A bit of a long post to mention several things today... of course, I must begin with the food!! This is a new pasta dish that I created for my next VegNews article. It is a Roasted Tomato Pasta with Fresh Basil, Pine Nuts and Capers.I know, long recipe title - may not keep that name but it certainly is descriptive! This sauce is incredibly easy. The roasted tomatoes and seasonings are tossed into cooked pasta with basil, toasted pine nuts, and capers. Alongside is my Simplest Garlic Bread, which will also be featured in the article. Truly this is the fastest, most fuss-free garlic bread you can make (other than store-bought!) Refined flour police: Sound the alarms, this is *gasp* white bread in the photo! When testing this garlic bread recipe, I used sliced baguette, because many people will want to have garlic bread the traditional way - on white bread - and so this is how I tested it. A little refined once in a while won't kill us, folks!
The pasta is a kamut linguine (pictured right, Artesian Acres brand), which is wheat-free and whole grain, and delicious! This article and recipes will appear in the July/August issue of VegNews, and I will mention it again when it is published!Next, my publisher just informed me that they are almost out of stock of The Everyday Vegan and so are ready to start another printing. If anyone notices any typos or other errors, please e-mail (dreena@everydayvegan.com) me so I can communicate them to my publisher. I pour over my books through editing, but it is surprising what your eyes can skip! Also, if you are trying to buy TEV and there are no copies available online or in a bookstore... they will be replenished soon. You can still order it or ask your bookstore to bring it in, since these orders will speed the reprint process and ultimately hustle the distribution of books to your stores.
This is the 4th printing of TEV! I sincerely thank all of you who have bought this book (as well as Vive). Although my books don't have a bundle of reviews on amazon as other cookbooks do, it is clear that you have all been supporting them - and supporting me through your comments and feedback and posts... and I greatly appreciate that.
Finally, to show my appreciation, I have coordinated a hemp giveaway with Manitoba Harvest! They have generously agreed to give a basket of hemp products, including their hemp seed nut, hemp seed nut butter, and hemp seed oil! What a great opportunity for those of you with Vive to start testing out some of those hemp recipes, like Energy Cookies, Apple Hemp Muffins, and Sweet Maple-Hemp Vinaigrette!
So... hint, hint: Keep watch for the next hemp recipe post for details and your chance to win!
28 comments:
The pasta looks wonderful--pasta is one of my favorite foods!
Congrats on all the success with both of your books! (You deserve it!)
I am also very excited about the giveaway! I have been interested in hemp products for a long time now.
The pasta looks so good- it reminded me that I have to make lunch now! Daylight saving time to blame.
So I got the hint... (or did I?)
I have never written a review at Amazon, but I will do it both for TEV and VLV. Goodness, I don't know how many books I've decided to buy based on reviews and I honestly believe every aspiring vegan or even omnis should get your books!
...nuf said
Thanks Julie! I know that hemp isn't an 'easy' find for everyone in their grocery stores, too, so I hope this lends more awareness to hemp foods and gives someone the chance to experiment with the hemp recipes!
Hi Kai! (I think I'm still adjusting to dst myself) Oh dear... the hint, hint was for the giveaway, to 'stay tuned' next week... now I feel a little foolish!! Not that I mind if more reviews pop up, but that wasn't what I meant (I think I'll reword this post a little - whooops!) :)
Dreena, you are so inspiring! I can't believe I'm 'talking' (er blogging?) to someone so amazing.
How is the kamut pasta flavor? Does it stand out against the other flavors?
i so want thier hemp nut butter, but it's so freakin' expensive! i'm hopin i win, since i didn't win the free TEV book :(
Haha, sorry Dreena... I could be so naive sometimes! But I am serious about writing the reviews and I encourage your visitors who own the cookbooks to do so.
This is awesome and super-colorful. I like how you used Kamut and how you say that once in a while refined foods won't kill us. I agree, but it's nice to be whole- on every day levels.
I am excited for the new giveaway. It sounds like a major giveaway!
Oh, shtop it, Jess... umm, on second thought, no don't!! But, really, I'm amazing??... didn't you have oh, about 6 cakes going on your blog not too long ago???!! You're pretty amazing, lady!! As for the kamut pasta, it has a very pleasant, nutty flavor, and has a similar texture to a whole-wheat pasta. When I hear people say that they eat whole-wheat pasta and really don't mind the difference from white pasta, I wanna say "ok, then try the kamut pasta"!! It's healthy, higher in protein than rice pasta (though we like that too), and just has a good, wholesome nutty taste. Not at ALL overpowering, imo. The only trick is it can get mushy if cooked too long, and fall apart, but then so does most other pasta.
