Diwali Dinner: Indian Lasagna (No Added Fat)

I made an Indian lasagna for Diwali by cooking most of half of head of cabbage, cut into thin strips, in a large saute pan with no oil or water, along with onion and, near the end, 1/4 t each of turmeric and mustard seeds. I also took chickpeas that I had prepared in my Instant Pot pressure cooker and blended them with a bit of cumin, salt, and a touch of lime juice. The cabbage was the bottom layer and the chickpeas the top. I used a combination of marinara sauce and fire-roasted diced tomatoes.

The combination worked well and we all loved it! The trick was to go light on the Indian spices for otherwise they might conflict in taste with the tomato and Italian basis. I also later quickly and roughly chopped in my blender cranberries and made a compote by cooking them on low, covered, with RazzMaTazz grapes from local Union Grove Farm (I froze some that they kindly gave me some weeks back), raisins, and a chopped navel orange. I mixed a little cinnamon in at the end and sprinkled a few small chocolate chips on top.

1-Pot Blanched Spigarello with Vegan Chorizo Seitan atop Reginetti Pasta (No Added Fat)

I picked up some organic spigarello from Open Door Farm at the Carrboro Farmers' Market and thought I'd make a dish with blanched spigarello. I had some tasty reginetti (we love its texture and firm bite!) pasta from Sfoglini, and thought I'd use it as the base. This is what I did.

I started by blanching the greens. I rinsed the spigarello bunch and put it in heavily salted boiling water. I let it boil for 2-3 minutes till the greens were darkened in color. In the meantime, I had a large bowl of ice water ready. I plunged the spigarello into the ice bath and let it sit for a few minutes till cool, about 10 minutes, then drained.

I used the water that the greens had been boiling in to cook the pasta for its 9-10 minute cook time. When it was done, I drained and rinsed the pasta, then plated it. I used the same pan to saute over medium heat:

• 2 cloves garlic (coarsely chopped into 1/4" pieces)
• 1/4 cup onion cut into 1/4" cubes
• medium bell pepper cut into 1/2" chunks

for about 5 minutes. Then, I mixed in:

• 6 of the 8 ounces of a container of Upton's Naturals brand vegan chorizo seitan sausage
• half of a small 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1/4 t garlic granules
• 1T nutritional yeast

I let it cook on low heat for about 7-8 minutes, then coarsely chopped the greens (into maybe thirds), mixed them in with the heat off, and immediately served atop the pasta.

I offered a bit of grated Violife brand Just Like Parmesan to top the pasta; I had a little bit (maybe I should count this dish as almost no added fat, but the "parmesan" is only 5g of fat per ounce, and we had maybe 1/10 of an ounce. It went well with the sauce.

Results

We all enjoyed the meal! I quite enjoy this pasta's rugged texture. The combination was good and it was fun to blanch the spigarello.

Ideas for the future

I should blanch greens more often. I wonder what it would be like to blanch greens and then do a quick blend of most of the greens, mixing in to get a textured green sauce.

Vegan Ricotta and Baked Bean Manicotti

My daughter loves manicotti and I decided to make a batch tonight. She readily agreed to help. It ended up being too late for my wife, who enjoyed leftovers; she will eat this tomorrow and I may cook a tofu dish for my daughter and me.

I used Jovial brand manicotti shells made from brown rice. I used the recipe that they had on the box as a rough starting point.

In one pan, I made a sauce with a 14.5 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, along with peas (my daughter's request; I would have used artichoke hearts), spinach, butternut squash, nutritional yeast, oregano, salt, pepper, and red chili powder. As it simmered, I prepared the filling.

I had purchased on sale Kite Hill brand "ricotta cheese" made from almonds. The box's recipe called for 16 ounces of ricotta, but my tub was half that size, so we needed to improvise to get additional bulk for the stuffing (the recipe even had additional items - 4 ounces of Parmesan cheese, a beaten egg, and 4 ounces of mozzarella cheese). I was thinking of blending some cannellini beans but my daughter loves baked beans and, when she spied that I had a can of them, insisted that we use them. That's what I did, and I blended them with the ricotta and, to cut the baked bean sweetness a bit, a bit of onion, as well.

