Vegan Italian Sausage Chunky Minestrone & Easy Olive Oil Garlic Toast

I like these new purple plates but I'm not sure they look that great in photos.

Yesterday was a big day for the ol' Shannons. As many of you know, our kitchen in Norfolk was about the size of a bathtub. One of the selling points of our new place in Brooklyn was the bigger kitchen. There was room for a kitchen island to increase the counter space, and of course there was the coveted exposed brick. But even with all this upgrading, we were only half way to our dream kitchen. We needed something extra for all our pretty plates and schmancy wine glasses and all those random grains I like to experiment with and other random yumminess. That's why last weekend my handsome husband built me a Tardis!

Click on these photos to enlarge.

Now if you don't watch Doctor Who, you might not know what a Tardis is or what the hell I'm talking about. See, the infamous Tardis was created by the Time Lords to travel through time and space and is able to blend into it's surroundings using something called the 'chameleon circuit' while having the mystifying ability to be larger on the inside. Our new 'Tardis' not only matches all our kitchen gear but has pretty much doubled our cabinet space. This one addition to our kitchen is what I am calling a game changer and is pretty much one of the best things to ever happen to the Shannon kitchen since we starting making the vegan fried egg!

Check out how much it holds!

The only downside is that construction took up most of the kitchen Sunday but even without a kitchen... there is always the slow cooker. Minestrone is a thick soup that is as common on Italian dinner tables as pasta. It is also one of those soups that it is easy to take for granted because it is often already vegan but this one includes some vegan Italian sausage to make it a complete meal in a bowl. It's an easy dinner that pretty much makes itself. This soup is also kinda like The Doctor's Tardis ironically enough. It's full of way more vegetables and subtle savory flavors than you would think. We had ours with some Olive Oil Garlic Toast - a recipe I am sharing for those folks who love garlic bread but are trying to avoid the palm oil in most margarine. I actually think I might prefer the olive oil version but I'm a sucker for olives and olive oil and all things even a little related.

The downside to the slow cooker is pretty obvious. It's slow. This soup takes about a half hour to prep for and about 6 hours to make. So we should get started!

The Betty Crocker Project : The Impossibly Easy Vegan Macaroni & Cheese Pie

*Read the comment section for updates concerning this recipe*

Not that long ago there was this flood of Mac & Cheese recipes that hit the internet. There was impressive pizzas, ambitious deep fried nuggety things and I seem to remember one that was on a stick. I'm willing to admit that last one might have been a dream I had once. It was marvelous because it seemed like around the world there were all these amateur food scientists working away in kitchen laboratories with boiling posts of pasta and vats of faux cheese*. All striving to recreate the ultimate American classic. Muahahahaa.

Ironically Betty has a bunch of recipes from circa 1970 that did that in a remarkable way. I mean of course she did. What doesn't that lady do? Now you might remember like a year and some change ago we took a stab** at  veganizing Betty's Cheeseburger Pie. It was one of the very first recipes where we really closed our eyes and just fell into Betty's arms like some fraking co-workers on a team building retreat. This recipe is a take on that little gem that is actually pretty amazing. I'm pretty sure that for some of you loyal lurkers, public followers and vegan Betty-heads, this was the kind of recipe you were looking forward to when we decided to take on the challenge of veganizing Betty's Big Red. So I hope you guys give this a recipe a chance. I think next time we make this I might add some Bac-os*** and broccoli florets because this recipe is really good but I think with a little extra is could be super awesomepants. I'm not sure if awesomepants are better than awesomesauce. Sometimes I just type things and make myself laugh.

Are you ready to be awesomepants? (ones you can dance in and make romance in - again sometimes I just type)

The Betty Crocker Project : Spaghetti alla Carbonara

So a funny thing happened the other day. We had been warned for years that a black cloud was rolling in that would shake the foundations of our relationship and destroy our marriage like a lighting bolt from above . I mean we even heard from some folks that the very nation we lived in would be sucked into the ocean this weekend. But a funny thing happened...

We woke up still married and in still love. We had plenty to eat and a roof over our heads. Kittens to pet and give treats. Life as we knew it did not end, or even change at all. There were no locusts at the door or frogs falling from the sky. The only thing of note that actually happened was that we woke up proud to be New Yorkers... and Italian.

To send internet thanks to two Italian gentlemen from the Empire State that did the right thing and played key roles in not legalizing bigotry*... We are posting this Italian classic Spaghetti Carbonara. Yeah, we're looking at you, Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Senator Mark Grisanti **.