Hey Michelle! Yeah, the nut butter isn't cheap, but I find it goes further for us, just because I don't spread it as thick as say almond or pnut butter. But, for using in recipes, certainly I can go through it fast! :)
Hi again Kai! No, not naive at all - when I looked back I thought 'goodness, I should just shout it from the rooftops'!! I appreciate those kind and generous words... much thanks! :0
Hi Leslie, thanks!... yeah, I mean we eat whole-grain all the time, and the only time I use white flour is for the occasional cake (and even then I may use whole wheat pastry flour), or once in a while a nice artisan bread to have with a tasty pasta or soup. Simple pleasures once in a while go a long way. When your diet is whole and healthy almost all of the time, you can deal with a little bit of the 'bad' stuff!!
Being Italian I feel that I can intelligently comment on pasta (my mom would be so pleased). I have found that whole wheat pasta has the best texture and taste. I have experimented with so many different kinds of pasta (rice, kamut, spelt, etc) and I find them so starchy and sticky. In addition, buying pasta that's made in Italy is usually better quality because the standards are top notch. That being said, my favourite brand is bionaturae, which is made in Pisa. How lovely! Anyhoo, my two cents.
We don't eat pasta often (yes, I'm pretty sure I'm Italian) but when we do I try to reach for the whole wheat.
Dreena, your latest pasta dish looks so yummy. Pasta is such comfort food. Yum!
Oh, wow, that looks good. I will definitely want to get in on that hemp giveaway so I can try the stuff in Vive. I adore the Alpsnack with hemp seeds, but they're so expensive.
Hey Dreena, I will definately be staying tuned because I would love to win but I think there could be a complication if I did - I'm in Australia. If I was lucky enough to win all that hempy goodness, could it get shipped over here?
Huge congratulations on the success of your book!
I love the Manitoba Harvest Hemp seeds! A bag of them lasts a long time for me, so I don't think they work out to be very expensive. I reach for a handful to sprinkle on pasta dishes, oatmeal, grilled veggies etc... I plan to pick up their hemp oil soon too.
For those of you who can't have wheat and want an alternative to the rice pastas, look for "Gogo Quinoa", a gluten free pasta made of Quinoa and rice (i have only ever seen this at Whole Foods, but I'm sure other health food stores could order it in). I really like it. I find it helps to rinse the rice pastas well after cooking to get rid of some of the starch. These alternatives might help with your new gluten free recipes Dreena!
-Michelle
Thanks for your input, sweet pea! I like the kamut pasta, as well as rice pasta (though the rice does have a tendency to stick together easily), but I'm certainly not going to debate pasta with an Italian!! :) I haven't seen the bionature brand, but thanks for that tip!! I will google it now so I can keep an eye out for the label when I'm out and about. As I've mentioned before, I like to use non-wheat pastas because it's harder to sub other wheat products like tortillas and pitas for the variety in grains, but if this bionature brand is quite good, I'll give it a go! :)
Hi Danielle... I have been wanting to try those Alpsnacks for SO long! I have seen ads for them for at least a year, and we still don't have them in our stores here. I'm pretty sure I'd love them too!
Hi Madelyn! The article will be out in July/Aug... just when our farmers' market will have beautiful, big red tomatoes and other goodies!
Hi freedom! Oh phoo, one of the details I will be mentioning next week about the contest is that shipping will be to the US or Canada only. Gee, I'm sorry about that - shipping costs outside of US and Canada would be very prohibitive for me to arrange these contests. :( :(
Michelle, thanks for all that feedback about the hemp seed - that's great for people to hear... and it's true, unless you are using large amounts in a recipe, mostly you will use the nut sprinkled on foods and it certainly does last a while that way. Thanks also for that pasta tip... another brand I haven't seen (I hope we can get it here, I will google this one too). Great stuff, thanks! :)
I know I've seen kamut pasta in Portland, but sadly the store I did my week's shopping at today did not have it, I was a little surprised because they had every other alternative pasta I could think of. I ended up picking up whole wheat veggie spirals, because who can resist naturally colored pasta in bulk?? ; )
Dreena and others, I was wondering about vegan products when it comes to clothing. I just ordered winter boots from Vegan Essentials for next year. I've been freezing my feet this year to save a few bucks (the boots were on sale so my feet will be toasty next year). Do you extend your vegetarism to your clothing and shoes as well. If so, where do you buy quality products?
That's okay , I guess I'll have to keep looking aaround for hemp products - the US seems so far ahead of Aus sometimes in the products you have available - I get very jealous! But yes, the shipping would be pretty huge!
