Tofu Scramble and Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Tunisian Pesto

For breakfast, I made a delicious tofu scramble with cremini mushrooms and red onions. Served with a blob of ketchup and HP sauce!


I'm going to a potluck today so I decided to make penne with roasted veggies and pesto. I used this tunisian style pesto that I got from a wonderful book, 'Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa'. It's a delicious blend of fresh parsley, basil, almonds (I used walnuts), olive oil, garlic, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), oregano, cayenne and parmesan (I used a vegan parmesan substitute). I added a squeeze of lemon for some brightness.


Tossed with the penne and roasted veggies. How festive!

VeganMoFo: Spaghetti, Tunisian-Style

Last night's dinner was wonderful! I got to open up my Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa cookbook that I've only used twice before. I love this book. I take it everywhere with me, to my room, the living room, kitchen, studio...just to flip through it for inspiration. Yesterday I decided on a recipe and luckily I had almost every ingredient. The book says that according to some modern food writers, pasta in the Arab lands has an ancient history and may have been invented in Mesopotamia where it traveled to China via traders and onwards to Italy by Marco Polo. This particular dish though may be of Italian origin, brought to Tunisia by Italian settlers. It is very similar to italian pesto but the ingredients are different. The sauce is a blend of almonds, fresh parsley, basil, garlic, olive oil, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), dried oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese (I used a vegan blend of cashews, miso paste and nutritional yeast). A very delicious sauce paired with spaghetti. I squeezed lemon on top of my pasta for a bright finish. Husband gave this two thumbs up. It's a keeper!

Using up what's in your kitchen!

I had this plan to make pizzas this weekend with some vegan mozzarella that I bought but I didn't have any of the other ingredients that I needed like pizza dough and the right veggies for toppings (I was in the mood for red onions, green peppers, olives and pineapple). I am trying to save money by not going to the market every other day for stuff so I opened up my fridge and pantry and perused my stock. I had quinoa. I had black beans. I had canned tomatoes. I had fresh kale. I had fresh mushrooms. I had flour tortillas. "Burritos!" I said.

Pantry staples used:
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes
tomato sauce
quinoa
flour tortillas

Other vegetables/fruits/misc. ingredients etc:
kale
onion
garlic
mushrooms
vegan mozzarella
vegenaise
lemon

Ingredients I had to purchase: none

So here they are, wet burritos (aka "enchilada style" burritos) with a delicious quinoa, black bean and kale filling, topped with tomato sauce, a bit of the vegan mozzarella and drizzled with lemon spiked vegenaise. I based the recipe off of the burrito recipe I posted on my blog several months ago. Find it here.


Looks like enchiladas and they smelled like pizza!


Insides.


I got this cookbook recently and it looks really good. There are a variety of vegetarian recipes from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria that I can't wait to try.


I made a Tunisian Boisson aux Fraises, a refreshing strawberry drink flavored with lemon, orange flower water and sugar.