Spaghetti With Vegan Eggplant Meatballs

By Colleen Boucher

This is embarrassing to admit as a twenty-five year old woman of Italian descent, but I have never seen The Godfather, until last night that is. For many years, it has been brought to my attention that this is one of my serious deficiencies as a human being. As time went on, I knew I would have to put on a real Godfather celebration to appease the classic film gods, and as an Italian, I know that celebration means food. So, in order to make amends, I made the most quintessential Italian-American dish I could think of: spaghetti and meatballs.

Traditional spaghetti and meatballs are made with three kinds of meat, beef, pork, and veal, and parmesan cheese. Obviously, this does not gel with the vegan diet. Faux meat products fall into two categories: "looks like," and "tastes like." Well, these meatballs hit the jackpot and accomplish both, all without sending me into my typical Italian food coma. This recipe is so good that it makes veganism an offer you can't refuse. To make it special, I also made my favorite tomato sauce, a recipe from the iconic Hamptons restaurant Nick and Toni's. This sauce requires a little advance preparation, but it has a velvety texture, and a depth of flavor that heightens everything it touches.

To round out the meal, I served a red wine procured on my recent trip to Sonoma. My best friend Nisha and I stopped at the Mayo Family Winery, drawn in by the sign for a wine and food pairing menu. Unfortunately, the kitchen had closed ten minutes prior. Chef Max Porter-Elliot could probably sense our desperation and was kind enough to bring us a plate of bread, which I fell on blissfully. As it was our last stop of the day, we lingered for almost two hours, chatting with Max and later his girlfriend, trading restaurant recommendations with the other couple at the bar. Opening the bottle of 2005 Meritage brought back the pleasure of my experience at Mayo and added another level of enjoyment to the meal.

So having had a fantastic experience with The Godfather, I'm contemplating whether I should watch the whole trilogy. Perhaps this post will become a three part homage to the films through food. Hopefully this will inspire you to have an Italian dinner and movie night of your own!

Tomato Sauce

This recipe was introduced to me on Ina Garten's show The Barefoot Contessa when she hosted the executive chef of Nick and Toni's on her show.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 ½ teaspoons fresh or dried oregano
1 cup vodka
2 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
2 tablespoons fresh oregano

Heat oven to 375º. Add olive oil to an oven proof pan and turn stove to medium. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 5 to 10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and 1 ½ teaspoons oregano and sauté for another minute. Add the vodka and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Drain the tomatoes and add them to the pan, crushing them in your fingers. Add salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 1 ½ hours. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Pour mixture in a blender and purée. Return to the pan, add the remaining fresh oregano and simmer briefly. Add your favorite pasta and enjoy!

Eggplant Meatballs

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion diced
1 medium eggplant unpeeled, diced in ¼ to ½ inch cubes
1 ½ cups walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper
2 cups dried bread crumbs
½ cup firm tofu, puréed
3 cloves garlic minced
Zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup fresh parsley chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh oregano chopped
½ cup basil chopped

Preheat oven to 375º. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet and sauté onion for five minutes. Add eggplant and salt and continue cooking for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the eggplant is tender. If eggplant sticks to the pan add more olive oil. Meanwhile, toast walnuts in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes and chop roughly. Add eggplant mixture and walnuts to a large bowl. Add a heaping cup of the mixture to the food processor and purée until smooth. Return the purée to the bowl and combine. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, bread crumbs, tofu, garlic, lemon zest, parsley, oregano, and basil and mix well. Coat hands with a little olive oil and form mixture into balls roughly the size of a golf ball. Place on a greased cookie sheet, and spray lightly with a little oil. Place in the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until they develop a dark brown crust on the outside. Remove from the oven, cover with foil, and allow to steam for five minutes. Add to the top of your pasta and sauce. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5273933

Vegan Nachos and Home-Made Savoury Crackers

By Laurinda Erasmus

This much healthier version of a traditional Mexican dish is really authentic in taste. Make it for a light lunch or triple the recipe and serve it at a party. Home-made nachos are very quick and easy to make. They are accompanied by soy yoghurt (soured with lemon juice), home-made guacamole dip, a lentil and bean tomato mix scattered with grated fried tofu. Enjoy!

