Sei Colore Pasta

For my birthday, my brother Grant and his partner gave me a beautiful basket filled with all kinds of Italian gourmet delights. Included in the basket of was a bag of six color pasta. Of course I couldn’t wait to use it.

The pasta added such depth and heartiness to the dish. It was fabulous!

For this recipe, I sauteed garlic in olive oil with marinated red peppers and onions, seasoning, fresh basil and Italian parsley. I included red pepper flakes for heat, mixed in al dente pasta and finished it with some fresh baby spinach. 

We enjoyed this meal with a rich Pinot Noir.

Kashi Organic Autumn Wheat Cereal with Soy Milk

I had this for breakfast. When I was a kid my parents went through a phase were they’d buy fat free milk. It was blue. I tried it on my cereal—and hated it. God bless them for caring. I’m not a big milk drinker. The ubiquity of the ‘Got milk?’ campaign belies the fact that milk is not particularly good for you. The bovine growth hormones and antibiotics given to cows is certainly bad for the cows, and I can’t imagine it’s good for us either. Back to my point: TJ’s soy milk is pretty tasty. Not as rich and creamy as cow milk, but I prefer it that way. This cereal is also sweetened with organic evaporated cane juice. The wheat is organic, too. I recommend you try it on your kids. :—)

Focaccia Bread

When I was a kid we ate Wonder bread or Roman Meal ‘wheat’ bread which are very soft and, honestly, very bland. Kiki and like focaccia bread. It’s great for sandwiches or heated up and served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. We buy ours at Trader Joe’s, though you can sometimes find a good loaf at Safeway. Well, at least at the Safeways in the Northern California Bay area. It might be a little rustic for PB&J sandwiches, but I’ve spread some strawberry preserves on it for breakfast and it was great.

Fusilli Pasta

This is our comfort food. This dish is full with flavor and rich in healthy ingredients. 

Start by sauteing garlic, shallots and TJ’s seasoning in olive oil. Then add roasted red peppers and fresh or canned cut tomatoes. Finish it with fresh basil, oregano and italian parsley.

I add red pepper flakes for some heat. Make plenty, this dish is great served as a leftover lunch.

It’s complemented nicely with a rich Cabernet or a spicy Zinfandel.

Fusilli comes from Italian meaning ‘little spindles’.

TJ’s Pizza

A perfect snack to add to the picnic basket. Nice paired with a Cabernet. Kiki and I like to add generous doses of Cholula hot sauce. When I started going vegan, I thought I’d miss having cheese on a pizza, but this is so good I don’t even think about it.

Strawberries

 

Fresh strawberries are always a good snack to have around. We spend a little extra for organic. Which such porous skin, strawberries can readily absorb pesticides that washing can’t remove. Our thinking is we spend more on good ingredients and just eat less food. A word of warning, if you’re going to chop them on a wooden cutting board arrange the remnants artistically so it will leave a red heart-shaped stain.

Phad Thai

Almost any veggies in your fridge sauteed with olive oil. Add peanuts and seasoning and mix in Trader Joe’s Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce and hot oil. Add phad thai rice noodles to the mix and viola! 

Perfectly matched with spicy Zinfandel.

Spanish Rice

This vegan Spanish Rice dish is full of sweet and savory ingredients that can be eaten as a meal in itself. We like to add this to our vegan burritos for extra texture and substance.

First I saute onions, seasoning and chili flakes in olive oil. Then I add the rice to lightly coat and cook it for a few minutes. I add a can of tomatoes using most of the liquid in the can and add as much extra water as needed. I cook until all liquid has evaporated or about 20 minutes.

Veggie Sandwich

This sandwich is one of our favorite dishes. It’s quite easy to prepare involving only a small amount of preparation.

The red bell peppers are lightly marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, s&p and then roasted in a toaster oven. 

Add tomatoes, avocado, onions and peperonchini or pickles on warm focaccia bread. I add basil for that little extra special flavor.

Enjoy this meal with a Pinot Noir or a hearty Chardonnay.

 

What does virtually vegan mean?

Virtually vegan means having a diet that’s nearly meat free. For a lot of people the word vegan is associated with giving up things. Or denial. Or even extremism. 

My girlfriend, Kiki, is a really good cook. Me? Not so much. Watching her in the kitchen, I was struck by how simple her meals are.

Over the years we’ve had an eye toward eating responsibly. To eat healthier by avoiding red meat and sea life that are over fished. Pork and cow factories create a lot of environmental harm and cause health problems for people living near them. Chilean sea bass has been overfished and methods to catch shrimp do a lot a damage to the sea bed.

We were moving in the direction of vegetarianism, then I heard my brother Pat was ‘a vegan who ate sushi’. I thought, ‘Yeah! That wouldn’t be hard at all.’ I was surprised, too, that it was Pat. I think there may have been a time in his life when he ate McDonald’s for two meals in a day three times a week. My competitive side kicked in and together, Kiki and I decided to cut out dairy and meat, but allow for fish that aren’t threatened.

We have fish perhaps once a week. In the beginning we started counting time. ‘Three weeks’ of being VV. ‘Five weeks’. But it didn’t take long before we just forgot to count. Why? The food is so delicious!

We’d like to share our experience and recipes here with you. Kiki and I are both photographers and involved in design. In the coming days we’ll spruce up the place, add new features and photos, and hang a few helpful ads to make this a sustainable business.

Thanks for stopping by. Post comments and suggestions. We’d love to hear from you.

Michael & Kiki