Wednesday 16 September 2015

Spaghetti with Silverbeet and Cauliflower Grematola, Vegan parmesan and Vegan MoFo Quicklinks

So I have mentioned that I am not participating in Vegan MoFo for the first time in four years.  I miss it a little but I also know I just don't have the time to commit this year.  It doesn't mean I can't be sharing excellent vegan food and excellent links to other Vegan MoFo blogs.  Which is exactly what I am doing in this post.

The recipe comes from Joanne's amazing Eats Well With Others blog.  As a good Italian girl, she posts fantastic pasta and pizza recipes.  With lots of vegetables.  I really loved her idea for using cauliflower rice and finely chopped silverbeet for grematola which is normally lemon zest, garlic and parsley.  She also used lots of parmesan cheese.

I had everything on hand except the parmesan cheese.  It seemed silly to run out to the shops for parmesan when I had plenty of ingredients to make vegan parmesan cheese.  I have tried vegan parmesan before but I was still amazed at just how good I found some ground up nuts and nutritional yeast flakes with a little seasoning.  (And it looks really cute in my retro salt and pepper set with the mushroom mustard pot.)

As always, a truckload of vegies seemed to disappear into the tangle of pasta.  Yet I felt pretty good eating this pasta because I knew there were lots of greens and vegies in it.  E was not overly keen because he missed seeing the parmesan when I left the pasta for him for dinner.  The parmesan really does make a difference.

Vegan MoFo Quicklinks
As I mentioned above, I have been enjoying watching Vegan MoFo from the sidelines.  This year the organisers have imposed themes.  It has been interesting to see how various bloggers have responded.  I have particularly loved the day when everyone gave kitchen tours.  As always, it feels impossible to get around to every blog.  Below are a few favourite recipes and fun posts:

Apricot chickpeas with spiced coconut rice - Vie de la Vegan
Tempeh cheatballs with marinara sauce - Little Vegan Bear
Caribbean vegetarian rundown - Allotment to Kitchen
Green energy bowl - Rock Your Vegan Socks
Tourlou Tourlou - The Elizavegan Page

A Smith and Deli sandwich a day - Quince and Kale
Marinated eggplant sandwich - Seitan is My Motor
Not Quite Costanza’s Calzone - Veganopoulous
Crisp sandwiches - Flicking the Vs
Meatloaf igloo - Chunky on Chia

Waffle doughnuts - Hasta La Vegan
Healthy choc chip corn muffins - Veg Fiend
Stuffed french toast - Spade and Spoon
Peach whiskey upside down cake - Sprouts and Chocolate

I am sending this post to Kimmy for Healthy Vegan Fridays, Helen, Michelle and Katie for Extra Veg, and Shaheen for Eat Your Greens.

More vegan pasta recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Avocado pasta
Cheesy peas pasta
Fennel and lentil lasagne 
Hurry up pumpkin alfredo
Risoni with chickpeas, lemon, and mint 
Soy bombs and tomato sauce on top of spaghetti
Spaghetti hoops

Spaghetti with Silverbeet and Cauliflower Grematola
Adapted from Eats Well With Others
Serves 4-6

500g spaghetti
1 medium cauliflower, cut into florets
1 bunch silverbeet (chard), stems removed
¼ cup olive oil
8 garlic cloves, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp of lemon zest
½ - 1 tsp chilli paste (or chilli flakes)
salt and black pepper, to taste
I quantity vegan parmesan (as below) or use 1/2 cup dairy parmesan

Finely chop cauliflower into 'rice' and then finely chop silverbeet.  I did this in blender.  (This is the time to prepare everything to make sure the vegies can be prepared while the pasta cooks.)

Cook pasta in salted boiling water according to instructions on packet. 

Meanwhile .... Heat oil in a large frypan and fry the garlic briefly (30 seconds) until they smell fragrant.  Add cauliflower and silverbeet and fry for 6-8 minutes.  Add lemon juice, lemon zest, chilli paste and seasoning to taste.

When pasta is cooked toss with vegetable mixture.  Serve warm.

Vegan parmesan cheese
Slightly adapted from Minimalist Vegan

1/2 cup cashews
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp salt flakes
1/8 tsp garlic powder

Blend until ingredients are blitzed to a powder.

