Vegan Pasta e Fagioli

There’s nothing like coming home to a hot soup after a run in the frigid cold. Pasta e fagioli is one of my most favorite soups and it is so easy to make. All I did was throw together some Trader Joe’s vegetable broth, pinto beans, elbow pasta, kale, a dash of olive oil, and a little pepper.

My taste buds couldn’t get enough of it. It was wonderfully delicious and super nutritious. It’s an excellent recovery meal due to its high protein content. I suggest you try making it and experimenting with different legumes and vegetables.

What kind of soups or recovery meals are you making this winter?

Littly Italy of the Bronx

Arthur avenue in Little Italy

It’s always an adventure being in the Little Italy of the Bronx, which I visited yesterday. This neighborhood, with its many unique Italian restaurants, pizzerias, bakeries, pastry shops, and gift stores is a hidden gem. It is not as well known as the Little Italy in Manhattan but has as much, if not more to offer food-lovers, both vegans and non-vegans.

The indoor market that is on Arthur Avenue in Little Italy is a world unto itself. It is a cornucopia of Italian food and fresh produce, and has an “old world” kind of feel to it. You will often hear Italian spoken here, by both the merchants and some of the customers, though luckily it’s not required that you speak Italian to order food. Similarly, you don’t have to understand Italian to enjoy the performances of the Italian singers that occasionally come by. It reminds me of the Reading Terminal market in Philadelphia, except it isn’t as big, and there aren’t any Amish.

The Cafe Al Mercato in the market has a very long menu of various pizzas, pastas, salads, and sandwiches. They make a delicious vegan pizza or focaccia. I highly recommend it.

If you are ever in New York City, you should definitely visit.

Soy Boy Verde vegan Ravioli

I had this yesterday. It was super-delicious with marinara sauce and chopped kale. Since it is vegan, it is stuffed with tofu and spices instead of cheese. Here are the ingredients:

Too bad you can’t taste it.

Gnocchi with vegan sausage and mushrooms

 

I am a pasta fanatic. Spaghetti, ziti, gnocchi, you name it, I love it. It has fueled countless endurance runs. I especially love it with marinara sauce and a lot of garlic. I also adore mushrooms.

This meal was pretty easy to make. It’s just gnocchi, vegan Tofurkey Italian sausage, mushrooms, chopped kale, and marinara sauce. I added a lot of garlic powder. It tasted great, with all the contrasting textures, and Italian flavors.

I got the gnocchi from the frozen food section, which I think may be better than dried, room-temperature gnocchi which usually has preservatives. I lightly sautéed the mushrooms and sausage before mixing it with the sauce.

It turned out so well, it’s too bad you can’t taste it.