Going, Going, GREEEEEN!!

So last night our weekly "Monday Night Dinner" with my family was cancelled because my sister in-law, Macy, is really sick! Feel better Macy! My first thought was to make a salad and call it a day, but my husband interjected with a "So am I on my own for dinner" comment that made me re-think the salad idea. I decided that it was time to truly try out a vegan recipe on my unsuspecting husband and see how he liked it.  I landed on vegan pesto with spaghetti squash (for my waistline, and regular pasta for ben), roasted green beans, roasted asparagus, and a green salad. Whoa! Enough green veggies for you?? Let me preface this by saying, Ben LOVES pesto! We rarely have leftovers when I make it because we end up dipping bread into it until every last bite is sopped up! But vegan pesto? Would Ben really like this?? How will it be good without fresh salty parmesean??  So I got onto google and found several recipes for "vegan" Pesto and the parm replacement is.....Nutritional Yeast!?! What the heck is that?? Well I persevered and decided to go on a hunt for nutrional yeast along with the rest of my ingredients and decided if it was gross, we could throw our jarred tomato sauce on the dish instead. And who woulda guessed--Nutritional Yeast was actually a legit replacement for parmesean in Pesto! Ben said unsuspectingly, and I quote, "Babe, this is the best pesto you have ever made!" That is no joke people! So here it goes along with some picutres I took with my new "Hipstomatic" ap on my phone. Hope you enjoy, and for those who might actually replace parmesean with Nutritional Yeast, you can find it in the health Supplement Isle at our local grocery store.....

All good recipes begin with a glass of wine....Oh and French Music (I highly recommend '100 Classic French Songs' for 9.99 on itunes...just sayin....)

A Few Green Ingredients.....Plus a beautifully yellow spaghetti squash

Let the cooking Begin!

And Voila!! You have a beautifully green meal that even the Ben in your life will love.....(the empty one, that's Ben's actual clean plate...)

Nutrional Yeast...Now an official selection in my spice collection

Recipes...
"Vegan Pesto" (inspired by Whole Foods Recipe as well as Vegan Spoonful's recipe)

One large handful (about 2 cups loosely packed) Fresh Basil
1/2c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2c Walnuts
4 cloves garlic (I use alot but you can use less if you are less garlic obsessed)
Juice of 1 and 1/2 lemons
1/4c Nutrional Yeast (you can use parmesean if you are on the dairy train)
Heavy  Pinch of Salt and Pepper
Put all ingredients in a food processor until a smooth-ish consistency, and there you have it, Pesto! Pour over spaghetti squash, pasta, bread, veggies, anything you desire!

Roasted Asparagus and Green Beans
One bundle of Asparagus (ends trimmed)
Handful Green Beans (ends trimmed)
1 shallot chopped
3 garlic cloves chopped
Drizzle of olive oil (2 TBS?)
Salt and pepper
Squeeze of Lemon to finish it off
Preheat Oven to 400 degrees. Put trimmed green beans and asparagus on a baking sheet and toss over the shallot and garlic, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper--toss it all together. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. When finished squeeze fresh lemon on top!

Crouton's/Crustini
French Bread thinly sliced on the diagonal
brush with olive oil and a fresh piece of garlic
Bake at 400 for about 5 minutes or until crisp!

Salad Dressing
3/4 c Red Wine Vinagar
1/3 c Olive Oil
3 TBS Dijion Mustard
3 TBS Agave Nectar (or more if you want it sweeter)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Mix all together in a bowl with a whisk-taste it and see if you like more or less of an ingredient! Easy as Pie!!