Yeah, that pasta does look good. I am no longer using "regular" pasta. I hope I can find some of that stuff somewhere around here.
Jess, that's surprising since I can find the kamut pasta at just about every store here, and I know that for the most part the selection in the US is better than it is here. Actually, I believe they might be a Cdn company - perhaps that's why. Ah well, at least you have pretty pasta now. :)
Sweet pea, that's a great question. I am quite fortunate in that I live on the West Coast, so we get snow about twice a year, a few inches (and with that the city almost shuts down). I grew up on the East Coast, used to huge snowfalls for months on end (in Newfoundland). Anyhow, I don't have to buy much special footwear, so I can get little sneakers or inexpensive shoes that are manmade materials. I shop at the local places like Payless or wherever I can find something cute that's also manmade. I would love to buy shoes on some of the websites like moo shoes, but I can't chance the shipping/exchange and not have them fit and fuss with sending them back, etc. I still have some leather things from waaaay back. Not much, a few pairs of black shoes and a leather belt. I don't tend to wear them, because they just aren't my style anymore. I consigned all the leather jackets I used to have from years back as well. I think that if you have some leather stuff like shoes and you don't feel uncomfortable wearing them, then you may as well wear them out rather than be wasteful and throw them out. Then, when you need new stuff, get the manmade. But, this being said I would LOVE to hear from more of you about where you buy your goods???!
Thanks for understanding, Freedom. The US is ahead of Canada as well for the availability of specialty vegan foods - and sometimes when we do get a few new things, wow they can be pricey!
Hi sdgvegan... I think we all became very used to the white pasta because that's what we were introduced to. But now, I really enjoy pastas that have a little extra nutty flavor and a touch more texture (not too fibrous of course, but a little). Good luck on the pasta hunt! :)
how exciting! hemp, hemp, horrray!!! I can't find it anywhere here... And, of course, the pasta looks incredible.
Dreena, I think I've been hanging out on this post more than anything else this weekend- for I'm back again!
I went to quite a 'hippie' grocery today today, and no kamut pasta either..however I saw an ad or recommendation for them in "Delicious Living" magazine, and I've actually had the kamut veggie spirals before - and in retrospect, I agree, they are tasty.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Aha, I got some kamut pasta yesterday. It wasn't on my list but as I walk past the pasta aisle I remembered you talking about it and there it was- kamut spirals! Hmm, what to do?
Our family loves whole wheat pasta, too, but had to throw out a whole batch of Bionaturae...so I guess it depends.
Hi! I hope your weekend was a good one! To answer your question about Living Among Meat Eaters…it was well written but I read about half of it and didn’t want to read anymore…it was more of what we hear day in and day out and how we could or should respond. I already know how to respond…I’ve been responding for 12 years. It upset me more than anything. I kind of thought it was more negative than positive or sounds a tad whiney…but maybe I took it the wrong way…I don’t know.
The pasta looks great! I bought capers a while back and haven't used them yet. Perhaps I will in PASTA! :)
Also...got a new oven so I hope to start trying to bake again!!!
Now Vicki, that's catchy... why didn't I think of that???!! :)
Jess, you can hang here anytime... as MUCH as you want!! Always happy to have you. :) I'm starting to suspect that this pasta is not as widely distributed in the US as I once thought. I'm fairly certain I've seen it in Washington, but I could be wrong as it's been a while since we've crossed the border to shop (tooo long now that I think of it)!
Hi Kai, and as I read on, I realize maybe it *is* available! :) Well, I'm glad I found it, and I guess pasta is really a personal preference thing - I mean, some people like it mushy, right?!
Hi Harmonia... capers are very tasty, strong though so you don't need a lot of them. Also great on top of pizzas or in sandwich fillings (kind of like you would use chopped pickles).
Maybe I will have to try some Capers on the Amy's Kitchen Vegan Pizza! Interesting!
Are hemp seeds and hemp nuts the same thing? I saw a bag at Whole Foods, but I didn't want to get them unless I was sure.
Hi Danielle, yes, they should be - as long as they are "shelled" hemp seed nuts. They should be about the size of sesame seeds, but roundish and creamy white/beige color with some greenish flecks, and softer than sesame seeds too. I think the two terms are often used interchangeably!
This pasta looks delicious. Thanks for the suggestion! Would butternut squash go with capers and basil?
I haven't purchased a book yet, but "pore" is used to describe looking through books or other items.
Hi anonymous... I think butternut squash would be very tasty with capers and basil. I always love a salty/sweet or spicy/sweet kind of combination, so I encourage you to go for it! (oh, and I'd love to know how you like it!) :)
Post a Comment