Princess and the Pea Pasta

Happy Hump Day :)

Here is a little recipe that takes no time to make and is deliciously devine. Thankfully the ingredients are easy to find and work incredibly well together. It's a little different for the normal palate, but I promise, it looks as good as it tastes.

Lemony Artichoke and Pea Pasta

Prep time: 20 mins

Serves: 2-4

• 1 pound (about 1 box) pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
• A couple pinches of red pepper flakes
• 1 cup jarred or canned artichokes, quartered
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup cream (doesn't matter if it's light or heavy) 
• 4 ounces goat cheese
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup arugula
• Salt and pepper for taste

1. 1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil then cook pasta according to the box directions. Drain pasta, but remember to reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water.
2. 2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add onions and red pepper flakes then cook until onions are translucent; which will be about 3 minutes. Then add artichokes, peas and 3 tablespoons water and then cook for about 2 minutes.
3. 3. Reduce heat, add goat cheese and cream then cook over low heat until cheese has melted. Add drained pasta to artichokes and peas then toss to coat. Use your desired amount of reserved pasta water to help thin out the sauce so that the pasta is well coated with sauce. 
4. 4. Remove from heat, add lemon zest, juice and arugula, toss and season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately. You don't want this dish getting cold. It's far too yummy.

Veg On.

WAKE UP!!

Good Morning!


Here is a smoothie recipe that I have made many times, and it has proved to be a reliable, tasty treat. I have a few alterations, but as always, I provide guidelines....you're allowed to color outside of them :)

Blushing Berry Smoothie


Prep Time: 5 seconds.....just kidding. But seriously, 2 mins, tops.
Serves: 1-2


1 1/4 cups orange juice*
1/2 cup low-fat silken tofu, or low-fat yogurt**
1 banana
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/4 cups frozen berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and/or strawberries


Combine orange juice*, banana, berries, tofu (or yogurt) and sugar. Blend until creamy. Serve immediately.


*You can use soymilk or cranberry juice if orange juice isn't your forté
**Greek yogurt works WONDERS. Deeply consider it, if tofu isn't on sale


Veg On. 

Comments!

Hello :)

I have now enabled comments, thus strongly encouraging them! If you want, please leave me little notes as to what you think of my blog.

Thank you!!

Veg On.

Lazy Sunday

So today I perfected the ultimate lazy Sunday complete with doing laundry and looking at food blog after food blog after food blog....

I finally came across this recipe that I have not tried yet, but intend to in the near future. It's a super cheap recipe that only takes 20 mins! (In college time, that's amazing) So here it goes!

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons and Parsley Brown Butter

Prep Time: 20 mins

Serves: 2-4

• 1 pound (about 1 bag) frozen gnocchi
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• About 3 small zucchini (shred on the biggest grate on a cheese grater)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 
  
1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Cook gnocchi until they float, which is usually 3 to 5 minutes or according to package directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until the butter begins to look brown, which should be about 2 minutes. 
3. Add onion and zucchini and cook, stirring often, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. 
4. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper and continue cooking, stirring often, until the tomatoes are just starting to break down, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the parmesan and parsley. 
5. Add the gnocchi and toss around the gnocchi to mixture, mix it all up and ENJOY.


Veg On.
• 
  

All Souped Up

Happy Thursday!

So it's been a mix of mild and cold weather here in Rhode Island this past week, and I'm not happy. When it's not cold, it's raining. When it's not raining, it's cold. Sometimes its freezing with cold rain. How lovely haha In this little tangent is a point: SOUP. It's been the perfect week for it! Me and my friend Sarah (who will be featured constantly) decided to gather any and all veggies we needed to use up from the week and toss them into a soup-like mixture. This is what we created:

                                       

Vegetable Soup-Stew

Prep time: 30 mins
Serves: 2-4

1 head broccoli
1 lime green Italian pepper
1 red pepper
1 tomato
1 yellow pepper
1 onion
4 cups vegetable broth
1 OR 1 1/2 cups rice (depending on your desired rice-to-veg ratio)
Salt, spice mill and pepper to taste

1. Put 4 cups broth in pot to boil, then bring to simmer. This should take about 10 mins.
2. Wash and chop up all veggies, removing the insides of all peppers. Chop peppers and tomatoes into 1 inch squares, because they will cook down.
3. Add in all vegetables AND rice. The rice will take about 15-20 mins to cook, plus you don't want your vegetables to get super soggy.
4. Test rice to make sure it is at an al dente consistency. No throwing against walls, that's only for pasta.
5. Ladle into bowls, and enjoy :)

Veg On.

S'morez Indoorz

Chocolate.Marshmallow&Graham.

Three components to one of the most delicious, easiest desserts I have ever had. I absolutely love summertime and everything that comes with it like warm weather, swimming, my birthday, campfires and of course, s'mores. Ever since I was little I yearned for this treat and hated that you could only have it in the summer. Little did I know it'd take me until I was 19 to figure out you can make these....inside. So, began my quest to make the perfect indoor s'more. It's easy as 1, 2, 3......A, B, C.

