The Mother of all Fettuccini Alfredos.......................... Dairy & Gluten Free!

Here's my text to Sweets after making this alfredo sauce the other night:

"I just made cheeseless, dairyless alfredo sauce.... and it actually tastes like alfredo!!! I'm beside myself with f**king amazement! Who woulda thought."

This may be my most gratifying accomplishment to date. And has totally confirmed to me that I will never be lacking by choosing an Earthfood based diet.

This was a tender F**k yeah moment for me.
I don't usually fake cuss so much, but this is serious.

Non-dairy Alfredo sauce took a bit of research on my part. This wasn't something I'd ever attempted to make. In fact, even before our new food adventure (an entire season of vegan) began, Miss M had always been in charge of making the cheesy cream laden version of this dish, for which she always used a copycat recipe of The Hard Rock Cafe's Alfredo Sauce. 

 My end desired result was for this was to be similar in flavor to the recipe that Miss M used to make... she is the household lover of Alfredo, after all. This ended up being a conversion of about 3 or 4, maybe even 5 different Alfredo recipes I ran across. I'm not really sure who to give credit to. Maybe I'll just give it to myself this time.

And if you're wondering, it does taste like M's Hard Rock Cafe version. Winner.

You're dying to know my recipe. Aren't you?

Ingredients:

GARLIC. NON-DAIRY SOUR CREAM. CASHEWS. ALMOND MILK. EARTH BALANCE BUTTER. WHITE WINE. NUTRITIONAL YEAST. NUTMEG. ONION. BASIL. OREGANO.

~ Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the top off a head of garlic and place on a sheet of tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil, form a foil packet and throw it in the oven for 30 minutes. 

~ Meanwhile, in a food processor combine 1/4 Cup non-dairy sour cream (I use Tofutti. Tastes just like regular sour cream. I swear.), 1/2 Cup Earth Balance butter, 1 T wine, 1 heaping Tablespoon nutritional yeast, 1 tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 2 Cups almond milk, and 1/3 Cup of cashews that have been soaked in water for at least 2 hours. Mine happened to be soaking overnight... the longer the better. Process til smooth. 

~ In a skillet, saute' one small diced onion with a drizzle of olive oil until translucent. Add 1 T wine and saute' a couple minutes more.

~ Add onion and roasted garlic to food processor, and process til smooth. Transfer to a sauce pan and add 2 T cornstarch that has been dissolved in a small amount of liquid (almond milk or water). Add to saucepan along with 3/4 tsp, basil and 3/4 tsp. oregano. 

~ Bring to simmer and cook until desired thickness. Serve over rice noodles, which may I point out makes this not only dairy free, but gluten free as well. Oh yeah.

~ If you have any sauce left over, I highly recommend putting it on top of a freshly shredded potato browned in a drizzle of olive oil for breakfast in the morning. Hashbrowns Alfredo!

What are your most gratifying accomplishments,

your tender F**k yeah moments?

Inquiring minds wanna know...

 

Tweet

10 Minute Peanut Butter Noodles

These noodles = LOVE for Chandra 

I shared Sweet's Peanut Butter noodle creation with you at the beginning of the month. Ever since then, they have become a go-to food for me. I can't get enough. I have lady-fied them up, and gotten their preparation down to a science. I'm so good at this, I can have these delectable noodles ready to put in my face a mere 10 minutes after arriving home from work. I'm pretty convinced that you can too.

Here is my super secret scientific process for creating Lady-fied 10 minute peanut butter noodles (Never fear Dooods, you can eat these too. I'll letchya... as long as long as you share with your girlyfriend type person. Or your mom.)

You will need: 

RED BELL PEPPER. JALAPENOS. LEFTOVER BAKED TOFU. RICE NOODLES. PEANUT BUTTER. RICE VINEGAR. SOY SAUCE. GREEN ONION. CILANTRO.

~ First thing first.... soak your noodles. I use the rice stick noodles that you only have to soak in warm water in order to prepare. You can find these in your Asian food Isle, most likely. These will take 10 minutes, which is perfect! 

~ In a microwavable bowl mix together 1/4 C Peanut Butter, 1 1/2 T rice vinegar, 1 1/2 T soy sauce, 1/2 water. Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir. Microwave another minute.

~ While you're waiting for your noodles and peanut butter sauce, cut half a red bell pepper and half a jalapeno into thin slices.

~ Thinly slice one green onion and small handful of cilantro. Set aside until the end. 

~ Warm up some left over baked tofu in the microwave.
(Anytime I make tofu or grains such as rice, steel cut oats, or quinoa I always make extras to use throughout the week. It makes my life SOSOSO much easier) If you should happen to not have any tofu left over, you can find a recipe for Sweet's perfect baked tofu here. However, this will turn your 10 minute noodles into a significantly longer process.

