Vegan Spaghetti Carbonara

For this recipe, I chose to make one of my favorite foods in the whole world. I have been anticipating making this recipe for a long time and was so excited to try it out. I have loved spaghetti carbonara all my life and the fact that it isn't vegan is very depressing in my opinion, until I found this recipe. Not only does this recipe substitute the cheesy sauce with a non-dairy version, but she goes all the way to substitute that pasta noodles for even healthier zucchini noodles, which is also something I have been wanting to try out ever since I got a tool to make noodles out of nearly any vegetable for Christmas. To begin, I gathered my ingredients:

4 zucchinis

1 cups dairy free shredded Parmesan (daiya brand)

1 cup almond milk

1 teaspoon salt

and that's it! This was definitely the simplest recipe I have found because it's only four ingredients.

The first step was to bring a quart of water to a boil which took much longer than I expected so I formed my noodles during this time. Isa explained, "use a tool specifically for making noodles or you can use the technique located on page 13" (Chandra pg. 168), but since I had the designated equipment I was ready to rumble! After forming the noodles, I added them to my boiling water and allowed them to cook for about 5 minutes.

While my noodles were cooking, I prepared the sauce. This was an effortless task as all I had to do was add two ingredients to a pot on the stove and stir away. 

Finally, I drained my noodles, placed them into a large bowl, stirred in the sauce, and it was ready to serve. The spaghetti tasted incredible and I would definitely make it again and recommend it to anyone. This recipe was so easy and contained so few ingredients, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't want to try it out themselves. The only thing that I would do differently if I was to make this again would be that I would garnish it with some sort of leafy green like parsley or cilantro to give it a nicer presentation and a little more flavor. 

After seeing some of these recipes that I have posted, I would like to know if you would you ever consider becoming a vegan yourself, why or why not?

Moskowitz, Isa Chandra. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildy Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Vegan Ancho Lentil Tacos

From my last post, you could probably tell that Mexican food is a staple in my diet. This recipe also intrigued me because of the meat substitute that Isa chose. I have tried many fake meat products, but none of them stuck mostly due to the fact that they often seem a little too real. I became a vegetarian seven months ago due to the fact that i simply don't enjoy eating meat, so eating these fake meat products just freaks me out. This is why I was so excited to try lentils. I have heard of it being used as a meat substitute in sloppy joes and sheaphard's pie and now tacos and I couldn't wait to see what I thought of it.

Ingredients:

 Ancho Spice Mix:

2 teaspoons ground ancho chile

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon salt

Lentils:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

pinch of salt

2 1/2 cups cooked brown lentils

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons hot sauce

For Serving:

6 corn tortillas

Romaine lettuce

Salsa

Sliced avocado

The first step was to prepare the spice mix, this was defienetely the easiest part becasue all I had to do was measure out my listed spices and toss them into a bowl

The next step was to prepare the lentils. At first the lentils were seeming a little dry, but when I looked back at the instructions I realized the it had said "keep a cup of water within reach; you'll need to add splashed as you cook" (Chandra pg. 110) After doing this a few times, my lentils were up to standards. Then I added my spice mix for flavor and used a fork to mash up my lentils because a spatula will pften not be strong enough to mash it. (Chandra pg. 110)

Then, I just added my ingredients to my tortillas. Here I made a slight alteration to the recipe as I used flour tortillas rather than corn based on personal preference. Although it didn't turn out quite as pretty as I'd hoped and you are unable to see all of the ingredients inside of the taco, it turned out quite delicious and I can't wait to make it again!

Have you ever tried any fake meat products or used something like lentils as a substitute for meat? What was it? Did you enjoy it?

Moskowitz, Isa Chandra. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildy Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Vegan Nachos

I have been vegetarian for about seven months now and am really interested in becoming a vegan for health purposes, but the hardest part in my mind is giving up cheese. I have always loved cheese, in fact my first word was cheese! This is the main reason for my next recipe, I chose to make nachos. Nachos are a fan favorite for most people, including myself and this was the perfect opportunity to try out some vegan "cheese". This cashew based cheese sauce is supposed to taste just like the real thing and I couldn't wait to try it out.

