One-Pot Vegan Sausage and Broccoflower Pasta with Chickpeas

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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One pot dishes are so satisfying.  Almost as satisfying as crock pot recipes.  This one could be done a variety of ways.  I chose to cook the onion & sausage together first & then put them aside & cook pasta.   If the texture (al dente or whatever) of your pasta is critical to you – cook the pasta first, drain it & then add it to the pan after you cook the sausage up.

You could use real sausage but I don’t eat that shit – so – I used these guys.

They are labeled vegetarian but their website refers to them as vegan.  Are they as powerfully flavorful as a pork version would be?  No.  But when you consider that – when you buy vegan sausage – nobody who started life looking like this – (photo snagged from Google)

was then forced into brutally inhumane living conditions & tortured their entire life & savagely slaughtered – well then maybe you might find the flavor concession a small price to pay to be able to eat “sausage” and still look this little guy in the face guiltlessly.  That was a confusing run-on sentence but I think you get my meaning.  The other advantage is that these are far less greasy & lower in calories.

I used broccoflower because I had it but broccoli or cauliflower would work, too.  I love chickpeas & they are very good for you – so I added them – but they are not critical.  I just like to load my pasta dishes with a lot of filling & healthy extras so that I end up eating less actual pasta.  This is just a personal preference – and – I am trying to drop a few pounds before I go off to shoot a film in Mississippi next month – so – broccoflower was a perfect addition here.

One-Pot Vegan Sausage and Broccoflower Pasta with Chickpeas

Serves 2 very well

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb dry pasta

1/2 onion – diced

2 (or more) large vegan sausages

1 head broccoflower (or substitute of your choice) – cut into bite-sized florets

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas – drained

4 garlic cloves – minced

Olive oil

1-3 tsp crushed red pepper (I used three – but I love spice!)

3 cups vegetable stock (or water & bouillon)

1 TBS lemon just & 1 tsp lemon zest (optional)

1/2 cup shredded basil – as garnish (parsley would work, too)

S&P to taste

DIRECTIONS

OK – so – as I said – this can be done by either cooking & draining the pasta & broccoflower first & adding it later or, as I did, cooking the sausage & onion first.  Cooking the pasta first allows you to better control how well it is cooked but doing it second infuses the pasta with veggie stock – so – your call.  I am gonna list the directions as I did it.

In a large pot, heat 1-3 TBS olive oil over medium heat & saute the onion, sausage & crushed red pepper until the onion is soft & the sausage begins to brown.  Not a science – just eyeball it – and when you think it is done – add the garlic & stir it in for about a minute – then set it aside.

In that same pot, add the vegetable stock, chickpeas, pasta & the lemon juice & zest.  Bring to a boil & cook it according to the instructions on your pasta label – BUT – 3 minutes before the pasta is supposed to be done – add the broccoflower & cover.   You MIGHT have to add a bit of water to keep things from drying out – though I did not.  Cook the remaining time left of the pasta.  Check it now – by testing the doneness of both the pasta & vegetable.  I like my veggies with some crunch – so – this timed perfectly for me.  If you feel it needs more time – keep cooking it & even add more water – if you think it needs it.  If it is too wet, cook it down.  When it seems ready – add the sausage & onion & stir to incorporate it.  Serve with basil or parsley & shove it in your pie hole with no regard for decency.  Look up pictures of cutie piglets & feel superior.  You earned it.

 

The top video there is trailer for my novel.  The second is me reading from it a while back – at Vroman’s.

 

One-Pot Spicy Bloody Mary Pasta with Chicken (Vegan)

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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This is another crazy easy one & holy fuck is it delicious!  It really tastes like a Bloody Mary!

I used vodka in it – but you need not.  I used faux chicken but you could lose that & this would still be great.  Or use real chicken, if you are an inveterate & degenerate meat-eater.  🙂

 

My life lately has been just a serious of challenges & losses & disappointments & scares & expenses & all sorts of hurt.  Sometimes, a good kick-ass anthem or some overt badassery can cheer you up.  Today, this total queen of fucking badassitude –  Mojo Juju (an amazing musician herself):

turned me onto a friend of hers & this song is really hitting the spot for me – so I share it now.

Yeah – that in a loop and a bottle of wine & I might make it to tomorrow.  Maybe I will go online and get myself an outfit like that & let the world know I am not to be fucked with!   An outfit & some attitude can go a long way.  Seriously.  Here I am at 15 years old.   Would YOU fuck with HER?  Now add that it was 1980 & folks were still wearing prairie dresses & had feathered hair.  I was fucking BAD ASS!  I really need to reclaim my inner cool factor.

In the meantime – I am going to be living on this Bloody Mary Pasta I made because it is enough to feed 6 and I live alone.  But I am OK with that because this is one delicious meal!

