A recent dinner was vegan, not on purpose, but what I call accidentally vegan. And I can’t say dairy was missed. Although I am sure Kirk would have been happy with a lot fewer tomatoes….raw tomatoes are something he has never been fond of. Oh well, more fer me!
Lemony Basil Pasta
Ingredients:
- 13.25 ounce package whole-grain or whole wheat angel hair or spaghetti
- 1 pint fresh grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
- Juice and zest from 1 large lemon
- 3 Tbsp capers, drained
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil, cook pasta for time on package. In the last-minute add the tomatoes. Drain, add back to the pot and toss with everything.
Serve immediately.
Serves 4.
I was wondering if the guys would like this and went over well. I don’t use tofu very often, this was a treat for us. After it had time to “marinate” I found the flavor very appealing with our pasta. I suspect it would delicious in veggie lasagna as well.
Tofu-catta
Ingredients:
- 14 ounce package extra-firm organic tofu
- ¼ cup Nutritional Yeast
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp granulated garlic
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
Directions:
Drain the tofu in a mesh strainer. Crumble it in the strainer, leave over a bowl to drain.
Toss the tofu with the seasonings and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate, let the flavors develop for at least a couple of hours before serving.
Add on top of pasta, or as desired.
Makes enough for two meals, serving 8 total.
I surprised the guys with a quick rum cake, I baked it while we ate dinner and had it before bed, It was a perfect way to use up a big portion of a bottle of Myer’s Dark Rum I had in the pantry (we don’t drink, but I use it in baking). The scent of rum is VERY strong but yum, it was fantastic! Very moist. According to a USDA chart I read up on, only about 30% of the alcohol is left after baking. So it did possibly have some remaining, hence the kids only got a small bite. How sad 😉 I on the other hand ate way too much. Oh well. I did garden a bunch before, so that works it off, no?
Boozy Rum Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup old-fashioned oats
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 2/3 cup dark brown sugar (see below)
- ½ cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
- ½ cup dark rum
- ¼ cup molasses
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°, lightly oil a round cake pan with a neutral oil, such as sunflower.
Grind the oats into a fine flour, add it to a large mixing bowl with the other dry ingredients, whisk to combine.
Whisk the brown sugar through vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth, add to the dry and stir till mixed.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, til a toothpick comes out clean (check at 35). Be careful of over baking though!
Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, gently turn out on to a plate, flip back over onto a second plate.
Can also be baked in a 8×8″ square glass baking pan as well.
Handmade Dark Brown Sugar
Ingredients:
- 1 cup organic granulated sugar
- ¼ cup molasses, preferably organic
Directions:
Mix the sugar and molasses together with a fork until combined. Store in an airtight container.
~Sarah
oh yum on the cake!!!!