Vegan Mofo 24.1: My Healthy take on Tomato Cream Sauce Minus the Vodka

Last night I was not in the mood for cooking anything complicated or time consuming. This month has been ridiculously busy and when that happens I turn to very simple dishes. I served this over quinoa and had the sauce ready in the time it took to make the quinoa (20 minutes). Here is what I did:

Veggies in a Tomato Cream Sauce
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 red onion, peeled and minced (allow to stand 10 minutes after chopping before heating)
8 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (allow to stand 10 minutes after chopping before heating)
2 stalks celery, very thinly sliced (to speed up cooking)
½ cup roasted root veggies, cut into small pieces (I used rutabagas since that was what I had in the frig, carrots or potatoes would also be good)
14 ounce can of diced tomatoes
14 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, dried
½ teaspoon fennel seed (that gives the dish a southern Italian flavor but it can be omitted)
cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to taste
½ cup raw cashews and ½ cup of water pureed in your blender until smooth
½ lemon juiced
2 cups frozen peas

Directions:

Combine everything except the peas and cook until the onion is tender. This took about 10 minutes for me in an enameled cast iron pan over medium low heat. Be certain to stir often since this will try to stick to the pan. Add the peas at the very end of cooking so they stay bright green. I served this over quinoa though pasta would be more traditional.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 212.06
Calories From Fat (24%) - 51.44

Total Fat - 6.14g
Saturated Fat - 1.06g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 667.54mg
Potassium - 894.98mg
Total Carbohydrates - 33.8g
Fiber - 8.05g
Sugar - 12.96g
Protein - 9.75g

Comments:

This is my healthy take on the standard Italian tomato vodka sauce. I make variations of this often when I need a fast dinner. This sauce has all the creaminess of the original without the deleterious health impact. I like this sauce with green peas (mostly for color) but any veggies will work in here. It is also good with mushrooms or cubes of baked tofu.

Happy Thoughts:

Wednesday morning has been good so far. Here are my happy thoughts this morning:

• We were able to sleep in a little this morning which was a nice change. The gym didn’t open until 11am today so we are going to go mid afternoon since Dan will be working a half day today.

• The gym is closed Thursday, Friday and Saturday but we already have our back up plan ready. Now we just need to execute it. ;-)  Hopefully everything goes smoothly since Dan isn't the biggest fan of exercising at home.

• Not only is Dan working a half day today but he doesn’t need to go into the office this weekend. Woo hoo! Nothing like 4 ½ days with my hubby to put a big smile on my face. I love spending time with Dan as all of you know.  Smartest thing I ever did was marry that man. :-)

• Everything for Thanksgiving is coming along nicely. With a little luck tomorrow won’t be as hectic as holidays past.

• It will start looking like Christmas at our house very, very soon. I can’t wait to begin decorating on Friday. With a little luck I will have it substantially finished by Sunday. That is my plan, we will see if it happens.

23 and me sale:

In case any of you are interested I wanted to share that 23andme.com is having a sale on their DNA testing services 11/24 – 11/26. They don’t ship to Maryland; I tried to order it this morning which is why I know. For $99 it sounds interesting to me. Follow the link through slickdeals and don’t forget to use the promo code otherwise it is a little pricey. A friend of mine did this last summer when it was on sale. He thought it was worth $99 but not at $499.

Signing out:

I need to get a few things accomplished before Dan gets home and we to head to the gym, two libraries and Wegman's (grocery store).  It will be a bit hectic here this afternoon. But isn't that what holidays are supposed to be like? ;-)

I hope all of you have a great holiday. As soon as I get a chance to catch my breath I will fill you in on what is happening here.  Expect pictures of holiday decorations soon.  I love this time of year!  Talk to you again soon.