Panzanella is the most divine Tuscan salad made with cubes of crusty (stale) bread, tomatoes and onions. The dressing is a simple vinaigrette made with olive oil, vinegar (I used sherry vinegar but red wine vinegar would also taste great), a touch of sweet maple syrup, and of course, salt and pepper — and that’s…
Tag: italian food
Spicy Marinara with White Beans
This semi-homemade spicy marinara will become your go-to pasta sauce, I promise you. A little kick of thai red curry paste heightens all of the flavors of the tomato sauce, and will literally “spice up” pasta night! And it’s so simple to make. Even if you don’t usually like spicy food, I encourage you to…
Pasta Alfredo with Mushrooms and Peas
When I first went vegan, I thought for sure that I’d have to give up creamy sauces like alfredo. I never even imagined that I would be able to eat, let alone cook!, something so creamy and wonderful. Once I started looking further into vegan cooking methods, I learned that you can make cheesy sauces…
Escarole Soup
Escarole Soup is basically Italian Wedding Soup but without the mini meatballs. It’s a very simple one-pot-meal, and only has three main elements that you basically can’t mess up: escarole, broth, pasta. Throughout the cooking process, the broth gets enriched with all the wonderful nutrients and depth of flavor from the escarole. If you’ve never…
Italian Meatloaf
Meatloaf and mashed potatoes is an iconic American meal, isn’t it? My English hubby has many (negative) preconceived notions about meatloaf, and I was determined to change his mind about this dish – and with a vegan version at that! I chose to serve it with delicious, creamy mashed potatoes to help my chances, but…
Eggplant Parmigiana
Eggplant Parm is one of my all-time favorites meals. My aunts and mom all make amazing versions of this iconic Italian-American dish, so there’s a lot to live up to. I’m very proud of my vegan attempt – it was absolutely delicious, even without the eggs and cheese! Nutritional yeast takes the place of Parmesan…
Pasta and Eggplant
The easiest dinner in the world, in my humble opinion, is pasta. There’s a reason it’s one of the first things we learn to make as young adults and college students. In our home, we mix in vegetables with our pasta, basically using whatever we have on hand to add variety to a weekly staple….
Meatball Sandwiches
Did you know you can be a vegan and still eat MEATBALL SANDWICHES? Tonight’s dinner was inspired by one of NYC’s gems, the Meatball Shop, which does offer meat-less-balls and makes a fortune taking advantage of people’s love of the meatball sub. This vegan version is the real deal. You are gonna wanna make this…
Balsamic Asparagus and Polenta
Polenta is one of those things that I always really like when I order it at restaurants, but can never get it quite right when I try it at home. Except this time. I am so happy with how this turned out, especially topped with asparagus and a balsamic reduction. The key to a yummy,…
Stuffed Shells
This stuffed shells recipe was one of the first meals I made when I decided to transition from vegetarian to vegan. At that point, the idea of giving up cheese seemed very daunting to me. Also, I hadn’t really felt the need to be super creative with tofu or other plant-based proteins yet. After trying…
An Imperfect Vegan 