The Collegiate Vegan

Alright, happy June y’all! I ate in Boston’s North End this weekend, and it’s set me off on an Italian cooking bender. It’s also ridiculously hot in Boston this week, and the heat has made me lazy. The combination of those two things resulted in this super easy, single-serving, 15 minute pesto pasta- still from scratch!

• One serving pasta
• 1/3C loosely packed basil
• 1-2T olive oil
• 2t garlic powder
• salt
• 2-3T water
• 5-8 cherry tomatoes
• A few artichoke hearts

1) Boil water and cook your pasta
2) While the pasta is cooking, combine basil, olive oil, salt and garlic. Add only one tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture blends easily. Note: This will vary depending on what kind of blender you’re using.
3) When the pasta has 3-5 minutes left, toss in your tomatoes and artichoke hearts with it so that they cook.
4) Drain pasta, tomatoes, and artichokes. Pour into a bowl, and combine with pesto sauce. Enjoy!

Edamame: Young soy beans, usually still in the pod but sometimes sold shelled. Available fresh or frozen in most grocery stores. Edamame is soft, unlike the hard, mature soybeans used to make soy milk and tofu.

1) It’s packed with complete protein: Soy has all of the essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. 1/2C is 120 calories with 13g protein, and of course, cholesterol free.

2) It’s easy to cook: For fresh or frozen edamame, with shells or shelled, boil in water until thawed or microwave in a dish with a few tablespoons for a few minutes. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

3) It’s versatile: You can eat edamame by itself for an appetizer or side dish, use it to top your salad or stir fry, make a high protein hummus, or make a yummy quinoa or barley salad with it.

4) It’s high in fiber, vitamins and minerals: That 1/2C serving has 4g of fiber, which helps lower cholesterol and reduce heart disease. It’s also rich in vitamins C, B, and E, as well as calcium and iron.

5) It’s good for you: Recent studies show that women who are more soy survive certain types of cancer better.

My roommates and I decided to make this spontaneously this weekend, and the whole process took us 15 minutes from start to delicious.

• 2C rolled oats
• 1-2T agave syrup
• 1-2T olive oil
• 1.5T cinnamon
• 2t nutmeg
• handful of almonds, chopped (or any nuts)
• 5 dates, chopped (or any dried fruit)

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until crispy. Shake pan every five minutes to make sure granola doesn’t burn. Allow a few minutes to cool, and enjoy!

Mexican doesn’t get much easier than this-

• 6 corn tortillas
• 1 can refried beans (I like the kind with chiles)
• salsa
• guacamole

Spoon refried beans on the tortilla, and roll up using the beans as glue to keep them shut. Lay taquitos in a casserole dish and bake at 350, flipping every 5 minutes until crispy. Usually takes 15-20 minutes. Top with salsa and guac, and enjoy!

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1T olive oil
• 1/4C and 1T buffalo sauce, separated

1) Toss the chickpeas in olive oil and either roast in the over at 425 for 15 minutes, or heat in a skillet for 15 minutes stirring constantly. We want them to get a little crispy.
2) Stir the chickpeas in a hot skillet with 2T of the buffalo sauce. Once it’s been absorbed, stir in the other two and heat for 5 more minutes.
3) Divide into two servings and drizzle remaining buffalo sauce over the chickpeas.

Enjoy!

• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1t cumin
• 1/4t cayenne
• 1t chili powder
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2C veggie broth
• 1/3C salsa
• 1t lime juice
• 1C corn
• avocado

1) Saute onion with a little veggie broth until translucent, then add spices and stir to coat.
2) Add the rest of the veggie broth, beans and salsa. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
3) Remove from heat, blend half the mixture and return to the pot.
4) Stir in lime juice and corn.
5) Serve with avocado on top, and enjoy!

• 1 1/2C cous cous
• 10-15 brussel sprouts, halved
• 5-7 mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• olive oil
• 1T thyme
• 1T rosemary
• 1T oregano

1) Cook cous cous according to package directions.
2) Saute onion in olive oil until translucent, then add brussel sprouts, mushrooms and herbs. Continue to saute for another 10 minutes.
3) Combine with cous cous, and enjoy!

(Makes 6)

• 3 large, green bell peppers
• 1C brown rice
• 1C chopped spinach (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 block tofu, chopped into small cubes
• 1C Trader Joe’s Thai Green Curry Sauce (or other type of curry sauce)

1) Cook the rice, then stir in sauce, spinach and tofu cubes.
2) Slice the peppers in half and remove the seeds, then stuff with the rice mixture.
3) Bake at 350 for one hour, enjoy! I garnished mine with avocado.

Making your own sweet potato chips is EXTREMELY easy.

• 1-2 large sweet potatoes
• a little olive oil
• some salt
• cinnamon (optional)

Thinly slice your potatoes, a mandoline works best but you can slice them by hand too. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and cinnamon. Lay them out on a baking dish and bake at 425 for 25ish minutes. Check and shake the pan every ten minutes to make sure they don’t burn.