If you don't have any leftover tofu... I say F**k it, go easy on yourself and just eat sauce and noodles. (For more on F**k-ing it... go here. And to Miss M and Friends... Bleepity bleep, but you must know this stuff. It's important.)

~ Now you will assemble your goods....

Drain your noodles, toss with peanut sauce, tofu, and peppers. Top with green onions and cilantro. Maybe even some crushed peanuts if you're feeling super nutty. 

Today I have 2 questions for you:
#1 What are the quick & easy go-to meals that you just could not live without? 
#2 What are some things you might like to say F**k it to today? 

Tweet

Roasted Veggie Lasagna

It's been awhile since any sort of cooking activity has gone on in my household. At least cooking of the sorts that I would like to share here. I'm pretty sure no one would be impressed with, or would care to hear about my finesse with pre-packaged tuna curry from Trader Joes (which has been my go-to food, as of lately) or my ability to boil brown rice. Which now that I mention it I did, for the first time ever, recently burn while cooking... so I'm not even fully confident in this skill anymore...

But burned rice be damned, I decided to have a couple friends over this weekend for dinner with Sweets and I. My girlfriend Lindsay , who I invited over along with her husband, is a vegetarian. I happen to love this because it gives me the excuse to make an entirely Earthfood based meal. Yay!

I decided on Roasted Veggie Lasagna, Red Pepper Hummus with sweet peppers and cucumbers for dipping, Ceasar Salad, and a loaf of Garlic Asagio bread.

Veggie lasagna?! You may be thinking.

I encourage you to try my version and dare I say, "You may even enjoy lasagna of the roasted veggie persuasion as much (if not more!) than you like the traditional version"...??

Brave of me, I know. But trust. 

Behold! the layers of this lasagna...

Sauce: Saute one minced sweet onion in EVOO/S&P for a few minutes. Add 3T of real butter and 1/2 lb sliced portabella mushrooms and more S&P. Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are softened. Add a jar of marinara and 1 can of italian style tomatoes. Simmer while roasting veggies.

Veggies: Cut in half and seed 2 red bell peppers, and cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices 1 eggplant & 3 small zucchinis. Toss in EVOO and S&P. Roasted on baking sheet for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Cut the tops off 2 bulbs of garlic. Place individually on sheets of foil. Drizzle with EVOO, wrap up, and toss in oven with the roasting veggies.

Remove skins from roasted red peppers and cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Ricotta: Mix together 15oz of ricotta, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Squeeze roasted garlic into separate dish and mash with fork. Add to ricotta mixture. 

 

Chop up some fresh basil... 

And the only other ingredients you will need are lasagna noodles and Mozzerella. 

Duh.

I built my lasagna in this order:

• sauce
• noodles
• ricotta
• veggies
• mozzerella
• basil 
• repeat as many times as possible, ending with a layer of just noodles and sauce on top. 

I covered this with foil and refrigerated for 24 hours, simply because I wasn't going to have enough time to cook the day my guests were coming over, but you could bake immediately if you so desired.

Bake covered in foil at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover and top with remaining Mozzerella and some Parmesan cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, then let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! 

Peace & Love, 

Chandra Nicole

Tweet

Italian Pasta Salad

Whole Wheat Italian Pasta Salad

This weekend I have been managing the Hospitality room of a basketball tournament my dad helps put on this weekend of every year. My job is to keep all the coaches, referees, and volunteers fed... which is no small task. Men sure do eat a lot!! This is one of 3 salads I made for these lovely gentlemen.

I made this pasta salad in mass quantities for this occasion, but will leave you with directions to make a much more manageable amount. I found this recipe in none-other than... you guessed it!... Powerfoods (my currently fave cookbook)

You will want to start by cooking a package of whole wheat noodles according to the directions. During the last minute or so of the cooking time add 1 head of chopped up broccoli.

 

While you are waiting for your noodles to cook, go ahead and mix up your vinaigrette. I threw all of the ingredients into a clean pickle jar, then closed it up and shook like crazy... worked pretty slick. 

Here's what you are going to put in your jar:

• 1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 T Lemon Juice 
• 1 T Honey 
• 1 T Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• freshly cracked pepper to taste 
• 1 clove minced garlic

After draining cooked pasta and broccoli, pour dressing over top, and mix.

While you are waiting for your pasta to cool go ahead and prep the remainder of the salad ingredients:

• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes - cut in half
• 1/2 C Kalamata Olives - cut in half 
• 1 head of Raddichio - thinly sliced 
• 1/2 C torn fresh Basil 
• 1/4 C chopped Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

Stir into pasta mixture, season with additional salt & pepper if desired, and I would recommend letting the salad sit in the fridge for a couple hours before serving to let the noodles soak up all the yummy goodness. 

Peace & Love, 

Chandra Nicole

Tweet