Savory Dinner Crepes

These were delightful.  I was feeling like pancakes tonight, but the thought of the heaviness stopped me (even though breakfast at dinner is one of my favorite things).  So, despite being sorely tempted to use the blueberries I got on sale last week to make fluffy syrup-laden flapjacks, I opted for a lighter option.  One I could fill with something healthy.  I had some roasted vegetables leftover from last night.  I had eggs.  I had Daiya cheese.  It was a done deal.

This recipe was adapted from one I found in Living Without.  I adjusted the amounts for being a single girl living alone who does not need to eat 15 crepes for dinner.  I also made it entirely whole grain - no starches in these!

And they turned out to be fabulous.  Soft and fluffy.  Bendable.  And the ingredients are so simple and minimalist, with no sugar or salt added.  They hold together so well that I suspect (although I have not yet tried it) that these could function as wraps to be eaten on the go.  You could get creative and add herbs or spices to them.  These were my first try and I loved them plain, but hey, you should go nuts.  They're going to be your dinner, not mine - so add whatever you think will taste good.  These are a delicious way to dress up your favorite ingredients for a healthy dinner or lunch!

Savory Dinner Crepes
Makes 4 medium crepes

2 tsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread, melted and cooled
1 egg
1/6 cup sorghum flour
1/6 cup brown rice flour
1/8 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used Sunsational Sunflower Milk - have you tried it?  It's pretty tasty!)

Beat together the melted Earth Balance and the egg.  In a separate small bowl, mix the sorghum flour, rice flour, and xanthan gum and add to the egg mixture and beat to combine.  Add the non-dairy milk little by little, mixing to incorporate each bit before adding more.  It will be thicker than regular crepe batter, but thinner than pancake batter. 

Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.  When the pan is hot, add about 1/4 cup of batter and spread evenly around the pan, either by tilting the pan or by using a spatula.  Cook for 2 - 4 minutes or until the first side is browned, and then flip it over and cook until the other side is browned (for about another 1 - 3 minutes).  Remove to a plate to keep warm.

Fill with anything you like!  I filled one with roasted yellow squash, red peppers, onions, and mushrooms.  Then for the other, I beat one egg with 1 tsp. water and cooked it over medium-high heat spread thinly over the pan like a crepe.  I sprinkled some Daiya Vegan Cheese over it and added some salt and pepper.  Then when it was done, I folded it up into the real crepe.  They were both fantastic.

Crustless Quiche for One

Here's a lovely meal to make when you don't have a lot of prep time and want something quick, easy, and healthy for dinner.  The beauty of this is that it's an individual serving, and you can make as many or as few as you have people (or mini loaf pans).  It's great for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.  You can use any vegetables you happen to have on hand or in your freezer.  Serve alone or with a fresh salad.  With Daiya, or your favorite non-dairy cheese.  I think that cumin and eggs are amazing together, but you could add any other spices you like.

It's versatile, is what I'm saying.  Versatile, foolproof, and delicious.

Crustless Quiche for One

2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. soy creamer
1/2 - 3/4 cup sauteed vegetables (I used onions, garlic, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and spinach)
1/4 cup Daiya Vegan Cheese (either mozzarella or cheddar is fine)
Small piece of soy feta cheese, crumbled (if you can't find this, you can just use more Daiya or omit)
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper
Pinch of cumin

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray a mini bread loaf pan with cooking spray.

Sautee the vegetables until tender.  (I sauteed the mushrooms separately so they would brown more nicely.)  Layer into the bottom of the mini loaf pan.

In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs and soy creamer.  Add in the Daiya cheese, soy feta cheese, parsley, salt, pepper, and cumin and stir just to combine.  Pour over the vegetables.

Bake at 350 until the eggs are set.  The time may vary depending on how big your mini loaf pan is; mine baked for about 35 minutes.  Test for doneness by inserting a fork or knife into the top center.  Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing to a plate to serve.  You could also serve right from the oven in the hot mini loaf pan, placed on another plate.

Spaghetti Squash with Vegan "Meat" Sauce

Spaghetti squash is kind of the best of both worlds.  You get the illusion of pasta with only 1/4 the calories, not to mention the extra vitamins and minerals.  While it takes a little longer to make than regular pasta, it's incredibly easy to prepare; all you have to do is cut it in half and stick it in the oven, and then - magically - the long, stringy pieces practically fall onto your plate in a twirled pile when it comes out of the oven about 40 minutes later.

But I can't take credit for the idea to make spaghetti squash this week.  A friend of mine was practically glowing with her recent first experience with it, and, inspired, I picked one up during my next visit to Trader Joe's.  It was definitely worth it.  Not only did it literally feed me for six meals, it was delicious, light, and remarkably like pasta (with a slightly different, but good, texture - and really wasn't terribly far off from some of the gluten-free pastas I've tried).  For the sauce in this recipe, I wanted to make something that was chock full of vegetables, so I basically pureed/grated what I had in my fridge and mixed it with some marinara sauce (the grated mushrooms give this sauce its "meaty" texture). 

Feel free to improvise - I definitely did, and it turned out deliciously.

Spaghetti Squash with Vegan "Meat" Sauce

1 spaghetti squash, sliced in half

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara)

1 cup baby carrots

1 cup mushrooms (I used baby portabellas)

1 roasted red pepper

Handful of fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1 - 2 tsp. minced garlic

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, and oregano to taste

Dash of cayenne pepper

Daiya Vegan Cheese (or your favorite non-dairy cheese) to top

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Place the spaghetti squash in a pan lined with parchment or wax paper (to avoid sticking) with the rind up, and bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the rind goes in easily.  Remove from oven, and set aside to cool (now with the rind side down).

