rainbow chard lemon-garlic fettuccine

back with a new recipe. i have been cooking during my blog absence, but mostly just recipes i've already shared. so many people contributed to me getting up the creative energy to make this happen: my dad, a big meat and potatoes kind of guy, actually cooked a vegan meal for my birthday. thanks dad! my mom, who made him cook that meal :), and also once again went out her way to get me some rocking pappardelle pasta for my birthday. my brother, who got me a kick-ass ceramic knife which made this meal possible. (plus, he brought me over 20 pounds of asparagus this year). my csa, greely gardens, which started this weekend (yay!). and of course, my husband, who always graciously tries my recipes and smiles through it all. plus, he drove to store and got the mushrooms. whew, sounds like i a won an academy award or something... moving on to the food!

• 4-5 rainbow chard leaves
• 2 inch garlic scape, sliced
• 10-12 button mushrooms, sliced
• 6 oz. roasted garlic Pappardelle fettuccine
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup Drew's Lemon Goddess dressing

in a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil and cook pasta for 8 minutes. drain then rinse with warm water. set aside.

trim stems from the chard and tear the leaves into fourths.  in a small pot, boil 2 cups of water and add stems for 3-4 minutes to tenderize. remove from heat and drain.
slice garlic scape into thin medallions, almost like scallions. in a large skillet on medium heat, sauté the garlic and chard stems in olive oil. after 2-3 minutes, add in chard leaves and about an 1/8 cup of water. cover with lid to wilt stems. when the leaves have reduced, remove lid and add the sliced mushrooms. continue sautéing on medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

in a pasta bowl, toss the fettuccine noodles with 1/2 cup of the lemon goddess dressing. the noodles should be well-coated and will separate. add in the chard and mushroom saute, as well as up to another 1/4 cup of dressing as needed. serve warm.

cupcake memories

i've wanted to make these fauxstess cupcakes (from vwav) since the day i went vegan. for one, they look freakin' rockin! and second, i have the greatest memories of eating them when i was a little girl. my mom would always buy a package of these (they come two to a pack), and we'd split them. man, i remember them being soooo good. maybe it's because when you share something, it tastes twice as awesome.


nowadays, i don't really have a taste for the sweets, but i did want to make these as a special treat for my mom. the funny story is that i starting making them last year for mother's day... i bought all the special ingredients, set aside a chunk of time, and baked the cupcake. before i could ice them, they had to cool, so i set them on the counter and went for a run. that was the last i ever saw of them - one of my dogs decided i had made them for him and devoured every last one. (at first i was freaked, but he's 90 pounds and the little bit of cocoa powder didn't seem to bother him).

anyways, it took me quite a bit of time to recover from that trauma, and i made them again this week (watching the dogs at every step). yes, they take some time, but they were so worth my mom's excitement! happy birthday mom!