Mac & "Cheese"

Level of Difficulty: easy
Pots/Pans Used: 3!

Ingredients
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup soy margarine (may need a couple extra TBLs)
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Dash of turmeric
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast (plus a little extra)
1 box rotini pasta, cooked
1/4 cup panko japanese bread crumbs (or homemade bread crumbs)

I made this the other night when I was craving a creamy pasta dish. I just needed to figure out how to come up with a recipe using only what I had on hand. Now, I have had many many delicious mac & cheese recipes from various vegan cookbooks. However totally yummy, they tend to require a lot of ingredients and at least a food processor. So if you want a quick, uncomplicated meal, I would certainly give this one a try.
Cook pasta and begin separately boiling the 2 cups of water. Preheat oven to 350 and start making the cheese sauce. In a large saute pan or wok, melt margarine over medium heat. Once melted, gradually whisk in the flour. It is very important that you whisk, otherwise the consistency will be all wrong. The flour should be gradually thickening the sauce. If it starts to clump up and solidify, you can add some more margarine. Then add boiling water a little bit at a time, remembering to still whisk (NOTE: You do NOT need to use all the water). Just add water until it is the consistency of gravy. Next mix in the the salt, nutmeg and turmeric. Then, gradually whisk in the nutritional yeast. Toss the pasta with the sauce and then transfer it to a casserole dish. sprinkle the bread crumbs and some extra nutritional yeast on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Soooo Satisfying!

By the way, This can easily be converted to a gluten-free dish by excluding the bread crumbs, using gluten-free pasta and rice flour.

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Pumpkin-Ginger Waffles

Level of Difficulty: EASY
Pots/Pans Used:3

Ingredients
1 1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup finely chopped crystalized ginger
1/2 cup cinnamon apple sauce (feel free to use regular apple sauce. I just like cinnamon)
3/4 cup soy milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBL Earth Balance, melted and slightly cooled

My mom and I found this recipe in a magazine and decided it looked so good, we needed to try it immediately. Luckily I only had to make a few minor adjustments in order to "veganize" the meal. Also, the ingredient list is pretty common. The only thing you may need to go out of your way to buy is the crystalized ginger (I found mine at Whole Foods). Let me start by saying that although this dish is reeeeeeaaaally yummy, it does require you to be fairly enthusiastic about ginger. I happen to be extremely enthusiastic about ginger, but I'm just offering a small warning for you non-enthusiasts. The ginger is really what makes these waffles special though. So instead of cutting it out, I recommend using a smaller portion if you're not in love with the stuff. By the way, this recipe makes about 5 large waffles.
To begin, Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Remove 2 TBL of the minxture and toss with with the crystalized ginger in a small bowl. Set aside. Whisk the applesauce, soy milk, pumpkin, sugar, and vanilla in a medium-sized bowl. Combine with the flour mixture. Then, stir in the butter and then fold in the reserved crystalized ginger mixture. Don't over mix! Heat a waffle iron and make waffles, using about 1/2 cup batter for each waffle. When ready, slather it with some Earth Balance and maple syrup!

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Yummy Butternut Squash Soup with Sage Croutons

Level of Difficulty: A bit of prep work, but nothing you can't handle!
Pots/Pans Used: 3 or 4

Ingredients
Soup:
1 3-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 TBL olive oil
3 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon Earth Balance
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage (about 6 large leaves)
6 cups vegetable broth

Croutons:
1 baguette
1 TBL olive oil
3 sage leaves, chopped
sprinkle of nutritional yeast flakes

I know, I know. I seem a little squash-happy these days. But hey, They're in season! Okay, I had this soup a few years ago at the Pineyro family Christmas Eve dinner. It was sooooo delicious and Emily Pineyro recommended that I try it out for the blog. This may require a bit more clean-up and prep work but it's still a very simple recipe. Not to mention, once you taste it, you will realize it was well worth every minute you put into making it. If you try only one recipe from my blog, I absolutely recommend trying this one! As my roommate put it after trying a bowl, "It's the best soup I've had in my entire life".
First, Preheat oven to 400. I didn't do this, but boiling the squash whole first makes them easier to cut and peel. In a large bowl, toss the squash with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and the pepper. Place the squash on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. Turn the cubes over and continue roasting for another 15 minutes. they should be nice and caramelized. Set them aside. In a large pot, heat the Earth Balance and the remaining oil over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and sage and saute (stirring occasionally) until the vegetables are tender. This will take about 10-15 minutes. Add the roasted squash, vegetable broth, and remaining salt. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, Preheat the oven to 275. Cut or rip up a baguette into medium "croutonesque" sizes. Toss them with 2 TBl olive oil, spread onto a baking sheet, and sprinkle with the chopped sage leaves and a generous portion of nutritional yeast. Bake them in the oven for 10-12 minutes and set aside. Remove the pot of soup from the heat. Using a blender or a food processor, blend the soup in batches until smooth. Please learn a lesson from me and make sure the blender is in the "off" position before plugging it into the wall :). Return to the pot and keep warm on a low heat. Then serve it up in a bowl and top it with some warm, homemade sage croutons!

NOTE: For some reason the color of the soup isn't very accurate in this photo. It is actually much more orange and much less brown. So don't let the color turn you off...

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Spaghetti Squash

Level of Difficulty: EASY
Pots/Pans Used: 2!

Ingredients
1 Spaghetti Squash, ripened (very yellow)
3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 TBL fresh basil
1 TBL Earth Balance
1 TBL nutritional yeast
salt & pepper to taste
1 jar marinara sauce

OR

(if you want to make your own sauce)
2 tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
basil
nutritional yeast
onion
shallot
mushrooms
(plus anything else you would like to add)

This recipe was recommended to me by Mike Pineyro. Not only was it a lot of fun to make, but I felt completely guilt-free after eating it. You can prepare spaghetti squash in a lot of different ways, but this preparation is meant to emulate real spaghetti. To be honest, I didn't miss the pasta at all, and it's probably about 1/10 the calories. This is also a great recipe for people who love spaghetti but are gluten intolerant. Plus, Spaghetti Squash is in season!
First, you need to preheat an oven to 375. Next, take your spaghetti squash and cut it length-wise down the center (BE CAREFUL! It's very difficult to cut and you will need a rather large knife!). Once you're squash is cut, scrape out the stringy center with a large spoon. Next, rub Earth Balance on the open face of each half (if you don't have Earth Balance, use olive oil). Next, distribute the garlic and basil evenly into the open face of the squash.

Take a large pan with high sides and fill it with 1/4 inch of water. I didn't have one large pan, so I just used two medium-sized casserole dishes. Put the squash face down into the water (Some of the filling may come out, but not much). Then put it in the oven for 50 minutes. Once out of the oven, remove the water and filling. This is the crazy part... take a fork and scrape at the center of the squash. The entire thing thing will turn into perfect spaghetti-sized noodles like this! Then sprinkle some salt and pepper and 1 TBL nutritional yeast over each half of spaghetti. Mix it up, to give the noodles a bit of flavor. You can either make your own spaghetti sauce or heat up a store bought sauce. Due to time constraints, I used a pre-made one.

If you want to make your own, Mike recommends sauteing tomatoes (cut into wedges), a can of crushed tomatoes (to make it more "saucy"), lots of onion or shallots, more basil, nutritional yeast, mushroom, etc. Basically, just get fancy with whatever kind of sauce you want to make. Just pour the sauce over the noodles, sprinkle some nutritional yeast and eat your heart out! This is enough to serve three very hungry people. I don't recommend making it for just one, because it doesn't do well as leftovers.

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