Avocado and Spinach Pasta

When I tell people that I use avocado as a warm ingredient in pasta, their reaction is not always so positive. If you are someone who believes that avocado should only be eaten cold, in sandwiches or in guacamole, you are missing out on the creaminess that it offers in a pasta dish. Try it!

Avocado and Spinach Pasta

454g bag of linguine or other pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
fresh ground black pepper
4 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 tomatoes, cut into chunks
3 avocados, peeled and chopped into chunks (the riper the avocado, the creamier the sauce)

Cook the pasta according to package instructions.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Toss in the garlic and red pepper flakes. Stir around for a couple minutes making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Add the wine and let it bubble another couple minutes. Add the broth, lime juice, salt, and pepper and bring up to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer. Toss in the tomato and once it is heated through, add the spinach and mix until it is wilted.

Toss the pasta and sauce together and leave on the heat for a few minutes until it is all hot again. Stir in the avocado and let it heat through. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving! Pumpkin Pie

As Mum and I cleaned up the garden this morning, I came across a donated pumpkin in the garden shed that had been there for about a week. I decided that it would come home with me and be part of my thanksgiving dinner.

I made my own pumpkin purée with that squash but you can buy 2 cups of purée for this recipe if you prefer. Don't buy the pumpkin pie filling as it already has all the spices and a lot of sugar.

If you do want to make your own pumpkin purée, it's quite easy but not super fast. Wash the outside of the pumpkin. Cut the pumpkin in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Cut the halves into 4 pieces each. Place flesh side down on a cookie sheet and put into a pre-heated 400 degree oven. Pour in a cup of water into the cookie sheet. I do that when it's already in the oven to prevent me from spilling water everywhere. Cook 40 minutes until the flesh is tender. Let cool until you can handle the pieces then cut the flesh off the skin and purée in the blender. Put some cheesecloth or a tea-towel into a metal sieve over a deep bowl. Pour the pumpkin purée into the sieve and let the water drip out. I left it about an hour.

Pumpkin Pie

2 vegan pie shells
1 block firm silken tofu (about 350 grams or 3/4 lb)
2 cups pumpkin purée
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp molasses

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the pie shells onto a cookie sheet so that if they bubble over, you don't have a mess in your oven.

Put all the other ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into the pie shells. Bake 1 hour.

After an hour the filling will be bubbling. Take the pies out and let them cool several hours before eating. We left ours about 2-3 hours. The filling firms up enough to cut the pie but it's still quite soft like ricotta cheese.

Happy Thanksgiving!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tortilla Soup

Not sure where I ever got the taste for tortilla soup but every so often I get a craving for a bowl of this yummy soup. There are many recipes for tortilla soup that just are soup with tortillas in it but I wanted a recipe with tortillas actually as an ingredient. This soup came together quickly and was delicious. Adjust the amount of cilantro depending on how much you like cilantro but don't omit it entirely or else you lose a vital flavour.

Tortilla Soup

4 cups veggie stock
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 green onions, sliced with the green parts
8 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped (or one can of diced tomatoes)
a handful of cilantro, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp cumin
3-4 handfuls of tortilla chips (and more for on top)
salt, to taste
1/2 cup corn kernels
1.5 cups cooked black beans

In a medium stock pot, bring to a boil the stock, onions, garlic and green onions. When it's boiling, add the tomatoes and bring to a boil again. Toss in the cilantro, the chili powder, the cumin and the tortilla chips. Remove from the heat. Once the chips have gone soggy, use an immersion blender to blend it all smooth.

Taste and add salt to taste depending on how salty your chips are.

Add the corn and beans and heat back up to a boil.

Serve with a few crushed tortilla chips on top. You could also add chunks of avocado if you wanted!