What's for Dinner: Mediterranean Pasta with Sauteed Asparagus

Also local to Walla Walla is some killer asparagus. The field around my childhood home was actually an asparagus field, so I grew up walking outside to the sometimes-putrid smell of the vegetable. It took me a few years, but I finally grew to like the little green stalks.

This is my favorite way to eat asparagus -- lemony and fresh atop a bed of delicious pasta.

Mediterranean Pasta with Sauteed Asparagus

Soy-free, vegan

Ingredients

1 lb. pasta of your choice (I used tomato-carrot penne)
4 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
5 cloves garlic, minced and divided
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and trimmed
1 C sliced white mushrooms
2 C frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
1 C sundried tomatoes 
Juice of 1 lemon
3 Tbs. white wine

Step-by-Step

Cook pasta according to package instructions.

While pasta is cooking, in a medium skillet, heat 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium-high heat. When the olive oil is slick, add three cloves garlic. Sauté until garlic becomes slightly golden on the edges. Add asparagus to skillet, stirring once, then allowing it to cook without stirring.

In a separate large stock pot or wok, heat 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium-high. When the oil becomes slick, add two cloves garlic. Sauté until garlic becomes slightly golden on the edges. Add white mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and sundried tomatoes. Sauté.

By this point, the asparagus skillet will have begun to get a golden-brown residue on the bottom of the pan. Juice half the lemon into the skillet, using the acidity to scrape the residue from the pan. Stir again, then allow to continue to cook.

Similarly, when the skillet begins to develop a residue, add the white wine to that pot, using the acidity to scrape the residue from the pot.

When the pasta finishes cooking, drain it then add it to the mushroom and artichoke heart mixture. Turn the heat on that pot down to medium. Continue to stir, heating through.

When the asparagus pan again begins to develop a residue, deglaze the pan again by juicing the other half of the lemon and repeating the scraping process. Once done, immediately empty the asparagus into the pot with the pasta and mushrooms.

Note: I kept the asparagus separate from the pasta in the picture, but I actually prefer combining the two. I ended up combining them on my plate after taking the photo. The citrus flavor of the asparagus is a little too strong without the pasta, but brings a wonderful flavor to the pasta.

What's for Dinner: Gluten-Free Tri-Color Summer Pasta Salad with Green Beans, Chickpeas, and Grape Tomatoes

I'm all moved back to my mom's house for the summer before making the move to North Carolina. My mom has a little cottage in the country outside of Walla Walla, Wash. What that means for me is great local produce and great wine. Mmmmmmm.

I hit up the farmer's market this last weekend and found myself some gorgeous green beans. I wanted to incorporate them into a salad that tasted distinctly summer.

Gluten-Free Tri-Color Summer Pasta Salad

Soy-free, gluten-free, vegan

Ingredients

1 lb. gluten-free pasta, cooked according to package instructions and cooled
2 C grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 C cooked garbanzo beans
1 C fresh green beans, cleaned and lightly blanched
3/4 C vegan mayonnaise
1 Tbs creamy dijon mustard (not whole grain)
4 tsp. garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste 

Step-by-Step

Combine gluten-free pasta, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, and lightly blanched green beans in a large bowl by tossing them with salad tossers. Be very gentle, as gluten-free pasta can often be less hearty than regular pasta.

Add mayonnaise, dijon mustard, garlic, and salt and pepper to the mixture. Again toss with salad tossers until fully combined.

What's for Dinner: Slow-Cooked Artichokes with Bruschetta-Topped Rocket Salad

I've been quite busy packing myself for a grand move from Washington to North Carolina. Thus, I've had very little time to cook. At the same time, I have a fridge full of food and six days to eat it.

I found a bunch of globe artichokes and some leftover bruschetta topping in my fridge today, so this is what transpired.

Slow-Cooked Artichokes

Soy-free, gluten-free, vegan

Ingredients

4 small globe artichokes
3 Tbs. minced garlic
2 Tbs. red cooking wine
2 sprigs rosemary
2 C water

Step-by-Step

Prep artichokes by cutting the stems and trimming the pokey ends off of the leaves.

Combine garlic, wine, rosemary, and water in your slow cooker. Place artichokes stems down in the liquid.

Cover and allow to cook for 4 hours on low.

Bruschetta Topping

Soy-free, gluten-free, vegan

Ingredients

1 C julienned sun-dried tomatoes
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary, minced
2 Tbs. minced garlic
1 C chopped fresh basil
2 C heirloom cherry tomatoes, cut in sixths

Step-by-Step

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Allow to sit in fridge for two hours to combine flavors.



