are few, and the simple seasonings brought out their wonderful tastes.  Hopefully, you'll enjoy it, too.  What is your favorite thing to toss in a pasta sauce?

Pasta with Artichokes and Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 pound of thin spaghetti
1 Tbs. of olive oil
2 cups of broccoli florets, coarsely chopped small
3 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced thin diagonally
2 - 14.5 oz cans of Del Monte diced tomatoes with rosemary and oregano
1 and 1/2 cups of marinated artichoke hearts, sliced in half lengthwise
1 Tbs. sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions.  While pasta is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.  When the oil is hot, add the broccoli and carrots and cook for five minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the tomatoes and artichoke hearts and cook for another three minutes, until heated through.  Add the sesame oil and salt and pepper, stir and let simmer on medium low for five minutes.  Top pasta with sauce and enjoy.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Bountiful Pasta Salad with Beans

In our home, pasta salads can be a side dish or, if they're full of enough goodies, be the main dish.  There are two main beans that I think go well in green and pasta salads: garbanzos and kidneys - although any kind of bean can be the basis for a good salad.  Sometimes in my pasta salads, I'll kick up the protein a bit by adding one of these beans.  In this salad, I used garbanzos.  I also love to fill my salads chock full of a variety of crunchy, flavorful ingredients.  This salad is no different.  Don't forget, when you add the raw veggies to hot pasta, they blanch just enough to be tender.  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Bountiful Pasta Salad with Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb. small pasta (this time I used two seven oz. bags of small stars)
2 cups broccoli, chopped small
2 green onions, sliced
1 cup red cabbage, chopped small
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, in water, halved lengthwise
1 15oz. can black whole olives, drained
1 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup of  salad dressing - I like to use Italian style for this
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.  While pasta is cooking, prepare your vegetables and beans.  Drain the pasta and put in a large bowl immediately along with the veggies and beans.  Stir well.  Add the dressing and stir again.  Season to taste and stir.  Chill for at least two hours before serving, or if you're in a rush, you can serve this warm.  Be sure to chill in a non-breakable bowl.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Roasted Baby Artichokes

We picked up some beautiful baby artichokes at the farmer's market recently.  Before, I've put them in risottos, but I wanted to try and see how they tasted roasted...and, they were delicious!  Just follow the easy directions below to enjoy this feast for yourselves.  You can even eat them cold the next day, like I did, and like I do with the big fellas, too.

Close-up of roasted baby artichokes

Untrimmed fresh baby artichoke

Trimmed and peeled fresh baby artichoke

Roasted baby artichokes

Roasted baby artichokes with purple kale, Basic White Bread, and spicy lentils

Roasted Baby Artichokes

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. lemon juice
3 cups of water
10 - 12 baby artichokes
Non-stick spray
2 or 3 tsp. of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix together the lemon juice and water in a medium bowl and set aside.  Wash your artichokes.  With a large knife, trim both ends of the artichoke.  You want any poky tops to be gone, and you want virtually all the stem to be gone.  Pull of the outermost leaves, leaving the tender ones underneath.   Cut each artichoke in half lengthwise and place in the lemon water to prevent early browning.  Once all have been cut, spray a baking sheet with the non-stick spray.  Lay the artichokes on the sheet, cut side up.  Drizzle olive oil on them.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 15 minutes.  So tender and full of flavor!  The whole thing is edible, so enjoy.  You can just bite into them or have fun eating them leaf by leaf.  I treat them as a finger food.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Glorious Green Salad

I like to have a lot of fun with salads for my clan.  Sometimes, we'll have big salads on individual plates, and I'll holler from the kitchen, "Who wants carrots?  Who wants garbanzos?," and so on.  I pretty much know by now who likes what and not, but sometimes my  Blessings have changing tastes, so it's good to be reminded.  Sometimes, I'll make one huge salad that's the meal itself, with maybe crackers or something to go with it.  That's when I really load up the toppings to make the salad as varied and crunchy as possible with a symphony of flavors to tease and please younger palates.  The one I made on this night was served alongside of homemade bread sticks and dipping sauces, and everyone was well pleased and full. Below, I've listed the toppings I heaped on, just to give you a new idea or two.  Having fun with your salads is the takeaway moral of the story.

Glorious Green Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine, chopped
Canned quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
Red onion, slice thin
Canned garbanzos, drained
Tomatoes, cut in small wedges
Fresh spinach leaves, torn if large
Jarred julienned pickled beets
Carrots, shredded
Celery, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Purple cabbage, chopped small
Raw sunflower seeds
Favorite dressings and oils and vinegars on the side

Directions:

In a big bowl, layer the ingredients, except for the dressings.  I do not like to toss my salads before serving because all the goodies get hidden under the lettuce.  Instead we scoop straight down in order to get equal amounts of everything.  Drizzle your favorite dressing on top - sometimes we sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of that - and dig in.  Served with bread sticks or crackers or toast makes for a filling meal.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Royal Platter (with soy)

When my girls were much littler, I loved to make snacks for them on divided plates that were full of a variety of goodies. (And, I still do!)  What I quickly found out was that G appreciated these snacks as much as they did.  So, one night I was struck by a unique idea for dinner: to have a large platter of a variety of foods requiring no utensils, save for a couple of toothpicks for spearing.  Dipping sauces and plenty of napkins were always nearby.  Because at that time we only had daughters, I named these dinners Princess Platters.  And, they were a huge hit with all of us.  The combination of foods were endless.  Just like when we have nachos family-style, I put the platter on a tray or ottoman, and we would watch a movie in the living room.  What was also nice was that the girls would eat things that they normally would turn their noses up at because it was in the fun presentation of the Princess Platter.  So, I could sneak in healthy foods that way, too.  When JK came along, I changed the name to the Royal Platter.  This version is called "with soy" because sometimes I use baked tofu for the main protein.  I love making the platters as much as they love eating from them, and no two are ever the same.  Here is just our latest version.

