Pumpkin Soup, Salad, Veggies and Cobbler

Pumpkin Soup
Even though fall is over and spring is finally here, I can't stop buying the little organic pumpkins that I keep finding in little shops around town.  I made a few alterations to this recipe including: carrot instead of apple/pear and oat milk instead of soy/almond. We sprinkled spicy paprika and cilantro on top. The soup went really well with these Bread Sticks. They are quick, versatile, and have a great texture.

From the Vegan Italiano cookbook,  I also made Asparagus with Tomato Vinaigrette. It sat in the fridge overnight and was very marinated by the time we ate it. It was served at room temp.

I am really in love with this recipe for Roasted Eggplant. It is so fast and tastes really good!

I have made this salad before. In my opinion, it is the perfect combo of flavors: pasta, white beans, sundried tomatoes, fennel, olives, and more. Trattoria Pasta Salad with White Beans.

And, for dessert. Pear Berry Cobbler. This recipe is officially in my permanent mix now! 

Two dinners from my cast iron skillet

Last week, I made dinner two nights in my cast iron skillet and both turned out quick and delicious.

First, Sicilian Skillet Pasta Pie from Vegan Italiano. Here is the recipe. I did make a few adjustments. Because I was out of olives, I made a batch of seitan chorizo crumbles. Also, I did not have spaghetti noodles so instead I used elbow macaroni. The pieces, obviously, did not 'slice' as the recipe says they should. We spooned portions out and devoured them!

We also shredded a bit of Mozzarella Sheese on top of the monster portions.

Second, Tempeh Helper from Appetite for Reduction. Because I have never eaten real Hamburger Helper, I can't really say whether it is comparable or not. But, it was really good.  I do think I added a bit too much seasoning to my cheezy sauce because it was quite salty and a little overpowering. Here is the recipe. 

Spinach and Mushroom Lasagna

I cleaned out my freezer yesterday and found a batch of cashew cream sauce in there from...who knows when. I also had a box of lasagna noodles in the pantry, also from that time frame! So, I bought a box of garlic flavored tomato sauce (I stopped buying canned since reading this article), a bunch of fresh basil, garlic, spinach, and mushrooms. I topped the lasagna with shredded Mozzerella Sheese.

It came together in under 20 minutes, baked for about 30 and was really delicious!

Vegan MoFo: S is for Soup

I can't recall ever having tasted Split Pea soup, so I figured it would be a nice effort for S.

I made the vital error of waiting until the night I was going to make my soup to send John to the grocery store to get split peas. First of all, the store didn't have them. Second, they would have taken hours to cook and this was all going on around 6pm. So, the soup took a dramatic turn and changed from Split Pea and Tomato Soup with Spinach (from the Vegan Italiano cookbook) to Frozen Pea and Tomato Soup without Spinach (John made the soup and forgot to put the spinach in!!!) 

At any rate, the soup was so delicious. It is a winter wonderland here in Denmark right now, so hot soup is very comforting. The soup consisted of a basic broth, the usual veggies (celery, carrot, onion, tomatoes), garlic and spices, and tiny elbow macaroni pasta. One cup of chopped spinach is supposed to go in shortly before it is served, but if you forget, the soup is still wonderful!

Vegan MoFo: R is for Raspberry Sorbetto

Another hit from Vegan Italiano! The recipe is actually for Cherry Sorbetto, but I had frozen raspberries and a desire to fulfil my R duty.

Very simple ingredients: water, sugar, orange juice, vanilla and almond extract, and frozen raspberries.

No icecream maker required. I froze the blended mixture and poured it into ice cube trays to freeze. Then, into the blender and voila! Tangy, sweety, fruity sorbetto.

Saffron Risotto with Roasted Brussels Sprouts

A is also for Arborio rice! I made risotto tonight which is so much easier than I ever imagine it could be. A diced onion is sauteed in olive oil until translucent. Add 1/2 cup arborio rice, 1/4 cup dry white wine, a pinch of saffron, a dash of salt and pepper and 1/2 cup veggie broth. Stir and cook until the broth is absorbed and add additional 1/2 cup increments of broth, stir until absorbed, totaling 2 cups.

I also roasted a batch of brussels sprouts. They are washed, the stem is cut off and they are chopped in half. In a casserole dish, add a splash of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and roast until crispy. This is our absolute, no questions asked, favorite vegetable.

Veggie Lover's Pizza

This pizza was amazing!!! The crust was sweet because of the added sugar but spicy because I also added red pepper flakes. It was thick on the edges but thin in the middle. I pressed it out into a large, rectangular oven pan. I spread spaghetti sauce on the crust then spooned on the following chopped veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, onion, red, green, and yellow pepper, and mushrooms. I also added black olives. The veggies were seasoned with oregano, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and a little olive oil. It baked at 425 for about 12 minutes. Here is the crust recipe that I followed. Instead of white flour, I used Durum.

Spinach and Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna Spirals

I am catching up on posts that I didn't get to while still living in Vienna!

