Kale and Mushrooms Baked Spaghetti

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I am always looking for good healthy recipes to test. This recipe is very easy to make and the pasta choices can be gluten or rice free. I found this on another food blog I follow called http://www.hummusapien.com and I tweaked and added to the recipe only because I know that I want these flavors in this dish. What is so great about this is there are no eggs or cheese needed. I loved the idea completely. My next dish will be with spaghetti squash instead of pasta. Watch for that one. Enjoy!

Kale and Tofu Baked Spaghetti
Created on 3/10/15

Kale and Tofu Baked Spaghetti

For the Tofu Filling
16 oz. extra firm tofu, drained and pressed
½ cup of hummus (I made a huge batch in the beginning of the week so I used that)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of onion powder
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of dried basil
½ fresh squeeze lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of the zest

Press and drain the tofu for approximately 15 minutes. You can put the tofu on top of the colander, and put a plate with a heavy can to press all the water out of the tofu. Crumble the tofu in a medium size-mixing bowl. Add the hummus, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano and basil, and lemon juice and zest. Mix using your hands or a fork, the mixture will look like ricotta cheese. Set the bowl aside.

For the Baked Spaghetti
12 oz of spaghetti pasta (Gluten Free, Corn, Wheat or Rice Free whichever works for you)
32 oz jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (I used Simply Organic Tomato Basil from Kroger)
2-1/2 cups of water
8 oz button mushrooms sliced
½ onion sliced
½ bunch of kale, chopped
2 tablespoons of water or olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium sauté pan over medium-high heat up water or oil and add mushrooms and onions. Sauté until the onions and mushrooms are soft.

In a greased 9 x 13-casserole dish, layer the uncooked spaghetti on the bottom. If using a stone, no greasing is needed. Break the noodles in half and cross over the pasta so the noodles do not stick while baking. Add the spaghetti sauce and water. Use a spoon and mix on top of the spaghetti. It will look very watery. Top with the cooked mushroom and onion mixture and the chopped kale. Sprinkle the tofu filling on top evenly.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour, remove from the oven, and let the dish set for 10 minutes before serving.

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE RECIPE

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Garbanzos kon Spinaka

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I have a pretty extensive cookbook library and one day I was walking down my hallway in my home where all my books are stored and I saw out of the corner of my eye “The New Mediterranean Diet Cookbook” by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Thumbing through the book I came across a recipe with garbanzo beans and spinach. These two foods are my favorite things to cook and eat. I thought how perfect for a vegan or vegetarian meal with a salad and some homemade bread. The house was filled with this amazing smell of aroma of beans and onions simmering on the stove. The broth the garbanzo beans and onions made was just simply scrumptious. I plan to make some type of soup creating a broth from the beans and onions. The simplicity of the ingredients creates such an amazing dish. Absolutely loved it and I think it will be one of my dishes I make all the time.

Garbanzos kon Spinaka, created on 9/13/2012

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1 large onion sliced thin
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil (you can omit the oil if you don’t cook with oil – just use water)
1-1/2 cups of garbanzo beans soaked overnight
1 pound of fresh spinach
½ cup of minced dill
Juice of 2 lemons
Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked pepper

Sauté the onion slices in olive oil over medium-low heat until the onions are soft but not browned – about 15 minutes. Drain the garbanzo beans and add them to the onions, turning them to coat with the olive oil. Cover with 1 cup of water and simmer gently until the garbanzo beans are tender about 40 to 60 minutes. You may have to add boiling water as the water does evaporate with cooking.

Clean the spinach rinsing thoroughly about 4 or 5 times and remove the stems. When the chickpeas are tender, add the spinach (no need to spin it dry) and the dill. Season the dish with salt and pepper and continue cooking for about 10 minutes till the spinach is tender. Add the lemon juice and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve as a side dish or a main meal with a salad and bread. Dip the bread in the broth, it is just delicious.

