I love the new healthier versions of pasta now at the co-ops. Total cooking time about 1 hour Total servings 15 to 20
Day One – I used the Chick Pea pasta to make a basic crab salad. Onions & Celery from garden, imitation crab meat, pasta, vegan mayo and organic peas. Simply mix together. If no chopped onions & celery are available or I feel too lazy to get out that knife – I use celery seeds & dried onions. I did not need the entire box of pasta. I prepared the entire box and refrigerated the rest of the pasta.
Day Two – As it was a bit cooler for the summer, it was a perfect day to make my basic vegan soup. However, left over pasta does not work well for this soup and I wanted to use within a day of preparing. The simple dish I made tasted amazing! I diced one small eggplant, 1/3 of a zucchini, 1 small tomato and some onion and garlic. Saute the veggies with quality olive oil from Vinaigrette Minnesota and then added my left over pasta and topped with herbs & cheese. The fact that the knife and cutting board were out already saved time.
Basic Vegan Soup – make it different each time.
Step One: Survey what is available whether in the garden or the refrigerator and pantry
Step Two: Typical start – onions, garlic, celery, carrots and spicy peppers in oil, Saute so flavors mix.
Step Three: add veggies you like – this time zucchini & broccoli
Step Four: Add Broth – many options here including adding a box of pre-made soup! I used one bouillon cube, half a container of V-8 with an equal amount of water
Step five: Add grain & legumes. This time I used quinoa and orange lentils that we buy from the co-op’s bulk section. Both of these cook really fast. I rinse the orange lentils very well before using but I simply eye ball how much I want to use.
Ready in about 20 minutes. Makes great leftovers! Can be frozen for left over meals. I use this basic recipe to preserve the abundant harvest. If I have enough garden tomatoes I do not use any V-8. Cut veggies – put in big pot and cook for awhile.
