Pic by Franzi.
I have to admit something: Week three of my Monthly Challenge of Going Vegan went not really good. On Thursday I invited some people over to cook together (vegan) Chickpeas Tajine. Unfortunately one of them brought a (not-so-vegan) cake and left it at my place … you cannot throw away a cake, can you?! On Friday I met a friend in a coffee bar and I was very hungry. I (very committed of staying vegan) asked if they may have vegan soups. I get served a tomato soup … with a lot of (not-so-vegan) cream. I was really very hungry … and a bit confused that even the modern looking waitress did not seem to know that there’s a difference between veganism and vegetarianism. On Saturday I woke up a bit later and was told by a friend of mine the whole time how delicious it would be to go to the farmers market and eat there a battered fish as a late breakfast. I had to go to the farmers market anyway and how could I resist this temptation when he was ordering it directly in front of me?! And then came the best comment of the last three weeks: „But Franzi, doesn’t the batter contain eggs – is it still vegan?!“. Obviously only the batter was the not-so-vegan part of this dish ;).
But hey, the rest of the week I remained very dedicated. One discovery I made: German vegan chef Attila Hildmann’s recipes sound all very delicious and simple and as if they would be able to help even my still-not-used-to-a-vegan-diet-and-therefore-always-hungry-feeling-stomach to get full. I tried a slightly adaptation of his Spaghetti with Mint, Peas & Cream Sauce recipe and prepared myself a (very) big pot of Vegan Pasta Carbonara. Delicious, so give it a try!
Recipe:
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 package smoked tofu (diced), 1 onion (peeled and diced), app. 200 g frozen peas, 2 TblSps olive oil, a handful fresh mint leaves (minced), 300 g pasta, salt, pepper, zest of one lemon, 200 ml soy cream.
Preparation:
Cook your pasta for app. 10 minutes in salted water. After 5 minutes add your frozen peas directly into the pasta water. Wait until pasta and peas are al dente. Drain the water.
In between, heat the olive oil and roast gently the smoked tofu. Add the onions, season with pepper and salt, roast gently. Add the mint, the soy cream and the lemon zest. Let cook for two more minutes on a low flame.
Add the still warm pasta and peas directly to the sauce, mix gently and season with salt and pepper.
Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Attila Hildmann. Like always: All credits appear after clicking the links. If you are interested in putting ads on My so-called Luck feel free to email me for details!
***This is a Blog entry from 2013. After the events of 2020 I have to state that I still like this adapted recipe, but not the person behind the original recipe.***