A while back, I made a very similar recipe with sun-dried tomatoes and pesto. This time, I added roasted red peppers and spinach, sauteed in garlic, along with a tofu ricotta base. To save time, the tomato sauce is store bought. This meal is an extremely simple way to make something comparable to lasagna, it is very filling, and versatile because of the many flavors that can be added to the tofu ricotta base.

Almond Biscotti

My current baking obsession is Biscotti (Italian twice baked cookies). I followed a recipe from Vegan Italiano. Here is a link to the recipe, only it is doubled in this version.

I dipped mine in melted, dark chocolate and additional slivered almonds. Not that the Biscotti needed more flavor, but it just sounded (and tasted!) like a good plan!

This recipe uses applesauce for a significant portion of its moisture, instead of oil. I was very happy about that!

I also made a batch of Mom's Scrambled Tofu from the Vegan Dad blog. On a side note, my mom did tell me that she is almost virtually vegan these days! I am thrilled with this news! Spreading the Vegan Word!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pasta E Fagioli

I found the recipe in the Veganomicon Cookbook. I have never made Pasta E Fagioli before because it just sounded too simple. But, I had all the ingredients (I used linguine instead of tube pasta and garbanzos instead of white beans) and decided the simplicity of it sounded good tonight! I ripped up a few basil leaves for the top and sauteed some spinach in olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes to serve on the side.

Risotto with Zucchini and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I have been making risotto quite a bit lately because John loves it and I recently bought a huge box of arborio rice. I had high hopes for this recipe, from Vegan Italiano, but it just wasn't that great. It was on the bland side and we think that had to do with the fact that the recipe says to "finely dice" the zucchini. This made the zucchini get lost in the rice and wash away a lot of the flavor. It is a pretty basic risotto but should have had a nice flavor because it included white wine, onion, thyme, pepper, and basil. It was cooked down in veggie broth and had a half cup of both sun dried tomatoes and zucchini. But, a success it was not!

Apulian-Style Bruschetta with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil

Last night for dinner we had Roasted Beet Risotto. It is rare that I repeat recipes but both John and I really enjoyed it last time and I had a ton of beets. We ate it with green beans and this Bruschetta from the Vegan Italiano cookbook. It is a really long name but a very simple, basic style with a fantastic flavor. Using a loaf of Italian Bread, like ciabatta, slice it in half horizontally. Bake it for about 15 minutes and remove from the oven. Cut a garlic clove in half and rub it over the baked bread. I added a thick layer of crumbled Sheese Mozzerella to the top of mine and baked it for a few more minutes while the sheese "melted" or in my case, browned.

The topping is a pint of tomatoes, 1/2 cup basil leaves chopped, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper. I added a diced garlic clove to mine for the extra flavor. This sits for about 10 minutes and is then placed on the bread. It says that the bread can then sit out for up to an hour. Ours did not last that long!!!

Tomato-Basil Lasagna Spirals

A fun twist to a traditional lasagna flavor. I had 6 lasagna noodles leftover from last time I made it and followed a recipe from Vegan Planet. The recipe called for 12 noodles but because it is just John and I, 6 was plenty and everything else halved nicely. I was also able to put a portion of the enormous batch of tomato sauce I made this week to use!

The noodles are pre-boiled for about 10 minutes. The stuffing is tofu based with shallots, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, vegan pesto, bread crumbs, salt, and cayenne.

I found tiny asparagus at the grocery store today and pan fried it in olive oil, salt and pepper. I can't even put into words how delicious and fresh it tasted. And to top it off, a fresh loaf of ciabatta.

Della Salute Cornmeal Crust Pizza

While living in Portland, John and I ordered pizza from Dove Vivi probably once per month. They have 2 vegan pizzas on the menu but will make their other pizzas vegan when requested. All pizzas are made with cornmeal crust. My mom visited us in Portland and we took her to Dove Vivi for dinner. Just a few weeks ago she asked me if I had ever tried to make the crust because she remembered how fantastic it was. The answer was no, until now!

I googled vegan cornmeal crust and found a ton of recipes. I chose the one with the least amount of oil and think that might have been a mistake! The crust had a nice flavor but was flat and a bit dry. I will not use this recipe again, but will keep searching for a balance of health and deliciousness!

I baked the pizza in a cast iron skillet, making it easy to shape. Unfortunately, I forgot the pan had been in the oven when I grabbed the handle. After tears and 5 minutes of soaking my hand in ice water, all was well!

Della Salute is the name of the pizza I copied. It has roasted eggplant, marinated green peppers, caramelized onions, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and herbed tofu ricotta.



For the eggplant, I sliced one eggplant and then cut the slices into four pieces. I let them sit in a sprinkle of salt for a while, then rinsed, mixed with a little olive oil, and roasted for about 20 minutes.

The green peppers were washed, sliced in half, seeds removed, and brushed with olive oil. They roasted until the skins were black and then they were put into a covered dish to "sweat" for a while. The skins then peeled off very easily, they were sliced into thin strips and marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

I followed this recipe for caramelized onions.

The mushrooms were not pre-cooked, only sliced and added to the pizza before it was baked. I cheated on the pizza sauce and bought a box. The tofu ricotta is from the Vegan Home-style cookbook and a favorite for pizza, lasagna, pasta, anything!