One-Pot Spicy Bloody Mary Pasta with Chicken (Vegan)

Serves 6 – unless everyone is STARVING

INGREDIENTS

1 lb uncooked pasta of your choice

9 oz faux chicken – cubed

2-3 TBS olive oil

4 garlic cloves – chopped

4 ORGANIC celery stalks (as celery is one of the dirty dozen) – diced

2 oz vodka (optional)

1 cup Spicy Bloody Mary mix – or tomato juice

1 (28 oz) can diced or crushed tomatoes

2 TBS sriracha (or to taste)

1 TBS vegan Worcestershire sauce (or regular – if you are not vegan) – (optional)

1 TBS prepared horseradish

Hot sauce – a few shakes

S&P to taste

2 cups or so of water

Basil and/or parsley – chopped as garnish

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a pot large enough to hold the cooked pasta & sauce.  I used that huge blue sucker you see above.  Ignore the peppers that are roasting in that shot.  They are not for this recipe.

So – over med-high – heat the olive oil & saute the celery until soft.  3 minutes or so.  Add the chicken & garlic & stir for 30 seconds.

Add the vodka if using.  Cook it for 30 seconds & then add the Bloody Mary Mix & the tomatoes.  If not using vodka – jump right to the Bloody Mary mix & the tomatoes.  Stir for a few minutes & then add sriracha, Worcestershire, horseradish & hot sauce.  Bring to a boil & then lower heat to medium & simmer until it begins to thicken just a bit.

Season with S&P and add the pasta & 2 cups of water.  Bring back to a boil.  Stir it a bit so the pasta doesn’t stick.  Lower heat to medium & cover & simmer for as long as the pasta directions suggested.  You need to watch this & stir occasionally.  If it gets too thick, add more water.  When the pasta is done (and it might take longer than the package suggested) – either cook it more to thicken it or add water to thin it – just to bring it to the consistency you prefer.

Then just serve that shit up with some basil and/or parsley and a bottle or two of the AWESOME Rua Red Wine and consider just how badass you are already!  Bon appetit!

 

One Pot Spicy Vegan Orange Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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This really is about as easy as a soup can be.  It comes together in about 20-30 minutes total & is powerfully flavorful.  There is no dairy of any kind so it is as guiltless as it is delicious.  A really wonderful, winter warmer!

One Pot Spicy Vegan Orange Chipotle Sweet Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS

2 large sweet potatoes – peeled & cubed

1 onion (I used a red one) – chopped

4 garlic cloves – chopped

Olive oil

Juice of 2 oranges

1-3 chipotle peppers (or to taste) in their adobo sauce – chopped

6 cups stock

1 tsp ground coriander

S&P to taste

Garnish ideas: avocado, arugula, black and/or white sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

Heat about 1 TBS olive oil in a deep stock pot.  eat the onions & garlic over medium heat until just tender, trying not to brown them.  Add the stock, orange juice, chipotle peppers, coriander & sweet potatoes.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer for about 15 minutes or so – or until the sweet potatoes are very soft.

I used an immersion blender to puree the soup but, if you do not have one, puree the soup in a blender.  Season with S&P.

Garnish as you like & commence indulging yourself!

Easy One-Pot Vegan Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles (Gluten-Free)

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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Hey!  Have you heard?  I wrote a really funny & dirty novel!  www.BathingBook.com.   Check out the reviews on Amazon!  Why not buy a copy?

I’m kinda obsessed with the concept of the one-pot meal.  Martha Stewart, it seems, is responsible for bringing the idea to the masses.  I already posted my One-Pan Whole Wheat Pasta with Tomatoes & Cauliflower (Vegan) & several folks tried it & reported the same success & delight that I did.

I made this Thai peanut version last night just using things I had around.  Two of the things I had around were tamarind paste & keffir lime leaves.

I realize that very few of you will have these handy & that most of you couldn’t find them for sale near you.  NEVER FEAR!  I will offer substitution ideas for these ingredients.

I would like to have included sliced red bell pepper to this for color but I had none.  I will suggest them in the recipe.  I used purple cabbage because I had it & it added nice color.  Some raw cabbage as a garnish adds a nice texture to the very soft noodles.

One thing that was different with this recipe than my last effort was that nowhere near all the stock got incorporated into the dish.   I am not sure if that was because I used gluten-free brown rice pasta rather than traditional starchy pasta or what but it wasn’t a problem that a colander couldn’t remedy.

If you make this with traditional pasta, you might not need to drain the final result – or maybe you will.  Let me know – ok?

Beyond that – this dish is as simple as chopping the ingredients, tossing them all in a pan & boiling it for the time suggested on your pasta.  Drain it – if necessary – and then devour the deliciousness!

Easy One-Pot Vegan Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles (Gluten-Free)

Serves 4 easily as a main course

INGREDIENTS

1 pound dry pasta of your choice (gluten-free if you desire)

4 cups vegetable stock (I use water & bouillon cubes)

6 cloves garlic – sliced thin

1 cup peas

1 red bell pepper – sliced thin

2 jalapenos – seeded & diced

6 keffir lime leaves – sliced (or a tsp of grated lime zest)

1 cup carrots – grated (and extra for garnish)

1 cup purple cabbage – sliced or chopped (and extra for garnish)

1 TBS tamarind paste (or 1/4 cup orange juice mixed with 2 tablespoons lime juice & a few shakes of vegan (or other) Worcestershire sauce)

1 TBS sambal oelek (or sriracha or other chili paste or 1 TBS of crushed red pepper)

1 TBS toasted (or regular) sesame oil

1 TBS soy sauce

1 TBS fish sauce (or – if vegan – a 2nd TBS soy sauce)

1 TBS minced fresh ginger (I used jarred)

3 TBS peanut butter

Garnish: fresh chopped cilantro and/or sliced purple cabbage and/or grated carrots and/or chopped peanuts and/or chopped cashews and/or fresh lime juice

DIRECTIONS

Put everything except the garnish in a pot big enough to hold the pasta flat.  Bring to a boil & cook uncovered for the time suggested on the pasta box.  Stir every few minutes to prevent sticking.

