Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 can tomato juice
• 1/3-1 cup vegan sugar
• pepper, about 1/3 teaspoon
• basil, about 1/3 teaspoon
• paprika, about 1/3 teaspoon
• garlic powder, about 1/3 teaspoon
• whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 1 can tomatoes, whatever kind you like

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a pot and
cook until done. Eat and enjoy.
Make sure to add the sugar a little at a time until
you get the sweetness that you like!

Serves:

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 2 cans garbanzo beans
• 1 cup uncooked small macaroni or shells
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup cubed carrot
• 1 cup cubed zuchinni
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 medium potato cubed
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon bazil
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 5 cups water or vegatable stock

Directions:

In a large kettle, saute the garlic, onions, and green pepper in olive oil until soft.

Add carrots, celery, salt, oregano, black pepper, and basil. Mix well and cook covered over low heat for 10 minutes.

Add potato, zucchini, garbanzo beans in their juice, and 5 cups water or stock. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.

Add chopped tomatoes and their juice. Keep at low heat until you are ready to serve.

10 minutes before serving add pasta and boil gently for 10 minutes. Top with parsley if you want.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1/4th block of extra firm tofu, excess water removed and crumbled
• 1/2 — 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1/2 avocado
• two slices of tomato, I prefer roma
• chopped veggies of choice — I use the following:
• 1/2 green pepper
• approx. 1/4 cup vidalia onion
• 3 button mushrooms
• 1 small can of black olives
• soya cheese, optional

Directions:

Saute the crumbled tofu in half of the olive oil with salt
and pepper until browned. Meanwhile, toast the bagel.
Spread each toasted bagel half withe the avocado. Place
tomato slices on each bagel half. When tofu is brown, add
chopped peppers, onion and mushrooms. This is when you may
need to add more olive oil. However, remember, mushrooms
are mostly water and will add to the saute juices in the
pan. When peppers are tender, onions are glossy and
mushrooms are sauted; heap tofu/veggie mixture on to bagel
halves. Top with black olives. If you are using soya
cheese, place a slice on each half and broil until the cheese
has melted. Serve at once.

Serves: 1-2(if you feel like sharing)

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• one dozen manicotti shells
• two packages of firm tofu (minus one half cup)
• one packet of Italian seasoning (or use your own blend)
• one cup of vegan cheeze sauce (see notes below)
• two large cans of crushed tomato
• one can of tomato paste
• Italian seasonings (garlic, oregano, basil, etc)
• one can black olives, chopped coarsely
• one can green olives, chopped coarsely
• or any other veggies you like to add into tomato sauces

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees (F). Boil lots of water for the
manicotti shells, so that the filling can be made while
they’re cooking.

Filling:

Plop the two bricks of tofu into a bowl and mash with a
potato masher or a fork until it looks like Ricotta cheese.
Add in as much of the Italian seasoning packet as you want,
or season it with your own special blend of herbs and spices
like oregano, garlic, basil, and I like to throw in a bit of
cumin for interest. Use your imagination. Pour in the vegan
cheeze sauce and mix well.

For the cheeze sauce, I usually use a recipe from Joanne
Stepaniak’s “UnCheese Cookbook” like Meunster (minus the
agar). But for this purpose (because of copyright laws and
because experimentation is fun) here is my modification. Mix
in a blender the following things: tofu, raw cashews,
tahini, nutritional yeast, seasonings (like garlic, onion
powder and salt) and a little water and the juice of one
lemon (these should all add up to about two cups or so,
maybe a little more). Once everything is blended up nice,
and you like the flavor, it’s ready to go. Note: if it
tastes bland, add in more lemon juice. I found that this is
crucial, and vinegar doesn’t really cut it in fake cheeze
recipes.

Tomato Sauce:

Plop the canned tomato goods into a pot, add a
tomato-paste-can full of water and heat and stir. Season
with garlic powder or fresh garlic (I love a lot of garlic)
and herbs. Add in chopped olives and other veggies if
desired. Simmer until the flavors meld to your satisfaction.

Drain the manicotti and place in a pot of cold water. Line
your baking dishes with a bit of the tomato sauce. Fill each
shell with the seasoned tofu filling and place very close
together in the baking pan. Cover with sauce so that no
noodle bits are showing. Cover pan(s) with foil. Bake in 350
degree (F) oven for approx. 30 minutes, or until the sauce
is nice and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Serves: 5-6

Preparation time: 30 min

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• olive oil
• 1/4 of a large onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 6oz can of tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon of vegan sugar
• Kosher salt and ground pepper
• basil
• vegan red wine, optional
• water

Directions:

Fill a pot with water, filling
it roughly 75% full. Place Tomatoes
in water, ensuring they are
submerged.

Boil water and Tomatoes for
ten minutes.

Using a fork, remove each
Tomato carefully and place in a
colander; run cool water over
tomatoes. The peel will already be
coming off. Remove the rest of the
peel gently. When the tomatoes are
cool enough to touch, remove
the “core.” The tomatoes will fall
apart somewhat with handling. This is
not only okay, it is preferable.

In a large saucepan, heat
olive oil.

Sauté Minced Garlic and
Chopped Onions until the aroma fills
your kitchen.

Spoon in the Tomato Paste.

Place the large chunks of
peeled and boiled Tomato in the
saucepan.

Add the vegan sugar.

Add the Salt and Pepper.

Add Wine if you desire. Or add
Water–just enough to liquify the
sauce a little more.

Stir. Simmer. Let it bubble.

Add Basil—usually about 1/2 a
Teaspoon. Stir and Simmer some more.

Heap this on some spelt pasta
or whatever you enjoy.

This is also amazing when
topped with a mixture of zucchini,
cremini mushrooms, and red peppers
sautéed in olive oil for the length of
time it takes to prepare the sauce.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: Less than 30 minutes.