Broccoli Pasta Soup

You can’t get much easier than this for a quick, low fat meal. I found this one in The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook: Over 300 Delicious Low-Fat Recipes You Can Prepare in Fifteen Minutes or Less by John and Mary McDougall. This is a nifty little recipe for throwing together something for dinner after you get home, too tired from a day’s work to cook something too involved.

What you will need:

8 cups vegetable broth (I use Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder. I have found it in several healthfood shops. )

4 cups broccoli cut into florets (about 1 medium to large head of broccoli)

250g (approx.) uncooked pasta (I like to use Orgran Vegetable Rice Pasta which you can find in health food shops and supermarkets, in their healthfoods section)

1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce (optional, as it depends on how salty your stock is)

Dash or two of Tabasco sauce

Method:

Place the broth in a large pot and bring to boil. Add the pasta and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until almost done. Add the remaining ingredients, stir and turn off heat. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. Serve with bread. I like having this with plain toast - gluten free, of course! 

Recipe: Mushroom and tofu pastitsio

Pastitsio use to be one of my favourite dishes as a child. It was full of egg, meat and dairy (though my family left out the meat, at least), and is a common Greek meal.  Was keen to try this veganized version of it, after spotting it in the book “Vegan Planet” by Robin Robertson.

It is a little bit fussy, requiring a few steps, but the results are worth it. For the tomato sauce, I just grabbed a can of pasta sauce form the supermarket. There are many that are vegan, so you should have no problems finding one that is suitable to use.  As for the vegan parmesan cheese, I used Cheezly Parmesan which you can buy at PAWS.  The recipe calls for radiator pasta but if you can’t find that, any small pasta will do. I noticed with the gluten free pasta, it is hard to find the smaller shapes, so just use whatever you can find.

What you will need:

450g radiator or other small pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped (optional)

2 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)

450g firm tofu, rinsed and crumbled

225g white mushrooms, chopped

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ cup dry red wine (optional)

2 cups tomato pasta sauce

¼ to ½  chopped fresh parsley

¾ drained soft silken tofu

2 cups soy milk ( I use Bonsoy as it is thick, creamy and savoury in flavour. Available in supermarkets.)

½ tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

½ cup grated vegan parmesan cheese

Method:

Cook the pasta in boiling water, according to packet directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions, cover and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, firm tofu, mushrooms, oregano, cinnamon, and wine. Simmer to reduce, about 3 minutes.

Stir in tomato pasta sauce and parsley. Reduce heat to low and cook to reduce liquid, about 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Combine silken tofu, soy milk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a blender and process until smooth.

Spread half of the pasta over the bottom of a lightly oiled 9x13 inch (22.86 x 33.02 cm) baking dish and sprinkle with half of the vegan cheese.

Spread all of the tomato mixture over the top and layer the remaining pasta on top. Spread the pureed tofu mixture over the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake until hot and bubbly, about 45 minutes. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes enough for 4 people. A green salad on the side goes well with this.

Recipe: Ginger pasta with zucchini

I found this one in Alicia Silverstone’s book “The Kind Diet”. It is super easy to make, as you will see. I only tweaked it a little bit to suit my needs.

What you will need:

Pasta of whatever shape, size and quantity you like. It doesn’t really matter. I used two 250g packs of gluten free rice pasta.

1 block of firm tofu, roughly mashed up with your hands or fork

1 tbsp olive oil

Half onion, chopped (optional)

Small zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

A few dashes of tamari or soy sauce

1 tsp ginger juice (grate a 5cm piece of ginger and squeeze out the juice with your fingers)

Method:

Cook the pasta according to the packet directions, drain and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan and if using, add onion and sauté until onion is translucent. This should take about 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 or 2 tbsp water if the onions start to stick to the pan. Add the zucchini and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes to until it softens. Then add tofu and tamari/soy sauce. Saute for 2 minutes and then stir in ginger juice and cooked pasta. Toss ingredients and serve.

Recipe: Pasta Florentine

This is another recipe I found in the book “30 Minute Vegan” by Marck Reinfelf and Jennifer Murray. It is creamy and cheesy and works best on smaller shaped pasta.  My partner absolutely wolfed this dish down, and no wonder – it is delicious!

What you will need:

350g of uncooked pasta (I use gluten free, rice pasta). You can use more pasta is you wish.

1 and a half tbsp olive oil

1 cup thinly sliced onion (optional)

2 tbsp minced garlic (optional)

8 cups fresh spinach

1 cup plain soy or rice milk (I use Bonsoy as it is thick, creamy and is not sweet)

Quarter cup and 2 tbsp nutritional yeast

3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil

1 tsp dried oregano

Method:

Bring pot of water to boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook according to packet instructions. Drain, rinse well and place in large bowl.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil to a large pan over medium-high heat and add onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add soy milk and lower heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Add pasta and gently mix.

Variations:

Add 2 cups of chopped, assorted mixed vegetables, including broccoli, carrots, and zucchini, after adding onion and garlic.

Try substituting coconut milk for soy milk.

Natural Alternative

By no means is Natural Alternative vegan friendly across the board, but this brand does sell some gluten free, vegan products, so they are worth investigating.

I absolutely love their Fettucine. It is quick and easy to prepare, keeps its shape and is very tasty, indeed.
No dairy, no gluten, no egg, no yeast and GMO free.
Oh, and no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives.

Their spaghetti and other pasta are also vegan and gluten free. So too are their varied cold pressed oils.

Natural Alternative also do hair and skin products which are not animal tested. Check out their website for more details, such as ingredients used.

If you are wondering where I got the Fettucine, I stock up on it from Good Life Health Shops . Remember, if a store does not have a range or items within a range, ASK them to stock it. Sometime they can and will, sometimes they can't or won't, for various reasons. When I ask for something and it is something I love and use a lot of, I ask them to order multiple amounts and stock up on it. If you frequent a particular store, let the staff know that you are vegan and a regular customer. It will help with your requests and hopefully influence what they stock.