Creamy Zucchini Soup (vegan + gluten free)

I had never thought to make soup out of zucchinis. When I lived in Spain in 2014 my host family made me "puree." It was very simple, just boiled zucchinis and onions pureed together with salt and olive oil, topped with some croutons. I loved it! I was amazed something so simple could be so delicious! This is a variation of that recipe. I added in some spices, spinach and corn and added some broth cubes to the water. 

This also makes a great soup to have if you have a dental procedure done... I made it for my boyfriend when he got his wisdom teeth taken out in January. All you need to do is puree the whole thing together rather than leaving some of it chunky.

 

 You can chop the onion and zucchini up into fairly large chunks since they will be blended up later anyway.

 

  

Creamy Zucchini Soup

Makes 6-8 servings

2 lbs zucchini, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 cups low/no sodium vegetable broth

2 cups frozen or fresh corn

4 cups spinach

1/4 c raw cashews

1. Put 1 cup of corn, and all the cashews and the spinach in a blender. Set aside.

2. Put all other ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the zucchini is tender. Pour into the blender with the other ingredients and puree until smooth. You will probably have to do this in batches.

3. Pour back into the pot and add the other 1 cup of corn. Bring to a simmer and cook until the corn is heated through. Serve hot with croutons or crackers.

Traditional Naan (vegan)

Naan is delicious. Like a pita with savory garlic and onion flavor to it, it is great to dip and soak up any sauce or eat warm off the pan all on it's own. One of my other favorite ways to eat it is as a personal pizza. Just spread on a little sauce, top with marinaded or fresh veggies, some vegan cheese and bake at 450 for 12-14 minutes.

I found this recipe at vegetarian.com. I made a batch of these as the recipe says, and another with the same recipe but with half whole wheat pastry flour and half all purpose flour, and they still turned out quite well. A bit denser, and the flour taste was more prominent so if you do decide to try it that way I would raise the amount of each spice a bit so the flavors still shine through. They made really good pizzas, but for plain munching I prefer the all purpose flour naan better. 

It helps to have two people when the time comes to fry the naan. That way one person can roll them out while the other person tends to the frying. They cook quite quickly, so it by the time you are done rolling the second one out, the first one will be coming out of the pan. 

 The naan will puff up a bit as it cooks, so don't be afraid to roll them pretty thin. Here is an example of how big a ball of dough I used for each naan was compared to the size of a finished naan.

The dough will make big bubbles while it cooks but you don't need to pop them or push them down. Once the naan is done and out of the pan they will drop down on their own really quickly. 

Traditional Naan (vegan)

Makes 6-8 pieces, depending on how big you want them

Prep time: 90 minutes + 5 min cook time

1 tsp active dry yeast (about 1/2 a package)

1/2 c warm water

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp non-dairy milk

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 3/4 - 2 cups all purpose flour

oil spray for cooking

1. In a large bowl mix the yeast with the warm water. Let stand 10 minutes until frothy.

2. Add in the sugar, milk, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough, about 1 3/4 to 2 cups. On a lightly floured surface knead the dough for 6-8 minutes, or until smooth. 

3. Lightly oil a bowl and put the dough in and cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for one hour. 

4. Punch down dough and divide into 6-8 equal pieces (depending on how big you want them, or how many you want). Roll into balls and put onto a baking sheet. Cover with the towel again and allow to rise another 30 minutes. 

5. Preheat a pan to high heat (don't use a nonstick pan with teflon, they release chemicals at high heat!). Roll each ball into a thin circle or oval then add to the pan one at a time after spraying the pan with oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the bubbles start to brown then spray the top of the naan lightly with oil and flip and cook the other side another 2-3 minutes. Serve warm.

Garlic Lover's Pasta Salad (vegan + gluten free options)

Oh this pasta....

This has become one of my after-work food cravings that I can whip up in a jiffy whenever I want something creamy.

The Good Earth Food Coop has a vegan garlic lovers pasta that I based this recipe on. I used to buy a little pack of it every time I went there until I finally got it into my head that I could make my own at home for cheaper. The only flaw was that then I have a huge batch of something I'm addicted to just sitting in my fridge, calling to me. So now I try to just make it for get togethers with family and friends to share so that I don't eat the entire thing myself in a day or two. I used organic wheat macaroni noodles this time, but have often used bowtie noodles too and really like that. It can easily become gluten free if you just use gluten free pasta noodles.

If you really like uber creamy pasta salad add a bit more mayo. If you really like the flavor of nutritional yeast toss in some more. This is a simple recipe and the proportions aren't very important, so feel free to adjust it to your taste :)

Garlic Lover's Pasta Salad
Makes about 8 cups

16 oz pasta noodles of your choice
1 1/2 c vegan mayo (I really like Just Mayo)
1 c frozen peas
1/2 c nutritional yeast
8 cloves garlic, diced
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper, to taste

1. Prepare pasta noodles as directed on package

2. Drain pasta noodles, and allow them to cool. *

3. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Stir well until combined.

4. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. *

*I tend to just rinse the noodles with cold water to cool them faster if I want to make and eat this right away. If you do, rinsing the noodles removes the starch from them that helps the mayo hold on to them. To combat this, first just add a little of the mayo and nutritional yeast to the noodles as well as the peas and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. The frozen peas help suck the warmth from the noodles and cool it faster. Then add everything else and stir to combine. The texture won't be quite as great, but it'll still taste great!