Pasta Alfredo ~ More Vegan Comfort Food

Just got the latest issue of VegNews Magazine. I really like it. I usually can't wait to get the pages messy as I try out three or four of the recipes the first weekend I have the issue.  That's about the best perk I get for being a NW Veg member.  I enjoy their events and educational opportunities, but most of the events are in Portland, a fifty mile drive one way.  This comes right to my house every other month.  I like them so much, I don't lend them out and I keep them up with the recipe books.  I carry around the annual food issue each year for quite awhile.  Last year I think it had 105 recipes.

This latest issue has a great article about the health risks of the food industry workers, Injustice for All, by Mark Hawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots.  Many of us are becoming more and more aware of where our food comes from, how it's produced, and who produced it such as a small organic farm or a large factory farm..  I wonder if many people think about the health of the farm and factory workers when it comes to choosing their food.  We buy organic for health reasons, we don't want herbicide residue in our bodies, we aren't sure what the long term effects of GMO foods are yet, (we do have an idea of the short and long term affects environmentally) but do many of us think about the effects these things have on the people who grow and harvest our food?  That's only a portion of the issues they face and it's a large portion.

The recipe I noticed first in this issue is another classic warm winter comfort dish veganized, Vegan Fettucine Alfredo.  Very nice and really easy. I had most the ingredients in the house except the Fettucine, I used some penne pasta and some wide pasta noodles, all whole grain and dairy free.  When I first learned to prepare vegan meals, I learned a semi raw dish similar to this..  This would probably be pretty good without cooking the sauce too for a cool summer pasta dish.  But with the quickly dropping temperature outside, I want something warm right now.

Vegan Pasta Alfredo

Amazing Alfredo
by Allison Rivers Samson

1 cup raw cashews
2 tablespoons raw pine nuts
1½ cups water
4 teaspoons fresh lemon jice
1 teaspoon minced garlic
dash ground nutmeg
1½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
4 cups cooked fettuccine
3 tablespoons feshly minced parsley

In a blender, grind cashews and pine nuts into a fine powder.  Add water, lemon juice, garlic, nutmeg, and salt.  Blend until completely smooth.

Transfer sauce to a small saucepan over medium heat and whisk as you bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 7 minutes whisking regularly.  Stir in black pepper.

Server over hot pasta and garnish with parsley and freshly ground pepper to taste.

We completed the meal with what I call a TLT, a Tempeh, Lettuce or Greens, and Tomato sandwich with avocado.  The tempeh was marinated in garlic, herbs, and shoyu. I used fresh collard greens and some purple kale for the greens, organic tomato, and avocado, some of Dave's Killer Bread, Lite, a little flax oil veganaise, and a dash of dijon mustard.