creamy rotini

I had you at creamy, didn’t I?

Or I lured you in with my amazing rhyming skills:  “cream-eee rotin-eee”. Yes, I learned that rhyming business in kindergarten. Last week. During kindergarten partners.

Crap, you caught me.

Sometimes, we all need a little cream in our lives. But, could you hold the cream please? I know, it seems a little oxymoronic, doesn’t it? It’s like ordering a cheeseburger without the cheese. Not that I’ve ever done that before or anything. One of my friends has though – and well, that’s just not good money management because cheeseburgers cost more than hamburgers.

Gosh, you guys always get me off track. I’m a vegetarian, and we’re talking about pasta today. Sorry – my lack of working this week has made me a little unfocused.

 
Creamy food always seems decadent to me. It seems a little naughty, like I’m “not supposed” to have it. It also make the Husband cross his fingers and hope someday I’ll cross over into the dark side of real cream, butter, and cheese. Sorry Husband, but if you wanted a wife like that, you should have married her.

But you know what? After a day of scrubbing floors, finding more dog hair in the freezer (I know my sister in law is going to tell me “I told you so”), and the Husband just happening to walk on my shiny hardwood in his work boots – I’ll take what I can get.

Pairing hummus and nutritional yeast never disappoints – and someone once told me it’s helpful to do so if you want to get pregnant. Not that I do – but now my cousin is knocked up too, so I’m sure my family is crossing their fingers for a trifecta. Sorry folks, not going to happen.

And I lied about pairing hummus and nooch being good for pregnancy. I have no idea – don’t quote me on such things. Remember, I’m no doctor people. I’m just an ordinary girl who happens to enjoy food and making up random trivia facts.

This is a four burner dinner folks – get those pans ready for action.

Creamy Artichoke and Green Bean Rotini (serves 2)

• 3 servings dry rotini pasta (6 oz)
• 1 cup frozen green beans
• 1 can artichoke hearts
• 8 baby bella mushrooms, halved
• 1/2 sweet onion, thinly wedged
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Cream Sauce:

• 1 tbsp. vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 tsp. gluten free flour (I used garbanzo bean)
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup hummus
• 3 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Bring the water for your pasta to a rapid boil and cook your rotini per the package directions. While waiting for your water to boil, begin your cream sauce.

Start by melting your vegan margarine in a small saucepan. When your butter has melted, whisk in your flour to thicken the butter. Be careful not to scorch your rue (it just tastes nasty when that happens and you have to start over – not that I would know). Then, add your almond milk, hummus, nutritional yeast, and dijon mustard. Whisk until smooth. Add your spices and simmer over low heat for ~5 minutes.

While your sauce is simmering, chop your vegetables and place all but the artichokes in a skillet with 1 tbsp. olive oil and a splash of water. Heat over medium high heat until tender. Add your artichokes and heat for an additional 2 minutes.

Toss your pasta and vegetables with the cream sauce  and trick your husband into thinking he’s eating dairy.

 
Between you and me, I’m happy calling this “cream sauce” – because it’s a sauce.. and it’s creamy.

The husband though, the Husband is a bit stubborn (so am I – it makes for an interesting marriage) and declared that my “homemade ‘sauce’ was really good”.

I’ll take it.

Question: What is your favorite decadent food?

Tagged as: cooking, cream sauce, gluten free, pasta, recipe, rotini, special diet, vegan