I created the salad by topping rocket (arugula) with a couple spoonfuls of bruschetta topping and some garbanzo beans. The vinegar and oil on the bruschetta topping makes a perfect dressing for the salad.

What's for Dinner: Polenta with Vegan Creamy Pesto

I love polenta, and I love eating it all different ways. This particular recipe is the perfect combination of comfort and refreshing flavor.

Polenta with Vegan Creamy Pesto

Soy-free, gluten-free

Ingredients

2 tsp. + 1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
4 pre-made polenta cakes (either make ahead or buy)
1 C raw cashews
1 C water
2 C basil leaves
3 Tbs. minced garlic
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. salt
dash cayenne pepper

1/4 C kalamata olives, sliced
1/4 C black olives, sliced
1 C baby spinach
1 15-oz. can chickpeas

Step-by-Step

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once olive oil is heated, place polenta cakes in the skillet to begin frying. Allow to fry for 5 minutes on each side, flipping three times and allowing 5 minutes of cook time after each flip.

In a food processor, process cashews and water until graininess is gone. Add basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Layer polenta cakes, pesto, spinach, olives, and chickpeas. (I sautéed my chickpeas a bit with some cumin, which added a little kick, but this is not necessary.)

What's for Dinner: Vegan Wonton Soup

There's this restaurant in Spokane. Red Dragon. They have the tastiest vegan wonton soup ever. Until now.

This soup is perfect for summer. It's got a little bit of crunch and a little bit of spice, and it's full of good-for-you fresh veggies.

Vegan Wonton Soup

Soy-free

Ingredients

2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3" sticks

10 cremini mushrooms

1/4 C walnuts

30 wonton wrappers (make sure to buy vegan-friendly)

Water (for sealing wrappers)

4 C vegetable stock

3 C water

4 tsp. sriracha (less or more to taste)

2 Tbsp. coconut aminos

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. curry powder

2 tsp. rice wine vinegar
1/8 C chopped green onion

3 C shiitake mushrooms, sliced thickly

1 baby bok choy, chopped

1/4 small head of cabbage, shredded

1 head broccoli, chopped
Bean sprouts to top

Step-by-Step

In a food processor, pulse carrots until they are thickly shredded. Add in cremini mushrooms, continue to pulse. Add walnuts and pulse until they are broken down into small pieces.

Assemble the wontons by placing about 2-3 tsp. of the mixture in the middle of a wrapper. Wet the borders of the wrapper, and fold the wrapper in half over the filling. Fold the corners in on the middle of the wonton.

In a large pot, combine stock, water, sriracha, coconut aminos, garlic, curry, green onion and vinegar. Place over high heat and allow the broth to come to a boil.

Drop wontons into the broth, one at a time. Lower heat to medium-high and allow to cook for about 3-4 minutes, until the wontons begin to float to the top.

Add in shiitake mushrooms, baby bok choy, cabbage, and broccoli. (If you use a pot the size of mine, you'll have barely any room.) Simmer until mushrooms are soft.

After the mushrooms are soft, ladle into bowls. Serve topped with bean sprouts.

What's for Snacking: Warm Tortillas & Nut Butter

Tonight I had a craving for a warm snack. I just bought some fresh pecan butter at Andy's Market when I was in Walla Walla, and I was really craving warm flour tortillas slathered in the stuff.

Since I don't eat soybean oil, store-bought tortillas are almost always out of the question. So I sought out to make my own.

Vegan, Soy-Free Flour Tortillas

Makes about 10 small tortillas

Ingredients

2 C flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 Tbs Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread

5/8 C water

Step-by-Step

1. In a food processor with dough blade, combine flour baking powder and salt.
2. Add in buttery spread tablespoon by tablespoon, pulsing it into the dry ingredients.
3. Pour in water and turn on food processor. Process until the dough turns into a ball.
4. Separate dough into 1 to 1.5-inch diameter balls. Flatten with rolling pin or fingers.
5. Cook in a dry non-stick skillet over high heat.

After my tortillas were made, I added a layer of pecan butter or almond butter and sprinkled a little bit of hot chocolate powder. Delish!

What's for Dinner: Mongolian Noodles with Burmese Tofu | V, SF

This was my first time making Burmese (soy-free) tofu. Either I made it wrong, or it's going to take some getting used to. It's a little mushier than soy tofu, but it has a nice flavor.

To try it out, I paired it with my Mongolian noodles recipe from my cookbook (subbing coconut aminos for the soy sauce) and did a basic dry-fry with a marinade.