Ingredients:

Queso:

3/4 cups cashews

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

1 tablespoon mellow white miso

3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion 

2 jalepenos 

Meat Substitute:

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 small onion, minced

2 coves garlic, minced

2 1/2 cups cooked lentils (from about 1 cup dried)

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Cholula)

Spice Mix:

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground ancho chile

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

The first step after gathering my ingredients was to make the queso. This was pretty simple and I didn't run into any problems. I basically just threw all of my ingredients into the pan and it also took very little time as there were few items that I needed to cut up. 

The ext step was to cook my lentils. This was a fairly easy process of boiling them in water and then setting them aside to add to the rest of the ingredients later and give it some flavor. 

Next, I was to combine all of the ingredients for the Spice Mix into one bowl. This was by far the simplest part of the recipe as all I has to do was measure my spices, toss them in the bowl, and give it a little mix. 

Then I was to sautee my garlic and onion in oil and add the spice mix. 

The last, but most difficult, step was to add the lentils and remaining ingredients. Isa warned me about this when she said that usually the lentils can become difficult to mash and they often block up (Chandra, pg. 233), so I was prepared. Once the lentils were added, they did become quite difficult to mash, but I used a technique that she explained, "if your spatula isn't strong enough to accomplish [mashing the lentils], just use a sturdy fork (Chandra, pg. 233). This worked out much better than the spatula just as she claimed and I was quickly able to resolve the issue.

Now I was finished and all that was left to do was to top my tortilla chips with my "meat", "cheese" sauce and chopped veggies. This came out fantastically and was incredibly simple to make. Using lentils was a very enjoyable meat substitute as was the cheese sauce. 

Would you be willing to add any meat or dairy substitutes to your diet? Why or why not?

Moskowitz, Isa Chandra. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildy Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.

Vegan Pad Thai

I have been a vegetarian for about 6 months now and have loved it. I never really enjoyed meat and now I find myself eating much more fruits and vegetables. I have read many books and watched many documentaries on becoming a vegan and I look forward to becoming one one day, so a vegan cookbook was the first thing that came to my head when deciding what kind of book to choose for this project. I chose Isa Does It by Isa Chandra Moskowitz because I have heard many great things about this book and the recipes that it withholds. Before reading this book, I had an idea of what it would be like to be a vegan, but I thought that all they ate were fruits and vegetables. Now I have read and learned many recipes that look delicious and consist of many healthy ingredients, but are still no where near boring. For my first meal to prepare from the cookbook, I chose the Everyday Pad Thai. To begin, I gathered my Ingredients:

Vegatable oil

Tofu

Salt

For the Sauce:

Tomato Paste

Soy Sauce

Brown sugar

Fresh Lime Juice

Siracha

Mellow White Miso

Water

For Everything Else:

Broccoli

Garlic

Scallions

Fresh Cilantro

Pad Thai Noodles

Roasted Peanuts

The first thing that I was to do is to cut the Tofu into "cubes" and cook them so I referred to page 17 where Isa talks about "vegan butchery" and explains with pictures and descriptions how to cut tofu and tempeh into the shapes that she states in her recipes. She explained that to cut tofu into cubes you must first turn it on its side and cut it length wise. Then you turn it flat and cut it into quarters in both directions and then you have perfect, equally sized cubes. (P. 17)

In the notes section of the recipe, it said "I make this all in one pan. While the tofu browns, I prep everything else. You might save a little time by using two pans, but this method has served me well." (P. 179) After reading this I decided that since I was in no hurry, I would go with her method and only use one pan for everything. At first I though that would be weird because you would be mixing different elements of the recipe, but it worked out since you combine everything in the end anyways and I would highly recommend doing this. It makes for a much easier clean up afterwards.

Once I had made the tofu and prepped all of my ingredients, I put the tofu to the side and heated up my veggies, noodles, and sauce on the stove. After that was done, I put everything into my skillet, mixed it all up and let it soak up the flavors of the sauce for a minute before i put it on a plate and topped it with some roasted peanuts. I loved how this turned out and so did my family. I would most definitely make this again and recommend to anyone, vegan or not. 

This can be a very controversial topic, but I would like to know what your opinion is on veganism.


Moskowitz, Isa Chandra. Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildy Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.