We preheated the oven to 375°F and put half of the sauce in the bottom of a 9"x13" glass baking dish. We boiled the manicotti shells for 4 minutes then stuffed each with the filling and put in the dish. Once all the manicotti shells were filled and placed, we covered with the remaining sauce and cooked, covered, for 40m. If we had put "cheese" on top, we would have cooked another 5 minutes, uncovered; in fact, I had a few shells that were shy of filling, so I added a few sprinkles of Daiya brand shreds on those for my daughter and did cook for the extra 5 minutes.


Results

My daughter loved the manicotti! I thought it was good but missed artichokes and wish that the filling were less heavy.

Ideas for the future

The ricotta I used had 7g of fat per serving, with 8 servings in the tub. We each went through about 1/5 of the yield, so the cheese contributed about 56g/5 or 11g of fat, which isn't low. While I wish that the fat content were lower, I still want to experiment with more ricotta dishes, such as:

• I remember years ago enjoying Seva, an Ann Arbor vegetarian restaurant. They made an excellent Mexican dish with cream cheese and butternut squash, or something similar. I bet this ricotta mixed with the squash and pureed would be good as a manicotti.
• My Mom used to make a ricotta Indian dessert, ras malai or burfi. I generally find Indian sweets too sweet, but it might be worth trying to bring back a food that my Mom used to enjoy making.
• I could make a manicotti with this ricotta and spinach with some olives or other punctuation of flavor.
• It would be fun to try pizza with dollops of the ricotta.

Udon Noodles with Curry Tofu Nuggets

I had a full day and came home late. I love tofu and decided to make udon noodles with curried tofu, spinach, and bell pepper, for a simple dinner for myself.

Results

Pending

Ideas for the future

Pending

Vegan "Sausage" Ravioli with Homemade Tomato Sauce, Cauliflower and Baby Lima Bean Melange

We have a new store that opened near our house last week called Sprouts; we visited and found it doesn't have the variety and quality of coops or Whole Foods Market, but it's nice that it's nearby so we may occasionally visit. They had a few products we've not seen elsewhere, such as Lightlife brand vegan "sausage" ravioli that I picked up and decided to make today. It's not particularly healthy as it has 16g of fat and a long list of ingredients, but I thought we'd try it. (It turns out it had soy which my wife is a bit intolerant of, so I prepared some pasta instead for her but used the same sauce, side dish, and salad for her.)

I made a homemade sauce by sauteeing chunks of just-ripe but firm tomato, bell pepper, garlic, and onion, and mixing in oregano, salt, and black pepper when off the heat. I don't often make tomato sauces - this one was good!

I put, in this order, onion, garlic, frozen cauliflower, and frozen baby lima beans into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 15 minutes, then I mixed in a little salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.

Results

My daughter loved the ravioli. We all loved the sauce. The side dish was fun - it was soft and seemed to melt in the mouth, and had nice flavor.

Ideas for the future

I don't know why I don't cook with cauliflower more often. It's versatile and cooks down nicely to serve as a "supporting character" for other ingredients.

Leftover Canellini Bean and Brussels Sprout Lasagne

I made lasagne; my daughter really liked the manicotti that I recently made and I had some of Miyoko's vegan smoked "mozarella" cheese that I had used. I put four layers of lasagne down, then added leftover canellini beans with Brussels sprouts, plus some of the vegan cheese and sauce. I put down four more layers, then sauteed onion and garlic, plus mushroom and Swiss chard and more sauce. I put down a final four layers then sauce, and baked in a preheated 375°F for 40m.

Results

Dinner was good and I was pleased at "reinventing" the leftovers this way. Though it wasn't no added fat, I didn't use a lot of the vegan cheese, so it was reasonably low in fat.

