It’s always a treat to have my vegan friends join me for dinner because it presents an opportunity for me to get even more creative than usual in my kitchen. Of course there are a many quick, simple vegan dishes that I could have prepared when my friend came over last week, but the problem was that I was craving something warm, savory and creamy. I’m not a fan of fake cheese or meat so I was stumped for a moment. Then I came across quite possibly the most perfect solution- butter bean sage sauce.

From the instant I saw this recipe on Love Food Eat, I imagined that first bite hitting the spot, but I had to keep reminding myself that this might not be quite the creamy taste I was expecting. I was wrong. Very wrong. In fact, I think I prefer this vegan sauce over traditional butter sage sauce. It was a hit all across the apartment. Which means me, my friend and my roommate. And I’m pretty sure the cat would have licked all of our bowls clean had I not stopped him, but we needed those bowls for second helpings. This is a dish that I intend to make over and over again and not just for my vegan friends. Here’s the recipe from Love Food Eat with a few of my own additions…

250 grams of dry butter beans (I used 1 can of canned butter beans)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp olive oil
2-3 springs of sage (chopped)
1 packet Fettuccine (I used quinoa linguine)

Additions:
1 medium shallot minced
Zest of half a lemon

Heat butter beans in a saucepan in some water over medium heat and reserve the cooking liquid. Puree the beans in a food processor, slowly adding some of the cooking liquid until it evenly purees. Reserve the rest of the cooking liquid.

Heat olive oil in pot. Add garlic and shallots to the oil. Fry for a minute and add the fresh sage springs. Now add the butter bean puree to it and mix well. Slowly add the water reserved from cooking to thin it down to the required consistency. Bring it to a boil, season with salt and lemon zest and it’s ready!

Boil the fettuccine according to the instructions of the package and toss it in the butter bean sauce. Serve hot!

 You know those days where everything in your tiny little world seems to stand still for just long enough to take it all in? Those days where you just feel grateful for it all? Saturday was one of those days for me, and it was a simple day too. I woke up, met my cousin for brunch and we enjoyed some delicious poached eggs with herbs and cheese outside on a rare 60 degree day in Brooklyn. We caught up, walked around, did a little shopping, and explored neighborhoods by foot. On our walk, I received a phone call from one of my most favorite people- just to say hello and that he was thinking of me as he biked around where the wind took him on this unbelievably beautiful day. When I returned home, I felt inspired to cook something fresh and new, which put yet another smile on my face as I’ve been rather uninspired in the kitchen these past few weeks. I stopped off at the market and was drawn by some beautiful bulbs of fennel. As usual, I did a bit of googling and after finding many fennel and apple salads, I settled on my own version of a million recipes. I tossed some pecans and pecorino cheese into my basket and headed home to a plethora of shallots on my kitchen counter. I shaved the fennel, chopped the apples and shallots, toasted the pecans and shredded the pecorino. Pulling a few items from my cabinet, I tossed together an impromptu dressing and mixed it all together. With one bite, my taste buds were dancing and my  near perfect afternoon settled into a delicious evening.

1 medium bulb of fennel
1 green granny smith apple
1 medium shallot
1/2 cup toasted pecans
1/4 cup fresh shaved pecorino cheese
Dressing:
2 tbs grapeseed oil
2 tbs sherry vinegar
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
3 tbs honey
Pinch of salt
Cracked pepper to garnish

With a julienne peeler, peel fennel into small strands. Peel the skin off of the apple and cut the apple into thin slivers similar in size to the shaved fennel. Chop the shallot into long thin pieces. While you’re chopping, toast the pecans in a small pan over medium heat, flipping or tossing often, making sure not to burn them. Mix all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Combine fennel, apple, shallot, pecans and pecorino in a bowl and mix in dressing. Garnish with cracked pepper.

There’s no telling what is in store for 2012 and frankly I find that exciting. I do know that my last days of 2011 and first days of the new year were spent in sunshine with loved ones and good food, and if that’s any indication for the direction this year is headed, I’ll take it. I flew down to Miami to ring in the new year with my best friend Farah, her new hubby and their gorgeous new house. When Farah started talking about menu planning, I immediately took the reins and tossed out dishes that I was itching to contribute. She wanted to make an orzo pasta salad and I took that as an opportunity to give myself a little creative challenge.

So, with the help of my mom, we collaborated and created an impromptu dish that received tons of praise from the twenty plus hungry people anxiously awaiting the ball drop. My mom had the extra clever idea to add some black eyed peas into the mix. If the good luck myth rings true, it’s going to be a good year for everyone who chowed down that orzo salad on New Year’s Eve. We started off with the basics of a Greek style orzo salad, adding onions and pine nuts and olives. With the addition of some scallions, the black eyed peas and some sundried tomatoes, the dish felt nearly complete but something was still missing. The obvious addition was feta cheese but then my mom had the other genius idea to add some goat cheese instead. We tossed it in and dressed the salad with a little oil, vinegar and lemon and it was absolutely delicious, and proof that sometimes the best food is made on a whim with the cook you learned everything from. Here’s how we made it…

1 box of orzo pasta
5-6oz goat cheese
1 red onion chopped finely
4-5 scallions chopped finely
1 cup cooked black eyed peas
1 cup sundried tomatoes
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup chopped marinated black olives
1/2 cup finely chopped arugula
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

While the orzo is cooking in boiling water, chop and prepare all of your remaining ingredients. Strain orzo and mix in onion, scallions black eyed peas, sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, olive and arugula. Dress with olive oil, lemon and vinegar (add slowly and taste as you go until dressed to your liking). Mix in crumbled goat cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.