Maybe Burmese tofu isn't meant for marinades, or maybe it's just naturally a little mushy. I'll try again and we'll see.

The overall taste, however, was pretty yummy. Now to get the texture right!

Review: Boots Bakery & Lounge (Downtown Spokane)

I've been a vegetarian (now vegan) living in Spokane, Wash. for almost three years now. I've been waiting, not-so-patiently for my city to get a vegetarian restaurant. I just wanted a place where I could go and order ANYTHING.

Boots Bakery & Lounge, which is, as far as I can tell, Spokane's only vegan restaurant (save for Method Juice Cafe), has been hanging out at it's Main Street location for about 9 months. Enough time to get pregnant and have a child. And I hadn't gotten my little hiney down there until Friday. My omni friends beat me to it! They've been raving since July.

Boots ended up being everything I had hoped for. Not only could I devour almost all of their savory choices (darn that no-soy!), but also could nom nom on a selection of sweet treats.

I started my meal with a priced-just-right trio of deli case savories: spinach basil pesto penne, roasted veggies, and a chickpea salad. Yum.

My iphone picture of my salad trio. SO GOOD (not the photo; the food).

The food was quite good. My favorite was the chickpea salad. It had the perfect fresh flavor and combined chickpeas and lentils in an interesting way. The tomatoes and spices added just the right element of richness to the dish. Let's just say that if someone wanted to make me this salad for lunch every day, I wouldn't mind.

The other two savories weren't amazing, but they were still good. The roasted veggies came to me a little oily (perhaps from re-heating), and the pasta could have used just a little salt. That said, I still left mighty satisfied and I will definitely be returning.

With my belly full (but not too full) of savory goodness, I headed to the sweet selections. I chose the most delectable no-bake cookie the size of my palm. I paired the cookie with a tasty caramel latte made with almond milk.

This is what really got me. The latte was one of the best almond milk lattes I've ever had. Let me say, you can definitely tell when the barista has experience in steaming non-dairy milk.

The cookie also tantalized my taste buds. It was chocked full of dried fruit, oats, seeds, and other nummy goodies.

This review is starting to get exceptionally long, so I'll try to hit my next points quickly: Customer service was awesome even before I went down. (I spent a few minutes that afternoon on the phone with the owner, Alison, verifying that there would be soy-free choices.) I will say that the in-store experience felt a little impersonal, but they were pretty busy when I was in.

The atmosphere inspires you to kick back and enjoy an early spring afternoon with homey furniture mixed with fresh decor.

Pros:

Yummy food (especially sweet options)

Fantastic vegan barista skills

Priced just right

Awesome atmosphere

Top-notch pre-visit customer service

Great options for allergy-ridden (soy-free, gluten-free, etc.)

VEGAN!

Cons:

Savory food could use some sprucing

Slightly impersonal in-store experience

What's for Snacking: Peanut Butter Flax Energy Bites | V, SF, GF

It's midterms/finals week in the Trego household (midterms for my semester school, and finals for the hubs' quarter school). We're going to need all of the tasty and healthy snacks we can get. During a study break today, I threw together these no-bake protein-rich bites. Yum.

Yes, they look like the birdseed treats you make in elementary school. Honestly, I had always kind of thought those birdseed treats looked tasty. I wondered why the teachers never let us chow down. And if this is how those birdseed treats taste, I wish I would have tried them in kindergarten.

These are also great for a fast on-the-go breakfast.

Peanut Butter & Flax Energy Bites | V, SF, GF

Inspired by recipe from Gimme Some Oven.

Ingredients

1 1/4 C oatmeal

3/4 C peanut butter

3/4 C flax seed meal

1/4 C peanuts

1/4 C carob chips

1/5 C agave syrup

1/8 C almond milk

Step-by-Step

1. Mix together all ingredients. If the mixture seems dry, add more peanut butter or almond milk. if it seems a bit wet, add more oatmeal or flax.
2. Chill in refrigerator for about 45 minutes.
3. Roll into bite-size balls and keep refrigerated.

What's for Snacking: Vegan Strawberry Muffins | V, SF, GF

Oh my! These muffins are delectable. So good. So freaking good.

It all started with one of my notorious random cravings. (No, I'm not pregnant. I just happen to really like food.) I've had a stressful day/week, and am gearing up for even more stress this upcoming week (midterm exams), and I really needed a gooey, sweet, warm treat to pick me up.

My first thought was blueberry muffins, since I knew I had a package of frozen blueberries in my freezer. I started the base, went to grab my blueberries, and guess what? No blueberries. 