Ideas for the future

It's not so difficult to make lasagne, though it does take a bit of time. One puts sauce down in a baking dish (I used a 9"x13" glass one) then boils four lasagne noodles at a time (these wheat ones cooked in about 5 minutes) and places them on the sauce. Fillings go next, then four more freshly cooked noodles, etc. I should experiment with more types of lasagne; certainly today showed that the right kind of leftover can be a good filling. I should try eggplant to get something like a moussaka lasagne.

Edamame and Eggplant with Whole Wheat Orzo

I have a little Miyoko's Kitchen vegan mozzarella left and thought I'd make an eggplant dish with some cheese. Eggplant cooks nicely (in just 3 minutes!) in the pressure cooker, so I started that going. By the time the eggplant was done, it tasted great with no cheese, so I skipped the cheese. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 5 cups eggplant (skin intact) cut into 1/2" cubes (maybe 4/5 of a medium eggplant)
• 2 cups shelled edamame
• 2 packed cups kale, hand-ripped into roughly 1" squares
• 2 cloves garlic, finely (< 1/8") minced
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup onion cut into 1/4" cubes
• 1/2 t tarragon (I couldn't find my tarragon so used oregano instead)
• 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 t salt

Process

1. I put the eggplant, edamame (I used frozen; if fresh, I'd just mix in at the end), kale, garlic, bouillon cube, and water into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for just three minutes.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then added the onion, oregano, pepper, and salt.

I served with whole wheat orzo and a salad.

Results

Dinner was quite good! I really liked the eggplant dish; though I like the taste of eggplant, it changes to be more a background matrix when pressure cooked. It served the firm bite of the edamame well.

Ideas for the future

My original idea would have worked if I had integrated tomato into the cooking, maybe making some sort of ratatouille or caponata. I should try a Turkish Imam Bayildi dish sometime!

Lemongrass Basil Vegetables, Edamame and Mung Bean Pasta

I was teaching my daughter in our homeschool into the evening, then had to quickly get dinner going. I heated a simple bean dish for her then got to work on dinner for my wife and me. I had on hand lemongrass basil simmer sauce, and thought I'd cook some vegetables and tempeh or seitan with it - but, surprisingly, we were out of both seitan and tempeh. Instead, I decided to go with just vegetables and used about 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, about a compressed cup and a half of kale leaves, roughly hand torn from the stems into about 1" pieces, a cup or so of carrot cut into 3/8" slices.

I cut up about a half dozen Yellow Finn potatoes into approximately 1" pieces and pressure steamed them, along with a peeled but uncut clove of garlic for 6 minutes. In the meantime, I put the vegetables and kale (as well as a teaspoon of coarsely chopped ginger) into a large pan and cooked, stirring occasionally, for about 10-12 minutes. The vegetables were partially but not fully cooked, by design.

When the potato (and garlic - but I forgot about it! I think once it was roasted and I scooped the potatoes out, the garlic came out and was crushed) was done, I mixed the potato and simmer sauce into the vegetables and served, along with cucumber slices topped with jerk seasoning, and edamame and mung bean pasta. Six minutes, by the way, was perfect and perhaps even a minute too long - the potato was nicely cooked.

Results

Dinner was good! I have been thinking for over a year that I should more frequently use sauces in my cooking and certainly some quality purchased sauces can be a good way to go. The fat of the sauce was something like 10g, but that was enough for at least 3 servings, so we're at about the 3g of fat per course in a meal that we recommend in our Food for Life classes.

The sauce was indeed good, and the combination was good. I had meant to include broccoli but forgot - and it may be just as well, as the broccoli would have added too much volume to the dish. My wife and I both liked the semi-cooked vegetables with fully cooked potato.

Ideas for the future

I should continue to periodically integrate homemade and purchased sauces. I'll remember to prepare potatoes in this way for future dishes. If I were to make something similar, I might want to include roasted bell pepper. Jalapeno, were I not serving my daughter, would also be good, as well as more ginger. I wonder what a similar dish might be with fruit like mango or pineapple, perhaps with seitan and one green, plus a Thai sauce.