Spaghetti Carbonara is one of those dishes that many of heard of, but no one really knows where it came from. I mean, there are some that claim it is a dish passed down from the Romans. But I feel like I can be honest with you... they say that about anything awesome in Italy. There are many who think it has something to do The Carbonari, a 19th century secret society that played a key role in unification of Italy. But really the first documentation of it was found around WWII. While the US occupied Italy, the troops sometimes traded their powdered eggs and bacon with the people. Many returning troops fell in love with Spaghetti. They brought their passion for this pasta with them and Spaghetti Carbonara hit menus everywhere.

OK la lezione di storia sopra! Mangiamo della pasta già!

Fresh Lemon Asparagus Soup will make you happy... worked for me.

When professional chefs make soup, there are several steps. Fancy soup is judged by how uniformly cut all the vegetables are, and is expected to be strained through a china cap. So I feel like I'm showing my amateur status by posting this as a soup*. See, I could have strained this soup into a fine light broth, but then it would lose a lot of the actual asparagus... and isn't that really the star of asparagus soup? I thought about calling it a chowder, but that didn't sing to me. Also, this soup has shallots, which are my new favorite member of the onion family. Gotta love those shallots.

So soup it is. And what a soup! Good news - there's still a lot of great asparagus available at the stores these days to make this soup, and who can say they really enjoyed spring without enjoying this soup? Not you - because here it is!

The Vegan Bacon & 3 Cheese Frittata of Your Dreams

Wednesday night can mean a lot of different things to folks out there. Now just going off your emails, I know a lot of you are pretty loyal Top Chef watchers. Now Dan and I aren't the kind of people who plan our lives around what's on TV that night. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But ever since Baby Jesus invented TV shows On Demand and putting whole seasons out on DVD - so you can have deep long term relationships with marathons of your favorites - Dan and I go about our lives and watch what we want when we want. With the exception of Top Chef and Wednesday night*. Why you ask? What makes Top Chef so special? Don't they make like a ton of meaty - eggy - cheesy  stuff? They do and just like with Betty - we watch to get ideas and inspiration. We watch for the food photography and styling. We watch it because it is a Shannon family tradition to watch and talk about what we would do to make dishes vegan. I mean some families travel around in pimped out school buses wearing matching outfits singing pop songs. I mean if that's your thing - that's cool I guess. We watch Top Chef and we like to eat schmancy vegan eggy breakfast dishes.

This one was a big hit around here and is going to be a regular for Sunday Brunch... I recommend making some toast to go with it. 

The Betty Crocker Project : Winter Vegetable Stew

The first thing I said when I took a bite of this stew was "OH! These beans melt in your mouth like butter!"

Yeah I really said that. Sometimes I say weird things but that doesn't mean it wasn't completely true. This stew might be ugly. I mean might is being kind. This is some ugly soup. But just like our Inner Beauty Patty Melt, this soup has a great personality that makes up for it. It has so much rich, unique and a kinda diverse flavor. Oh and of course it has parsnips! I think this might be our first Betty recipe with parsnips. It's always fun to kinda mix it up a little but with those vegetables and going with seasonal produce is a great way to keep it fresh - literally.

I know right now we're all ready for summer but before we pull out the ice cream makers and plug in those AC units - we should take a second and remember in a lot of places right now - It is freezing! This stew is perfect with some sourdough bread and a mug of almond chai and of course to share with friends because this recipe makes a lot... like lunch for a week a lot.

This stew is also extremely easy to make. So we had time to update our Nerdery Page and start putting The Meet The Shannons Family Album together. Over the past year we've been getting a lot of photos from readers who have made a Meet The Shannons recipe. So we're putting together an album that will live on our Family Tree Page. We're launching on March 1st - So if you have a photo that you haven't sent in yet please email it soon with your name and tell use what you made to shannons@meettheshannons.net.

So here's your to do list :

1. Send in Photos
2. Explore Your Inner Nerd
3. Eat a lot of stew!

OK - Go! Chop - Chop!

The Betty Crocker Project : The Homemade Mediterranean Happy Hour featuring The Pita Pizza

Tabbouleh Salad and Lemon Garlic Hummus

So right now I should be telling you all about the food writer and photographer coming over to have dinner with us this weekend. I could be telling you about the dream I had last night about Lobster Killer or how I've been sick all week. But I am finding myself completely distracted. See I just found out Season 3 & 4 of Ghost Adventures is available to watch instantly through our Xbox.

