The Artsy Wanderlust

Shell Pasta with Salsa. Pasta is one of our favorite dishes for dinner. My husband and I both love it and I usually make quite a few traditional recipes, but at times I also feel like I should, innovate and improvise and therefore find new ingredients to add and make my pasta a little different from the traditional ones. So here's one such recipe that I tried. It may seem a little strange. to you, but trust me, it's worthwhile!  If you have a taste for tangy, and a little hot flavors. I am very sure that you're going to like this. So give it a try. To prepare the salsa ⚪2 big size tomatoes. ⚪1 jalapeno pepper ⚪3 big cloves of garlic. ⚪a bunch of cilantro. ⚪Salt to taste Cut them into small pieces and blend it together. You can add more jalapenos, depending on how much heat you can manage. I usually add two jalapenos, with two big tomatoes.   However stick to 1 if two seems daunting. Boil the pasta while you're preparing the salsa. I use shell pasta,

Hola! I am back with another pasta dish. Making different sauces seems quite a fun thing these days. I am literally amazed at my energy levels and how much effort I can put into cooking which until a few months back seemed very annoying to me!  Surprisingly so because like I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, I come from family of awesome cooks. I realize now that it was sheer lack of energy that vexed me to go work in the kitchen. Vegan diet has truly been a game changer for 'the husband' and myself and we cannot stop obsessing over it! Coming back to today's recipe, I used a packet of girasoli from Sprouts. You can use any product, girasoli or ravioli. I have posted a picture of the product I used here. So lets dig into my very appetizing pasta for tonight.  Creamy Bruschetta-peppers Girasoli with spinach & eggplant FOR SAUCE . 1.Bruschetta-2tbsp 2.Cashew-1 cup 3.Nutritional yeast-3tbsp 4.Soy milk- 1/2 cup 5.Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce-1pc (u

Hola!   Almost everyone will agree that Mediterranean falafel-hummus bowl can be one of the most satifying foods! Yes it's a lot of chickpeas, so unless you are allergic to or don't like chickpeas, this bowl turns out to really scrumptuous, vegan/vegetarian/non-vegetarian alike. The husband loves it, so I end up making this bowl every so often.  The first time I had made falafel, the process turned out exetremely painstaking and messy at the same time! Remember, I do not consider myself a good cook so for me I give a bit of a twist to standard recipes to make it to my convinience and taste and they turn out super tasty as told by my friends and family and that makes me quite enthusiastic! What had happened with my falafel was that I did leave the mixture in the fridge for a 4 hrs, however since the original recepie doesnt have corn flour or bread, I did not add those and the result was that they spread out as soon as I put them in the hot oil. Therefore, this time I decided to

Hola! On a day when you don't want to make elaborate cooking plans, what better than pasta! I find vegan sauces much more interesting to make and of course tasteful too! Last night I tried making chinese buns but boy did I mess it up well! Ha ha! The filling was great but the dough was a disaster.  Next time I am going to get the dumpling sheets. Now coming back to tonight's dinner, it was a 45 minutes affair and turned out delightfully good! Here are the details. SERVES 2 ADULTS . INGREDIENTS . 1. Fettuccini (Or any pasta of your choice) - 255 gms 2. Garlic ( chopped) - 3 tsp 3. Plant based milk (I used soy)- 1 1/2 cups 4. Nutritional yeast- 2 tsp full 5. Cogniac or brandy - 2 tbsp 6. Dried sage and thyme (u can use any dried herb of ur choice) 7. Corn flour- 2 tsp 8. Crushed red pepper- 1/2 tsp or (as per taste) 9. Salt and pepper. 10. Baby bella mushrooms- 7-8 pieces, thinly sliced into three parts each 11. Baby spinach - 2-3 cups 12. White onion

The orange sauce instantly reminds us of chicken! And yes I did like the orange chicken too, however, since I wasn't a fan of chicken ever, so I am super delighted to make my cauliflower in orange sauce instead. I use most ready made sauces here, because thats easier n since I am not such a chef myself, I prefer these sauces! I make a lot of salsas though, from scratch, and will share some of those recipes in my upcoming posts. This dish is super easy and doesn't take more than 30 mins and needless to say tastes divine! SERVING SIZE- 2 ADULTS TOTAL PREP TIME- 30 mins  INGREDIENTS. 1. 1 medium sized cauliflower florets- 4-5 pieces 2. 2 spring onions, chopped (just the green leafy part) - for garnish. 3. 1/2 tsp orange zest. (Freshly grated will be better n have an awesome flavor) SAUCE 1. 2tbsp Orange sauce ( I use Panda express brand from Kroger) 2. 1 tbsp siracha or hot sauce ( you can put lesser if you dont want or not use it at all) 3.  2 tbsp Light soy sauce 4.

Milk and most milk based items weren't my thing for a few decades now. For example cheese. I am so not a cheese lover! Ha ha! Don't kill me for saying that! So I totally love making these vegan pasta sauces and also enjoy their delightfully rich creamy taste. I wasn't going to cook anything today, as I had quite sufficient amount of leftover fried rice that I was planning to finish tonight. But then then I suddenly had this urge of cooking something with my  creamy cashew sauce just like last week, when I had made a vegge baked dish with a slightly different version of this sauce. Today I wanted something else and quick and so I just experimented on my cashew sauce by adding a handful of fresh basil, sitting on my counter and tempting me for a few days now! The sauce turned out to be a milder n creamier version of basil pesto. Also since its a bit heavy on the apple cider vinegar which gave a zing that made this sauce really zesty. So here's today's recipe. SERVING

Hola! 'The husband' loves garlic bread and he can literally have it everyday for lunch. It therefore becomes convinient for me, if I make the garlic butter and store it in the fridge. This mixture stays absolutely good for over a month. TOTAL PREP+BAKE TIME- 15 minutes INGREDIENTS 1. 4 Tbsp  Salted Butter (Vegan or regular) 2. 5 garlic cloves- very finely chopped or grated but should not get pulpy. 3. 1 very finely chopped fresh green Chili pepper or any non hot to milder peppers like Cherry peppers, Serrano, yellow hot wax peppers etc 4. 1/2 Tsp of dry oregano ( or whatever is available) 5. 3-4 big basil leaves, finely chopped. 6. Chili flakes- just for sprinkles (if and as needed, per your tolerance level) 7. 4 Slices of any sandwich bread or Baguettes. I have used french bread here. PREPARING THE BUTTER, 1. Take an air tight box and transfer the butter, dry herb, chopped fresh chili peppers and chopped garlic and mix thoroughly. You can store this mixture for later use too.