Tofu with Vegetables, Brown Rice Capellini with Marinara (No Added Fat)

My wife is traveling so for a few days I get to use tofu, which my wife can't eat due to problems with digesting it. I cooked on a cast iron pan some tofu, fingerling potatoes, broccoli, mushroom, onion, and garlic. I mixed in some bok choy in the final minutes of cooking and served with coconut aminos (like soy sauce) and dried chives. I also made brown rice pasta.

Pinto Bean with Spinach and Potato, served with Supergrain Garden Pagoda Pasta (No Added Fat)

I wanted to make a pinto bean dish today. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 cup pinto beans, rinsed, soaked for at least 5 hours, and rinsed again
• Enough water to just cover beans
• 2 Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1/2" cubes (about 2 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1t finely chopped ginger
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1 1/4 cup chopped spinach (I used frozen but fresh would be fine)
• 1 1/4 cup onion cut into 3/8" cubes
• 1 3/4 cups (large bell pepper) bell pepper cut into 3/8" cubes
• Juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
• 1/2 t (or to taste) salt

Process

1. I had my wife put the beans, water, potato, garlic, ginger, and turmeric into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and set it to cook for 30m.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then mixed in the spinach, onion, bell pepper, lime juice, and salt, and served, topped with a bit of salsa (no salsa for my daughter's portion).

I also made some "supergrain garden pagoda pasta" which has as all organic ingredients of corn flour, quinoa flour, dried spinach, and dried beet and/or dried red bell pepper. I served that on the side with a bit of nutritional yeast (marinara for my daughter).

Results

Dinner was good! We all enjoyed it. The potatoes added a nice soft but relatively neutral tasting texture.

Ideas for the future

I could have added more vegetables, such as possibly broccoli or corn, but the dish was good as I made it. My wife had forgotten to include a vegan bouillon cube when she cooked the beans; it would have added a bit more flavor. Were I not cooking for my daughter, some jalapeno would have gone well with the main course.

Grand Shell Brown Rice Pasta with Beans, Potato Salad over Kale (Almost No Added Fat)

I made a simple pasta with bean dish, along with some tasty potato salad that I had purchased from Deep Roots Market Cooperative Grocery when I visited a few days ago in Greensboro, NC. I used Tinkyada brand "grand shell" brown rice pasta.

Brown Lentils with Edamame and Mung Bean Sprout Fettuccine (No Added Fat)

I love Edamame and mung bean sprout fettuccine  and wondered what it would be like with lentils. Even better, how about if I cooked the pasta not separately, but together with the lentils? They might get overcooked, but it's worth trying! Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups green or brown (I used brown) lentils
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t turmeric 
• 1 cup carrot (2 medium carrots) cut into 3/8" slices - 20m
• 1 cup Edamame and mung bean sprout fettuccine (or other pasta, but cooking time may have to be adjusted) cut into approx. 2" pieces
• Medium shallot cut into approx. 3/8" cubes (few tablespoonfuls)
• ginger
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 1/4 t salt

Process

1. I put the lentils, water, cumin, turmeric, and carrot into my Instant Pot pressure cooker and cooked for 20m (green or brown lentils cook with a 1 to 1.5-2 part ratio lentil to water for 15-20m; I wanted this to be thick so went for minimum water and maximum cook time).
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure. The pasta takes about 8m of cook time, but I wondered if it would cook in the residual heat of the Instant Pot, especially as smaller pieces (it did!), so just mixed in the pasta, as well as the remaining ingredients (shallot, garlic powder, and salt). 
3. I let the pot sit, covered, for about 5-8 minutes, then served.

Results

I loved the dish! The pasta cooked just fine and went well with the lentils. The moisture and texture was all great!

Ideas for the future

My daughter doesn't like this particular pasta, unfortunately, but I should explore more dishes of lentils and pasta. Dried lemon and/or citrus zest would go well with lentil dishes in general, and I should try it.

Indo-Italian Red Lentil Pasta with Tempeh (No Added Fat)

I have heard of people making curried tomato sauces and found a simple and interesting recipe that I could easily make vegan. It calls for cooking onion, bell pepper, garlic, curry powder, and thyme till vegetables are soft, then adding stewed tomato and simmering for 5m. I thought I'd use fresh tomatoes.