Now as you may remember, I love the show Ghost Adventures. I love when they role played being Union soldiers in Gettysburg, wore Top Gun flight suits on a haunted air craft carrier and swing billy-clubs in condemned prisons to get a rise from the "ghost inmates". I really like trying to follow their "chains of evidence" and how excited they get when there's a draft. Most of all - I love their "tools of the trade". They are pure Dr.Igon Spengler Gold!

So here's what you  need to watch hours and hours of Zac, Aaron and Nick shaking their fists into the night and yelling "Bro - Did you hear that?" or maybe some big Super Bowl type of thing if you can even find something like that happening somewhere. It's the kind of spread that is perfect for marathon TV watching or a new take on The Homemade Happy Hour. This spread makes a lot of food quickly and is so super easy  that anyone can make them - even if they aren't feeling 100%.  In fact, they're so easy I feel a little guilty posting them but instead I'm just going to focus on how much I love eating these pita pizzas... really you should too. Of course, Betty's Tabbouleh and Hummus were already vegan, so we just needed to meddle with the recipes a little to make the pizzas just right. I think you'll love these.

I know we usually have Mexican Food on Friday night... but we might have to make an exception & make these again.

You're going to need to stock up on your pita bread.

The Betty Crocker Project : Avocado & Smoked Sheese Salad with Toasted Walnut Dressing

So I've been watching all the Star Trek Movies. It's been a bit of a marathon - if you will - and pretty much an awesome 48 thus far. Here are just a few of my preliminary observations :

• Best Line : Please, Captain, Not in front of the Klingons - Mr. Spock in Star Trek V - The Final Frontier
• Best Klingon (guest star): Christopher Plummer as Gerenal Chang in Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country
• Best Vulcan (guest star): I have to give it to Kim Catrell's smug Valeris from Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country because Kristie Alley's Saavik in Wrath of Khan is just dreadful. Really just a terrible guest Vulcan for an otherwise great movie. 
• Best Villain :  DUH?! Ricardo Montalban giving the performance of a lifetime as one of the best space villains ever. Though I do give props to Eric Bana for his role as Nero in the latest Star Trek (the reboot). 
• Biggest Tear-Jerker : SPOILER ALERT - OK - I admit I got a little torn up when Spock says “Jim. Your name is…Jim” in Search for Spock. Oh Man...But I have to go with Voyage Home and when the crew of the Enterprise saves George and Gracie from whalers and brings them to a time when they will be safe. Getting a little worked up just thinking about it. Makes me wish Sea Shepherds had a Bird of Prey.

Oh and while I was trying to complete my mission to write this blog post - I found  a pretty amazing picture of Spock punching Wolverine in the face and had to share.

Another mission I have had lately is to try to eat a salad a day. There are a lot of cookies floating around this home of ours right now and other various deliciousness and although we are still having smoothies for breakfast and I have stopped drinking caffeine... well I still wanted some salad in my life. I do admit that this salad has heaps of avocado and sheese so it might not be the healthiest but it is still one of the best Betty Salads we've made since starting this project. I love this Toasted Walnut Dressing and can't wait to try it with some fresh bread or just some baby carrots. I am pretty much in love with it x1,000.  I love it like Captain Kirk loves women with big hair.

The Betty Crocker Project : Thanksgiving Parade #3 - Macaroni & Sheese Cups

This was an odd week. One of those weeks you can't forget even if you tried. Here are 4 things I might actually forget from my weird/awful week:

1. Wil Wheaton Tweeted this and made me laugh out loud : If Nintendo can trademark "It’s on like Donkey Kong," I want to trademark "Are you fucking serious, Nintendo?" 
2. Dan awoke in the middle of the night crying out something like "Fuck you! You big parrot!" (Please keep in mind Dan is actually quite fond of parrots but this dream parrot was apparently pretty big and pretty rude)
3. Dan grew a mustache and it looks kinda hot.
4. I had to go to the store to get cat food and because I feel so awful this week - I might have been dressed like a long lost Kennedy cousin from Grey Gardens. Everyone was really nice to me and maybe had lots of pity for this "cat lady".

I also made these little casserole cups of this favorite from the oldest of schools that are a schmancier way to serve this classic for Thanksgiving. This recipe is a veganized version of Betty's but if you want The Shannons' Family Recipe - you can find it here. I think either version would be just as adorable in these cups on your holiday table. 

The Betty Crocker Project : Coquilles Saint Jacques

 

Welcome to the 3rd day of Vegan Mofo Meets The Shannons!

