Your Vegan Mom

Chipotle Cashew Cream

It's so quiet here right now.  It will all change in a minute.  Felix will throw off the covers and yell, "Mooooommmmyyy!" and Desmond will run down the hall on elephant feet.  There will be groggy demands for breakfast and snuggles and stories on the couch.  So I'm trying to write fast.  And drink coffee.  

Chloe's Fettucine Alfredo

Freaking Felix, dudes.  So, I missed April, pretty much just that whole glorious strawberry and asparagus filled month - there was a back thing and then a sick thing - but now I feel fantastic.  I walked the kids to school this morning and planted corn and beans in the backyard.  (The man at the nursery says there isn't room in my 18 inch border for the third sister.  So, swiss chard and collards and some nasturtiums and zinnias are going to fill in.  What do you think, garden experts?  Ridiculous plan?)  So, I just now sat down with every intention of catching you up on the stack of recipes and cookbooks that are beginning to teeter... and here's Felix, singing, with 2 1/2-year-old, supposed-to-be-napping gusto, "wild west music...wild west music" at 1:45.  That's 45 minutes into nap time if you're keeping count.  That's 45 minutes into my time.  Now he's found some maracas to accompany...and he's using something as a drum.   

I'm not going to investigate.  I need to use this relative quiet.  Top of the list of books I want to discuss?  Chloe's Kitchen by youngin Chloe Coscarelli.  Have you read it?  Cooked from it?  I'm loving it.  Her fettucine alfredo has become an absolute staple in our house and actually in several other houses nearby.  (I'm a bit evangelical about good recipes.)  The sauce is so simple and decadent-tasting - I love having a jar in the fridge for super fast dinners or instant grown-up lunches.  

That's my lunch up there.  The sauce is smothering slithery fettucine and pan-seered broccoli and tempeh and slivers of garlic.  It's good.  I considered pouring a wine prop but stuck instead to my unphotographed pint of water for afternoon productivity's sake.  I'm not one to let a good wine prop go to waste.  

Paul and I also loved the spot-on Chinese restaurant-style vegetable moo shu.  The homemade Chinese pancakes elevated the dinner to date night cuisine.  The tempeh-based burgers are on the menu for dinner tonight, and then there are 15 pink sticky notes marking other recipes I've been meaning to try like the Artichoke Walnut Pesto Crostini and Jalapeno Cornbread Poppers with Whipped Maple Butter. 

The cookbook is full of of super accessible recipes.  They're easy, full of ingredients you've heard of, look like things you already eat, and have delicious results.  

I totally recommend it.

Fettucine Alfredo
Excerpted from the book Chloe's Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way by Chloe Coscarelli, published by Free Press, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc.  Copyright © 2012. 
Serves 4 - 6  

• 1 pound fettucine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup raw cashews or blanched almonds*
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons white miso paste, optional (Except I think this is totally not optional.)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish

Bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil.  Add fettucine and cook according to package directions.  Drain and return to pot.  

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and let cook until soft.  Add garlic and let cook a few more minutes.  Remove from heat.

In a blender, combine onions and garlic, cashews, water, miso paste if desired (again, yes, add the miso), lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Process on high until very smooth, about 2 minutes.

Toss hot pasta with sauce until noodles are evenly coated.  Adjust seasoning to taste.  If sauce gets too thick, add a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time.  Garnish with parsley and serve.  

*If you are not using a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix, soak cashews or almonds overnight or boil for 10 minutes and drain.  This will soften them and ensure a silky smooth cream.  

Red Sauce

Nana called on Saturday.  From the kitchen I could hear Desmond's side of the conversation:

Not so good.

I have a harlot fever.

A harlot fever.

A harlot fever.

To cut to the chase, he's sick, with Scarlet Fever.  Did you know that people still got scarlet fever (and that my son's brain autofills for the word, harlot)?  Me neither.  So comfort foods (and not writing) have been at the top of our list this week.  There have been tons of action-packed smoothies and miso soup with tofu to slither right down a sore throat.  It turns out that scarlet fever is basically strep throat with a rash.  Who knew?  

I also recently discovered that my first born son's favorite meal is spaghetti with marinara sauce.  Totally dull, I know, but we'll cut him some slack because he's five and he's got the harlot fever.

Here's our current family recipe.  It's super simple and nicely balanced with a big ol' carrot adding a touch of nutritional variety as well as some mild sweetness to offset tart tomatoes.  It's a great basic sauce to smother ravioli or dip a calzone or stir into baked ziti or just put on top of some curly whole grain pasta to please the simple palate of a sick kid.  

Hot Dog Reuben

I call myself your mom, and yet I give you nothing but junk food.  I keep meaning to do better, but I'll be honest, I've looked at the roster for the rest of the year, and it's not looking good.  Perhaps it will be a New Year's Resolution?  I assure you my own children don't eat near as much junk as I feed you.  

Gravy

Let's start with the gravy.  Last week, we browned aromatic vegetables in olive oil, deglazed the pan with a swill of white wine, stirred in some pungent miso and broth and then turned that fragrant pot into the seitan dough that would become our Vegan Thanksgiving Roast.  We coated the dough in seasoned flour, browned the whole thing in olive oil to create a crust, added more vegetables and herbs to the pot and covered them with water to create a flavorful broth all while the seitan simmered.