Today's Vegan Lunch- Roasted Spaghetti Squash and Kale

Roasted Spaghetti Squash and Kale

Adapted from The Pioneer Wife

Ingredients
1 small whole Spaghetti Squash
Olive Oil
Salt And Pepper
1 bunch of Kale, Stalks Removed And Torn Into Pieces
½  Onion, Diced
Tony Chachere's, Salt and Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

With a sharp knife, VERY CAREFULLY cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. (Stick the knife into the center of the squash, then cut down. Again—be careful!) Scoop out the seeds and pulp in the center and discard. Place the squash, cut side up, on a large baking sheet. Rub a little olive oil over the cut surface, then place the pan in the oven for 1 hour or until a fork is easily inserted into the squash.

While the squash is cooking, saute the kale: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until starting to turn color. Throw in the kale, sprinkle in some Tony Chachere's, salt, and pepper, and stir to saute until the onions are golden about the kale is partly cooked, about 5 minutes. Set aside.

When the squash is cooked, use a fork to scrape the stringy squash out of the shell. Add the squash to a bowl. Mix together 1 tablespoon olive oil with the balsamic vinegar. Drizzle it over the squash, sprinkle with Tony Chachere's, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.

Add the squash to individual bowls, then top with a good amount of sauteed kale.

(Or, you can toss all the kale and half the squash together.)

Taa Daa! And it's done! Easy and healthy.

Veganomicon- The Review

In an attempt to broaden my food horizons and to ween myself off of processed, prepackaged vegan and vegetarian foods I ordered two cookbooks, Veganomicon, as suggested by my friend Christi Gregurich, and Appetite For Reduction: 125 Fast and Low Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes just because the sheer number of positive reviews caught my eye. I didn't realize until the books were delivered into my hot little hands that these books shared an author- Veganomicon was composed by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, while Appetite for Reduction was written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. I have yet to make anything in either of these books because I haven't been grocery shopping since I've gotten them, but I've had a chance to thumb through them and here's my first impressions of Veganomicon. My impressions of Appetite For Reduction is coming tomorrow, y'all!

One of the first things I noticed about Veganomicon was the vast variety of recipes. There are over 250 recipes organized into !seventeen! different categories-
1: Snacks, Appetizers, Little Meals, Dips and Spreads
2: Brunch
3: Salads and Dressings
4: Dressings
5: Sammiches
6: Vegetables
7: Grains
8: Beans
9: Tofu, Tempeh and Seitan
10: Soups
11: Casseroles
12: One-pot Meals and Stove-Top Specialties
13: Pasta, Noodles and Risotto
14: Sauces and Fillings
15: Breads, Muffins and Scones
16: Cookies and Bars
17: Desserts

Woo, that's a mouthful. Also included are guides for lower-fat cooking, how to cook a vegetable,a grain and a bean, cooking and prepping terminology, menus, and pantry staples. There's something in this massive cookbook for everyone, and is ripe with information for the beginning vegan. Besides- its name is inspired by Evil Dead 2- what's not to love? There's a wide range of cuisines represented in this cookbook, and I'm pleased that they don't depend on synthetic meats, which totally ick me out. No mature way to say it. Fake meats suck. So far my first impression has been overwhelmingly positive- but we haven't put this cookbook to the real test yet. I'm looking forward to testing out some of these recipes in the upcoming weeks.