Thursday, January 20, 2011

Alert the Media! I cooked and ENJOYED a vegan dish!

This afternoon I did something I rarely do, and cooked a vegan dish for my husband. I know, I'm a bad wife, blah, blah blah. As I've mentioned, he is a die hard vegan and I am sooo not. Although I did try it once, and I lasted about a week!

I recently picked up a copy of Eat What You Love and this recipe looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a try. Despite the fact that I used soy crumbles in place of ground beef, this dish was fantastic and very flavorful! I really liked it and my husband devoured two huge helpings in no time flat.

Of course I never have the exact ingredients a recipe calls for, so I made a few substitutions. My version is what's listed below.

And yeah, I know that's a canned crescent on the plate. I was so wrapped up in the noodle dish, bread was an afterthought and sides weren't even a thought. A fresh salad and crusty homemade bread would have been great with this!  Although I do loves me some Pillsbury Crescent Rolls...I'm not gonna lie.


Why is food so hard to photograph? 
Nutty (not really)Beefy Noodles

Here's What You Need:
8 oz whole wheat spaghetti
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and shredded

1/4 c. peanut butter
2 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs white wine vinegar
2 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs brown sugar
1/4-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 c. warm water
3/4 tsp. cornstartch

12 oz pack of Yves Meatless Ground (or 1lb. lean ground beef)
2 Tbs. minced garlic
2-4 green onions, chopped

Here's What You Do:
1.  Cook pasta, drain and return to pot. Add peppers and carrots, cover.

2. Whisk together peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar,ginger, and red pepper flakes until smooth. Wish in warm water and cornstarch.

3. Heat soy crumbles and garlic in a (very) large saute pan. About 5 min.

4. Pour sauce into pan with the soy crumbles and let simmer until sauce thickens. Stir in pasta & veggies and cook 5-7min. until the veggies are crisp tender. Top w/green onions.

 For the unmodified by yours truly version of this recipe, check out the book.  There is a recipe for a 175 calorie vanilla cake batter milkshake that is worth the price of admission all on it's own!

1 comment:

Shaheen said...

I am not a vegan, but I too have enjoyed a number of vegan meals that are packed with flavour. This looks good and I am not a noodle person.

I agree food photographs are hard to take.