Cheesy Thermos Pasta - Vegan

This is the most sought after lunch choice in our home lately.   Who doesn't love a little homemade mac n cheese? Except this recipe doesn't have any cheese...  So you can please the vegans, the lactose intolerant, and the kids all at once!   One step closer to world peace.

So you all want to know how cheesy no-cheese pasta can be right?  Well, not exactly like mac n cheese.  A taste hybrid between cheese and alfredo sauce.  Really creamy alfredo sauce.  It's all about the sauce.  My friend makes it but replaces the pasta with rice which has her kids clamoring for "cheesy rice".

The original recipe I found over at VegNews.  I've made just a few alterations to make it more straightforward and I've doubled it.   The recipe is versatle.  I've added less cashews, more potatoes, or forgotten the oil and it still works great.

 

Cheesy Thermos Pasta
Adapted from VegNews
Serves 10

Ingredients

2 shallots
2 large or 3 medium red or yellow potatoes (not russet)
2 carrots
1 yellow onion
2 cups water

1/2 cup raw cashews, preferably pre-soaked and drained*
1 garlic clove, minced
2 TB extra virgin olive oil**
2 TB lemon juice
1 TB salt
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 16 oz package small shell pasta

* The cashews do not have to be soaked but it does aid in digestion and nutrient absorption.  Simply soak the cashews in room temperature water for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.

** Non-vegans can replace the oil with butter for a richer taste if desired.  I like it both ways.

Directions

Peel and chop shallots, potatoes, carrots, and onion.  Place in a covered saucepan with the 2 cups water and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Set aside to cool slightly.

While vegetables cool cook pasta according to package directions and drain.

Meanwhile, place the rest of the ingredients in a blender.  Blend until smooth adding some of the liquid from the cooked vegetables as needed.  Finally, add in the vegetables with the remaining water and blend until smooth.  Pay close attention not to burn yourself if the vegetables are still hot.  Depending on the size of you blender you may need to process the sauce in batches.

Pour sauce over cooked pasta.  Stir and serve.

Serving suggestions:  This recipe fills a 9X13 pan.  If you are having company over put it in a pan and bake it at 350 until bubbly.    If it's just you and a couple kids, put half in an 8X8 pan to bake that night for dinner and save the other half for tomorrow's lunch thermoses.  The pasta does not have to be baked.  It's just more casserole like that way.   I don't bake it for the thermoses.  I just heat and pack.  Furthermore, if you are ultra picky about leftovers you could make the sauce ahead of time and cook the pasta fresh in the morning.  I think it tastes great leftover though.

Potato Soup

This is one easy and economical make ahead soup. I know it's August, but make it now and pop it in the freezer for your thermos this Fall.  Chop, Boil, Simmer.  That's it.  One pot.  30 minutes.




Potato Soup
Fills 4 Pint Jars or 8 Half Pints

Ingredients 

2 yellow onions, diced
6 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
4-6 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1-2 tsp salt (depending how salty your broth is)
1/2 tsp fresh ground peppercorn
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TB extra virgin olive oil

Garnish options include fresh chives, fresh herbs, additional olive oil or hot pepper flakes.  For a richer soup add in 3 or four tablespoons butter to the pot at towards end of cooking and stir until melted.

Directions

Add all the ingredients to a large pot saving the broth for last.  Pour in the broth until almost covering the diced veggies but not quite.  Usually about 5 cups does it for me.
Bring to a boil then cover and simmer on medium low for 20-25 minutes or until veggies are soft.
With a large spoon or potato masher, mash up a bit of the soup to create a creamier texture is desired.

If freezing for later cool completely then freeze in wide mouth mason jars leaving a little head space on top.

Hot or Cold Mujaddara with Sumac

Mujaddara!  I can hardly pronounce it.  Also known as mejadra, moujadara, mudardara, or megadarra.  "Hey Fly Guy you want me to make some (insert silly babble)?"  He always knows what I mean and mocks me accordingly.  For the record it's pronounced moo-jah-d'rah.

Mujaddara is known to appear in cookbooks as far back as 1226.  Though legend places it back much further.  Possibly the dish Jacob used to buy Esau's birthright.  It's that good.  Oh come on Esau, it's like 3 ingredients.  Your birthright?    Really?

We serve this hot, room temp, or cold making it a perfect pack along meal.  I've caught Fly Guy hiding behind the fridge door piling it cold on tortilla chips more than once.  "Tortilla chips, your are desecrating my food!"  I recommend Naan.


