Leftovers

Since I’ve been working late dinner has been out of my hands. . . but still, somehow, my brainchild. I was craving some “chicken” parmesan so I bought a bag of Boca chick’n nuggets and some linguini. I cooked the pasta and crisped the nuggets in in the oven then, in a 13 x 9 Pyrex dish lightly sprayed with canola oil, I tossed the pasta and sauce together, placed the nuggets on top and generously sprinkled mozzarella style Daiya all over it and tossed it back in the oven until the cheese melted. i added a little of my pasta sprinkle for zest and it was so delicious I had seconds. . .but I don’t have a picture.

What I do have a picture of is my bento from the day or so after. It’s not winning any beauty pageants but it sure tasted good. I added some fresh English peas and some of those trumpet mushrooms I was so excited about. YUM! I added more Daiya, as you can see. (^_^)

Here’s a picture of some visually boring soup. Yep, just a giant expanse of orange with some crusty bread in the back. However, this is a little orange gem of a soup. It was so surprisingly good that I’m actually going to post the entire recipe since it came from a bargain book that no one cares about. HA HA!

Lentil & Pasta Soup

1T olive oil

1 med onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1.5c carrots, sliced (I used 3 medium)

1 stick celery, sliced

1.5c red lentils

2.5c vegetable bouillon

3c boiling water

1.5c small pasta shapes (baby farfalle or orzo)

.66c unsweetened vegan yogurt substitute (I used the coconut one)

salt and pepper

fresh chopped parsley to garnish

1. heat the olive oil in a large pan and sauté the onion, garlic, carrots and celery, stirring gently, for 5 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften.

2. add the lentils, bouillon, and boiling water. Season well, stir, and bring back to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes until the lentils are completely tender. Let cool 10 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, bring another pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the package directions. drain well and set aside.

4. (For this step I just used my immersion blender.) Place the soup in a blender and process until smooth. return to a pan and add the pasta. Bring back to a simmer and heat for 2-3 minutes until piping hot. Remove from the heat and stir in the yogurt. Adjust the seasoning if necessary.

5. Serve sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and chopped parsley.

I made the soup part, cooked the pasta, and put them in separate containers before I left for work. Then, when I got home, all I had to do was warm them up together on the stove and add the yogurt. EASY! DELICIOUS! HPOORAY!