Two vegan dishes (for a change)
Recently I’ve gone to a vegan cooking class that’s held by some of my church friends. While their method of cooking involved some meat substitution, such as chicken substitute or soy protein crumbles, I am actually more interested in a different approach to vegan meals. I couldn’t say that I totally into the idea of making vegan dishes every week, but for a change, eating simple, meat-free, egg-free, dairy-free dishes sounds healthy to me. I want my family to feel good about their eating habit and I sheepishly wish that by eating some vegan or vegetarian meals some of the time will reverse the bad influence of all the desserts I’ve been making them eat 
I guess, I want to balance what we eat as a family. It may sounds politically incorrect but I am still not ready to give up my baking (with real butter, milk, cheese, cream, etc.) yet!
I came across a book by Donna Klein, Vegan Italiano, while I was in a bookstore browsing books last week. I love anything Italian, so I was very interested in what she presents in her book. After flipping some pages from her book, I was determined to look this book up in my library before I commit to anything. Luckily, my library has it. This is why I love living in West Linn, the book collection in the library couldn’t be beat!
All the recipes in the book don’t have a long list of ingredients to have to make the dishes, which is good because I’m looking for easy to make dishes for weekday meals. The only disadvantage is that the book doesn’t provide picture whatsoever. In spite of that, I’m convinced that it won’t be detrimental. So I made two vegan dishes last week, and they were Tuscan-Style Pizza Pockets with Beans and Basil and Florentine Pasta Salad with Lemon.
The pizza pocket didn’t have any cheese in the filling and strangely, I didn’t miss it at all. The pasta dish was good, I might be a bit biased because I would never say no a good pasta salad. My son ate them fine and my hubby didn’t complain, so we’re off to a good start! 
I’m planning to try some more recipe this week and I would share the recipes with you again.
Tuscan-Style Pizza Pockets with Beans and Basil
Makes 3 to 4 main-dish or 9 snack-size or appetizer servings
1 (15.5 ounce) cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup prepared pizza sauce—I made my own pizza sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil—I had frozen basil leaves from my garden, thawed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza dough
Preheat the oven to 425 degree F. Lightly grease a standard-size baking sheet.
In a small bowl, combine the beans, pizza sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Unroll the dough onto prepared baking sheet, stretching dough, if necessary, to fit. Cut into 9 rectangles. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of bean mixture on one side of each rectangle, leaving a small border of dough uncovered. Fold dough over to make a pocket. Using a fork, press the sides together. Bake on the center rack 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve warm.
And, almost always, whenever I make pasta dishes, they’ll go to the Presto Pasta Night. This week, the Presto Pasta Night #90, is hosted by Nilmandra at Soy and Pepper. Nilmandra has a gorgeous food blog, and she always makes killer bentos!
Florentine Pasta Salad with Lemon
Makes 4 to 6 main-dish or 8 side-dish servings
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
Juice of 1 medium lemon (about 3 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasonings
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste (optional)
Salt, preferably the coarse variety, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A few pinches of sugar, if desired, to cut back some acidity
12 ounces short pasta (thanks to one of my readers, she mentioned that the pasta should be a vegan pasta for this dish to be totally vegan)—I used elbow macaroni
4 cups loosely packed spinach leaves, finely shredded
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered, depending on size.
In a small bowl, whisk the oil, broth, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, lemon-pepper seasoning, red pepper flakes (is using), salt, black pepper, and sugar (if using) until thoroughly blended. Let stand at room temperature about 5 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, then whisk again.
Meanwhile, in a large stockpot filled with boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain well and return to the pot. Add spinach and toss until wilted. While still quite hot, add the dressing, along with the tomatoes; toss well to thoroughly combine. Let come to room temperature a minimum of 3 hours, or overnight, and serve chilled or return to room temperature
Source: adapted from Vegan Italiano by Donna Klein
keknya gw gk sanggup bikin makanan vegan dah liz. tapi kalau dimasakin mau qiiqqii
btw, ada resep kue batang keju yg enak gk? let me know ok:)
gue jg gak sering2 koq, sekali2 biar sehat
maksud elo kaastengel? ada sih, entar gue kirim lewat email yah..
