Pesto Pasta Salat | Pesto Pasta Salad

English version below

Normalerweise mache ich auf Feiern gerne meinen mediterranen Nudelsalat (mit einem "Honig"-Senf-Balsamico-Dressing), aber ich wollte mal was anderes machen. Und da ich Pesto liebe, habe ich gedacht, dass es mal an der Zeit wird einen Pestopastasalat zu machen.

Party Resteessen als Lunchbox - mit Pulled Jackfruit

Mediterranean Red Lentil Tomato Frikadellen

English version below!

Ich habe ja eine gewisse Vorliebe für Linsen entwickelt. Wir haben im Moment drei verschiedene Sorten zu hause und ich mache verschiedene Gerichte damit! Ich habe zum Beispiel letztens eine Sorte mit Berglinsen gemacht. Geschmacklich geht des in die gleiche Richtung wie konventionelle Fleischgerichte. Aber die Frikos heute mache ich für eine Freundin die Fleisch noch nie mochte, darum versuche ich keine Geschmäcker oder Gewürze zu verwenden, die man traditionell mit Fleisch assoziiert.

Zutaten:

für 15-18 Minifrikadellen

• 200g rote Linsen
• 50g Paniermehl
• 4 EL Cashew Parmesan  (Supereinfaches Rezept hier)
• 5 getrocknete Tomaten
• 2 Zwiebeln
• eine Hand voll frischer Basilikum
• 100g Tomatenmark
• etwas Olivenöl zum braten
• 3-4 Zehen Knoblauch (optional)
• Salz

Mediterranean Pasta Salad

This pasta salad is a family favorite. I would usually use arugula instead of the basil, but it's not in season right now, so it's super expensive. The fresh, organic basil was a special offer today! Hooray!

Ingredients: 

• 2 large zucchinis
• 300g of Hello Kitty pasta (the salad gets exponentionally better with Hello Kitty pasta, but regular pasta works, too)
• one glass of dried tomatoes (225g drain weight)
• 5 fresh tomatoes
• lots of fresh basil (I used as much as you can see on the picture - the whole thing!)
• 3 tablespoons vegan honey (agave sirup works, too)
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) olive oil
• some extra olive oil for frying
• 60g (7-8 tablespoons) balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons mustard
• salt
• pepper

Filled Eggplants

For some reason I used to be intimidated by eggplants, didn't know what exactly to do with them. But that has fortunately changed. This is one of my favorite recipe. Originally by Attila Hildmann from his Vegan for Fit book, it's a nice low carb recipe... unless you eat it with potatoes like I do! I made this as a lunch that I took to work for a friend and me: Tuesday is homecooked work lunch day - although we even have a vegan section in our university canteen! (So progressive!) I made baked potatoes and herb cream cheese/Quark [Recipe!] to go with the egg plant.

Ingredients:

for two meals:

• 2 eggplants
• a few tablespoons of olive oil
• 8 dried tomatoes (in oil)
• 2 onions
• 1 clove of garlic
• 100g of tomato paste
• 180g of precooked kidney beans (canned)
• salt
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons of oregano
• 1 tea spoon of agave syrup

For the cream on top:

• 60g of almond butter (almond butter is fairly pricey. Unseasoned cashew or peanut butter works, too!)
• some water
• 50g of tomato paste
• salt

Fried Polenta

I originally got the recipe for fried polenta from my friend Sarah (who is currently doing a crowd funding campaign to open a vegan café in Duisburg, Germany. Check out the campaign website!) - and  hers are still far superior to mine. At least visually. But I'm working on the presentation aspect!

 

Ingredients:

• 800ml of veggie stock (check the polenta packaging in case the suggested amount of liquid differs from this)
• 200g of polenta
• 6 small onions
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 150g dried tomatoes 
• lots of fresh basil
• salt, black pepper, paprika, cayenne pepper

Easy: Bulgur Quinoa Salad

Let's face it, this was supposed to be a bulgur salad. Then I realized I only had one cup of bulgur left, so I cooked an extra cup of quinoa. So if you don't have quinoa, feel free to double the bulgur... or use couscous instead!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of bulgur
• 1 cup of quinoa 
• 4 cups of water
• 1 jar of dried tomatoes in oil (ca. 300g) - do not throw out the oil!
• 150g of dried cranberries
• some fresh basil
• salt and pepper