The "Other Half" Posts, Too!

Lisa and I are getting excited about getting this page up and running!  This has been a work in progress but I know we'll eventually get the hang of blogging. I would like to do most of the posting about food because I've found a new love for cooking.  You guys should have seen the Wedding Registry we gave out -- it was all stuff for our kitchen.  A new juicer, a Ninja system, a rice cooker, sushiware, a food processor, new Cuisinart stainless steel pots and pans... goodness, it was amazing.

My goal is to make awesome recipes that people will want to try and not be afraid of the "vegan" tag that comes along with it.  I also try my best to get the best food for the lowest price.  Until we are able to afford to go completely local and organic, we find as much as we can food at our local Farmer's Markets.

Lisa and I decided that we will start doing themed weeks for our meals and this week happens to be Italian.  I'd have to say my favorite so far was a Sun-Dried Tomato and Walnut Penne Pasta recipe I got over at Vegetarian About.com.  They made it look so much better than I did -- but then again, I'm no food photographer and so of course I didn't get a picture of mine but you'll get the gist from theirs.

Ingredients:

·         8 ounce penne pasta

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1/3 cup chopped walnuts

·         3/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

·         2 tbsp olive oil

·         1 tsp basil

·         1/2 block firm tofu, pressed

·         salt, to taste

 

My goal when cooking is to take a known recipe and then spin my own creation.  Sprouts (Farmer's Market) is the go-to place for us because their produce and non-meat choices are awesome. The bulk foods section is where to go for those walnuts and then my handy little Ninja Chopper did the trick to get it into its chopped goodness.  Lisa found a bag of julienned sun-dried tomatoes at Fry's for super cheap, as well.  They also have really great whole grain pasta (penne happens to be our favorite) that we pretty much always have on hand in our cabinets.

 Preparation:

In a large saucepan, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil. Add the penne pasta and cook according to package directions.

As the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce. Place the minced garlic in a large bowl. Add the walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes, oil and basil. Mash in the tofu and mix well with a spoon.

My biggest change in the recipe came with the sauce.  First of all, my pressing of tofu is a bit different each time I do a recipe.  This was easy because I still wanted it to have a bit of moisture for that "sauce" feel to it.  I just placed the half block on the wooden cutting board and placed a small plate on top for about 5 minutes, drained the excess water off, and put the plate back on for another 5 minutes.  After that was all done I put it in my small bowl with everything else and mashed it with a potato masher.  The pieces were a bit bigger for my taste so I finished mashing some pieces with a fork.

At this point, there was not enough seasoning for me; we are all about full-flavor in our house.  I am absolutely no good at measuring how much spice I actually put in food -- it's more about how many times I shake the spice jar.  I started with the Herbs de Provence and shook it 3 times.  Then I moved on to the Italian Seasoning with 2 shakes.  (What's silly about this whole thing is the difference between those two seasonings is probably one ingredient but I'm all about the basil and garlic in foods).  I did one shake of Mint to give it a bit of a different flavoring and then added Ground Sea Salt to taste.  I think the salt ended up being 1 shake.

When the pasta is ready, drain, and add to the mixture in large bowl. Toss all ingredients until pasta is well-coated. Pour onto a platter and serve at room temperature or chilled.

We went with room temperature for our dinner but let me tell you, chilled is just as amazing.  I took the rest of the pasta "sauce" and put it with a salad (mixed greens, raw mushrooms, Bac-O's, and Balsalmic Vinegar) the next day at lunch and it was AMAZING.

If you guys try this recipe, let me know in the comments.  I'd love to hear what you changed or added to it.

-A