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE RECIPE

Filed under: Simply Healthy Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegeterian Recipes | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Posted on August 11, 2012 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I think that zucchini is my all time favorite vegetable. I am always trying out new things with zucchini. The market had a huge sale going on for the vegetable so I purchased quite a bit not realizing that I had too much. I had different veggies in the refrigerator so I decided to make a vegetable stuffing and made stuffed zucchini boats. Loved the concept. Loaded with flavor, little bit of prep work but worth it. Enjoy!

Stuffed Zucchini Boats
Created on 8/1/12

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10 oz of baby Bella mushrooms, wiped clean and chopped fine
1 medium onion, chopped fine
2 medium carrots, chopped fine
1 large bag of baby spinach
6 zucchini, halved and the centers scooped out and chopped fine
1 4 oz of Fontina cheese shredded (Optional)
1/4 cup of mushroom broth
Salt / Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the zucchini in half and scoop out the centers with a spoon. Lay the halves on a cookie tray. Clean and chop fine all the vegetables except for the spinach. Just roughly chop the spinach because the cooking the spinach will wilt it quite a bit.

In a large pan, heat up the mushroom broth over medium high heat and add the mushrooms, onions, carrots and cook for a good 5 minutes until the mushrooms and onions develop a deep brown color. Add the zucchini meat that was scooped out from the centers, coarsely chopped and then add the spinach and saute for a few minutes until the spinach wilts and the zucchini is incorporated in the stuffing.

Stuff the halved zucchini with the cooked vegetables. Sprinkle with shredded Fontina cheese and bake for about 30 minutes until the boats are semi soft and if you used cheese the cheese has melted and browned on top.

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE RECIPE

Filed under: Simply Healthy Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegeterian Recipes | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Veggie Burger

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Simply Healthy Cooking with Pam
I am always trying to find decent vegetarian burger recipes for me to eat. My biggest frustration is keeping the patties together when I am cooking them. I found that the best way for me to cook veggie burgers is to put them on my stone and bake or broil them in the oven. This is less stress on the patty so there is no breakage. Veggie burgers usually come in all shapes and forms. I decided to make my own version and absolutely fell in love with it. What great flavor and so healthy for me. I just added things that I liked in a veggie burger and just kept adding till I achieved the flavors I wanted. Actually after adding all the ingredients, I couldn’t stop eating the veggie burger mixture. I think I hit it right on my taste buds! Adorn with your favorite things like pickles, lettuce, tomatoes, whole grain buns, caramelized onions, and mustard – whatever floats your boat. I think next time I might make Tahini dressing to go with this. Enjoy!

Pam’s Everything but the Kitchen Sink Veggie Burger
Created on 02/16/11

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1 can of organic garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
1 package of Tempeh from Trader Joe’s
1 cup of fresh corn sliced of the cob or frozen organic corn
2 organic carrots peeled and minced
1 cup of raw sunflower seeds
8 oz of mushrooms, cleaned and minced – I used Baby Bella mushrooms
1 small onion minced
2 garlic cloves minced
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley minced
3 Tablespoons of Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
Salt / Pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
¼ cup of egg substitute (if you have a better binder ingredient for the veggie burger please use that)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the vegetables; mince the mushrooms, onions, carrots, and garlic with a food chopper or with a knife. In a 10” sauté pan, heat up the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the vegetables, season with salt and pepper and sauté for a good 5 to 8 minutes until the carrots are sort of soft (not mushy). Remove from the heat.

In a food processor, pulsate the Tempeh and garbanzo beans until coarsely ground. Add the sautéed vegetables and pulsate a few times till mixture is blended. In the sauté pan, add the corn and sauté for about 3 minutes until the corn is cooked through, season with salt and pepper. In a glass bowl, empty the food processor bowl with the mixture into the glass bowl and mix in the corn. In the same sauté pan, toast the sunflower seeds until the color is a rich brown. Add the toasted sunflower seeds, minced parsley, egg substitute, and soy sauce combine well.

This makes about 8 to 9 patties. I formed the patties and placed them on the stoneware.

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Very lightly sprinkle olive oil over the patties so they do not dry out. Bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes until lightly browned and heated thoroughly.

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE RECIPE

Filed under: Simply Healthy Recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegeterian Recipes | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »