Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Can This Recipe Be Veganized? - Turkish Baked Noodles

One of my favorite magazines (back when I received magazines, now I catch it online or once in a while at the bookstore) Natural Home has these "Can This Home Be Greened" articles which I secretly dream will feature our house some time, but I never lift a finger for that to actually happen so it won't, except in my dreams. Anyway, I was reading a post on a local parenting email list with this recipe and thought, I bet I could veganize that! So, I will have a somewhat regular CTRBV post and if you have a recipe you would like me to try to veganize, let me know because it is more fun than I should admit.

Can This Recipe Be Veganized?

So here is my friend Susan's recipe...

Turkish Baked Noodles:

2 cups macaroni
2 eggs
Milk, a little less than 1 cup
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (Turkish white or feta is best)
1/2 cup sliced black olives (optional)
1 1/2 tbsp butter or 1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 bunch parsley or dill
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
1 cup or more grated cheese (cheddar, Swiss, etc.)

1. Cook macaroni until done and rinse
2. Mix eggs and milk in a bowl and add feta, olives, oil, parsley, thyme, and pepper
3. Add macaroni to this mix and put them in a casserole
4. Put the grated cheese on top
5. Bake macaroni in preheated oven (375°F) until top is crisp and golden, and cheese melts

It's also fine to add any other spices you like or a few vegies.

Here is my recipe...

Veganized Turkish Baked Noodles:

3/4 12oz. bag of whole wheat pasta or roughly 3 cups since I thought 2 cups wasn't enough (I used Bella Terra Cavatappi pasta which works very well and fun to say and Bella Terra brand was on sale at Strawberry Fields an is my second fave whole wheat pasta)
3 ground flax seed "eggs"
a little over a cup soy milk
1 1/2 cups vegan feta (I used the recipe from The Uncheese Cookbook by Joanne Stepaniak, but the link takes you to a similar recipe)
a little over 1/2 cup sliced black olives (I used Kalamata, but you could use any)
1 1/2 tablespoons Earth Balance
I didn't have any fresh dill/parsley so I put in about 1 tsp of each dried heaping 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
heaping 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon thyme
Grated FYH vegan cheese to lightly cover (I had a little of the cheddar style leftover from tempeh reubens which was one of the reasons I decided to try to veganize this recipe)
Sprinkle "Garlic Bread Topping" over all of it (optional...this is something I made up for our pasta dishes which has become addictive, but it also adds some nutrition so check it out)

1. Make the vegan feta** in the morning or the day before since it needs to marinate for a few hours in the refrigerator. It is fun and easy to make so don't sweat it.
2. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Cook your pasta per package instructions and set it aside (you can do step 3 while you are waiting for it to cook).
3. Make the flax "eggs" and let them sit. Mix everything else (except the toppings and pasta) in a bowl with a whisk or fork then add the flax mixture and mix some more.
4. Add pasta to the mix and pour it in a 9 by 7 casserole (I oiled mine a tad, but I think you're fine either way)
5. Lightly cover with your favorite vegan cheese and/or Garlic Bread Topping.
6. Cook for 30 minutes or until "cheese" has "melted" (you could broil for a couple seconds if your vegan cheese doesn't melt, but not if you you've put the Garlic Bread Topping on...it will probably burn)

**A word about vegan feta, I don't remember at all what regular feta tastes like and I don't remember ever making the vegan version before either, but this version was quite good. I used Wild Wood extra firm because it has become my new favorite and I find I can "cheat" and not press it in most recipes with good results. If I had an internet connection at the time I was making this, I might have tried this quicker recipe for vegan feta.

Did it work??????
YES!!! Oh yes! Yummy, not the healthiest stuff in the world, but it was good and since we were going down the path, I went ALL the way. I could have sworn I saw a post on Vegan Dad about onions, peppers, and vegan sausage, but my internet was down while I was cooking so I winged it and now I can't find the post for the life of me so I guess it was another blog or I dreamed it. Either way, it was also quite yummy and similar to this recipe, but I added Italian seasoning and some olive oil and used Tofurky Beer Brats. Dema asked for peas and carrots (someone had to keep me on the up and up for the healthy side of things) so I served peas and carrots on the side, but they would have been great mixed into the dish.

Was it good enough for me to take some to Susan and have her try it? I don't know and it is all gone, but I would definitely make it for omnis.

4 comments:

Lisa -- Cravin' Veggies said...

Yum! That all looks sooo delish! My hubs bought tofurky italian sausage the other day... it tastes almost exactly like SOG (which is fantastic... thanks for turning us on to that!!)

Susan said...

That looks super yummy, Linda! You never cease to amaze me. Great job. I think you have made that recipe totally your own. I might try your version at home some night without telling dh and see if he can tell if anything is different ;))

Loretta said...

This sounds so yummy! We've pretty much been eating vegan dinners these days since T seems to be sensitive to dairy, and David says that the past few weeks' worth of meals have been the best we've had in quite a while. I'm definitely going to be making this sometime soon! :)

VeganLinda said...

CV, Glad you are liking the SOG and the Tofurky stuff is pretty good and not AS processed as some stuff out there.

Susan, Thanks so much for sharing the recipe in the meatless eating group!

Loretta, Sorry about T's food sensitivity, but I'm David is enjoying the vegan food!