Royal Platter (with soy)

Ingredients:

Possibilities are limited only to what you can think of.  This is what we had one night:

Gimme Lean, sausage style, cut into rounds and sauteed
8 - 10 red potatoes, quartered and roasted, seasoned with salt and pepper
Celery, sliced into strips
Carrots, cut into sticks
Marinated artichoke hearts
Pickles
Olives with peppers and garlic
Walnuts
Chocolate Chunks
Ketchup, BBQ sauce, and vegan Worcestershire sauce for dipping

Directions:

Once all the food has been prepared, put it into a large divided dish.  Pair up similar foods with each other, or ones that will go well with a partner or two.  Skewer a few items with toothpicks.  Keep dipping sauces and napkins handy. Feeds five hungry vegans.

Salad Bar Night!

As most of you probably do, we eat plenty of salads with and for dinner.  With children, I like to keep it as fun as possible, for even though they're vegan, they're still kids and don't always want to eat a salad every day.  So, Ill make a variety of salads from different regions, or have big individual salads loaded with their favorite toppings, or like this version: I'll have a salad bar with familiar and unfamiliar things to top whatever greens are the base that night.

My dear mother, bless her heart, gave me three heads of iceberg lettuce.  Just like home, ah, the memories.  The only time we usually eat iceberg now is when we're over at my parents or when she drives over to bring me three heads of it.  So, there it is, the star of our show, and it's thumbing its nose at Romaine, red leaf, butter, endive, and radicchio.  Let it have its crunchy glory, I say, surrounded by all sorts of goodness!  Below, I'll list the toppings left to right, just to give you an idea of what you can have.  Add or take away at your taste bud's pleasure. 

The Salad Bar

What my plate looked like loaded up.

Salad Bar Night

Ingredients:

Nice big bowl of lettuce, chopped
A variety of ingredients with proper handling tools provided.  We had:
  Pear tomatoes
  Finely grated Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheese, Monterey Jack style
  Green onions, sliced
  Carrots, grated
  Celery, chopped
  Raw turnip, grated
  Radish, grated
  Green bell pepper, diced
  Parsley greens, chopped small
  Sliced almonds
  Marinated artichoke hearts

A variety of dressings, olive and sesame oils, red wine and balsamic vinegars and lemon juice

Directions:

Top lettuce to your heart's content with the goodies.  Add the dressings to season lightly.  Eat!  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Radical Rice Salad

I like to jazz up different ways to make salads, so they're not boring.  This is one way to do that, that I make several times a year.  The more goodies tossed in this particular salad, the better, in my opinion!  I threw together a veggie dish on the side that tasted way better than I anticipated, so I will post that easy recipe next.  Enjoy!

Radical Rice Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup of uncooked brown rice, prepared according to package directions
3 cups fresh veggies - we used: broccoli florets, chopped small; carrot, grated; green onions, sliced; tomato, chopped
1 small can sliced black olives, drained
1/2 can quartered artichoke hearts in water
1/2 can garbanzos, drained
1/2 cup of your favorite salad dressing - I used a tangy French dressing
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper

Directions:

Once rice is cooked, add it and all the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.  Best served chilled but can be served at room temperature in a pinch.  If chilling, use non-breakable bowl before putting in refrigerator.  Stir before serving.  Serve with a side of sauteed veggies.  Feeds five hungry vegans well. 

Big Salads with Tempeh Bits

Here is another one of my big salad ideas. Every now and then I like to serve big, individual salads for each of us for dinner as our complete meal. To top these salads, I made tempeh bits as a sub for store-bought bacon bits, and I really like the nutty result. The tempeh bits even passed the test with some meat-eatin' friends with kids at a different meal, so that's great! I also like to blanch my broccoli sometimes for salads, instead of serving them completely raw. They seem to go down easier for my blessings that way. So, below I've listed what's in our most recent big salads, including a short recipe for the tempeh bits and also a note on blanching broccoli, if that's new to you. Enjoy!

Big Salads with Tempeh Bits

Ingredients:

2 Hearts of Romaine or one big head of Romaine, chopped small
1 block of tempeh
1 Tbs. canola oil
Garlic salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of chopped broccoli florets
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 bunch of cilantro, leaves chopped
1 can of water-packed and quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 avocados, quartered and sliced
2 tomatoes, quartered and cut into wedges
1/4 red onion, sliced thin and quartered

Directions:

For the tempeh bits: Heat the oil in a small pan over medium heat. Crumble the tempeh into the pan in its individual bits. Sprinkle just a bit of garlic salt and pepper over the tempeh. Cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure you get the tempeh to brown before you are done cooking it. It eliminates any bitter flavor and releases a wonderful, nutty taste. Very good!

For the blanched broccoli: Heat a few cupfuls of water to boiling in a medium pot. Add the broccoli and boil for three minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

For the salad: Use the lettuce as a base on each plate, and add the toppings as desired. Drizzle your favorite salad dressing on top. Eat up! Delicious. Feeds five hungry vegans.