Ingredients
home-made Nachos savoury crackers* (see recipe below)
1 cup cooked Puy / brown lentils
1 cup cooked red kidney beans
4 tomatoes, chopped
4 tbsp tomato paste, thinned with 4 tbsp water
1 - 2 tsp chopped fresh red chilli (to taste)
2 tsp peanut oil
¾ cup grated firm tofu
4 ml turmeric
3 ml paprika
2 tsp fine savoury yeast flakes
avocado guacamole dip (home-made)
½ cup soy yoghurt / silken tofu mixed with 1 tsp lemon juice

Method

1. Place the lentils, kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste mix and chilli in a saucepan and heat gently.
2. Heat the peanut oil in a small pan and fry the tofu on fairly high heat to remove most of the moisture.
3. Add the turmeric, paprika and savoury yeast to the tofu and stir for a minute. Remove from the heat.
4. To assemble the nachos dish: spoon the lentil-tomato mixture into the middle of a large serving platter. Push the savoury crackers into the mixture from the sides. Scatter the fried tofu on top.
5. Serve the avocado (guacamole) dip and soured soy yoghurt or silken tofu on the side, so everyone can help themselves.

Serves 4.

* Nachos savoury crackers

These crackers taste wonderfully authentic, yet are baked in the oven rather than fried. You can add all sorts of interesting herbs to the dough if you wish. Cooked couscous adds an interesting texture, although you can substitute cooked quinoa to make gluten-free crackers. Nut butters effectively bind all the ingredients together to make crispy, black pepper studded nachos.

Ingredients
4 tbsp dry couscous / quinoa for gluten-free
1 cup yellow corn meal
½ tsp herbal salt
2 tbsp cashew nut butter / smooth peanut butter
2 tsp cracked black pepper
½ cup brewed lukewarm camomile tea / lukewarm water
2 tsp savoury yeast powder
olive oil cooking spray

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 220°C (430°F). Place a baking (pizza) stone or heavy duty baking tray in the oven to heat up at the same time.
2. Pour boiling water over the couscous and leave for 5 minutes (or cook the quinoa). Drain and fluff with a fork. Make the camomile tea.
3. Place the corn meal and salt in a mixing bowl and combine. Rub in the nut butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir the black pepper and cooked couscous or quinoa into the flour mixture.
4. Pour the tea (or water) over the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add the savoury yeast and stir to mix in.
5. Dust a sheet of non-stick baking parchment with corn meal. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for half a minute. It will be a stiff dough.
6. Roll the dough into a thick pipe, then transfer it to the parchment. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a thin rectangular shape, flour the dough well so as not to stick. Take a knife and deeply score the dough into squares, then into triangles. Spray them with olive oil.
7. Working quickly, remove the baking stone or tray from the oven and slide the parchment onto it together with the scored dough. Bake on the middle shelf for 10 minutes.
8. Reduce the oven's temperature to 190°C (370°). Turn the crackers over and bake for a further 3 minutes. Make sure the crackers are dry and crispy.
9. Remove from the oven, break the crackers free from each other and cool thoroughly on wire racks. When the nachos are cold, store them in an airtight container (for up to a week).

Makes enough for 4 people. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6442245

Vegan Aubergine and Leek Lasagne

By Heloise Wright

Time From Cupboard to Plate: Approximately one hour

Serves: Four Portions

Ingredients:

- Lasagna Sheets
- About eight Aubergine
- One large sized Leeks
- Three medium sized Red Pepper
- One large sized Olive Oil
- As required

Sauce:

- Plain Flour Two tablespoons
- Olive Oil Three tablespoons
- Mustard Powder One teaspoon (alternatively nutmeg can used) 
- Soya Milk 240ml (may need more to thin sauce)

Recipe:

Slice the red pepper and lightly roast in a little oil - remove when browning.