It happened again. Another supper club left me with a plethora of goat cheese in my refrigerator. One would think that I would learn to stop overestimating by now, but I can’t help but always air on the side of safe rather than cheeseless. So I once again found myself staring at the ingredients in my kitchen, trying to come up with a meal to toss the rest of this tangy delicious fromage into. Pasta was my first instinct and then I realized that I’ve probably made every pasta and goat cheese dish I could come up with. That’s when I saw it – a red beet sitting lonely-and also left over from supper club- on my refrigerator shelf. Since it is the season for warm, hearty pasta, I put some quinoa linguine on to boil and started experimenting with a sauce. The end result was exactly what my cool weather cravings were calling for. Sweet and savory, this meal warmed my cold weekday evening right up. Here’s how to make it…

1/2 box quinoa linguine
1 medium red beet, roasted and cut into small pieces
5-6oz goat cheese
1 medium shallot chopped into long thin pieces
1/2 a lemon (will only need a few squeezes)
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid
Salt and pepper to taste

While pasta is cooking, cook shallots over low-medium heat until soft. Add the goat cheese and beets and saute over medium heat while pasta finishes cooking. Add a few squeezes of lemon juice and slowly pour in cooking liquid from pasta. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Drain pasta and add sauce and top with pine nuts.

When my mom and I hand made quinoa ravioli a few weeks ago, I wanted to top it with something light to let the homemade flavors and textures shine. So, we decided to make a little sage, shallot and butter sauce. Unfortunately, not used to the electric stove that my mom has at home, I wound up burning the shallots a bit, but I still enjoyed the slightly crisp, delicious taste. The flavors screamed winter and I wanted to try making this sauce again when I returned home to 32 degree Brooklyn.

Back in the comforts of my gas stove, I cooked some quinoa linguine and tossed all of my ingredients into a pan over low heat and decided to add some brussels sprouts for texture and flavor. I topped it with some shaved grana padano cheese and a few toasted pine nuts and was in winter comfort food heaven. This might also be one of the most simple dishes I’ve made in some time. Gear up your winter appetites, folks. This dish will please your cravings. Here’s how to make it…

1 box quinoa linguine
6 tbs butter
1 large shallot
1 tbs fresh chopped sage
1 cup brussels sprouts chopped thin like confetti
Grana Padano to sprinkle on top
Salt and pepper to taste

Boil linguine in a large pot with water and a little bit of olive oil. Cook for 9 minutes. While the linguine is cooking, add butter to pan over medium heat. Once butter melts, add shallots and saute until softened. Add sage and brussels sprouts and let cook over medium heat until brussels sprouts are soft. Drain linguine, return to pot and pour sauce over pasta. Top with grated grana padano cheese or your choice of fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Recently, Bobbye, a Sprout & Pea reader asked me if I made my own quinoa pasta. Well, Bobbye, I never had but you inspired me to give it a go! I brought up the idea while I was home over Thanksgiving and my mom was equally excited about it so together we attempted to make some quinoa ravioli. It turns out all you need to make this protein packed pasta is some quinoa flour, arrowroot powder and eggs. We were skeptical about how easy the recipe sounded but if it turned out well, it would be an exciting solution to not being able to purchase quinoa ravioli or tortellini at the store. We made our dough, stuffed them with ricotta and tossed them into a pot of boiling water. When they floated to the top, we drained the water and topped them with a little sage brown butter sauce. When we took a bite, we were amazed at how great they had turned out. They even got my nit-picky eater dad’s approval. The one lesson I learned in making these is to thin out the dough a bit more than we did. I also would add a little salt to the dough next time. And there will be a next time. I absolutely plan to make these again soon. Here’s the easy as pie recipe from Grain Free Gluten Free…

Ingredients:
1 medium sized egg (approx. 60g or 2oz.)
¾ cup quinoa flour
2 tbs arrowroot or tapioca flour
Note: Use 1 egg for every 90 – 100g (3 ½ oz.or ¾ cup) flour. Increase the amounts to suit.

Bring ingredients to room temperature. Combine in a bowl and knead until it forms a firm dough. If the dough is too dry, add a very small amount of water to moisten. If the dough is too moist, add small amounts of flour and continue to knead.
The dough should be firm and smooth. When you press it to a flat surface and pull it away, none of the dough should stick. If it does, it is too wet. If the texture is at all crumbly, it is too dry.

Use a pasta maker or rolling pin to form into the desired thickness and shape. The pasta can stick together when it has been freshly cut. If you don’t plan to cook it immediately, lay it out so that each piece is not touching another until for about half an hour until the pasta has dried out a bit.

Plunge into boiling water for 2 – 3 minutes until al dente. Your quinoa pasta is ready to serve.

As always, Thanksgiving dinner was one of my best meals all year. My mom made cornish hens with potatoes, apples, celery root and lemons that turned out so flavorful and juicy (not surprisingly). She also made an amazing sweet potato soufflé, an apple chutney and a pumpkin cheese cake that we didn’t eat until the next night because we were too full by the time dessert came around. I contributed my cardamom and orange stuffing and some brussels sprouts to this meal for 12 that was made for 3. It worked out perfectly as we all got to happily enjoy leftovers and each others company for days. What did you make for Thanksgiving?