Cheezy Vegan Hash Brown Casserole

1 batch Hurry Up Vegan Alfredo Sauce
1 tsp curry powder
1/3 cup hummus
12 oz. frozen hash browns
1 cup frozen peas (or shelled edamame)
1 cup french fried onions

Blend up the ingredients for the alfredo sauce for 1-2 minutes, or until very smooth, adding the curry powder and hummus at the end. Mix the sauce with the hash browns and peas in a well-oiled casserole dish. Top with french fried onions and bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Snap Peas with Mango and Mint

Last night, I came home to a fridge full of vegetables that desperately needed to be used.  So I abandoned my usual one-dish meal plan, got creative, and whipped out three dishes: Mexican zucchini patties, eggplant w/capers and peas with mango and mint.  Three very different tastes, but we saved the vegetables from extinction.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with a drawer full of beets....

2 cups fresh peas, shelled

1 mango, diced

3-4 mint leaves, cut into thin strips and bruised a little

Cook the peas by briefly steaming them in boiling water.  While still warm, toss with the mango and mint.  Serve!

Grilled Plantains w/ Black Bean-Corn Relish & Gingered Mangoes & Strawberries

Grilled Plantains
1 semi-ripe plantain, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices
2 tsp sucanat or sugar or maple syrup
1/4 tsp lime juice
dash salt

Rub the slices with lime juice and sprinkle with sucanat and salt. Generously oil the grill pan and grill for 3-4 minutes on each side.

Black Bean-Corn Relish
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
kernels from 2 ears of corn
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp lime juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
a few shakes chipotle hot sauce

Combine the corn kernels and a little water in a small saucepan. Cook the corn for 3 minutes, or until no longer raw. Drain the corn and add to the black beans. Add lime juice, cumin, garlic powder and hot sauce and mix well.

Gingered Mangoes & Strawberries
2 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
5-6 strawberries, quartered
2 pieces crystallized ginger, chopped or 1/4 tsp grated fresh ginger

Combine the mangoes, strawberries and ginger in a bowl and mix well. Let set for a few minutes, then serve!

Peanut Soba w/ Tofu & Peas

Super-quick, super tasty. You might want to make your peanut sauce on the sharp/savory side, since the peas are sweet and the tofu and noodles are mild. I'd use raw garlic to give it some extra bite.

4 cups water
4 oz. soba
1/2 cup peanut sauce, or to taste
2 cups sugar snap peas, ends trimmed
2 oz firm tofu, cut into tiny pieces

Boil the water while you're trimming the ends off the peas and chopping up the tofu. Drop the soba in and cook for 5 minutes, or until al dente. Put the peas in the bottom of a colander and drain the soba over them. Return peas and soba to the pot with the tofu and peanut sauce and toss well to combine.

Sundried Tomato Pesto

1/2 cup dry sun-dried tomatoes (not in oil)
1 cup water
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 tbsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper (to taste)
2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil

Put the sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl. Boil the water in a kettle and pour it over the tomatoes, then cover and let sit for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft. Drain and set aside. Put the pine nuts in a dry saucepan and heat over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring, or until just golden.

Crush the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt & pepper in a mortar and pestle until they form a thick paste. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl, add the olive oil and tomatoes, and pulverize with the pestle. Finish the mixture off with a hand blender until smooth.

Toss with pasta or gnocchi and consume!

Creole Okra, Tomatoes & Corn

A co-worker of mine brought this to our Mardi Gras potluck, and it was surprisingly delicious. Okra is a vegetable I've always been skeptical of (something about the combination of hairy and slimy that turns me off), but this is genuinely delicious. We served this with Red Beans and Rice Deluxe for a killer combination.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced mild green chiles, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, juice reserved
1-1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 dash each salt and pepper
1 16-oz. package frozen okra pieces
1 cup frozen corn

Drain the tomatoes and the chiles over a large bowl to catch the juices. Saute the onion powder and garlic in the olive oil until they start to brown, then add the chiles, tomatoes and Cajun seasoning. Cook for 3-5 minutes, then add okra, corn and reserved tomato juice. Cover and cook until heated through and the okra is no longer crunchy.

Savory Pasta w/ Peas and Mushrooms

Tonight we had a version of Eat Air's Old Standby. It only took about 20 minutes to prepare, and the boy and I scarfed it up. While it doesn't taste like mac and cheese, it's absolutely delicious in its own right.

My changes: I used a box of Annie's Shells and Cheese for the pasta, I left out most of the teaspoon of salt (since my bouillon was pretty salty), and I added a little lemon juice and Tobasco to the finished sauce.

Savory White Bean-Pea Bake

This is adapted from the January issue of Vegetarian Times. It got even better after a night in the refrigerator.

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
1 egg white or 1/4 cup silken tofu/plain soy yogurt
1 cup frozen peas
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
a modest sprinkling of nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 pinch each dried basil, oregano and sage

1 handful each Kashi TLC crackers and Snapea Crisps, crushed
marinara sauce

Liberally grease a baking pan with olive oil. Mash the beans in a medium-sized bowl. Add all other ingredients except for cracker/Snapea Crisp crumbs and spaghetti sauce and mix until smoothly incorporated. Spread the mixture in the baking pan. Top with cracker/Snapea Crisp crumbs and bake at 375 for 40 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden.

Serve each piece topped with warm marinara sauce.