Comment by dwiana — November 17, 2008 @ 4:52 pm
those pizza pockets not only look amazing (how come I never never get anything in my oven to brown that beautifully?) but they seem like they’d taste fantastic. i’m definitely adding this to my list of recipes to try. and soon!
i wish i could answer your question
but thanks for dropping by and hopefully you’ll have a chance to try it.
Comment by Anne — November 18, 2008 @ 8:36 am
Those pizza pockets look so cute and tasty, the crust looks incredible!
thanks Sophie!
Comment by Sophie — November 18, 2008 @ 10:13 am
Those are delicious meal you have for your family. Not only healthy (er) yet delicious and pretty presentable. Cheers, Elra
i’m trying to eat a balance and interesting meal Elra
Comment by elra — November 18, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
The pizza pocket is so cute! Must try it out for my son. Tks for ur sharing. Your photos are so stunning!
thanks for stopping by, i hope your son will like the pizza pocket!
Comment by lk — November 18, 2008 @ 9:47 pm
Who said healthy food couldn’t look good? These dishes look great and that pasta salad sounds great with the lemon.
yeah…i’m glad these two came out great!
Comment by Mrs. L — November 19, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Beautiful vegan dishes! I’m not a vegetarian/vegan, but I do enjoy having a few meals every week that are meatless. If you’re into it, next time you’re at the library you should really check out Vegamonicon. It’s the best cookbook ever! I’ve made several things from it, and everything has been amazing!
yes, I’m like you too. so far I love Deborah Madison’s book, but I’ll try your suggestion. hopefully my libraryy has it
Comment by Andrea — November 20, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
both look sooo good!! and though super late, wanted to say thank you for the nice comment on my salted white chocolate cookies…life has been so busy…just trying to keep up! have a great weekend, eliza!
hi Missy…great to hear from you again! i hope you’ll have a great Thanksgiving week…I’m going to be away that weekend, so I’ll be busy too
Comment by missy — November 21, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
They all look scrumptious! May I have some?
of course, you’re always welcome in my kitchen
Comment by tigerfish — November 22, 2008 @ 3:12 am
Great looking dishes – even the carnivore (me!) can’t resist. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights. I always enjoy it when you do.
thanks Ruth, glad you approved the recipes
Comment by Ruth — November 22, 2008 @ 6:13 am
Your Florentine pasta looks absolutely wonderful. I can’t wait to try it.
thanks for stopping by Mary, i hope you’ll have a good time trying it
Comment by Mary — November 22, 2008 @ 6:56 am
Wow, these are both gorgeous! I love the idea of using cannellini beans as filling for a calzone. Thanks for sharing the recipes and lovely pics.
hi Libby, i’m glad you like the suggestion! i know, i love to have a different filling once in a while.
Comment by Libby — November 23, 2008 @ 10:26 pm
That pasta looks lovely!
And I like that you used elbow macaroni – I’m always looking for a good excuse to use that type of pasta…
:) i grabbed whatever i stock in my pantry…
Comment by jd — December 3, 2008 @ 2:36 am
Pizza pockets look absolutely delicious!
Comment by Sunshinemom — December 4, 2008 @ 2:41 am
they both look delicious! i’m looking forward to trying the pasta dish. however, i don’t think regular pasta counts as vegan because it contains egg…
ooppss…you’re right! in my hindsight (since i’m not vegan) i forgot to pasta. yes, feel free to substitute it with vegan pasta!
Comment by desi — January 19, 2009 @ 9:37 am
I’ve been on a huge pasta kick lately (okay, I always am!), so your pasta dish really caught my eye.
I mean, beautiful photography + a yummy recipe? What’s not to like?!
I can’t wait to try this – thanks!
hi JD, thanks for coming back
i am always a huge fan of pasta too, i could not live without carbo actually 
Comment by jd — March 27, 2009 @ 10:15 pm