Pasta and Veggies in Cream Sauce (Vegan)

Pasta and Vegetables in a Cream Sauce

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

* 1 Tablespoon olive oil
* 2 Tablespoons chopped onions
* 2 Cloves garlic, minced
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
* 1/4 Cup white wine (white grape juice?)
* 1/4 Cup margarine
* 1/2 Teaspoon salt
* 1/2 Teaspoon white pepper
* 1 Bay leaf
* 1/4 Cup flour
* 1 2/3 Cups soymilk, brought to room temperature or lightly heated, but not boiled
* 2 Cups fresh vegetables, cut into small pieces (try broccoli, mushrooms, cauliflower, and zucchini)
* 1 lb. pasta, cooked

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over low heat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute until tender. Add the oregano, thyme, and rosemary, and saute a few minutes more. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the margarine, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Return the mixture to a boil, stirring occasionally until the margarine melts.

Add the flour a tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition to avoid lumps. Stir until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Slowly wisk in the soymilk.

Place the vegetables in a steamer or metal sieve over boiling water, and steam until just tender. To serve, toss the vegetables with the freshly cooked pasta. Pour the sauce over the pasta and vegetables, and toss to mix.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

Ingredients (use vegan versions):
(I double this for my family of six)

1 1/4 cups unbleached white flour (part wheat flour works too)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 rounded tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening (I use regular stick margarine)
1 cup mashed sweet potato
nondairy milk or creamer, as needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in bowl. Cut in shortening.

2. Add mashed sweet potatoes. (I peeled and cubed the potatoes and then steamed them in a lidded container with 2 tablespoons of water in the microwave for 10 min, then let them stand for 10 min. Then I smashed them with a potato masher.)

3. Mix the dough together. It is unlikely that the dough will be dry; for me it is usually a little too sticky, so be sure to add some flour if that is the case. The biscuits will rise better if the dough is not very wet and sticky. You can add a little flour and/or milk to get it the right consistency. The dough will be very soft, but you do not want it to be wet and sticky. (Mine was stiff enough to knead on the counter.)

4. Roll out on a floured board to between 1/4-1/2 inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutters. I use 2"-2 1/2" cutters. Place on parchment paper, and bake about 13-15 minutes.

Serves: 10-12 or so, Preparation time: 15 min

Chicken Pot Pie

(Egg-Free, Nut-Free)

4 cups frozen vegetable mix ( peas, carrots, corn, etc.)
1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons dairy-free margarine
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup soy milk
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon curry powder (yummy, but optional if you don’t like curry)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 package puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm is dairy free) (I used pie crust... considerably cheaper...)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss frozen vegetables with canola oil and spread evenly onto a sheet pan. Place into oven and cook until golden brown.
In a saute pan heat 1 tablespoon of butter and sweat the onion and celery. In another saucepan, heat the broth and milk. Add 2 more tablespoons of butter to the celery mix and cook out the water. Add the flour and curry and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk mixture and cook until thickened. Add the salt and pepper. Toss the browned vegetables and the chicken. Pour into a shallow baking pan and top with puff pastry. Place into the oven and cook until puff pastry has browned and the mixture is hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes.

African Peanut Soup

African Peanut Soup (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free)
This is a very creative soup that received many 5 star reviews on the allrecipes.com board.

Serves 10

Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 medium onions, chopped
* 2 large red bell peppers, chopped (I used 1 green, 1 red, and 1 yellow)
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, with liquid
* 8 cups vegetable broth or stock (I used chicken broth)
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon chili powder (optional)
* 2/3 cup extra crunchy peanut butter
* 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice

Directions:

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Cook onions and bell peppers until lightly browned and tender, stirring in garlic when almost done to prevent burning. Stir in tomatoes, vegetable stock, pepper, and chili powder. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. (For my giant pot I had to simmer on medium)
Stir in rice, cover, and simmer another fifteen minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in peanut butter until well blended, and serve.

**When I made this the first time, it took more like 45 minutes to cook the rice. Next time, I'll cook the rice separately and then add it to taste. Jord said this would be great just drizzled over the rice instead.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 3 Haas avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.