Monday, August 11, 2008

Pasta Dinner

We had a pasta dinner for a change on Sunday. I didn’t spend too much time preparing the food or taking the photos. I was more interested in watching the Olympics and enjoying all the great athletic specimens.

Our pasta was Broccoli and Chickpeas on Whole Wheat Spaghetti. It was real garlicky and real delicious.




I made Chase Apricot Almond Tofu. I thought he might just take it home to eat later, but he ate two pieces in addition to a pile of pasta. The tofu was baked in a sweet and spicy apricot mustard sauce and topped with toasted almonds.



And I made Antipasto Salad to go with our spaghetti. I layered steamed green beans, carrot shreds, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and olives in a bowl, and before serving poured a vinaigrette over the top.


I hadn’t made bread in a while, and of course you need good bread to eat with pasta, so I made a Whole Wheat Bread in the bread machine. It turned out lovely, crispy crust and soft inside.


And for dessert, Strawberry Cupcake Mountains. I made Cupcake Mountains before (here) with chocolate cuppers and vanilla frosting. For this dessert, I made VCTOTW vanilla cupcakes and added in the juice and zest of one lime for lime flavored cupcakes. I made a fresh strawberry sauce for the layers. Strawberry and lime is the most refreshing flavor combination ever.



These are so fun to make and adaptable to any flavor combinations you like.

Thanks to everyone who left such nice comments on my previous post. Vegyogini asked for my Cilantro Spinach Pesto recipe, so I will oblige here. This is my favorite thing to put on zucchini shreds for my gluten free pasta. Cilantro fans will love this!
Cilantro Spinach Pesto

½ cup raw pumpkin seeds
4 cloves garlic
½ cup fresh chopped cilantro
½ cup fresh chopped spinach
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. soy sauce
1 medium to large chopped fresh tomato

Put all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.


Gotta get back to Beijing! Have a great week!

20 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I always love your SUnday dinners :0) The Antipasto Salad and pasta look wonderful; the Strawberry-Cupcake Muffins look divine; the pesto sounds delicious. Yum!!

Rose said...

Your Cilantro Spinach Pesto sounds so delicious. I'm definitely gonna give it a try!

Vegan_Noodle said...

That cupcake mountain is so cute! Even though you didn't spend much time on dinner, it still looks amazingly delicious!

Katy said...

Mmmmmm, the strawberry cupcake mountain looks soooo good! I definitely need to make it!

Carrie™ said...

We always love a good pasta dish and I think the one you made sounds wonderfully delicious! Cute cupcakes!

Amey said...

Such a nice post. I saw your shortcake towers on Flickr and came over to check 'em out. So cute and tasty-looking. I've been digging the Olympics too... in fact I'm watching some diving right now! Hope you are doing well... :)
Amey

Amy said...

Mmmmm cupcakes mountains! YUM!

And I'll definitely be trying that Coriander Spinach Pesto.

jessy said...

what a great combination for the whole wheat spaghetti - tasty veggies & chick peas. it looks wonderful! so does the apricot almond tofu! and your antipasta (i love the tomatoes), the bread (it looks too perfect), and the strawberry mountains = AWESOMENESS! what a glorious dinner with tons of yumminess! superw00t!

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

Thank you so much for the recipe and the link! As always, your food looks delicious. :)

LK Sisters said...

All the food looks good - especially warm soft homemade bread on a rainy day like today!

Thank you for your very kind words - it means alot. We appreciate all of our "blogging" friends. May God bless you, Lisa and Krista

VeganCowGirl said...

Your pasta looks so good! And the mountains are just so cute! Great idea to add the lime - it always makes everything taste so fresh.


It all looks great. Can you come and make me Sunday dinner? Please? :)

Anonymous said...

Which ww bread recipe do you use? I've only made bread once and it turned out too dense for my taste.

I love the cupcake towers! So fun!!

Anonymous said...

you're just a great photographer! I could almost lick the screen.

Katie said...

I'm addicted to the Olympics too :)

Everything in this post looks so tasty! Great photos. I love your blog!

Teresa said...

Could you post this whole wheat bread recipe, please? It looks great! I have a bread machine and would love to give it a go. Thanks.

Liz Ranger (Bubble Tea for Dinner) said...

so funny - my mom used to make me spaghetti exactly like that ALL the time (except without chickpeas, which would have been awesome if she had). Makes me nostalgic! And I love the cupcake mountain, it's like a teeny layer cake. :D

Anonymous said...

I have never heard of or tried cupcake mountains...but that will no longer be a true statement by the end of the month! I can't wait to try it!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Mmm mmm mmm I would'v eaten some of the tofu too, even if I was completely full, because it looks so good.

And the pasta sounds wonderful-- garlic makes the world go round.

urban vegan said...

That is one lovely Sunday dinner--much nicer than the pot roast dinners that I eschewed as a kid! Your posts are always such feasts for the eyes.

Erin said...

The pasta and the tofu look so delicious! The cupcake mountain idea is totally cute, I'd love to replicate that sometime. So fancy!