Category Archives: Italian

Whole Food Plant-Based Italian recipies

Eggplant (sort of) Caponata

eggplant
Summer in New Orleans means eggplant and lots of it! The abundance of it, particularly coming out of garden has forced me to find creative ways to serve it.

Don’t get me wrong, I like eggplant. I use it in various Asian dishes, grilled (used as a sandwich filling), in salads and still I have more eggplant. (more…)

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Vanishing Pesto

basilLast week the weather was alternatively sunny and humid or rainy and even more humid. The herbs really love it and the basil has grown like mad. By Saturday it was starting to bolt and take over the garden.

I was down to use it or lose it time. I waded through the mud, out to the garden and started cutting. Brought in all the cuttings, stripped the leaves and the bolted flowers. Ended up with 8 cups of washed and tightly packed leaves and bolted flowers. (more…)

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Amy’s Kitchen – Healthy Prepared Vegan and Gluten Free Food

We are packing away. It is amazing how much junk you can accumulate in a couple of years. The hardest part is making decisions – what to do about those little but useful items. For example all the special use kitchen items, the myriad little items hidden away in cabinets and drawers or the box of hooks, picture hangers and rug grippers. None of them are particularly expensive or irreplaceable. It just cost money and time to replace them. To keep or not to keep? My rule of thumb is that if I haven’t used it since we moved here 2 years ago, out it goes either for a yard sale or donation. But there are still a lot of “iffy” items. This part drives me nuts!! Which means all I want to do is eat! amy tamaleThat is the long way of saying that we are either too busy or too tired to think much about cooking. Terrible, when you a chronically hungry (something called stress eating). Interestingly, this time out, I am finding it important to not eat junk. So, last Thursday we took a little trip to the local health food store to see if we could find something prepared that would work. (more…)

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The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet is in the news. A Spanish study showed that people at risk for heart disease eating a Mediterranean diet were 30% less likely to die of cardio-vascular disease than the control group who ate a standard low-fat diet. It is interesting to note that group who ate the Mediterranean Diet added extra helpings of extra-virgin olive oil or mixed nuts.

The Mediterranean Diet in this study the Mediterranean diet is composed of plant-based foods:  olive oil, fruit, nuts, vegetables, legumes, and cereals. Along with some animal based products like fish and poultry, and limited amounts of dairy products, red meat and processed meats,. And just for fun wine and chocolate are allowed. (more…)

Posted in Caldwell Esselstyn, heart disease, heart disease, Italian, John McDougall, Pasta, plant based diet, T. Colin Campbell, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Quick and Dirty Broccoli* Mac and “Cheese”

When it comes to comfort food, I am developmentally stuck somewhere in childhood. My favorite things to eat when I feel bad (besides chocolate) are mac and cheese, mashed potatoes with gravy and beets (don’t ask). I probably ought to note that mac and cheese is a favorite no matter how I feel and giving it up was the hardest part of giving up dairy.

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Eggplant “Non-Parmesan”

FOOFET03My friend Beth gave me an assignment – create a vegan (non-dairy), gluten-free, fat-free (or close too it), additive-free Eggplant Parmesan to use in Sandwiches.

You know how I am, can’t resist a challenge. So I started experimenting. Many of the recipe components can be found on the Basic Recipes PagesTapioca Eggs, Cashew Cheese and Quick Italian Red Sauce. Please refer to that page for the specific recipe otherwise this post is going to be way to long.

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Summertime and the Livin’ is Easy

My favorite part of gardening is watching the seeds sprout and poke up through the ground.  My second favorite part is harvesting the food. Third, is eating it.

It is immensely gratifying to actually see the results of all your hard work. Watering, weeding, keeping after pests and fungi is hard work. Never mind the transplanting and soil prep.  It’s definitely work!  But there are so few things in life where you can actually see, taste and experience such tangible and direct results.

Harvesting means menu planning.  Now, in the winter menus are usually about the finished product – casseroles, soups, stews and meatless meatloaves.  In the summer it is about making sure I have cooked rice and beans in the fridge, nuts in the pantry and a few things in the freezer.

Posted in Cote Home Grown Fare, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, Italian, menu, Pasta, salad, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lasagna

David found a package of rice lasagna noodles the other day and said, “you know, I am really hungry for lasagna.  Think you can make a vegan version that tastes good?”

Nothing like a challenge!  Especially since lasagna is one of those quick meals that is perfect for a crowd. The trick, of course is to bake it on low heat with lots of liquid so you never have to precook the noodles!  I really have not made this dish since we gave up dairy last year so I figured I just wing it and see what happened.

first zuchThe place to start was with my more or less standard combination of vegetables (carrots, zucchini, green pepper, onions, garlic and spinach). That was all easy!  The part that took a little thinking was what to use in place of ricotta cheese. (more…)

Posted in additive-free food, Cote Home Grown Fare, diary-free food, entrée, fresh veggies, garden, gluten-free food, Italian, Pasta, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based recipes | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pasta And Veggies

There must be some Italian buried in my genes!  It would at least explain why I love pasta so much!  When David found out he was gluten intolerant I was pretty sure my life was over.  No more pasta??

Fortunately there are a lot of great gluten-free pastas on the market.  After trying brown and wild rice, corn and quinoa, we decided we like brown rice best.  But if you haven’t experiment with the kinds, you owe it to yourself to try.

This is my own version of veggie pasta based very loosely on a similar dish I once ate at California Pizza Kitchen.

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