Black bean spaghetti with squash, spinach, pine nuts and tomato!

Here was dinner last night... So very pretty. It looked like a culinary rainbow.

A friend got me some black bean spaghetti. "It's fun!" she said. I thought it looked weird and would taste like crap. And I didn't have any idea what I would cook with it. But dudes... It's GOOD.

I got the recipe from Honest Kitchen and modified it. It calls for pumpkin but I thought squash would be easier to find, easier to work with and milder in flavor. It worked great! The kids loved it (I was a little worried they wouldn't but they all destroyed it).

I think next time I will try crumbling some Punk Rawk Labs vegan cheese on top, or grilling some cubed marinaded tofu and mixing it in (the original recipe calls for it to be topped with feta cheese).

1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cut into small chunks
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
1 tablespoon dried rosemary or 1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 packet black bean spaghetti
pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 big handfuls baby spinach, washed
a few tablespoons pine nut kernels, toasted


Dressing:
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
100ml (3 ounze) extra virgin olive oil
black pepper, extra

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Place the pumpkin, tomatoes and garlic on a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt, black pepper and rosemary. Toss to coat. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin is just cooked through (you can take the tomatoes out earlier if they look like they’re getting too soft). Leave to cool slightly.

3. Cook the black bean spaghetti according to the packet instructions (6-8 minutes in a boiling water with pinch of sea salt and olive oil). Drain and place in a large bowl. Add the spinach and toss well. Add the pumpkin and the tomatoes and fold to combine.

4. To make the vinaigrette, combine the olive oil, half of the lemon juice and the lemon zest in a bowl and whisk to combine. Season with black pepper. Drizzle the salad dressing on the dish and fold to combine.

Warming Up with Wild Rice Soup!

It is officially fall! Lars is on the east coast right now, but I didn't want to slip into "meals for one," so I've been cooking a lot and making big batches to share with friends.

My new favorite thing are those microwave rice pouches- especially the wild rice. Wild rice is incredibly easy to mess up but you never know until it's too late. I bought an Archer Farms one from Target, and used it in a recipe for cabbage rolls. I had a whole bunch left over- almost two cups- so I decided to improvise and try making a recipe for a vegan wild rice soup.

I am definitely not opposed to soy cheese, nut milks, or anything else that is meant to directly replace a meat or dairy product, but I like when I can make a recipe without them that is like the original. That means, this recipe happens to also be soy-free!

I always get nervous when I make a new recipe... this one was great! I am so happy with it. I almost can't wait until the weather gets colder so that I can warm up with some more of this.

Vegetable Wild Rice Soup

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
10 baby red potatoes
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 carton of sliced button mushrooms
1 1/2 cup cooked wild rice
2 boullion cubes
1 Tbsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Boil the potatoes (I did mine unpeeled) in enough water to cover them, until they are just barely soft, then add the carrots to the water until both veggies are soft and fork-tender.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the onion, garlic and mushrooms over medium heat until onions are translucent, garlic is fragrant and the mushrooms are soft.

Process all but about 4 of the potatoes in a food processor. Remove the remaining potatoes and cut them into cubes, then return them to the water. Add the bouillon cubes as well as the onion-mushroom mixture until boiling.

Pour in the wild rice. Make sure the bouillon is fully melted, then add the processed potatoes and stir until the broth looks creamy. Season with thyme and salt and pepper.