Vegan Springtime Fettucine

Nothing says autumn like a springtime pasta! This vegan dish uses tahini for the sauce base and was, in my opinion, pretty darn good. Unfortunately, I discovered a bit late in the game - long after asking Charlie to check if we had a cup's worth of tahini - that he hates the taste of tahini!

I modified the sauce to de-tahini it a bit and next time will swap some soaked cashews for the tahini...

This recipe called for either fiddleheads or asapragus and I used the latter. I sort of kicked myself later when I realized that I had preserved fiddleheads in the cupboard. How often do you need fiddleheads?? I missed my big opportunity! Next time I'll create my fiddlehead opportunity, rather than passively waiting for one to come along.

Here's the Spring noodle recipe (jae steele):

Oh and by the way, you should feel free to use soba or udon if you prefer them to fettucine

- Boiled asparagus (to your own desired consistency). Pour cold water over them once you strain them.

- Cooked pasta (8 oz)

Sauce, comprised of the following:
1 cup tahini
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 mellow miso paste
4 med garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cup water

* I modified the sauce by adding tamari (i had no miso, inexplicably, as it literally vanished and I've come to accept that I'll never know what really happened to it). I also added extra cumin, cilantro and lemon juice and one less garlic clove. As mentioned, next time I'd use cashews. I think the cashews are just as fattening as the tahini, if that's a concern for you.

Toss pasta and asparagus with sauce and garnish with black sesame seeds

You'll definitely have extra sauce (unless of course you like your pasta heavily sauced) and it makes a great veggie dip.

I also made steamed kale with enoki mushroom, shitakes, garlic, ginger, onions and tamari.

Curried eggplant & tumeric tofu triangles

There was a lot of orange on our plates tonight! After deciding to try to make my way through an entire entree section of a jae steele cookbook, I followed the authors suggestion and paired the items mentioned in this blog title. I absolutely adore jae steele's dessert recipes, but am sort of lukewarm on these particular entrees...

The tofu was crispy and nicely coloured, although it was kind of bland on it's own. I decided to take the extra tofu marinade and mix it with some vegan mayo and lime rind to make a sauce for pouring over the triangles. This proved to be the key to making the dish pretty tasty.

The curried eggplant was decent but a little heavy on the curry, although I suspect my particular curry may be to blame here. It's a really bold little blend and doesn't take kindly to playing second fiddle to anything else!

Tumeric Tofu Triangles:

Cut one block of extra firm tofu into half inch triangles
Marinate (15 mins - as long as you want!) in the following marinade:
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 Ttbsp tamari/soy sauce
1 tsp curry
2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 large clove crushed garlic

Fry the triangles on medium high heat in 2-3 tbsp oil until slightly browned and a bit crispy (4 mins on one side and 2-3 on the other)

Curried eggplant

Cube one big eggplant, toos it in the strainer with some sea salt and let sit for 20 mins

Heat oil in large skillet (2-3 tbsp)
Throw 2 tbsp curry powder in until fragrant, 30-60 secs
Add one med chopped onion and saute til translucent
Add eggplant for 4-5 mins
Add chopped tomato and 1/4 water, cover and simmer for 7-8 mins