But I did have a couple of bags of delicious strawberries. After dicing those up and stirring them into the batter, I knew these would be a treat.

Gooey Strawberry Muffins | V, SF, GF

Based on recipe from Go Dairy Free

Ingredients

1 1/2 C flour

1/2 C sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

5/8 C vanilla almond milk (I like Lucerne brand from Safeway)

3/8 C vegetable oil

1 1/4 C frozen strawberries, partially thawed and diced

Step-by-Step

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix flour, sugar and baking powder.
3. Whisk in almond milk and vegetable oil. Fold in strawberries.
4. Spoon batter into muffin tins to about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until slightly browned.

What's for Dinner: Cashew Fried Rice | V, SF, GF

This is one of those meals that I've had the supplies for forever, but kept putting off because of the work involved. Let me tell you, that was dumb. The meal wasn't nearly as difficult as I'd imagined, and it tasted delicious. Delicious, I tell you.

The "oh so hard" work involved? Make a pot of rice the night before. That's it. That's the reason for my procrastination.

So here is my super tasty vegan, gluten-free, and soy-free (that's right: SOY-FREE) vegetable fried rice.

Cashew Fried Rice | V, SF, GF

Ingredients

1/2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/4 C sesame seeds

1 Tbs sriracha sauce (or more for a spicier dish)

1 1/2 C raw cashews

2 C frozen chopped broccoli, slightly thawed

4 tsp. minced garlic

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1 portobello mushroom, chopped

1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp vegetable bouillon (like Better than Bouillon, No Chicken)

3 Tbs Coconut Aminos (otherwise known as soy-free soy sauce; you can also use soy sauce)

3 C cold, cooked rice

salt to taste

Step-by-Step

1. Heat 1/2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil in a wok on high. Stir in sesame seed and 1/2 Tbs. sriracha. Once heated, stir in the raw cashews. Cook for about 3 minutes, until nuts are golden. Set aside.
2. Using the same wok, cook the broccoli on high until the ice has melted and then evaporated. Stir in garlic.
3. Add carrots, mushrooms, and curry powder. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in coconut aminos and another 1/2 Tbs. sriracha.
4. Mix in rice bit by bit until combined well, stirring constantly to prevent scalding. Cook until the desired texture is obtained. Stir in salt.

I also topped mine with some chopped green onions and extra sesame seeds for a little crunch.

Easy, right? The hardest part is literally pre-cooking the rice. And the result? A nutty flavored rice with the perfect hint of spiciness and tons of veggies. 

What's for Dinner: Couscous, Chickpeas, and Brussels Sprouts | V, SF, GF

Sometimes, I just don't want to cook. I want fabulous food, but I don't want to roll up my sleeves and get it done.

That's where this meal comes in.

It's a true set-and-forget oven meal. Literally, the couscous just takes boiling some water and lemon juice, pouring in the couscous, and removing it from heat while covered. The chickpeas & brussels sprouts get a healthy coating of extra virgin olive oil, garlic and lemon juice, then they get to chill out (or heat up) in the oven for 45 minutes or so.

I apologize for the awful cell phone picture. BOTH of my camera batteries were dead. :(

The recipe is an adaptation of my roasted chickpeas and green beans recipe in my cookbook. I simply substituted brussels sprouts for the green beans.

Life Update: Cutting Out the Dairy & Soy

After being vegetarian for about 5 years, I've decided to heed my doctor's word and cut dairy and soy out of my diet ... or at least mostly cut dairy and soy out of my diet.

It hasn't been easy. A few days in, I had a mean craving for vegan pho, and I couldn't resist the supple pieces of tofu or the saltiness of a few squirts of soy sauce. Not to mention the clean flavor of the tofu in my vegan spring rolls. Yesterday, I broke down and ate my favorite spinach and artichoke dip. Only problem? It's filled with cream cheese. Lots and lots of cream cheese.

And today, I woke up from a dream about veggie eggs benedict. I'm talking whole wheat English muffins topped with layers of fresh spinach, lightly baked tomato slices, perfectly ripe avocado, beautifully soft poached eggs, and some delicious hollandaise sauce. I couldn't take it. God was telling me to eat veggie benedict. I gave in.

I've decided that being perfect isn't the point. Dinner's in the oven right now, and I've chosen a perfectly dairy- and soy-free meal of couscous, roasted chickpeas, and roasted brussels sprouts. I think I'm going to start by limiting myself to one meal a week with dairy and one every two weeks with soy. Let's see how that goes.

Have you ever struggled with cutting something out of your diet?