In a food processor, place the carrots, mushrooms, roasted red pepper, and basil leaves and process until they have the consistency of being finely grated.  Place in a saucepan over medium-low heat with 1 - 2 tsp. minced garlic and saute for 3 - 5 minutes, stirring often.  You want to sweat the vegetables, not burn them! Add about 3/4 of the jar of marinara sauce to start with and stir well.  If you want a thinner sauce, add more; if you want a chunkier sauce, leave it the way it is.  Add the seasonings to your own taste and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Scoop out the "noodles" from the spaghetti squash and top with the sauce and Daiya Vegan Cheese, if desired.

Oven-baked Spinach Mushroom Penne Arrabiata

We had a friend over last night to cook dinner, and my roommate Kyle wanted to make these lasagna roll-ups he'd recently had that were apparently amazingly good. So I improvised my own little oven-baked pasta dish that was along the lines of the one he was making, with spinach, mushrooms, a spicy red sauce, and a faux spiced ricotta cheese made from tofu. All of them said that mine actually looked pretty good (although none of them tried it), and while the tofu did not necessarily imitate cheese in its flavor, the texture definitely rounded out the dish and the spices in it were flavorful in their own right.

Oven-baked Spinach Mushroom Penne Arrabiata Serves 2 - 3

For the faux ricotta cheese:
1/2 package extra firm tofu
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tbsp. lemon juice

For the pasta:
1 cup brown rice penne (I used Tinkyada)
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. garlic
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped coarsely
1 small can Portobello mushrooms, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups of your favorite gluten-free tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
Vegan Grated Parmesan Topping

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes so that it is still very al dente. Remove from heat, drain, and rinse. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

In a small food processor, blend the tofu, spices, and lemon juice together until very creamy. Add more spices to taste, if desired. Set aside.

Place a tablespoon of olive oil and garlic in a saute pan and cook over medium heat for 3 - 5 minutes. Add the chopped spinach and cook another 2 - 3 minutes until it is wilted but still bright green. Remove from the pan and set aside. Pour the 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce into the pan and add the pepper, garlic salt, basil, oregano, thyme, and pepper flakes, adjusting the amounts to your own taste. Heat the sauce for 5 - 10 minutes until the desired flavor has developed. Pour the cooked pasta into the sauce and toss to coat.

In a small baking dish, layer the spinach-mushroom mixture, pasta with sauce, and the faux ricotta, sprinkling in Vegan Parmesan Topping over each layer of faux ricotta. Feel free to sprinkle liberal amounts of your favorite spices into the dish as well, if you like. End with a layer of faux ricotta with Vegan Parmesan Topping sprinkled over it.

Cover the dish and bake at 375F for 30 - 35 minutes. Serve with more parmesan topping, if desired.

Creamy Vegan Pasta con Broccoli

I don't know if anyone else remembers Rich and Charlie's, an Italian restaurant in the St. Louis area that closed a few years back. In fact, I'm not even entirely sure that there isn't still one of them open somewhere around here, hiding in West County or some other part of St. Louis that I rarely visit. My family used to go there often when I was younger. It was considered a treat in my family to go there, not just because of the amazingly good salad (which is a lot like the Pasta House salad, but much better), but also because their sauces were the best we could get anywhere. My favorite was Pasta con Broccoli, and even though you can find this at other Italian restaurants now (again, Pasta House), the version at Rich and Charlie's remains my favorite. I haven't had this kind of pasta in a very long time, given that it's filled with gluten and tons of dairy, but last night I decided to attempt a replication. And here's what I got:

Perhaps it was my starved palate talking, but I think it's pretty close to the real thing. And even if it is a little different, it was still delicious on its own! 

Vegan Creamy Pasta con Broccoli

1 1/2 cups brown rice pasta shells
2 cups chopped broccoli florets
1 1/2 tbsp. Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 1/4 cups mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup Tofutti "Better than Cream Cheese" (can be purchased at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods)
1/4 cup rice milk (or plain soy, almond, or hemp milk)
1/2 - 1 cup gluten-free tomato sauce, to taste (I used Trader Joe's Organic Tomato Basil Marinara)
1 - 1 1/2 tbsp. Vegan Grated Topping (Parmesan flavor), to taste
1/4 - 3/4 tsp. garlic salt, to taste
Pepper to taste

Cook the pasta al dente as directed (I boiled mine for about 9 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, remove from heat, and cover.

While the pasta is cooking, boil another pot of water and add the broccoli florets to the pot. Bring to a boil again, and cook for 4 minutes until it is lightly crunchy. Drain, remove from heat, and cover to retain heat.

In a large sauté pan, melt the Earth Balance Buttery Spread with the minced garlic, then add the chopped mushrooms. Sauté the mushrooms for 4-7 minutes, then add the cooked broccoli to the pan and stir into the mushrooms. Continue to sauté for about 2 minutes longer. Add the 1/2 cup Tofutti, rice milk, and 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, and let it all melt together. The sauce will appear a little strange at this point and it might look like the Tofutti is separating into unappetizing chunks, but give it a few more minutes and it will melt into a beautiful cream sauce. At this point, taste the sauce and if desired, add more tomato sauce by the spoonful until you reach your own desired balance of flavors. Sprinkle the pepper and garlic salt into the sauce (or if you would prefer less sodium, garlic powder) and again, test to your own taste. Then add the 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp. of Vegan Parmesan Grated Topping. I fiddled around with the taste quite a bit until I found the right balance for me, so feel free to do the same. Let the sauce simmer and thicken for about 5 more minutes until you are happy with the consistency. Add the sauce to the pasta and mix together. Serve immediately, sprinkled with more Parmesan if desired. Makes 2-3 servings.