Beet Hummus! from Healing Tomato

It is high time for a guest recipe! I have been following the Healing Tomato blog for a couple months now and have been fascinated by all of her recipes. It is a vegetarian blog but it would be very easy to turn her recipes vegan either by omission or vegan substitutions. When she posted this recipe for beet hummus, I just knew we were meant to be friends. I LOVE BEETS! I grew up on beets. My mom fed me beets like candy and I developed a taste for healthy vegetables. She used to put beets on cottage cheese and it was one of the best meals in the whole world. I have been meaning to look up some vegan cottage cheese to bring this memory back to me in vegan form. Anyway, back to the Healing Tomato. I do not even know her name but she is fabulous and the blog is a great read! Check her blog for the recipe for beet hummus! She is on Google+ as well. I will be making this as soon as I get a free moment. Working two jobs and being a full time student is very difficult, especially when trying to move across town during the middle of mid-term week! All this work will pay off in the long run. Who knows? Maybe this blog will transform from the Impoverished Vegan to the Almost-Above-Poverty-Line Vegan! Just one step closer to being the Rich Bitch Vegan that I have been dreaming of becoming.

 

Try it on apple slices, carrot sticks, pita bread, or triscuits!
The options are endless.

Spaghetti? How about Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino

I get a lot of my love for cooking from my mother. She was always creating tasty and exciting ways to get me to eat vegetables; she would sneak shredded zucchini and squash into spaghetti sauce. Almost every Friday she would cook up here spaghetti in a huge batch and it would last the whole week! It was usually served with carrot sticks with ranch dip and garlic toast. We would eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Her spaghetti is one of my absolute favorite meals even to this day! I had always associated tomato sauce with spaghetti and spaghetti with tomato sauce. That is how it was. That was spaghetti. I recently was referred to a recipe that claimed to be the traditional way spaghetti was prepared, except it did not use a tomato base for the sauce! Furthermore, there was not even really a sauce on it! It turned out to be extremely satisfying and light! If you need to avoid tomatoes or have frequent heart burn, try this type of spaghetti! 

Ingredients:

• 1 serving pasta                    ($0.45)
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic          ($0.15)
• 2 tbsp. olive oil                     ($0.15)
• 2 tbsp. chopped parsley     ($0.07)
• ½ tbsp. red pepper flakes   ($0.09)
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice    ($0.04)

Preparation:

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. Drain and set aside. Heat the oil on medium heat and throw in the garlic once it has warmed. Sauté for one minute and throw in the pasta. Keep sautéing, stirring constantly and add the chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice. After 2 minutes remove from heat. You are done. That is it. Simple, savory spaghetti in less than 15 minutes! I cooked some mushrooms and asparagus in some garlic and oil for a side dish. For the salad, I used spinach, black olives, red onions, and balsamic vinaigrette. Any pasta dish can be cheezed up with Go Veggie! vegan grated parmesan cheese! Enjoy!