Very Veggie Pasta Toss - A Tutorial

Oh, I bet you are so excited!  I got it in my head to do another tutorial!

Maria, Eric and Cordelia came to dinner this week.  They are vegan so of course I always cook up a vegan meal for them.  OK, that often means I cook spaghetti and dump vegan sauce out of a jar, open a bag of lettuce and proudly pop out the Annie's Goddess Dressing (it's really good).  This week, though, I decided to put out a little effort.

I found this recipe in Prevention Magazine:

Besides what you see in the photo, it called for 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 lb whole wheat angel hair pasta and 1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar.  I left out the garlic as a few of us can't handle it.  Don't ask.

So, I heated oil and sliced up the pepper.  I had the package of broccoli slaw

and I even bought a packge of sliced carrots.

Yes, I am THAT lazy.  I cooked it all up, stirring until tender, just as it said.  Apparently I stirred pretty vigorously as I ended up with little bits of veggie sparks on my stove top.  It was kind of pretty, actually.

I decided to slice some tofu and soaked it a bit in soy sauce.  I mean, I MARINATED it (fancy cook talk for soaking) in soy sauce.  I then grilled it on my electric grill.  I learned that the soy sauce gets kind of squeezed out at that point, making puddles on the counter top.

I sliced up some grape tomatoes.  I know, it was supposed to be cherry tomatoes but what's the difference, really?

I prepared the pasta "al dente" as it said.  OK, I'm not really sure what that means but I think it means cook it until it is of the texture that if thrown to the ceiling, it will stick.  I did NOT throw it to the ceiling.  However, when we purchased our first home it had spaghetti stuck to the ceiling so I guess sometimes people really do that.  Of course, the window coverings at the house were rows of stacked beer cans.  I'm kind of off track here, aren't I?

So, back to dinner.  I dropped my spatula on the floor.  By that time I knew this tutorial was going nowhere good so I thought a photo of the spatula on the floor was appropriate.  I'd already reflexively picked it up so this photo is actually a reenactment.  I wouldn't admit that but my son-in-law, Eric, saw me do it.  I could see the disapproval in his eyes as he is a guy of high integrity.

I tossed up some berries and we sat down to a fine... ok, mediocre, meal.  Yes, it wasn't all that great.  I think it would've been if I could have added the garlic...or any kind of flavor really.  Mike and I, though, have "issues" so we eat flavorless food.  

Still, this meal has potential.  Be creative with some spices.  Really, I think you could do great things with it.  Let me know!

Are you thinking, "this is the worst tutorial ever!"  Well, you are wrong.  THIS is the worst tutorial ever, remember?  But, I agree, this is not great.  So, let me just move on to photos of some of the fine people around the table.

Our son, Sam...

...and Eric, the man of high integrity...

Cordelia had it all figured out.  She dipped much of her meal in ketchup...not a bad idea.

And last, your reward for making it through this post, a picture of our lovely and elegant daughter, Maria...