On the Stereo:
You Can't Hide Your Love Forever: Orange Juice

21 comments:

  1. Yum! I love a pasta packed with veggies! This one sounds great! Hehehe the Vegan MoFo sounds like a lot of fun too!

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  2. I loved the kitchen tours too. I wish I had more time to follow along with everyone as I'm sure I'm missing great recipes if your links are anything to go by!

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    1. Thanks Faye - there is never enough time during vegan mofo - I am wondering if the Vegan MoFo blogroll is shorter with the new theme but it still looks really long on the page listing all the participants

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  3. I miss your participation in Vegan Mofo as it was because of you that I found out about it and joined. Still understand, its hard - Thanks for inc. my recipe, I will check out others that i have missed. I do love your retro gnome s&p shakers, I need to show you one of my s&p shakers that is actually from Australia, but that will be later. Your vegan parmesan cheese differs from mine in that I use almonds and it comes from Healthy Slow Cooking http://healthyslowcooking.com/2012/04/19/vegan-almond-parmesan/

    Oh by the way, do you know Parmesan is not suitable for vegetarians (and vegans). I have never liked it, the smell (baby sick) put me of it years back, so the vegan version is a win win
    http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/feb/27/no-parmesan-please-we-re-vegetarian

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    1. Thanks Shaheen - am glad to have pointed you in the direction of vegan mofo - and even gladder because I am enjoying your vegan mofo posts - had thought it would be quieter because I am not participating but there is still lots to look at from the sidelines! I have tried a vegan parmesan where the almonds are toasted but I think I preferred this one - thought you would love the shakers. And yes I am aware that parmesan is not vegetarian but there are a few other hard cheese I buy and I am less clear on these - try and read the ingredients but don't always if I am hurrying. BTW Sylvia loves parmesan (and similar cheeses) by itself which surprises me.

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  4. Wow that vegan parmesan does look amazing! I must give it a go as I have a huge packet of nutritional yeast. It looks just like the non vegan non cauliflower version!

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    1. Thanks Lorraine - the parmesan does not have cauliflower in it but it is rather good.

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  5. Aww, this is too sweet of you! Thank you for incorporating my link. The pasta looks delicious. I haven't had any in ages and think it might be about time.

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    1. Thanks Maggie - we haven't been eating pasta for ages and suddenly have had it a lot - probably because I had a couple of packets of spaghetti that needed using

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  6. What a fab bowl of healthy veggie laden pasta... really interested to hear about vegan parmesan... i'd love to see how that tasted! Thanks for linking up with #ExtraVeg this month :-)

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    1. Thanks Katie - yes the vegan parmesan was impressive in this dish - will have to try it in more

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  7. Silverbeet is one of those veggies that I can't get enough of. I'm intrigued to try the vegan parmesan - you can't go wrong with nooch! I'm missing your posts this MoFo - do you reckon you'll be back next year?

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    1. Thanks Joey - I hated silverbeet as a kid and now sometimes love it and sometimes remember why I hated it but nooch is an adult discovery and I love it so much - not sure if I will do vegan mofo next year - but never say never - I miss it too so if I can I will.

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  8. Joanne's blog is excellent and I've cooked quite a few of her recipes. I made her champagne cake a little while ago. I was able to meet Joanne when I went to NYC last year. We had lunch together in a pizza place. It was a thrill to meet her xx

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    1. Thanks Charlie - you are lucky to have met Joanne - she has such a great blog - I've made a few of her recipes and bookmarked heaps

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  9. I'm intrigued by the vegan parmesan! Thanks for the links round up too as I have not read as widely as I'd like this MoFo (but the posts will be there for me to catch up on when I have time).

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    1. Thanks Kari - you might like the vegan parmesan as I think it is more flavour than cheesey because it doesn't have that creamy cheeiness

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  10. Ooh this pasta sounds super delicious! I love the sound of your homemade parmesan and the dish you served it in is adorable =)
    And thanks so much for mentioning my energy bowl - it totally made my day!

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    1. Thanks Kimmy - the pasta was fun - I have a feeling you might make a great job of making it into a raw dish - love your bowls

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    2. And thanks for sharing this at Healthy Vegan Fridays! I am pinning this =)

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