If it is soupy when the pasta is done – simply drain quickly in a colander.  Beware, though!  The gravy-like sauce is thick & hot as molten lava.  Do not burn yourself!

Drain, serve & garnish at will.  Tell your friends on Facebook how awesome you are!

One-Pan Whole Wheat Pasta with Tomatoes & Cauliflower (Vegan)

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2013

Follow @celisemccarthy

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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OK – so, Martha Stewart has, it seems, caused quite a stir with her one-pan pasta recipe.  One pan?  One STEP?  Sorta.  Once you prep the ingredients (meaning – cut the vegetables) this is easier than making Kraft mac & cheese.  I added cheese & the awesome Red Boat fish sauce – but omit these for a vegan variety.

I keep mentioning this Red Boat stuff because it is a very fancy fish sauce.  Here is what Red Boat says about itself:

In Vietnamese, nước mắm means literally “salted fish water.” Red Boat “nước mắm nhi” is the secret ingredient in South East Asian cooking. The savory, sweet, and umami-laden sauce gives dishes a unique, rich and satisfying dimension.

Red Boat is an all-natural, first press, “extra virgin” Vietnamese fish sauce. It does not contain added water, preservatives or MSG. Made from a two hundred year-old, chemical free, artisanal process, Red Boat uses only the freshest cá com (black anchovy), salted minutes after leaving the sea then slow aged for over a year in traditional wooden barrels. Red Boat anchovies are sourced exclusively from the crystal clear waters off the Phu Quoc Island archipelago.

In the past, this top grade fish sauce was reserved for our family table in Vietnam but we are very excited to share our family secret with you. With pride we bring you the only authentic Vietnamese Phu Quoc fish sauce available in the United States.

Whether you are a master chef or enthusiastic home cook, we guarantee you the highest quality product and the best results.

Anyway – it smells just as gross as any other fish sauce – maybe even grosser – but it adds a subtle, salty flavor (like minced anchovies would) and not some disgusting fishy thing.  Ever seen Clamato?  I used to joke about that stuff.  I’d say, “You know what’s wrong with this Bloody Mary?  It doesn’t taste fishy enough!”  Then I tried a Bloody Caesar and I stopped cracking wise.  Well, Red Boat adds a delightful depth to dishes that need a little added oomph – so I recommend strongly that you try it.  Eh – but if you can’t find it or if you are vegan – blow that shit off.  See how easy I am?

So, anyway, Martha dropped this one-pan-pasta bomb on the world & I just had to try it.  For some reason, every recipe I saw used 12 oz of dry pasta.  Who the fuck cooks 3/4 of a box of pasta?  And one recipe made the LUDICROUS assertion that a recipe using 12 ounces of dry pasta was enough to feed six.  SIX!  This person must also believe that a box of Kraft feeds four or that there are 25 servings in a standard tub of Cool Whip.  Seriously.  TWO ounces of pasta per person?  In my world, a pound of pasta MIGHT feed four.  Might.  But I digress.

Because all the recipes used that bizarre 12 ounce suggestion – I had to wing this a bit.  I had 8 ounces – and it was 8 ounces of whole wheat angel hair.  I do not recommend using angel hair.  It cooks in 5-7 minutes and, I fear, is a tad on the fragile side for this kind of preparation.  Go with a spaghetti or linguine if you try this.  And try this you should because it really did work & it was damned tasty.

I used cauliflower because I had it.  You could sub that out for anything really.  Try shrimp or a puttanesca or whatever you have around that you feel would work on pasta.

One-Pan Whole Wheat Pasta with Tomatoes & Cauliflower (Vegan)

Serves 2 hungry people

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces dry pasta (spaghetti or linguine or penne)

1/2 large onion – sliced thin

4 garlic cloves – sliced thin

3 tomatoes – diced

3-4 sprigs basil – chopped

1/2 small head cauliflower – cut into small florets

1 TBS olive oil

2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 TBS oregano

2 tsp fish sauce (omit if you are vegan)

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp each of S&P

GARNISH – with chopped basil, crushed red pepper & (vegan) Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

Put everything in a pot large enough to lay the pasta flat.  Bring to a boil and, stirring frequently, cook as long as the pasta directions suggest.  This should result in a pan of cooked pasta in a creamy sauce (as the starch from the pasta blends with the stock).  If it seems too wet, cook it down a bit more or add Parmesan to make that moisture into an even creamier sauce.

Garnish as you will & be amazed at how well this experiment worked!