I was thinking of making a rich Indian-Italian inspired tomato sauce and mix in artichoke quarters, but as I got going, I thought that I had a good collection of vegetables and that artichokes wouldn't be properly hilighted. Below is what I came up with.

By the way, a fellow Food for Life instructor, Cathy Katin-Grazzini, shared today a very nice "cheese" sauce recipe that I should try. Her website is a great resource for healthful vegan cooking.

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 1 medium shallot, finely (1/8-1/4") diced
• 3 spring onions cut into 1/2" lengths
• Medium bell pepper cut into approx. 1/2" squares (about a cup)
• 3 medium shiitake mushrooms cut into thick 3/8" slices
• 2 medium tomatoes cut into 3/8" cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
• 4T tomato paste
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
• 8 leaves fresh oregano, finely (1/8") minced
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/2 t garam masala
• 1/4 t ground cumin

Process

1. I put the garlic and shallot into a stainless steel pan and cooked, stirring, on medium high, with no oil or water, for a few minutes till the garlic and shallot was starting to brown.
2. I then added the spring onion, bell pepper, and mushroom, and cooked for two more minutes, stirring.
3. I added the tomato, tomato paste, salt, and black pepper, stirred, and simmered for 15m (or longer), uncovered, on low.
4. I added the remaining spices and oregano, stirred, turned off the heat, and served atop organic red lentil penne, along with tempeh sauteed with no oil on a cast iron pan.

Results

Dinner was good, though my daughter didn't like the sauce. I thought it was a good first try, but I should not have used cumin, the flavor of which wasn't consonant with the rest of the sauce. I knew that it would be a little tricky marrying in a reasonable way very different flavor profiles. I rarely mix Indian spices with Italian herbs.

Ideas for the future

I should try again in making a curry tomato sauce. A pinch of cinnamon may work. I might try cutting the garam masala back and adding a little asafoetida powder, perhaps, as well as a bit of mustard powder. Perhaps a pinch of salt or a tiny bit of maple syrup may work.

Three Sisters Black Bean Elbow Pasta with Butternut Squash, Green Beans, and Corn (No Added Fat)

I was busy pruning roses and it became late, so I wanted to put a quick dinner together. I had some interesting black bean pasta elbows from Ancient Harvest brand (the pasta's ingredients are black bean flour, brown rice flour, and organic quinoa flour). I thought I'd put together a Three Sisters meal with corn, climbing beans, and squash.

I used frozen vegetables -  a full bag (10 ounces) of butternut squash cubes (maybe 3/4" cubes), 8 ounces cut green beans (maybe 3/4" lengths), and 2 ounces of corn. I put in maybe 1/4 cup onion cut into 1/2" or so cubes first, and then the squash, then the bean, and finally the corn into a large Saladmaster stock pan. I cooked waterlessly - i.e., I covered the pan and heated it on medium high until the vapor release started jiggling, then I reduced the heat to low till the jiggle stopped. I let it cook for about 20 minutes. I served the vegetables atop the pasta, and put a little marinara sauce with basil, as well as an olive, on top.

Results

Dinner was good, though I think it could have had more flavor. The pasta was good, though my daughter didn't like it and found it bitter.

Ideas for the future

I should try more stacked pasta dishes. More seasoning including garlic (which I was out of) and oregano (fresh oregano is now returning to my herb garden!), as well as capers, would be good. I wonder what a pasta and polenta dish might be like?

