Pinto Beans in Red Wine Sauce

I've never been a big user of mock meats in my vegan cooking, I think because I started out as a cook studying macrobiotics, in which the simplest foods are always preferred.   Occasionally I'll turn to tempeh for its strong flavor and "meatiness", but there's always a bit of precooking and marinating involved.  For heartier dishes I like to use beans because of their flavor, texture, and protein content.  There's no duplicity with beans--what you see is what you get.

Today I wanted a hearty meat-and-potatoes type of dinner, so I cooked up some pinto beans, which are great at soaking up whatever flavors you cook them with, in red wine with vegetables.  Instead of adding tomato paste to my red sauce I kept it AR friendly, using a sweet potato puree for its rosy color and thick sweetness.  To give a compliment to this hearty sauce I added some cooked portabello mushroom caps (otherwise known as vegan steak).  With a bed of brown rice or pasta, this filling dish will put some meat on your bones!

Ingredients:

1 cup broth
1 large carrot or two smaller carrots sliced into rounds
1 large potato, cubed
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1 sweet potato, cubed
1 1/2 cups dry red wine
2 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 large portabello mushroom caps, sliced into strips

Directions:

In a large covered saucepan, simmer carrots, potato, thyme, and bay leaves in broth for about 10 minutes until tender.

In a separate pot boil sweet potato until very soft and then mash finely or puree in food processor.  Set aside.

Add wine, beans, sweet potato puree, garlic, and salt to carrot and potato.  Return to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or more, until sauce reduces and becomes thick.

Meanwhile, cook mushrooms in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat, using a little olive oil if needed.  Cook 5 minutes or until mushrooms begin releasing their liquid.

Combine beans and mushrooms and serve over brown rice.  Garnish with a little fresh parsley if on hand.

Pasta with Pistachio Mint Pesto

I've gone dark for a while, but that doesn't mean I've stopped working the vegan love.  My boyfriend cooks most of the week now (and he's a great vegan chef in his own right) since I started working full time.  Because it's important to eat hours before bed when you have AR, we always eat between 6 and 7pm--most nights I'm not home in time to cook for us.  But believe me, there are no complaints here--I'm very lucky to have someone putting a hot dinner on the table when I walk in the door!

A day off gives me the opportunity to experiment with new dishes (and give my beloved cook a break), and today I made a pistachio and mint pesto that was dangerously good over spaghetti.  Nuts are a big part of our diet, and I like to work them into any recipe I can, as well as snack on them constantly.  The pistachio is a nut I've admittedtly neglected, and it really deserves better respect since it packs in A, B, C, and E vitamines, lutein, and antioxidants aplenty.  They also have been shown to lower the bad cholesterol and raise the good.  AND they are good sources of fiber and protein.

Once again, granulated garlic in this recipe cuts out the garlic juice that's problematic for those with AR, and I've been going with brown rice pasta lately to avoid gluten ('cause all the celebrites do it, you know?).  Fresh mint is essential to do this right, and the nutritional yeast gives it that gooey, cheesy flavor that makes it indulgent.  If you can find shelled pistachios, bonus for you!  I could only find the shelled ones, so we had a race to see who could shell the most nuts in a minute.  I won, of course.  But it was a win-win situation.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups shelled, roasted unsalted pistachios
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
bunch of fresh mint
1-2 T nutritional yeast
pinch of salt

12 oz brown rice spaghetti or other pasta

Directions:

Cook spaghetti in salted water according to package directions.  Brown rice pasta usually takes about 15 minutes boiling over medium high heat.

Pulse pistachios in food processor, adding in garlic, mint, nutritional yeast, and salt until you have a coarse puree.

Stream in 1/4 -1/3 cup olive oil and pulse to mix in.  You might need more or less, depending on how dry you want the pesto.

Drain spaghetti and toss in a large bowl with pesto, reserving a little to top off each serving.  Garnish with extra pistachio nuts.  Try not to eat to much.