Menu for the plant-based palate - vegan gourmet - ingredients for vegetarian cooking - includes recipes

Vegetarian Times, August, 2003 by Marie Oser

Pasta is inexpensive, easy to prepare and delicious, which makes it an excellent choice for a summer evening meal. Garden Penne Pasta features fresh baby carrots, chunks of zucchini as well as edamame in a rich-tasting tomato sauce.

Shelled edamame adds texture to any dish and is widely available, fresh or frozen, in health food stores and many supermarkets. While edamame in the pod is also a popular snack, when shelled, it becomes a convenient addition to soups, salads, and vegetable and grain dishes. Use shelled edamame in place of lima beans, peas or corn in many dishes with delicious results.

Sugar Snap Peas with Mushrooms is a colorful dish that combines crisp green pea pods, earthy portobello mushrooms, red bell peppers and toasted sesame seeds with a touch of lemon and marjoram. Sugar snap peas are a cross between garden--English--peas and snow peas, and they possess the best characteristics of both. Snap peas are delightful eaten raw in a salad or minimally cooked.

A popular tropical island dessert and a classic soul food menu item, fried bananas can contain lots of fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Our plant-based rendition contains only 2 grams of fat per serving. In this easy dish, the bananas are lightly browned in a small amount of nonhydrogenated, butter-flavored margarine and topped with a satiny fudge sauce that comes together in about 10 minutes. The Amaretto Fudge Sauce is made with an unrefined brown sugar called muscovado, a fine-quality sugar naturally high in molasses with a rich aroma and sticky texture. This darker sugar is particularly delicious in spice cakes or anything chocolate.

Garden Penne Pasta

SERVES 8

This zesty pasta dish is a summer favorite.

2     lb. fresh tomatoes, peeled
1     Tbs. olive oil
1/4   tsp. crushed red pepper
3     cloves garlic, minced
1     medium-sized red onion, chopped
1     cup sliced baby carrots, cut into
1/4   inch-thick pieces
1     medium-sized zucchini, quartered
      lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch-long
      pieces
1     6-oz. can tomato paste
3/4   cup Merlot
2     Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1     cup shelled edamame, preferably
      fresh
1/3   cup chopped fresh basil
1/4   cup chopped Italian parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4   tsp. sea salt
1     lb. penne pasta, cooked according
      to package directions

1. To peel tomatoes easily, wash thoroughly
and, using a paring knife, detach stern ends
without cutting into flesh. Score bottom
end of each tomato with shallow "x," and
set aside. Prepare large bowl of ice water,
and set aside, In 5-quart saucepan or Dutch
oven, bring 3 quarts water to a rolling
boil. Drop tomatoes into boiling water for
30 seconds, or until skins begin to peel.
Remove tomatoes immediately with slotted
spoon, and immerse in ice bath. Let tomatoes
sit for 5 minutes. The tomatoes should
still be firm with slightly wrinkled skin beginning
to separate, making skin slip off easily

2. Place tomatoes in food processor, and
pulse to chop. Set aside.

3. Heat oil and crushed red pepper in
5-quart saucepan over medium-high heat,
1 minute. Add garlic and onion, and saute
3 minutes. Add carrots and zucchini, and
cook 5 minutes, or until vegetables soften.
Add tomatoes, and spoon in tomato paste.
Reduce heat to medium-low, fill paste can
with Meriot and pour into saucepan. Add
balsamic vinegar, and mix thoroughly. If using
frozen edamame, cook according to package
directions, and set aside.

4. Cook sauce 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add edamame, basil, parsley, thyme and
salt, and cook sauce 10 minutes longer. You
can make sauce one day ahead, and refrigerate
in covered container.

5. To serve, combine sauce with pasta.
PER SERVING: 310 CAL; 12G PROT; 3G TOTAL
FAT (1G SAT. FAT); 53G CARB; 0MG CHOL;
259MG SOD; 6G FIBER; 8G SUGARS

Fried Bananas with Amaretto
Fudge Sauce

SERVES 8

This dish is so dreamy, you'll want to enjoy
it again and again. Leftover fudge sauce
will keep, covered, for several days in the
refrigerator, although it will harden. Reheating
will return the sauce to its original
satiny texture.

Amaretto Fudge Sauce

1   cup unrefined dark brown
    molasses sugar (muscovado sugar)
1/4 cup brown rice syrup
3   Tbs. Amaretto
2   Tbs. lemon juice
3   Tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder

Fried Bananas

8 medium-sized, firm, ripe bananas,
  peeled
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. nonhydrogenated, butter-flavored
  margarine

1. To make Amaretto Fudge Sauce: Combine
molasses sugar, rice syrup, Amaretto
and lemon juice in heavy-gauge saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat,
cooking 3 minutes, and stirring frequently,
When sugar dissolves, whisk in cocoa powder
and reduce heat to low, cooking 2 minutes,
Remove from heat, and set aside.
Sauce thickens as it cools.

2. To prepare Fried Bananas: Slice bananas
in half lengthwise and widthwise. Sprinkle
bananas with lemon juice to maintain
color, and set aside.

3. Heat margarine in nonstick skillet 1
minute over medium-high heat, or until
margarine melts. Place bananas in single layer
in skillet, and cook 3 minutes on each side, or
until golden brown. Remove bananas to individual
serving plates. Drizzle with Amaretto
Fudge Sauce, and serve immediately.

PER SERVING: 252 CAL; 2G PROT; 2G TOTAL
FAT (1G SAT. FAT); 62G CARB; 0MG CHOL;
24MG SOD; 4G FIBER; 52G SUGARS

Sugar Snap Peas with
Mushrooms

SERVES 8

Unlike snow peas, snap peas are relatively
stringless and need be trimmed only at the
stem end.

1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1     Tbs. dried minced garlic
1     medium-sized sweet onion such as
      Vidalia or Maui, chopped
2     large shallots, minced
1     large red bell pepper, cut into
      2-inch strips
6     oz. portobello mushrooms, diced
2     lb. fresh sugar snap or snow peas,
      trimmed
3     Tbs. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
1/3   cup toasted sesame seeds

1. Heat oil in wok or 10-inch skillet, add
dried minced garlic and saute over medium-high
heat, 1 minute. Add onion, shallots
and bell pepper, and saute 3 minutes. Add
mushrooms, and cook 4 minutes, or until
vegetables begin to soften. Add peas, and
cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently,

2. Reduce heat to medium-low, and add
lemon juice and marjoram. Cook 1 minute,
sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve
immediately.

PER SERVING: 131 CAL; 6G PROT; 3G TOTAL
FAT (0G SAT. FAT); 22G CARB; 0MG CHOL;
127MG SOD; 7G FIBER; 9G SUGARS