Dinner - Vegan Food Night

I am really trying to stick to my weekly meal regime, but I'm finding it harder then I first thought. Mainly because I am truly out of ideas for dinner sometimes. My husband really doesn't like having the same thing every night. For example, we had quinoa two nights in a row, that was enough for the week. Even though, I made two different recipes but using quinoa. Oh well, there are other options, I guess. ** After reading my blog, my husband advised me that I was incorrect in my statement about him not liking the same thing two nights in a row. He said that if I made homemade lasagna every day of the week, he would gladly eat it every day. Geez!! Is that a hint and a half or what!!?? :) **

Tonight was Vegan food night. I actually really like vegan night because there are so many great recipes. I truly love finding new and yummy recipes, then making them my own. As a mommy of one teenager, and two rowdy little ones, it's tough sometimes to plan and execute vegan meals. Seeing as today was Sunday, I had a little more time. Yay!

Vegan Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheese with a side of
Vegan Eggplant and Zucchini Sticks.

I made Vegan Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheese with a side of Vegan Eggplant and Zucchini Sticks. YES!! I did say VEGAN Mac 'n Cheese!! Let me tell you, Kat inhaled her Mac 'n Cheese and my husband had three bowls of it. I used vegan cheese and almond milk, instead of the regular dairy stuff. The eggplant and zucchinis were coated in some vegan cracker crumbs and oat bran. I dipped them in a little salsa. They were soo...good! They weren't greasy because I baked them, so they were really healthy and yummy. Unfortunately, my kids didn't enjoy them as much as my husband and I. Oh well, more for us. :)

Vegan Butternut Squash Mac 'n Cheese

Ingredients:
3 ½ cup raw butternut squash, cut into ½" cubes (about ½ a squash)
1 tsp oil
Couple pinches of salt
450 g pasta
1 cup almond milk
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 cup vegan cheese (Daiya Vegan Cheese)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ tsp Paprika

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, mix squash, oil and salt, until squash is covered with oil. Place on baking sheet and roast for about 30-40 minutes, until squash is tender. Remove from oven, place squash in a medium sauce pan and set aside.
2. While squash is in the oven, start boiling a large pot of water for pasta.  Add pasta and cook pasta as per directions.
3. While pasta is cooking, heat pan over medium. Add roasted squash, milk, minced garlic, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and Italian seasoning. Let milk come to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer, for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, using an immersion blender, puree mixture until smooth.
4. When pasta has cooked, drain and reserve 1 cup of cooking water. Reduce heat to medium, return pasta to pot and added pureed squash mixture. Mix until all of the pasta has been coated with puree. Mix in cheese, continue to mix until the cheese has melted. If the mac ‘n cheese is too thick, add a little of the reserved pasta cooking water until desired consistency.
5. Serve hot with a sprinkle of black pepper and paprika.

Vegan Eggplant and Zucchini Sticks

Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk

¾ cup rice flour

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 ½ cups cracker crumbs

½ cup oat bran

3 small eggplants, cut into ¼” sticks, about 2” long

1 zucchini medium, cut into ¼” sticks, about 2” long 

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix together skim milk, rice flour, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside.
2. In a separate shallow bowl, mix Italian seasoning, bread crumbs and oat bran. Set aside.
3. Pre-heat oven to 450 F. Line to baking sheets with parchment paper.
4. Dip a few eggplant and zucchini sticks into milk mixture, making sure to cover all sides of sticks. Then, roll sticks into bread crumb mixture until even coated. Place on prepared baking sheets and bake in pre-heated oven for 8-10 minutes each side.
5. Remove from oven and serve hot. 

Let me know how they turn out if you've tried it. Until next time...

Happy Cooking!! :)