Thursday, July 19, 2007

Creamy Creole Pasta

Usually, I'm a slave to my cookbooks and recipes swiped from other bloggers. I like it, actually...as a year into it I'm still learning all things vegan. But sometimes? I'm genius...all on my own. Behold, the amazing creation I threw together after a looooong and grueling day that called for pasta, the only thing that would satiate us for dinnerCreamy Creole Pasta
serves 4

1/2 bag Soy Curls

2 carrots, thickly cut

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 zucchini, halved and thickly cut

10 white mushrooms, thickly sliced

1/4 c. sun dried tomatoes, chopped (I used the kind packed in oil)

1/3 c. steamed asparagus, chopped (had some leftover, thought 'why not?!')

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. Creole Seasoning (I'm a fan of Tony Chachere's) plus more for seasoning

2 T nutritional yeast

1 T cornstarch

2 c. soy milk

2 T vegan margarine

6 or 7 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (or 1 tsp. dried, but fresh is best!)

black pepper to taste


*rehydrate soy curls for 10 min in warm water then squeeze dry. toss with 2 tsp. creole seasoning and set aside.
*Whisk together soy milk, nutritional yeast, and cornstarch, and set aside. i think i added about 1/2 to 1 tsp. more seasoning here also but that was just to kick it up a bit after tasting the soy curls after browning, but we'll get to that.

* heat large skillet over med to med hi heat and melt 1 T marg. add onion and garlic, saute for a min or so, add carrot, saute a few minutes more, then add zucchini and mushrooms. saute a bit more until everything is crisp tender and then remove from pan and set aside.
I may have sprinkled some more creole seasoning just to barely cover the veggies here as the one I use is not too hot. be sure to taste things as you go so you don't overdo the heat.
*heat remaining 1 T marg. in pan and add soy curls and sun dried tomatoes and saute til browned.
*add milk mixture, veggies, and basil to pan and bring to boil, stirring. sauce should thicken up right away.
*remove from heat and serve over bed of pasta, dusted with more nutritional yeast, if ya like!

This was so perfect, I even blew myself away! I had been craving something like the Cajun Alfredo with Veggies that I used to get from Harry's back in my vegetarian days. This? Soooo much better. I don't think I'd change a single thing. We were especially bad tonight and enjoyed some white linguine over the usual whole wheat brand we love.


That leftover asparagus was from this tasty lunch.I finally finished up the TVP in the pantry and made more Vegan Vittles Better Burgers dressed with tomato, Vegannaise, and Nutritional Yeast Mustard (YUM!) on a potato roll (I know, I know,I said no more but I lied! ;), some steamed asparagus with a touch of avocado oil and a quick potato salad (lil' yukons, a couple green onions, minced, some finely minced vidalia, Vegannaise, Dijon Mustard, salt, and pepper. easy!)

19 comments:

Monika K said...

Sounds delicious - as usual. I love it when my "experimenting" in the kitchen is actually successful. (-:

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

there is something so satisfying with coming up with an awesome recipe of yr own. looks like you do this pretty well!
also, yr lunch plate looks amazing!

Melissa said...

Will you just open up your own cafe, dammit?!

Anonymous said...

That looks great! Do you think I could substitute TVP chunks for the soy curls?

Courtney

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

monika- thanks! don't ya tho? and this was even better today for lunch, unlike those cream filled versions that tend to separate and get all oily. ew. ;)

ppvegan- thank you! and thanks for stopping by. love your blog. will add it to my lengthy list 'soon as this wave of laziness lifts. hehe

melissa- workin on it, girlie. workin on it. anything to gain more visits from my favorite nyer ;)

courtney- absoLUTEly. soy curls are just tvp (tho processed 'gently' as they say and without any weird chemicals) but in strips. go for it! i'd venture to say this would work well with some flavored tofu, tempeh, or seitan as well.

KleoPatra said...

Bring on the Creole! Love this! Wow, creativity becomes you...

Linda said...

this looks so interesting! can't wait to try it out. i've never tried "soy curls"...

Brooke said...

Well, this recipe made me finally go and order some soy curls. I can't wait to make this! Mmmmmmmm...

Anonymous said...

oh dear that looks fabulous! i'm very interested in the creole cuisine every since my veggie friend from Louisiana taught me what it's about. you are right - you are genius! it's an awesome fusion dish :)

Teresa said...

Sometimes its all about going with what we are feeling and creating something from our own head. It sure does look like you struck gold with this creation. Yummy!

And I love the asparagus!

-Teresa

Peace, Love and Veganism said...

This looks awesome! We had some cajun seasoning on our grilled corn on the cob last night (I like Bayou Magic, but had to have it shipped to me!). I might have to make this very soon. I know the white bread guilt, too! I just love white bread pretzels :)But nothing beats Mary's Gone crackers!

Anonymous said...

very creative. looks very god.

Vegan_Noodle said...

How wonderfully creative your recipe is! I usually stick to recipes as well, maybe I will feel inspired someday soon.

Anonymous said...

Hi - Just found your site and am so very impressed. I can't wait to try some of your recipes, but I need a bit of clarity first. In the recipes, and in the entries, there are a lot of initializations that I don't get. Sometimes T. and sometimes tsp. - is "T." a full tablespoon or does that stand for something else? Also, TSP - is that soy protein?
Anyway, so glad I found you. You seem far more creative and adventuresome a vegan chef than I! Congratulations and thanks!
- rubia

Don't Get Mad, Get Vegan! said...

Thank you to everyone for all of your comments. I'm already wanting to make this one again. hehe.

Rubia, yes..I have a tendency to write T when I mean tablespoon and tsp when I mean teaspoon. hope that helps (you should see my hand-written recipes, I had a friend point out that I always denote water H2O, salt as NaCl, and heat as that little triangle...ah, too many chemistry classes ;).

Also, TSP is texturized soy protein, which as far as I can tell is the same as TVP, texturized vegetable protein. either way, soy curls are supposed to be devoid of the chemical process in typical TVP/TSP. but I'm just going by my own measely research.

vko said...

Always such yummy things on your blog and this delicious creation all your own- I love when fortune smiles upon a self-made recipe.

Will try it when I can get my paws on these soy curls.

Kate said...

Sounds great- good job!

bazu said...

Wow! Those creations that get pulled out of a hat can be funner than any recipe in a book.

urban vegan said...

You ARE a genius...keep those recipes coming!