Sesame hummus noodles

I pretty much can't stand Rachael Ray. The cackle, the Joker smile, the lame slang, the incessant chattiness, the fact that she's everywhere. That said, her food is not all bad. In fact, I have to give her (along with most of the Food Network personalities) credit for helping to get me interested in cooking in college. I also subscribe to her magazine – flashy and overpriced though it is, it's the best way to have access to her recipes and ideas without actually having to listen to her. Brilliant! Obviously, most of her food is very fatty, very not-vegan, or (usually) both, but you'd be surprised how much of it adaptable. This recipe caught my eye right away – hummus freak that I am, I had never thought to use it in a stir fry sauce. A few tweaks later, this recipe is inventive, delectable, AND vegan.

1 lb whole-grain angel hair pasta
3/4 cup hummus
1/4 cup water or vegetable broth
2T soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sriracha (or more)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 oz. snow peas, halved diagonally
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
1/2 cup peanuts
1/4 cup sesame seeds



Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes. Add the snow peas during the last minute of cooking. Drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the hummus, water, soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, and garlic. I used storebought hummus. I'd had it in my cabinet forever, because it was the last jar I had bought before I started making my hummus myself.



Add the red pepper and carrot to the pasta, and toss it with the hummus sauce, thinning out with the pasta water as necessary.



Top each serving with the scallions, peanuts, sesame seeds, and additional sriracha if desired.



It's a good thing this was tasty, because the other caveat about Rachael Ray's recipes is that "serves 4" really means "serves 6-8 normal humans." (A quarter pound of pasta per person? Who is she feeding?!) So although I made this for dinner last Tuesday, I just ate the last serving of it for lunch today. Wondering if I got sick of it? As a matter of fact, I didn't. So all you single people out there, feel free to make this without fear of wastage. You may even find yourself glad, as I did, that you still have some left to eat days later.



Yield: 6-8 servings. Per serving (6): 460 calories, 14.6g Fat (1.8g sat), 68.5g carbs, 11.5g fiber, 16.8g protein.
Per serving (8): 345 calories, 11g fat (1.3g sat), 51.4g carbs, 8.6g fiber, 12.6g protein

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Vegan lo mein

Vegan lo mein

Two recipes in one week! Impressive, aren’t I? I adapted this recipe from Eating Well magazine too—it’s my favorite cooking magazine out there. It’s omni, but they include lots of vegetarian dishes, and most of the rest are easily veganizable. I’ve never made a recipe from that magazine that I didn’t love. This one is a great alternative to take-out – it’s non-greasy, healthy, veggie-packed, and vegan – and if you have a well-stocked kitchen, you’ll likely have many of these ingredients on hand already.

8 oz. whole-wheat spaghetti (udon noodles are great here too)
2 cups frozen edamame
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
4 scallions, minced
1/4 cup vegetarian "oyster" sauce
3T rice vinegar
3T reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1-3 tsp sriracha
1T canola oil
2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks (or 1 cup pre-cut shredded carrots)
1 red bell pepper, cut into matchsticks



Boil water and add the spaghetti. Cook according to package directions, adding an extra 2 minutes. Put the edamame in the pot with the spaghetti when there’s 5 minutes left. Drain it all and set it aside.



Whisk together scallions, garlic, “oyster” sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and sriracha (I tend to put in gobs of that) until combined.



Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots and red pepper and cook about 4 minutes, till softened.



Add the drained spaghetti and edamame. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes.



Add the sauce, stir it in throughly, and remove from the heat.



And that’s it! In roughly 20 minutes, you have a restaurant-quality meal that’s as perfect for a weeknight as it is for a date night.



Yield: 4 servings. Per serving: 415 calories, 10.3g fat (trace sat), 65.2g carbs, 13.8g fiber, 19.4g protein.