Category: Recipe for kids

Linguine Vegetable Toss

Linguine Vegetable Toss

I was recently looking through my recipes and found this one written in my mother’s handwriting. My Mom is 84 is not a vegetarian or vegan, but she has always liked to try new recipes from time to time. This dish is easy (takes 30 – 35 minutes), is packed with vegetables and noodles, and serves 6 – 8 people (great for a family). Both my husband and I really liked it and I’ve been enjoying the left-overs this week (yummy!).

Linguine Vegetable Toss

Ingredients:

  • 1 16 oz box of linguine or other pasta
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into strips
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 cups zucchini unsealed, cut into thin strips
  • 1 red pepper, sliced into thin strips
  • 3 cloves of garlic (2 tsp.) minced
  • 1 Tbsp dried oregano
  • 1 Tbsp dried basil
  • 4 scallions (green onion) sliced
  • 4 cups plumb tomatoes cut into chunks (I substituted this with 2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes (unsalted)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Linguine and carrots after cooking together
  1. Start by cutting up all the veggies (ask someone to help – it will go quicker)
  2. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, mushrooms, red pepper and garlic. Cook until vegetables are tender.
  3. Add oregano, basil, zucchini, and scallions. Cook until tender. Add tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 8 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, put pasta and carrots in a pot of boiling water. Cook for 8 minutes (or whatever is called for on package). Drain and put back into pot.
  5. Slowly combine sautéed vegetable mixture with pasta and toss until coated. I like to put the pasta in a large serving bowl (pictured above) and then cover it with the veggie mixture and toss it together. My Mom’s recipe says, “Don’t let veggies fall to the bottom of the bowl.”
Veggie mixture simmering

I like to top this dish with some nutritional yeast in place of parmesan cheese.

Linguine Vegetable Toss

Lentil Sloppy Joes

Lentil Sloppy Joes

As a vegan, it is sometime a challenge to know what dishes to bring to social gatherings. Recently our church had a special potluck lunch with the theme “Holy Smokes” – featuring BBQ meat dishes. I took up the challenge and decided to try a recipe I found in the Feb/March 2019 edition of Taste of Home Magazine. This would be a great meal for families with younger kids. It was simple to make, tastes great and it serves 14 (perfect for potlucks and family gatherings)!

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 1 medium green pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
  • 1 medium carrot, shredded
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced (3 tsp.)
  • 2 cups reduced-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 cup dried red lentils, rinsed
  • 5 plum tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 can (8 0z) tomato sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. chili powder
  • 2 Tbsp. yellow mustard
  • 4 1/2 tsp. cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp. vegan Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp. honey
  • 1 1/2 tsp. tomato paste
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/8 tsp. pepper
  • 14 whole wheat hamburger buns, split and toasted.

Instructions:

  1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, peppers and carrot; cook and stir until crisp-tender, 6-8 minutes. Add the garlic; cook 1 minute longer.
  2. Add broth and lentils; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered until the lentils are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in chopped tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, mustard, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, honey, tomato paste, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve on buns.

Note: I found that this mixture was too sloppy so you may want to reduce the vegetable broth some. It did thickened some in the fridge overnight.

Nutrition info: 1 sandwich: 215 cal., 5 g fat (1 sat. fat), 0 cholesterol, 438mg sodium, 38g carbohydrate (8g sugar, 7 g fiber), 8g protein.