Braised Fennel with Seitan (No Added Fat)

I had the idea of doing some sort of a saute of fennel with seitan. I ended up essentially braising (though not strictly as I didn't cover the pan with liquid) and came up with an interesting meal. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") chopped
• About 1 cup of fennel bulb, chopped into approx. 1/4" x 1 1/4" slivers (most of a medium bulb)
• 8 ounces seitan (cut not important - I used large 3/4" or so chunks, but thin slices would be good, as well, with a different but also good mouth feel)
• 1/4 cup broth (I used a vegan bouillon cube and 1/4 cup water)
• 1/2 cup peas

Process

1. I put the garlic in a Saladmaster skillet with no oil and sauteed over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 2 or 3 minutes, letting the garlic develop a nice bouquet and soften a bit.
2. I then added the fennel and continued the saute for another 8-10m or so, till the fennel was softened and some pieces were slightly browned.
3. I added the seitan, stirred, and continued to saute just for another 2 minutes or so.
4. I added the broth and continued cooking for another 5 or 6 minutes, letting the broth cook down and be absorbed. (For a true braise, I'd cover and simmer on low heat for a while, but I was happy with the softness of the ingredients and wanted the excess moisture to evaporate away.)
5. I used frozen peas and added them, continuing to cook for another 5 minutes (if I used fresh, I'd add at the very end).

I also made some brown rice pasta, with dried oregano and sliced olives.

Results

Dinner was even better than I expected! I normally like fennel in small quantity and feared that this would be too much, but the cooking perfectly mellowed out the fennel. I liked the chunks of seitan and am glad that I didn't use thin slices. The rice was also very good.

Ideas for the future

Braised fennel is a good idea! I also have not cooked with sauteeing followed by cooking down with broth. This served the duplicate purpose of cleaning up any minimal sticking in my pan. I need to try a true braise with covering the dish. I should try a tougher ingredient than seitan to see how braising softens it - maybe fibrous kale stems? Braised fennel with tofu or tempeh would be good. This was a winning combination tonight!

Vegetable Soup with Whole Wheat Pasta, Massaged Kale Salad, English Muffin (No Added Fat)

We are having a snowy weekend with cold weather, so soup is in order. I don't usually make a straight up vegetable soup, typically including beans. I decided to make a simple vegetable soup in my Instant Pot pressure cooker. It has a "Soup" button that cooks for 30m; I was going to cook just for 20m to have firmer vegetables, but my daughter was helping me cook and wanted softer vegetables, so we stuck with 30m. I've been meaning to make a pasta e fagioli bean and pasta soup sometime; this wasn't a bean soup, but I still used whole wheat pasta in this non-fagioli. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 3 small Yukon Gold potatoes cut into large 1" or so chunks
• 1 small sweet potato also cut into large 1" or so chunks
• 2 carrots cut into 1/2" wide discs
• 4 cloves garlic, finely (1/8") diced
• 1/2 cup onion cut into approx. 1 1/4" x 1/4" half moons
• 1 cup whole wheat pasta
• 2 vegan bouillon cubes (I wanted a strong broth, so used two cubes)
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• (optional) 2t nutritional yeast
• 3/4 t salt
• (optional) 1/4 t lemon pepper
• About 6 cups (more or less depending on how thick you want the soup to be) water

Process

1. I put all of the ingredients into my Instant Pot and pushed (well, my daughter pushed!) the "Soup" button for 30m of cooking.
2. After the cooking was done, I waited a few minutes and gently released pressure, then served.

I also served a massaged kale salad and English muffin halves with tomato, pickle, and olive.

By the way, yesterday my daughter asked about fondue and I had the idea to make a simple dessert a bit like fondue. I put some frozen strawberries and mango into my small Saladmaster stock pot and cooked waterlessly (cooked on medium heat, covered, till vapor release started flapping, then reduced heat to stop the flapping noise and cooked for about 15-20m). Toward the end, I quickly opened the cover and put in a few vegan chocolate chips. It was so good that we did the same thing tonight. It tastes like a nice warm fruit compote - my family didn't even want chocolate with the fruit today. This would be really good with my vegan yogurt!

Results

Dinner was great! We all loved it. It's amazing how tasty pressure cooking makes soups.

Ideas for the future

I should definitely make a pasta e fagioli sometime. The soup today was really good; I had considered adding cauliflower or broccoli, but am glad that I didn't. A little red wine would have been good, and even more garlic could have been nice.