Panzanella and Pizza Soup

John and I have been in the mood for salads lately and I have never made Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad) before. I found a recipe in Vegan Planet. I used a loaf of ciabatta bread, toasted, crust removed, and diced, along with olives, a yellow pepper, and cherry tomatoes cut in half. The dressing is a shallot, garlic clove, red wine vinegar, sugar, oregano, salt, and olive oil processed until smooth in a food processor. We piled this onto chopped lettuce and devoured it!

From Vegan Italiano, I made Pizza Soup to go with the salad. It was so yummy! The base of it is pizza sauce so it really does taste like pizza. It also has mushrooms, onion, and green pepper along with Italian seasonings.

Vegan Sausage and Ricotta Ravioli

For breakfast a few days ago, I made a huge batch of the vegan sausage that is featured in Vegan Brunch and a part of the recipe for Tempeh Sausage Pastry Puffs. There was a ton leftover and I also had leftover tofu ricotta in my freezer that I wanted out. So, I made homemade pasta, rolled out into ravioli sheets and stuffed with the two. It was served with a basic tomato sauce (a can of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, a splash of red wine, oregano, and other seasonings, salt and pepper) and blanched green beans. We also bought a half loaf of Ciabatta bread from the Naschmarkt that lasted about 20 minutes!

Roasted Beet Risotto

Along with being really delicious, this risotto was so pretty! The recipe is from Vegan Italiano and came together really quickly considering I bought roasted beets instead of roasting them myself.

The ingredients are basic: garlic, onion, arborio rice, olive oil, veggie broth, beets, white wine, salt, pepper, and parsley. The garlic and onion are cooked down in olive oil, and the rice is added. Then it becomes the tedious process of adding 1/2 cup veggie broth at a time until it is absorbed and finally, there is no broth left! It takes about 25-30 minutes. After about half the broth has been added, the other ingredients (beets, wine, salt, pepper) are stirred in. The parsley is added at the end.

We had a chopped chick'n salad on the side. It consisted of lettuce, beets, chick'n nuggets, and left over Italian Tofu Marinade for the dressing.

Lemon-Pine Nut Rice, Eggplant and Black Olive Tapenade and Italian Marinated Tofu

Both the rice and tapenade recipes are from Vegan Italiano.


For the rice, pine nuts are toasted and then sauteed alongside a red pepper, scallions, and garlic. It is topped off with lemon juice, parsley, salt and pepper. The flavor is lemony but light, and it can be served as a main or side dish. It came together very quickly and therefore, sat on the stove top for about an hour on low heat. It did not dry out or lose flavor.




The green beans are blanched then topped with a tapenade-style mixture. The original recipe is a topping for crostini but there is a note saying it can be added to asparagus instead of bread. I attempted to buy asparagus but found it was over $9 for a small bunch. I decided green beans would be a nice (and inexpensive) substitute. To make the tapenade, eggplant is boiled in a combination of water, red wine, peppercorns, a bay leaf, garlic and salt. This is drained after 15 minutes and added to a food processor. Along with the eggplant, olives, olive oil, and additional pepper is added and pulsed until combined but chunky. I scooped it over the green beans and served it.




This was originally the end of the meal but I found fresh, homemade tofu (the kind that isn't even in a package!) at the Nachtmarkt today. I will do a future post about this place because it is absolute heaven. I pressed the tofu really well and sliced it. I then marinated it in Italian Marinade for about 3 hours, flipping it every hour. It baked up puffy and crisp. I will be going back to get more of this stuff in the near future!!!

Fettuccine with Basil-Pea Cream and Fresh Tomato and Basil Salad

John and I made fettuccine last night. It was the first time using my "new" pasta roller. John surprised me by ordering it on ebay after the last pasta roller I bought had to be returned. I was less than thrilled to see that it was powder blue and from the 1940's and, well, just old! But, it did roll out pretty fettuccine.



I followed this recipe for the pasta. I have made pasta from this recipe many times and it has always been a success.



The sauce is from Vegan Italiano. I am not a huge fan of peas but John loves them and this really did make a lovely sauce for the fresh fettuccine.



On the side, a Fresh Tomato and Basil Salad also from Vegan Italiano. I made a much smaller batch than the recipe suggested which consisted of 2 tomatoes sliced, 1 small garlic clove diced, 6 basil leaves chopped, salt, pepper, and 1 Tbsp olive oil all mixed together.

Baked Risotto with Spring Vegetables

My first recipe from Vegan Italiano and it was fantastic. John loves risotto but it can be time consuming. This baked version was very fast and simple.

I used a cast iron pan so I could take it from the stove top and put it directly into the oven. Preheat 425 degrees. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil and cook a diced onion until soft. Add 3 crushed garlic cloves and 1 cup arborio rice. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup white wine and cook until completely absorbed. Add 3 1/2 cups veggie broth, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp lemon pepper seasoning, and bring to boil. Cover and bake for 45-50 minutes.
While this is baking, saute any veggies you would like to add when the baking is completed. I used white asparagus, broccoli, peas, mushrooms, green pepper, and scallions.

The flavor and consistency was delicious and the texture was creamy and had an almost-cheesy-like flavor.