Mac Daddy

When I read the ingredients for this recipe I wasn't sure it would be any different or better than versions of "mac n cheese" I've already made. I was mostly right.

The sauce was different than others I've made, mostly due to the addition of flour, which I thought was a great way to make the sauce cheesy, and the lemon juice, which to me made the sauce a bit too tangy. I prefer the richer, creamier type sauces. I know they exist; I had the most amazing "Mac N Yease" at a local vegan restaurant, Plum Bistro, a few months ago. I think the Mac Daddy sauce was on the right path, although I'm not sure yet what's needed to make it purely decadent.

I'd give this dish a B. All in all, it was good and I wouldn't mind eating it again. Not a resounding endorsement, I know, but hey, in order to appreciate the really fantastic meals you have to have some just plain good meals sometimes.

I paired the pasta with a large side of tater tots (one of my biggest vices) and some sauteed kale. They did a nice job of balancing out the tang of the pasta.

Difficulty: Simple.
Cost: $6-$7 (excluding the sides). About $10-$12 with the sides.
Modifications: None.
Cleanup: Average.

This recipe is on page 195 of Veganomicon.

Penne Vodka

I was so excited to finally make this dish as I got over my inhibition to run to the liquor store and pick up some vodka. But since Bryan needed some dark rum for some rum balls, who was I to stand in the way between him and his rum?

This was probably the easiest dish to date I've made from the book. And quick, too. I think the whole thing took me about half an hour, as advertised. And clean up was just as easy.

The taste was subtle, creamy and delicious. The nuts gave it just a little additional, and desirable, toothiness. The sauce reminded me of the sauce that would be served on a margherita pizza.

To help ease the blending of the almonds, I pre-ground them using a coffee grinder, then finished them off with the immersion blender. Much to my surprise, it was the immersion blender that really mixed the nuts into the sauce and gave it the creamy, milky texture.

I skipped the basil on top, although it would have been an excellent garnish. I was just too cheap to buy it and used dried basil instead.

Cost-wise, this was probably around $8. Because of the reasonable cost, the taste and how easy it was to make, it will most definitely be going into our rotation.

I hope you make it and enjoy it as much as we did.

This recipe is on page 193 of Veganomicon.

Pasta Della California

There isn't a pasta dish I don't like (although I bet there are lots of unholy pasta dishes with cilantro in them). This one didn't change that, but it'll probably go on one of the lower rungs of the goodness scale.

It was fairly easy to make. The sauce was light and a tad refreshing, thanks to the lime zest and juice. And I even liked the avocados, despite being a little wary of them. But overall, there was no real depth of flavor or strong flavor. I love my pasta served with a sauce that has either strong flavors or richness.

So in the flavor sense, I still rate this as good, but on my health factor scale, I'll give it an excellent, thanks to the broccoli, arugula and avocados (with their good fats). Between the health factor and easy prep and cleanup, this one will probably be made again in this house.

The expense of this dish was a bit prohibitive, however, running around $14 (yikes...that's more than I realized at the time of buying the ingredients). So then again, maybe I won't make this again. I'm just so cheap cheap cheap.

The recipe is on page 192 of Veganomicon.

Spinach Linguine With Basil-Cilantro Pesto And Artichokes

I love pesto. I love spinach fettuccine. I love artichoke hearts. I liked this dish.

I figured a dish that combined so many things I loved would be something I loved, but I came away thinking of this as just a good dish.

I have my own pesto recipe, which I partially used to make the pesto for this dish. I followed their recipe, except I replaced parsley for basil and didn't use cilantro (don't make me say how much I hate cilantro again). But it was the lemon juice that I think, at least for me, took this from a great dish to a good dish. I actually sometimes use a little lemon juice in my pesto recipe, but this one has two tablespoons, which took it from a background flavor to the foreground. I like my pesto to taste garlicky, but I could barely taste the garlic here.

The red onions were a great addition, adding some nice sweetness and crunch. I may even try that in my own pesto sometime. And I will say that the next day leftovers were better. The tanginess had faded and the garlic flavor was allowed to come forth.

Oh, a couple of additions I made: the toasted almonds on top and some sauteed rainbow chard. You can't ever go wrong with toasted almonds. I also wanted an extra nutrition boost, so I added the chard, which I had never made before. That was the best surprise of the night, as it was a perfect balance between soggier spinach and tougher kale.

In the end, I won't be craving this, as the authors said, but I think it's a dish that should at least be tried once. You may have a different reaction to it than I did.

Price-wise, this was about $8. Not bad at all.

This recipe is on page 191 of Veganomicon.