Green Lentil Lasagne, Massaged Kale Salad, Waterless Baby Lima Bean and Bell Peppers

I recently bought a nice looking product, organic green lentil lasagne from Explore Cuisine and decided to make lasagne. These noodles are 50% green lentil flour, and otherwise are made of green pea four and brown rice flour. I like Rao's pasta sauces but have only bought them a few times as they are expensive. They were recently on sale, and I purchased their artichoke sauce. Here is what I did.


Ingredients

• 8 ounce dry uncooked lasagne noodles
• 2 ounces tempeh cut into thin slices approx. 1/4" x 3" x 3"
• About 20 ounces marinara or other favorite tomato based sauce
• Ingredient 2
• 8 ounces of seitan
• Vegan bouillon cube
• 2 cups onion cut into half moon slices approx. 1/4" x 1 1/4" ( maybe 2/3 of a medium onion)
• 1 1/4 cups carrot cut into 3/8" slices (3 small-medium carrots)

Process

1. In a glass baking dish, I put one noodle down and covered it with ample sauce. I repeated, with less sauce in the middle, and ample sauce again atop. In between two of the top layers I put the tempeh. I reserved three noodles.
2. I cut the reserved noodles in half and made a version of the lasagne for my daughter, skipping the tempeh, which she doesn't like, and using a bit of Daiya brand vegan cheddar "cheese".
3. I baked, covered, in an oven preheated to 400°F oven for 40-45 m, and then served.

I also made a massaged kale salad (kale leaves torn from stems and massaged with lime juice and salt) and waterless baby lima bean and bell pepper (beans and pepper started from frozen) side dish.

Results

The sauce has a little oil in it and weighs in at 6g of fat per serving, with 6 servings in the bottle. I used maybe 5/6 of the bottle, but this served three of us, so contributed about 10g of fat per serving, so I won't claim this to be a no added fat dish, but with typical sauces that I use, it would be.

Ideas for the future

Pending

Tofu with Artichoke Hearts, Brown Rice Capellini (No Added Fat)

I made a simple (2-minute, as I recall?) pressure cooked dish with tofu and artichoke hearts, well seasoned when it was done. Some brown rice capellini with marinara and nutritional yeast accompanied the main dish. It was good!

Green Lentil Pasta with Blistered and Salted Shishito (Padrón) Peppers and Artichoke Hearts, Bagel with Mustard (No Added Fat)

Recently, I found an interesting green lentil pasta in the store; it only has green lentil and quinoa flours as its two ingredients. At the local farmers' market today, I picked up very tasty sungold tomatoes (my daughter usually heads straight for these and we ate one of the two pints before we got home) and a new favorite of mine since I discovered them last year, shishito peppers (also known as padrón peppers).

I love simply putting these small peppers in a cast iron pan with no oil and, on medium heat, occasionally turning till dark and blistered. Letting them cool off a bit, I dip each pepper in salt (ideally, large grained salt) and enjoy. It's an adult pastime as the occasional pepper is fiery. But most of the time, it's a great taste with no heat.

I decided to make a simple lentil pasta with artichoke hearts (that I cooked in a Saladmater stock pot with no oil, along with shiitake mushroom for a few minutes, adding sungold tomato for just a minute or so) and olives. I blistered and salted the shishito peppers and topped the pasta and vegetables with the peppers.

We had picked up bagels today, and I served each of us a half toasted bagel with mustard. Cucumber slices completed the meal.

Results

Dinner was good. I should have made some sort of a sauce with the pasta; I had some marinara on hand, and was thinking of using it but didn't. The pasta itself didn't have an impressive texture or flavor, but I liked the ingredients and nutrition profile. I love blistered and salted shishitos, especially when I avoid hot ones!

Ideas for the future

I'll have to try additional experiments with these peppers. I like them just warm with salt, but found a number of interesting ideas online, such as one that includes garlic and green onion. I should try making more pasta dishes with mainly cooked vegetables and some interesting sauces, such as a low-fat béchamel or something like my July 2011 Alfredo.

Pasta and Tofu for Kiddo and Daddy (No Added Fat)

My wife had eaten on her own, so I made a simple tofu and pasta dish for my daughter and me.