So Paris Vegan Day is just around the corner and I could kick myself for not having our cookbook done and prepping to get on a plane to France in a few weeks. Could these past few weeks have any more heartaches? I guess I shouldn't test that theory. Let's stay focused on the food.

I know what you're thinking... this isn't Vegan Shrimp Gumbo. I thought we were getting more Creole and/or Cajun food from you today. I'm sure there are other random curse words in there too... especially if you are thinking about last night's election results. But the lovely Leinana over at Vegan Good Things just posted a Louisiana Shrimp recipe, so I decided to mix it up! This brings us back to France.

Most folks think chicken fried steaks, green bean casseroles and impossible rainbow sprinkle layer cakes when they think Betty Crocker but this just isn't the case. This book has a serious diversity of recipes to it. Frankly that's one of the reasons we chose it. Much to my pleasant surprise there are quite a few pretty fancy French dishes in there and of course we all know how much I love being fancy and pretend French. Yes - I know how pretentious it sounds... The heart wants what it wants.

Coquilles Saint Jacques is one those pretty fancy French dishes. It was also one of Julia Child's favorite dishes - probably because it was French and included loads of heavy cream and a whole stick of butter. Ours is still a bit rich for vegan food but I'm sure it doesn't even come close to the real deal that besides the cream also includes Swiss cheese*. As you can also see if you clicked on the links above it is usually served on the half shell but that's not how we roll. Ours has artichoke hearts, white wine, a light sheesy savory sauce and of course hearts of palm "scallops" and our favorite Vegan Shrimp Balls. (snicker)

So let's enjoy our more compassionate yet infinitely lighter while remaining super fancy French dinner. Bon Appetit!

The Betty Crocker Project : Denver Omelet

We like to make schmancy breakfasts on the weekends around here. So I thought I would share one our favorites in time for you all to get some shopping in before Saturday morning.

After years and years of scrambling my tofu, I get pretty excited about making some new "eggs" for breakfast. Just the idea of looking down at my plate at a French style or foldover omelet that I know has all the texture and showiness of the traditional dish but none of the cruelty... puts a big smile on my face. This isn't the easiest recipe to make but it brings the 'shock and awe' and it is really filling. You may want to make it brunch actually because you won't need a second meal after this.

What can I say? These omelets are just too much for one meal to handle.

The Betty Crocker Project : Chicken Parmigiana

You may already know that Eggplant Parmigiana is a pretty old-school Sicilian dish, and super easy to make vegan. You probably already know the original dish is more heavy on the vegetables, and not baked over pasta. Though, you could also point out that there's an area in Italy called Parma, and that they often bread their cutlets with Parmesan cheese there - so Sicilians should stop acting like they invented eating. Even though they did. Just kidding. A little.

The chicken version of this classic Sunday dinner dish is more of an international take. In places like London, New York, and Sydney, Chicken Parmesan was transformed into a popular pub sandwich, or served over pasta in sit down restaurants. I think most of us have come to expect some form of that version when we have vegan Chicken Parmigiana/Parmesan for dinner. So this take is my hybrid of the classic vegetable dish I grew up with, and Betty's more American version.

I love how it turned out. We've made Vegan Chicken Parmigiana a few times in the past, and what I love about it is that no matter how many nights you have leftovers, it always holds up. We never feel an obligation to eat our leftover Vegan Chicken Parmigiana--we look forward to it. (Ed. note: I'm looking forward to it right now.) We're even a little sad when we finally polish it off. Which isn't something you can say about every dish.

I'm also looking forward to having one of these cutlets with some of the extra Marinara sauce on some of that organic bread I've fallen in love with. I mean, who doesn't love a good sandwich?

OK. Enough chatter. Let's do this.

The Betty Crocker Project : Linguine with Clams (Marinated Mushrooms) in White Sauce & Rosemary Garlic Bread

OK: before everyone gets all ruthless about how this looks, please remember we're veganizing this. I didn't use the photo with the sauce mixed in because it just didn't really show the sauce--and that's the best part!

Yes, using Oyster Mushrooms for clams is a very old trick. I can remember making vegan fried clams (Oyster Mushrooms) with my roommate in college and thinking we were so clever, until I went to a vegetarian restaurant in San Francisco and saw them on the menu. Oh. Que sera sera.

Just because vegans are some clever and creative folks doesn't make this recipe any less freaking delicious and amazing. Even if you don't like mushrooms; you can always replace them with vegan chicken or tofu and still have a dish that will bring the shock and awe.

