Tag Archives: holidays

Quinoa Pasta with Creamy Garlic Sauce & Toasted Hazelnuts

Oh dear, is anyone else stressing out about the holidays like I am? Even though I have almost all of Christmas shopping done, I feel like there’s always more to do! Such as, coming up with what to eat for Christmas dinner; maybe I’ll say, “Screw it!” and make a pizza. ;) For some reason I’m not feeling totally inspired food-wise, and it could be that I just have a lot on my plate right now. (HA!) Or, maybe I’ll just make this quinoa pasta dish again.

Ingredients for Creamy Garlic Sauce

I experimented a bit with a base recipe for this a couple of weeks ago, mostly because I wasn’t entirely sure how good a tofu-based sauce would work. After feeding it to my non-vegan cousin, it was clear that this recipe was a hit. What’s great about this dish is that it can be eaten as an entrée or served as a side at a holiday dinner. Plus, there’s no added oil and it’s gluten-free! Sounds pretty solid to me.

Roasting Hazelnuts

If you would like to make this recipe even healthier, serve the creamy garlic sauce over baked spaghetti squash, which is a favorite of mine. Don’t like spinach? Use bite-size kale pieces instead. Also, one tip for reheating leftovers, add a little vegetable broth or non-dairy milk to get the sauce creamy again.

Making Creamy Garlic Sauce

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Raisin Vinaigrette

I hope that everyone has had a terrific weekend! I won’t lie, mine was a little crazy, but in a good way. I think. ;) First, my friend Michelle and I did a Tour de Gluttony starting at Healthy Junk in Anaheim and then went down to San Diego for Balboa Park December Nights. We didn’t eat at December Nights, but did go into the Science Center and the Natural History Museum, where we proceeded to get a little goofy. Below is my impression of a whale skeleton, that yoga sure is paying off!

We (both being vegan) were in luck, because right down the street from us was Evolution Fast Food. I haven’t really been to any vegan restaurants in San Diego so I was very excited for this. I ended up getting the Mushroom Swiss Burger which was good, and some chick’n strips (which I asked for as buffalo but was given original). I enjoyed the strips with a chipotle dip, but was not done yet. We had walked quite a bit and I needed to end this meal the right way- with dessert, naturally. We shared some peppermint soft serve, and I’m telling you, this stuff was incredible. I would contemplate making the 2-hour trip down to SD just for that soft serve; it’s that good.

 

Saturday was filled with running errands and going to a cowboy bar. Have you ever been to a place like this? It’s actually pretty fun; even if you’re terrible at line dancing (ME). Now, it’s Monday and time to get to work! I have a big project that I’m working on for someone, that I’m incredibly excited about. That being said, I’ve kind of put my cookbook on hold for now. But, this is great for you because the recipe that I’m sharing was going to be in it!

What great timing, right?! It’s the holidays, where there is no shortage of sides for family meals, and this recipe is perfect for that. What we have here is a combination of buttery walnuts, roasted Brussels sprouts, toasted coconut and a sweet raisin vinaigrette. Just scoop the roasted veggies onto your plate and drizzle a little sauce on top. It has great colors, and is as easy to make as it is to serve.

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Apple Pear Crisp

 

First off, I hope that everyone had a terrific weekend. Whether you live in the states and celebrated Thanksgiving, or live in other parts of the world and were able to ogle all of the incredible recipes posted this past week, I’m sure you enjoyed yourselves in some way. :) Unlike a few other bloggers, I don’t have any leftover recipes for you because… I don’t have any leftovers! (always a good sign) And if you didn’t check out my instagram, I’ll tell you all about what I had for dinner on Thanksgiving.

First, I made my rendition of Isa’s Seitan Roast Stuffed with mushrooms, in which I halved the seitan recipe, added pecans, spinach and rosemary to the stuffing, and used button mushrooms and green onions. It turned out SO good! I am always in charge of making the sweet potato casserole, and for the past couple of years I’ve made Susan’s Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan topping from Fat Free Vegan. But, this year I improvised and loosely based mine off of hers; and I’m telling you, I need to share this recipe with you! It’s so good! Plus, not too sweet. Then there was the garlicky mashed potatoes (simple enough), olives and a spinach side-salad.

Really, the little amount of leftovers that I did have were eaten up for brunch that I made for a couple of girlfriends and I, the next morning. Mmm.. Mimosas. But, besides that, I have something else for you. A dessert that is filled with fruit, and great for serving around the holidays. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have an issue with trying to eat all of the crispy, crumble topping off of the sweet slices of fruit the moment that you pull that baking dish out of the oven. You can liken the topping to a buttery granola mix, which sounds good in my book!

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Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread

It has been a hot minute since the last time I did a cooking video, but after having a reader suggest making a new one the other day, it’s clear that the time has come! And I’m telling you, this is a great recipe for one; it’s easy, tastes amazing and is perfect for this time of year. Plus, like I say in the video, bake a couple mini-loaves of this Pumpkin Banana Nut bread and give them to friends and family at your Thanksgiving festivities for some tasty gifts.

I made a couple of loaves yesterday and brought them to a dinner with a couple of close friends, and even driving there, the scent of them filled my car and made me even more hungry! By the time we were done with dinner, we were full, but someone unwrapped one of the loaves and it was game over. This bread is great with a cup of coffee or tea for breakfast or dessert! Or possibly as a meal substitute, but I wouldn’t know anything about that… ;)

Enough of my babbling, though, I’ll let the video speak for itself! Below are the ingredients and measurements you’ll need to make the recipe.

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Filed under Holidays, Sweet Recipes