The Spicy Spatula

Happy Thursday! I hope this week has been good to you. I’ve been busy working (which is writing) and writing my latest romance novel, but I took a break on Wednesday to head up to the mountain town of Brasov to check out the Christmas Market.

I’m not really big on Christmas beyond holiday themed headbands and clothing, and of course watching Christmas movies. BUT I really wanted to attend a Christmas Market this year because I visited one when we lived in Germany and it was such a good time. There were tiny stalls everywhere that you could buy mulled wine (called gluhwein in Germany and vin fiert in Romanian, btw), holiday trinkets and all manner of holiday items, foods and beverages.

The one in Brasov was decorated, which you can see if you follow me on Instagram, but the items sold other than the vin fiert was just…blah.

Anyway that was my Wednesday and it was nice to have a day without a lot of screen time to let my eyes rest.

And because of that I’m sharing one of my hubby’s vegan recipes. Pasta is the centerpiece of this easy vegan dinner and it doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, nor does it take a lot of time to make, which makes this the perfect vegan dinner recipe for pretty much anybody.

Right?

Kitchen Tools:

*Whisk
*Skillet
*Ramekins

Ingredients:

*Whole wheat pasta
*Nutritional yeast
*Cornstarch
*Light coconut milk
*Almond milk (plain, unsweetened)
*Thyme, basil & oregano (dried is fine)

Instructions:

*Boil the pasta in a pot according to the package instructions.

*Add almond milk to a small sauce pan and warm it over medium heat. Here is where you’ll add the other ingredients you want for flavor and color, including: turmeric, smoky paprika, dried herbs, cumin, mustard, garlic powder, salt and black pepper.

*Whisk the ingredients together to avoid clumping. When the milk starts to steam, add in nutritional yeast. The mixture should start to thicken.

*Make a slurry of cornstarch and water (or waste free broth), whisking together are no clumps, and pour into almond milk mixture.

*Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer until sauce begins to thicken. If you REALLY want to take this to another level, add some light coconut milk (or full fat version) and whisk together until the sauce is silky and creamy and looks so good you want to cry.

*Pour vegan “cheese” sauce over the pasta and mix well until combined.

*You can serve it as is, or place in ramekins and pop’em in the oven for 10 or 15 minutes for a baked cheesy pasta dish. The choice is yours.

*Garnish with black pepper and/or vegan parmesan.

*ENJOY!

Annnnnd...if you’re looking for a new-to-you drink to check out, think about Palinca. It is a Romanian fruit distillate which is to say it’s a very strong fruit based alcohol. Primarily you’ll find it made from prunes (which is Romanian for plums) but I’ve had strawberry and blueberry, even apricot palinca.

Serve it room temperature or mildly cold. It’s strong but tasty!

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