I made this with Betty's Rosemary Garlic Bread. I think I'm going to make that again; I wish I had left the bread in the oven longer, so it would be more toasted, and had crushed my rosemary more. I grew up eating some pretty authentic Sicilian garlic bread and have had several different versions; you know every Tia (Auntie) had their own. I've had it with fresh parmesan mixed with oregano, and with melted mozzarella over butter and basil. Really, garlic bread is one of those dishes where Italian cooks can (almost unknowingly) leave their signatures. This version is pretty good, and went perfectly with the dish.

I have to admit I'm glad I'm only half Italian (I mean not like Frank & Dean are), but I'm Italian enough to tell you this dish is deliziosissimo (which is a real word - not a made up Olive Garden word).

The Betty Crocker Project : White Pizza

OK. You're going to look this recipe up and say "Wow! Those Shannons really made a lot of changes!" In our defense, it is a three-cheese pizza... We like to eat good food, and if we can make something great, well, we're going to do it.

This recipe is great, takes about 20 minutes to make, and will feed two people or one very hungry person. Yesterday I blogged your eyes off with a ton of chatter, so let's just eat already!

The Betty Crocker Project : Cobb Salad & Sunflower Seed Herb Whole Wheat Bread

Ever have a "great" idea that turns out to be a terrible mistake?

I don't mean anything epic - like that highway that goes nowhere or mixing tequila and champagne (true story for another time) but just the everyday ones. Examples of this would be not feeding a meter because "you'll only be a minute" or theme weddings that involve hoop skirts and/or top hats. The other day I had one of those. 

It's pretty humid on VA right now and so I thought it would be a great time to focus on salads. Very little stove time and not too many dishes to wash - who doesn't love a night like that when it's hot out? And what goes better with salad than fresh bread? 

Do you see where it all went wrong? 

There is a lesson here :  The bread actually is completely amazing and it is perfect for eating with this salad and really I wouldn't change a thing about this meal - EXCEPT - I should have baked that bread early in the morning before the heat had gotten to me. By the time Dan came home, I was seconds away from passing out. OK I'm being dramatic but I was really freaking hot and basically baking bread in my skivvies. But I'll admit by the time we finally sat down to eat, It was perfection! This bread has a really nice flavor and texture. It makes great sandwiches, toast and is great dipped in this Cobb Salad dressing. So the lesson? Don't bake bread on a humid Virginia afternoon unless it is this amazing bread.

The Betty Crocker Project : Italian Chopped Salad & Asiago Bread

So you had to know this was coming. We're going to talk about Star Trek today.

Many people know that Dan and I live in a house divided. He grew up in the Red Sox Nation and I'm from Yankee stock. I love TV that is so bad it is amazing and Dan would prefer to spend his TV time with nobler pursuits like killing Xbox mutants. When it comes to one of the most heated debates in The Nerd Nation, my husband, The Love of My Life, thinks Jean Luc Picard is the baddest cat to wear a Federation Starfleet uniform. OK, I have to admit that the photo the Picard link goes to is sweet but I can't help it- I'm more a Kirk girl.

It's not like we're Trekkies or anything. Though I would put the movie Trekkies in my top 100 desert island movies. I find them fascinating. This is just one of those things that comes up in the life of someone who is not exactly "cool" and you develop a stance on. Probably in the same way people who are "cool" have opinions on Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts and spray tans. I'm getting to my point. 

This week you are going to notice a lot of vegetable recipes because we totally loaded up at the farmer's markets on the way home from Assateague Island. You may love some more than others but unlike Star Trek Captains - you don't have to have a favorite. You can love them all equally. *

Ready to eat? Make it so. 

The Betty Crocker Project : Reuben Sandwich with Coleslaw

I'm a simple woman. I love my husband and my cats. I love Patsy Cline and nice tall glasses of iced tea. I love walking through Manhattan in the rain and red shoes. I love Reuben sandwiches. I mean it is a sandwich that includes sauerkraut and rye bread. . . brilliant. But even the happiest cowboy sings a sad song. When it comes to Reuben sandwiches for me it is the 1,000 island dressing. Even when I wasn't vegan that stuff skeeved me out. So needless to say when I made my own using an adapted version of Betty's recipe I was pleasantly surprised when I kinda loved it! I don't think I'll be dumping it on any salads anytime soon but I do promise from this moment on all my Reuben's will include this tasty condiment.