Tag: vegan

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Parmesan in a pinch: no cow required

two brown cows

We recently tried this caramelized zucchini pasta recipe by Ali Slagle in the New York Times. It calls for parmesan, and I haven’t found a good vegan option locally, so I googled for a recipe. Cookie and Kate came to the rescue with this easy recipe! It’s just 5 ingredients mixed up in a bowl–nutritional yeast flakes, hemp seed, salt, garlic powder, and onion powder–no food processor required. I know many people put nutritional yeast on everything. I am not that vegan. For me, texture matters as much as taste, and the hemp seed gives it the right granular texture.

Two suggestions on the zucchini: a spiralizer works well in place of a grater! And it doesn’t *need* to be cooked for 20-25 minutes, but you may discover the longer cook time enhances the taste. Be forewarned that this dish does not resemble zucchini. It’s more like pesto. We layered it with our all-time favorite pasta puttanesca sauce over red lentil pasta.

(Hemp seed and nutritional yeast flakes are available at Trader Joe’s.)

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Vegan Cheese: The Final Frontier

say cheese neon signage

The difference between a vegan and a vegetarian usually comes down to cheese. It’s a hard leap to make. For the longest time, it was the only thing standing between me and being a vegan. All my comfort foods revolved around cheese: grilled cheese, mac’n’cheese, pizza. 

As a vegetarian kid, these were my go-to entrees in a meat-oriented world. It was hard to give them up. 

Other vegan items were easier. Vegan butter: early adopter. Vegan milk: yes, I prefer it. Vegan ice cream is amazing. Vegan yogurt took a while, but I got there, too. Even vegan cream cheese: sold. 

But shredded cheese often fell short. Sliced cheese for sandwiches was meh at best. Vegan mac and cheese was hit or miss. 

I’m not sure when things shifted, but vegan cheese is now markedly better than it used to be. 

  • It melts.
  • The texture is right. 
  • The flavor is good. 
  • I have favorites, even. 
  • Cheese slices I can eat straight out of the package. 

So if you are vegan-curious and cheese is what is holding you back, it’s time to try again. You may be surprised.

Artisan vegan cheesemaking is in my future. Or artisan vegan cheese eating, at least! 

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A Tip from a Carb Country Regular

Slicing zucchini

The pandemic has limited travel but not our visits to Carb Country. Why do carbs have to be so yummy, satisfying, and comforting? So unfair. 

Well, just like my efforts to drink half caffs by custom mixing my coffee (currently Nevada Black from Blind Dog Coffee in Reno and Lavazza Espresso Decaf, my most reliable dark roast decaf), we tried a similar experiment with lasagna and carbs. We used regular lasagna noodles and Palmini lasagna noodles. Palmini is made from hearts of palm. For the most part, it disappears into lasagna. It’s not that you can’t tell it is hearts of palm; it’s just that it fits right into a veggie lasagna. And it helps lower that net carbs count. We have had similar luck using zucchini and summer squash. 

The recipe below is one of our go-to meal prep dishes. I have finally made the leap to vegan cheese. It’s gotten so much better. We usually use Daiya Mozzarella-Style Shreds for this recipe. This recipe is versatile, and you can easily adjust the ingredients to suit your tastes.

Squash Casserole: A Lasagne Stand-in

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 yellow summer squash sliced
  • 2 zucchini sliced
  • The equivalent of 1 egg (we use Bob’s Red Mill Vegan Egg Replacer)
  • 1/3-1/2 cup mayonnaise (we use Best Foods Vegan Spread)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup chopped onion (any kind, including green onions)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • 2/3 cup shredded cheese 
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter (we use Earth Balance vegan butter)
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs (any kind works – we used gluten-free rice crumbs from Trader Joe’s)
  • Seasoning to taste: We use a combo of Dash, coffee rub, salt, and pepper; herbes de Provence would work well, too
  • Optional add-ins: fire-roasted tomatoes, carrot chips or shreds, shredded kale

PREPARATION

  1. Heat oven to 375°. 
  2. In a bowl, mix all ingredients. We sometimes toss the vegetables with a bit of olive oil and the seasonings before mixing in the mayo, cheese, and egg replacer. 
  3. Spoon the mixture into an 8×8 inch glass casserole (or larger if you add extra veggies). Add extra cheese on top if desired.
  4. Toss the bread crumbs with the  2 tablespoons of melted butter; spread over the casserole. 
  5. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

It makes 4-8 servings depending on if it’s a main dish or a side dish –  and how much you like it. 🙂

Photo by Louis Hansel on Unsplash