To make the "cheese" sauce, put three tablespoons of oil in a pan and heat over a low heat. When starts to bubble add flour and mustard (or nutmeg), mix well to form a paste like consistency. Add a little more oil if needed. Then add soya milk slowly a bit at a time, stirring constantly. Cook over a medium heat for about 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly until the sauce is smooth and creamy. If sauce becomes too thick add a little extra soya milk. It is better sauce is too thick than too thin as more soya milk can always be added when cool.

Thinly slice the leeks and lightly fry them in oil for about 5 minutes. Slice the aubergine. Then in an ovenproof dish layer the aubergine, leeks, a little sauce, the lasagne sheets and finally full layer of sauce. Repeat as desired for the dish but usually twice. Make sure the top sauce layer is nice and thick. For added crunch try a thin layer of golden breadcrumbs on top. Cook in the oven at 190ºC for about 30 minutes or until lasagne sheets are cooked.

Serving:

Serve with your favourite vegetables and some boiled potatoes. If you have left over fried leeks, try adding some mushrooms and garlic and lightly frying together to serve on the side. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4105182

Vegan Herb Garlic Bread

By Colleen Boucher

Garlic bread is a great addition to soups, stews, and pasta dinners. However, many recipes rely on butter and cheese. This recipe gets its flavor from olive oil and tons of herbs. This bread is especially great because it can be made with so many different things. Try a different bread, or whatever leftover herbs you he on hand. Even if you only have a bunch of parsley, you can make this delicious and satisfying garlic bread. You can also make this bread last by freezing it and reheating it at a later date.

1 loaf Ciabatta bread or other loaf
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup assorted herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc.) chopped
¼ cup olive oil plus a little more
Salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375º. Slice the bread into two thinner slabs, running parallel to the cutting board. In a large sauté pan, add the olive oil and garlic, cooking until tender, about 1 minute. Add the herbs and cook until wilted. Spread across one half of the bread. Drizzle the other half with extra olive oil. Sandwich together and wrap in foil. Place in the oven for ten minutes. Then, open the bread so both halves are facing up, and bake until golden, about 5 minutes. Slice and serve. You can also cut the loaf in halves, or even thirds before baking, depending upon how many people you are serving, and freeze the rest. Reheat in a 375º oven for 15 to 20 minutes, then bake for five minutes at the end. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5273838

Vegan Mac and Cheese Recipe

By Dexter Allamani

Just because you are a Vegan does not mean you should not be able to enjoy a nice plate of mac and cheese at your next family function. This dish has been around forever and is always a favorite. Regardless of how old everyone is, this timeless classic seems to put a smile on everyone's face the moment it hits the table. Instead of sitting around and watching everyone else eat this delicious meal, show up with this Vegan recipe for mac and cheese and enjoy!

Vegan Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds macaroni
1.5c non-dairy milk
1.5 c yeast
1c oil (vegetable or canola is fine)
1c water
1T garlic powder
1T salt
1T paprika
1/3c soy sauce
12 oz. tofu
1t mustard

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is warming, fill soup pot with water and bring to a boil. Add pasta and follow directions on box for cooking time (different brands will often have different cooking times).

-While pasta is cooking, combine remaining ingredients in blender. Mix ingredients until they are blended smoothly together. Hold ingredients until pasta is done cooking.

-When pasta is cooked, remove from flame and drain into colander. Allow excess water to drain off pasta. Place drained pasta in large baking dish.

-Add blended ingredients to pasta and stir lightly. (You may actually want to save a small portion of the sauce to top off the macaroni after you have blended the rest of the mixture in with the pasta. This will enable you to have a decent amount of the cheese mixture on the top to create a nice crispy layer upon completion of baking.)

-Place baking dish in over and bake until top layer of "cheese" is browned. This will usually take about 15-20 minutes.

-Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes before serving. This will allow the sauce to bind and hold each portion together.

Now all you have to do is serve it up to friends and family and watch them gobble it up. This is the perfect dish to serve as an entree or a side dish. We are pretty sure that if you do not tell anyone you used dairy free products, they will have no idea they are eating a dairy free Vegan dish. Wait until the end of the night to tell everyone and they will be begging you to make it again at the next family function. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6283814

Flashback Friday: Inhibiting Platelet Activation with Garlic and Onions