Vegan Ranch Dressing

Tastes like the real thing!  So easy, and healthy for you too!   

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk
    1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (I use Vegenaise)
    1 teaspoon onion powder
    1 teaspoon garlic powder
    2-3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
    1 tablespoon dried or fresh parsley, finely chopped
    salt and pepper, to taste

Mix it all up in a blender, food processor or just put all ingredients in a jar or bottle and shake.

Magnificent Zucchini

I found this recipe in The Ultimate Vegetarian Cookbook, by Roz Denny.

I was surprised this week when my wife, along with our oldest daughter, came in bearing unexpected fruits from what I thought was our dormant garden.  Living in the Mojave desert, the summertime sun is just B-R-U-T-A-L.  We stopped getting any yields from our garden a month or so ago.  But rather than tear it all up, I decided to leave the plants in there, and to continue to water them, partly just to see what would happen, and partly due to sheer laziness.  It's too stinking hot out there to do any real work!

Anyway, in comes this zucchini squash the size of my forearm.  (I'm 6ft tall and weigh 200 lbs., down from 216 at the beginning of this year, BTW)  I had no idea the plants would produce in such heat, but there you have it!  The only thing I ever really knew to do with zucchini was to saute it or shred it into a quick bread.  This recipe looked very inviting.  And, WOW was it yummy!

3 cups cooked pasta shells or elbows
a 3-4 lb zucchini
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used a red one)
1 TBS fresh, grated ginger root (I have no idea how to grate it, so I minced it)
2 garlic cloves, crushed ( I used 4 and minced them)
3 TBS sunflower oil (I didn't have any, I used olive oil)
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup pine nuts
cheese, grated to serve (We're on a plant based diet, so I used nutritional yeast for that cheesy flavor)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain and set aside.
2. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  These can be discarded.  Use a small sharp knife and spoon to scoop out the zucchini flesh.  Chop the flesh roughly.
3. Fry the onion, pepper, garlic and ginger in the oil for 5 minutes, then add the zucchini flesh, tomatoes and seasoning.  Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Add to the pan the pasta, pine nuts and basil.  stir well and set aside.  (I used too small a pan, had to put it all in a giant mixing bowl.)
5. Meanwhile, place the zucchini halves in a roasting pan.  Add a small amount of water in order to create steam.  Drizzle with oil, add salt and a little bit of pepper.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes.  I would suggest doing this at step 3, when everything else starts to cook. If timed correctly, the zucchini should come out of the oven right when you're done mixing all the other ingredients together.  Hey, it's a busy house.  If we can shorten the prep time for any of these dishes, it's a good thing.
6. When the zucchini is finished roasting, remove from oven, discard the water, and fill the shells with the vegetable/pasta mixture.  Re-cover with the foil and return to the oven for 25-30 minutes.
7. If you wish, you can serve this dish topped with grated cheese.  As mentioned above, we enjoy a plant-based diet.  As a substitute, I mixed into the vegetable mixture 2 TBS of nutritional yeast instead.