 
 

Mujaddara with Sumac

Ingredients

3 TB coconut or olive oil and 1 TB butter*
2-3 large yellow onions thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1 cup brown or white jasmine rice (I've also used plain long grain brown or white)
1 cup brown or green lentils
salt and pepper to taste
serve with condiment bowls of sumac**, plain yogurt,  and possibly mint.  If you don't have sumac try lemon wedges and paprika.  Fresh chopped parsley also works if your fresh out of everything else.

*Vegan's can leave the butter out.  It just adds a slight richness to the dish.

**I found a bag of sumac in the middle eastern section of my grocery store for less than $3.  It's leaves a nice lemony vinegar taste on your tongue and is a nice alternative to a salt shaker on the table.  I think I will fill an old tic tac container with it next time I send this dish in Fly Guy's lunch.

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions.

While rice is cooking warm oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Toss in the sliced onions and a tsp salt.  While it looks like a lot of onion it cooks way down and gets quite sweet.

Cook onions for 20-30 minutes until they start to turn golden and sweet.  If they begin to burn turn down the heat.  My stove doesn't get very hot...

Meanwhile cook lentils in a separate pan according to package directions.

When onions are finished add the drained cooked lentils and cooked rice to the pan.  Salt, pepper, and incorporate.

Keep your birthright, you earned it.

Happy Peanut Rice Bowls

I still don't own a cheese grater or a handmixer but I did acquire a wok and mandoline slicer from Goodwill Outlet recently. So I was getting ready to make Gweneth Paltrow's Fried Kale Rice and my mandolin is just hanging out and a spare piece of ginger is on the counter. I'm awful at chopping ginger. I own a boning knife and a bread knife. Not really ginger compatible. But a mandoline, oh yes! Yes, yes, yes! Some ginger, a carrot, a broccoli stem later... Mandoline's are amazing!

My kids shoveled rice in their faces while I made promises to put some in their lunch thermoses.  I then made the mistake of leaving the dinner table for a moment only to hear the ensuing giggles  "I made Vincent swallow peanuts whole like pills and it really improved his attitude! Would you like to try one mom?"   Oh boys!

About the ingredients:

Rice: Brown or white rice will do.  I went with brown rice for it's wholesomeness.   My family was never a big fan the brown rice taste until I switched over to Jasmine Brown Rice (easy to find at Trader Joe's).  They now look forward to it as soon as the scent fills the air.  I also use a rice cooker and love not having to watch for boil overs.

Ginger:  Did you know you can just scrub ginger root and leave the skin on?  Our friends from China sometimes would, sometimes wouldn't.  And their food was always phenomenal either way.

Kale:  I only had pre-chopped kale on hand.  This dish is much easier if have whole kale so you can control the chopping.  I chop it small for the kids, but it tastes just as great with larger pieces.

Garnish:  We do peanuts and Sriracha sauce.  Another option might be sesame seeds.  My friend swears by sesame oil. Her recipe.

Ingredients

2 TB coconut or canola oil
2 inch piece of ginger, julienne cut
1 large carrot, julienne cut
2 inch stalk of peeled broccoli (without the floret) julienne cut.  Or just add another carrot.
2 green onions, white and green parts sliced thin
2 garlic cloves chopped
4 cups thinly sliced fresh kale
1 TB soy sauce
2 tsp rice vinegar
2 eggs slightly beaten
2.5 cups Jasmine Brown Rice cooked and slightly cooled

Directions

In a large pan or wok heat the oil over medium high heat.  Toss in the carrot, broccoli,  onion, and garlic.  Stir for just a few minutes until the vegetables are tender crisp being careful not to burn the garlic.  Throw the chopped kale, soy sauce, and rice vinegar over the vegetables, turn heat down to medium and put on a lid to catch the steam.  Cook just a couple more minutes, stirring periodically, until the kale has wilted down a bit.

Push the vegetables to the side of the pan making a well in the middle.  Pour beaten eggs in the center and let cook until slightly set., 1 or 2 minutes.  Throw prepared rice on top of everything and stir gently to incorporate.  Adjust soy sauce and oil to taste.

Garnish and serve.

When we picnic:  I really did picnic with this and brought it along in a thermos with the garnishes already on.  For Fly Guy I will put cold in a jar and let him warm it up at his hotel.

By the way, has anyone read either of Gweneth Paltrow's books ?   I just reserved one at my library!