Green Pasta

My friend Melissa had my back when she sent me this recipe to try out. Five words: Twenty minutes to eatin’ heaven.

Green Pasta (veganized by Melissa; adapted from Everyday Food)

3/4 lb. fettuccine or other wide pasta
2 cups packed fresh basil
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
10 oz. frozen spinach, cooked and squeezed dry
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta, drain and return to pot.

In a food processor, puree basil, walnuts, nutritional yeast, garlic, and lemon juice until a paste forms. With machine running, add oil in a thin stream; process until very smooth, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

Add pesto to pasta in pot plus a little bit of water, if necessary. Add spinach and toss to combine. Serve sprinkled with walnuts and more nutritional yeast, if desired.

Tofu Florentine

Pregan, I loved Eggs Florentine. But, honestly, this one is better. Way better. Turns out, it’s short-listed as one of my favorite evening meals. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s healthy, and it contains several food groups in one lump. You can even make the hollandaise ahead of time and use it later. Just heat it up when you’re ready and pour it on. But, seriously, the entire meal, including the hollandaise, takes about 30-40 minutes to prepare, especially if you’re willing to multi-task. I’ve listed everything sequentially, but you can always take care of multiple pieces at the same time. Just practice.

Tofu Florentine (serves 2*)

2 English Muffins, halved
8 oz. firm or extra-firm tofu
24 oz. fresh baby spinach
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2-3 c. water
Hollandaise sauce (recipe below)
2 green onions, sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Prepare Hollandaise according to directions below.

While hollandaise is still warm (or warming on low), cut tofu into four small rectangles.

Heat olive oil in grill pan or skillet on medium-high heat. When oil is hot, sear tofu on each side until brown and lightly crispy (about 5 minutes each side, pressing with a spatula every now and then). Turn heat to low to keep warm.

Add water to large pot and boil. Place steamer inside pot and begin steaming spinach in batches until all spinach is cooked. While spinach is steaming, toast English muffins.

To assemble: Place two muffin halves on each plate. To each muffin half, add a slice of tofu, a mound of steamed spinach, and drizzle with one quarter of the hollandaise sauce. Add sliced green onions, salt, and pepper to taste.

Hollandaise Sauce (source: Vegetarian Times)
1/2 cup or 4 oz. silken tofu
2 Tbs. lemon juice**
1 Tbs. nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. turmeric
2 Tbs. corn oil

Heat tofu on plate in microwave 30 to 45 seconds, or until warmed through. Transfer to food processor, and purée until smooth. Add lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, cayenne, and turmeric; pulse until well combined. With food processor running, add oil in steady stream to finish sauce.

*The Vegetarian Times recipe claims the hollandaise is enough to serve 6. I don’t like being skimpy with sauces, so I use about 1/4 of the sauce on each 1/2 muffin, tofu, spinach combination.

**I thought that for this dish, the hollandaise sauce was far too lemony as it was written. It overpowered everything else. So I reduced the lemon juice to 1 Tbsp. and added 1 Tbsp. water to make up the remaining liquid.