Ingredients:
12. oz tortellini pasta (I used frozen sun-dried tomato tortellini)
2 tablespoons earth balance buttery spread (non dairy)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons pesto sauce (I use the Dorot frozen cubes. 1 cube = 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
12 oz. artichoke hearts
Directions:
Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Once cooked, remove from water and set aside. Reserve 1 cup of water and set aside. Heat up earth balance in a large pot until melted. Add the flour and whisk together until smooth and combined. Add the milk and whisk together until smooth and combined. Continue to whisk together until thickened. Add the pesto and season with salt, pepper and garlic. Drain the artichokes and add to the sauce and whisk together with sauce. Once nice and thick, turn off heat and add the pasta into the sauce. Mix together and serve with freshly chopped basil and red pepper flakes. (optional, for those that like it spicy!)
*Tips&Tricks: If you do not like artichokes, you can replace them with wilted spinach, sauteed mushrooms and onions, or simply stick with pasta. You can also swap the tortellini for your favorite pasta! If you want to make this dairy, simple use butter instead of the earth balance and use milk or heavy cream instead of soy milk. If serving this dairy, be sure to add some parmesan on top after it’s cooked. There is nothing like yummy fresh grated parmesan!
My hub and I celebrated our anniversary this week and my gift to him was this super creamy and tasty pasta dish that is, wait for it…not dairy! (if you are amazed that this counts as a wedding anniversary gift, we hit #6 so a favorite dinner and day off of diaper duty is pretty much where we’re at. If it’s the creamy non dairy factor that has got you wowed, read on to find out how this non dairy pasta dish tastes so good you would think there is heavy cream or cream cheese in it somewhere. But nope. Not even a little bit! It’s all about the Roux. (Pronounced rue.) A Roux is basically a combo of flour and fat, butter, that is the thickening base to a great cheesy sauce. I decided to swap the butter for earth balance natural buttery spread (which is non dairy) and then once that was bubbly, I added almond milk to create the thick sauce. Turns out you don’t need dairy to make a good sauce! Which is nice since my husband is lactose intolerant and his fav dish is fettucini alfredo. (which is why this makes the perfect gift! ok I know I’m a foodie and all but come on, pretty nice gift right?) I threw some spinach in there too since it’s another one of his favs (yes I like to score points as wifey when I can) and then some roasted tomatoes just cuz I was feeling fancy and bam. You got Creamy Spinach & Roasted Tomato Pasta that’s not dairy.
Ingredients:
1 pint of roasted grape tomatoes (get recipe HERE)
1 bag of spinach (about 4 cups)
3 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons earth balance natural buttery spread
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups of almond milk (or soy)
8 oz. pasta (I used Trader Joes Garlic Basil Linguine but any long pasta will do such as fettucini or spaghetti)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon basil, chopped
Directions:
Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. While the pasta cooks and you roast the tomatoes (recipe HERE) saute olive oil and garlic in a large pot. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Once wet and wilted, it will reduce in size. Remove from heat and set aside. Using the same large pot, melt the earth balance buttery spread and add the flour. Whisk until combined and slightly thick. Add the milk and whisk until combined and continue to whisk over medium heat until smooth and thick. If you want it to be thicker, you can add an additional tablespoon of flour. Once sauce is thickened, add the spinach and tomatoes and combine well. Add pasta to pot of sauce and whisk together. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and stir several minutes over heat then turn off fire. Add fresh lemon basil and mix together before serving.
*Tips&Tricks: You can easily make this recipe dairy by using butter instead of the earth balance, and using heavy cream or cows milk instead of almond milk. If you make this dairy, serve with parmesan cheese shredded or grated on top.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
6 sticks of fake crab, diced
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 egg
1/2 cup of bread crumbs or panko crumbs plus 1/4 cup set aside
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water mixed together)
Directions:
Combine red pepper, celery, fake crab, mustard, egg and panko crumbs (or bread crumbs) salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Shape into patties. Dip both sides of each crab cake into the bowl of 1/4 cup crumbs that were set aside. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with egg wash then bake in oven on 400′ for 10-12 minutes. You can also fry these up by heating up some oil in a frying pan and cooking both sides until crispy. Serve with cilantro lime dipping sauce and fresh cilantro.
Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of mayo
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh!)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 tsp. chile powder
Directions:
Combine above ingredients. Serve on top of each crab cake or on the side for dipping.
*Tips & Tricks: If the batter is too loose and you have trouble keeping it together, you can add 1 tablespoon flour to help bind it. If you are baking them and want it to be super moist, you can add a tablespoon of mayo to the mixture.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 tablespoon ginger diced
1 tsp. chopped chili
1 lb. chicken breast cut into chunks
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
Sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoons corn starch
In a small bowl combine the above ingredients and mix well to dissolve corn starch.
Directions:
Heat a wok or frying pan with 1 tablespoon oil and saute onion, ginger, garlic, and chili pepper until tender. Add chicken chunks to pan and cook until no longer pink. Once cooked, remove chicken and onions from pan and set aside. Add 2 tablespoons oil to pan and saute mushrooms until soft then add the chicken back to the pan and mix with the mushrooms. Slowly pour sauce over chicken and mushrooms and stir together until sauce thickens. Serve over steamed broccoli or rice.
*Tips & Tricks: If you don’t have fresh ginger you can use ginger powder instead. Just add it in the sauce. You can swap mushrooms for any of your favorite stir fry veggies!
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt & pepper
1 onion cut into thin slices
3 cloves of garlic diced
1 cup of seedless raspberry jelly
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
Directions:
Wash and clean chicken pieces. Pat dry with paper towels. Place the chicken in a large ziplock bag with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt and pepper. Marinate for 30 minutes. Put chicken in a large baking pan and fill the pan up slightly with water. Cover with foil and cook in oven on 400′ for an hour. While the chicken cooks, saute onion and garlic in a pot on the stove. Once golden and tender add the raspberry preserves and stir until smooth. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir together. Cook until boils. Uncover chicken and pour some of the glaze on. Cook for an additional 30 minutes. Once cooked you can glaze again with raspberry sauce if desired.
Tips/Tricks:I saved some of the sauce to serve with steamed green beans. Simply steam the green beans, then toss with 1 tablespoon of the raspberry glaze.
This is a great recipe for Meatless Monday! I also included it in the Passover section since many people eat Quinoa on the holiday. Please note, that not everyone eats Quinoa on Passover and you should consult your Rabbi before deciding what your customs will be for the holiday.
Ingredients for Meatballs:
1 small onion diced
3 cloves of garlc diced
1 8ox package of mushrooms diced
Salt and pepper for seasoning
2 cups of cooked quinoa
2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water mixed together. If you want to keep this recipe vegan, you can use PAM or egg substitute instead)