The Indoor S'more

Prep time: 10-15 mins
Serves: 6-10

1 box graham crackers
2-3 chocolate bars (I used the classic Hershey)
1 bag marshmallows (Have fun with this, use jumbo, normal or if you're feeling whimsical, go mini)

1. Set oven to "broil" because you do not want to completely bake these. 
2. Line a cookie sheet with graham crackers, breaking them when needed to fully cover the base.
3. On top of the graham crackers, like you would normally do, add pieces of chocolate. 
4. On top of the chocolate generously top it off with da mallows.
5. Place in oven for about 10 mins, or of course until the marshmallows are light brown and have a toasted top.
6. DIVE IN :)


Veg On. (or in this case, Mallow On :P )

Veggie Lover's Pasta

COLOR!

Yes, I absolutely love color in my food, and in a sense I feel 5 again when I see an array of bright peppers, tomato sauce or salad. The way that color really does appeal to me is amazing, so I try to make all of my dishes appealing to not only the senses of smell and taste, but to sight as well. For this recipe that I made with one of my best friends, color is extremely prominent. Here comes the rainbow...

Veggie Pasta

Prep time: 30 mins
Serves: 2-4

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 long green italian pepper (lime green in color)
Small bunch of asparagus
1/2 yellow onion
1 box tri-color pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cups water
Any spice mill
Salt n' peppa

1. Set your oven on "broil".
2. Wash and snap the bottoms off the asparagus and lay the tops on a rectangular pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in oven for about 10 mins.
3. Wash and chop all peppers into 1/4 inch strips and dice into about 1 inch squares. Peel and dice up the onion as well. Drizzle some olive oil in a pan and toss the peppers and onion in. Season with the spice mill or salt and pepper if desired. Stir frequently for about 15 mins.
4. When the asparagus is ready, chop into small sections and add to the peppers and onion.
5. Bring the 3-4 cups of water to a boil and add the box of pasta.
6. When the pasta is to your liking, drain the water from the pan and add in the veggies. Mix together and serve.

**Serving suggestion**: As pictured, I saved some asparagus to have on the side, because I like it so much. On top I drizzled some fresh shredded pepper jack cheese and it gave the dish even more of a yummy kick :)

Veg On.

Vegetable Pizza

February 8, 2012

Pizza.....YUM.

My mom and I absolutely love to cook together, mostly because we throw ideas off each other. She is a vegetarian as well, and has helped me make the shift to this new world seamlessly. When I am on break or whenever I go home, we make pizza every weekend. It's not only FAR healthier than ordering out, but it's a fun bonding experience. Every time my mom and I make pizza, we use different toppings and try to create new combinations of veggies and cheese. Here was our latest concoction:

Veggie Pizza

Prep time: 45-50 mins
Serves: 2-4

Pre-packaged pizza dough ('cause as good as homemade is, it is expensive)
1 red bell pepper
1 bag of fresh spinach
1 yellow onion
1 small can of tomato sauce

1/4 cup feta cheese

1 clove of garlic
Olive oil

1. Follow instructions depending on the dough to preheat the oven.
2. Finely chop the garlic or put through a garlic press, if you have one. As a college student....I do not. Cut the red bell pepper, removing the insides, then into 1/4 inch strips. Then cut the onion into similar 1/4 inch strips.
3. Drizzle some of the olive oil into a pan and  toss the onion, garlic and pepper into the pan. After they simmer for a little bit, add the spinach. It does appear to be a heaping mound of it, but it does cook down quite a bit.
4. Stretch the pizza dough and spoon on a light amount of tomato sauce and top with the veggies. Lastly, add however much feta on to of the veggies that you want.
5. Put on a pizza stone, or a well sprayed pan and place in oven for 30-40 minutes, or depending on the time that's given for the dough you got.
6. Take out, slice up, and enjoy!

Veg on.

Sautéed Veggies and Crispy Polenta

February 8, 2012

First post!

So I was perusing my mind trying to think of the perfect thing to start my blog off with.... I immediately thought to something I made last week with one of my best friends. It's a sautéed veggie dish (you'll see many of these) that includes a cornmeal product called "polenta". I got this recipe from a vegetarian cookbook, however altered it to fit my budget and taste, because let's be honest, no one knows what I like more than me ;)

Sautéed Veggies and Crispy Polenta

Prep time: 45 mins
Serves: 2-4 (depending on how hungry you are haha)

1 pre-packaged roll of polenta
1 clove garlic
1 yellow onion
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 red bell pepper
3 tablespoons canola oil
Non-stick spray
Any type of spice mill
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 325.
2. Finely chop the garlic or pass it through a garlic press, if you so possess one. Then, cut the onion in half, then into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut the zucchini and yellow squash into 1/4-inch-thick slices, then in half to form half-moon shaped pieces. Cut the bell pepper and remove the insides, then cut into thin slices.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet and add the garlic, onion, zucchini, yellow squash, and bell pepper. Add some salt and pepper and a good amount of the ground spices from the mill. Cook the veggies, stirring frequently, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until you get the veggies to your desired texture.
4. Line a cookie sheet with non-stick spray and cut the roll of polenta into 1/2 inch slices, then season with salt and pepper. Pop the polenta in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, and it should be crispy.
5. When the polenta is done, top it off with the vegetables and enjoy! :)

Veg On.