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
