Roasted tomato basil soup and raw nut oatmeal treats

I hope everyone is enjoying there beautiful weekend!  We are just kind of hanging out and enjoying the great weather.

So I know it's not tomoto season yet but I have really had the taste for tomato

 soup.  You see I had it all planned out as when to make this because it was really cold and raining one day last week and I thought, "how perfect to make this on a stormy night."  That's what I did!

I swear this is the absolute best tasting tomato soup.   Years ago I was watching the Barefoot Contessa on t.v. and saw her make this and it looked so easy to make and I absolutely love roasted tomatoes!  You can click here to get the recipe.  I used ripe plum tomatoes for this but sometimes I mix in cherry tomatoes as well.  When the tomatoes are done roasting, break off a piece of  rustic bread and put a tomato on it and it's tastes oh...so...good!  You'll want to save some for the soup though so don't eat all of them. lol!

I also threw in some sliced garlic to be roasted with the tomatoes.  It calls for butter but I didn't use any EB, just olive oil.  I also think fresh thyme is better than the dried for this and the red pepper, I cut back on too.

Hope you try it, you won't be dissapointed.

 

I'm trying to make more raw nut treats to have around so Keaton can just grab them and get his sweet fix.  I tried to make these more like an oatmeal cookie.  These ones have 1/2C. raw almonds, 1/2C. raw cashews, 8/9 dates, 1/2 C. oatmeal, 2Tbsp. shredded coconut, 2Tbsp. flax seed and dark chocolate chunks.  I shaped them into squares.

I'm looking forward to making a raw strawberry cheesecake with Keaton tomorrow.

Have a great rest of your weekend!

pasta lunch....vegan cookbook recipe

This is the 'Hurry Up Alfredo' recipe from Vegan Yum Yum and yummy it is! Get the recipe here . This recipe is definitely more of an alfredo sauce more than a mac n' cheeze type. The family gave their thumbs up. It's so good it's hard to stop eating it! I added some white wine and fresh basil to my sauce. This would be a great hassle free meal to serve for those non-vegan guests, it's so easy and quick to make. Just serve it up with a nice vegetable, baguette and a vegan caesar salad. Wallah! A fabulous meal.

Spaghetti Casserole;just like mom used to make

Okay, let me just start out by saying when I first saw this recipe on Karina's Kitchen I knew I had to make it. This reminded me of spaghetti casserole that my my mom used to make us using Capellini pasta, mozzarella, jack cheese and topped off with spaghetti sauce. My husband brings this dish up sometimes because he loved it and I haven't made it since I've been vegan. Until now I haven't tried to replicate it. I'm not a big fan of vegan cheeses and you use alot of cheese in the original recipe so it would be loaded with fat. Back to the blog, Karina shows this lovely picture of a vegan pasta pie on her blog and I said to myself "I just found the recipe to spaghetti casserole". The result was amazing. My husband loved it, I loved it, we all loved it. Can I tell you how much we loved it? lol. You need to try it and add it to your comfort food list.

There were a couple of changes I made to it in that I used capelinni pasta, added more mustard to the sauce, at the end of the directions it says to add 2T. of rice flour, I only add 1T, and I topped it off with a basil marinara instead of adding veggies, just 'cuz I wanted it to be more like the one I used to make. Let me know how you like it if you make it.

Quinoa, basil and tofu / ALSO DON'T FORGET THE GIVEAWAY ONE POST DOWN FROM THIS!!!

This is so easy to make. Seriously. The original recipe is on the box of a

Trader Joe's Quinoa box that I saw years ago. Here's my version.

Quinoa, basil & tofu

1 C. Quinoa , dry

2 C. vegetable broth

1 bunch of basil, chiffanade

2 bell peppers, yellow, orange, red (your choice)

2 C. yellow onion, sliced

5 cloves garlic, sliced

8 oz. extra firm tofu

1 tsp. oregano

s & p

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp garlic, minced

In a small saucepan bring 2 C. water to boil then add 1 C. Quinoa. Cover and turn down heat to low and cook for about 25 min. Once done turn off heat.

Rinse, drain and dry tofu. Dice tofu and coat with a bit of olive oil, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 tsp. thyme and a bit of salt to taste. Broil on low in oven just until slightly brown. Set aside once done.

Heat up a large pan and add 1 T. olive oil. Then add the onions,bell pepper & garlic, cook until just starting to get soft. Add about 1 tsp oregano cook for another 1 minute. Next add the Quinoa, basil and tofu mix thoroughly and turn off heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. I drizzled a bit of basil olive oil on top.

Enjoy!

Angel hair pasta with roasted asparagus, tomatoes and pesto

First off this picture is a bit dark, when I used the flash it was too bright. Oh well!
Everyone wanted pasta tonight and we didn't want anything too heavy and I had a bunch of asparagus and basil. Since it's still cooling down at night this dish was perfect. It smells so wonderful as the veggies are roasting in the oven. The idea behind this recipe comes from Karina at Gluten Free Goddess. Again just tweaked it a bit and added pesto to it.

I cooked 3/4 pack of angel hair pasta according to directions. Meanwhile in the oven I roasted some chopped Roma tomatoes, garlic, capers, olive oil, basil, oregano and just a bit of jalepeno for a kick and a bit of balsamic in 400 oven until done.
Then I made a basil pesto. Once everything is done stir it all in a nice pasta bowl. Drizzle a bit more of balsamic syrup and a couple sprinkles of red pepper flakes. Serve with a nice caesar or salad of choice and garlic bread.