Rigatoni with Mushrooms and Vegan Sausage

This is a wonderfully quick and delicious meal that’s hearty and packed full of healthy protein. A comfort meal of pasta, cremini mushrooms, and vegan sausage that’s nutritious, simple, and fast; I think your entire family will absolutely love the creamy goodness in this dinner! We hope you’ll add this dish to your weeknight rotation.

*sigh* I aim for one recipe per week and wind up making it to about one per month! It’s not ideal, I know, but it’s hard work, with a wee man running around, to get the adequate time needed to recipe develop, create and make a recipe, do the photography, then write up a post. It seems simple enough, and it is (albeit there is a lot of toil that goes into making a post) but it just takes so much darn time.

It’s a great joy to be able to cook and write and share it all with you. However, now that Todd and I have a little family, I prioritize my free time with them; whether it’s skiing on the weekend with friends or just simply chillin’ inside by the fire reading and playing with stuffed animals. We actually cook and bake a lot, but Oliver loves to help and there isn’t a lot of measuring happening and we really just wing things together. Messily and quickly. It’s not super kosher for sharing recipes here on Produce On Parade.

While I try to navigate dedicating time to this space but not sacrificing time with family and friends, I want to thank you for being so patient. You’re all so wonderful; I love hearing from you, especially those of you who have been here since the beginning six years ago. It blows my mind it’s been six years already. Thank you guys! Happy Valentine’s Day to your loves, your friends, your family <3 Love makes you want to stay. Love is a day full of hugs. Love is cheers when you get home.

Bear with me today, I’m on Tamiflu (I don’t have the flu, but opted to take it prophylactically due to work exposure) and it really makes it difficult to concentrate. I think I’ve spent about 20 minutes trying to write one paragraph!

Rigatoni with Mushrooms and Vegan Sausage

By Kathleen Henry - Produce On Parade

This is a wonderfully quick and delicious meal that’s hearty and packed full of healthy protein. A comfort meal of pasta, cremini mushrooms, and vegan sausage that’s nutritious, simple, and fast; I think your entire family will absolutely love the creamy goodness in this dinner! We hope you’ll add this dish to your weeknight rotation.

Ingredients

• 1 lb dry rigatoni pasta (or pasta of choice)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 3 whole garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (14 oz) package of Lightlife Gimme Lean Veggie Sausage
• 12 oz fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 ¾ cup unsweetened, plain soymilk
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp salt, to taste
• Dash of white pepper (black pepper will work)
• Dash of shiitake mushroom powder (optional)
• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions


1. Over high heat, bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook according to package until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. In a large rimmed frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes then add the sausage, breaking it into bite size pieces with a wooden spatula. Add the mushrooms; saute an additional 5-8 minutes, until the mushrooms have darkened and shrunk.
3. Whisk the nutritional yeast through the mushroom powder into the soymilk and stir into the mushroom mixture over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes; while deglazing the pan. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in cooked pasta. Serve hot, topped with fresh parsley.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes
Yield: 5 servings

Corn & Zucchini Tacos with Chickpea & Walnut 'Meat'

This is one of the best weeknight meals around, vegan or otherwise! These tacos are super fast, healthy, there’s very little prep, everyone loves them, the tacos are customizable to tastes, and they leave little cleanup. A giant win in my book!

These aren’t much to look at, but I guarantee you that everyone is going to love them! Quite possibly one of Todd and my favorite meals, these tacos are so quick and easy to whip up. Perfect for a busy weeknight. Oliver really enjoyed putting the lettuce on the tacos too, so kid-friendly! Yay!

Have you watched the Tidying Up with Marie Kondo show on Netflix? I read her book several years ago and still fold my clothes in her very particular way, even though I found the book to be slightly absurd. We watched the show a couple weeks ago and pretty much turned our house upside-down. I don’t know what it was about actually watching her go through with people and help them ‘tidy up’ but it really made an impact on us. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth the watch! Okay, PSA over. Now it’s taco-time!!

Corn & Zucchini Tacos with Chickpea & Walnut 'Meat'

By Kathleen @ Produce On Parade

This is one of the best weeknight meals around, vegan or otherwise! These tacos are super fast, healthy, there’s very little prep, everyone loves them, the tacos are customizable to tastes, and they leave little cleanup. A giant win in my book!

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 15 oz can of sweet corn, drained well
• 2-3 small zucchinis, diced small
• 1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 ¼ cup whole raw walnuts
• 2 ½ tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• ½ small head of romaine lettuce, chopped
• 20 cherry tomatoes, halved
• ⅓ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 8-10 taco-size flour tortillas
• Sprinkle of shredded vegan mozzarella
• Spoonful of salsa, to taste

Ingredients

1. Over medium, heat the oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, saute the corn and zucchini for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. While the veggies fry, place the chickpeas through the garlic powder into a food processor. Pulse several times, until the mixture resembles taco meat. There should be small chunky bits of walnuts and chickpeas, and the spices should be well blended. Transfer to a microwave safe bowl.
3. Prep the veggies. Microwave the taco meat for about 1-2 minutes, until warm. Heat the stack of tortillas in the microwave for about 15-30 seconds, to heat.
4. To assemble the tacos, place lettuce on one taco, followed by taco meat and pan-fried veggies and then the remaining veggies. Top with a sprinkle of shredded vegan mozzarella and a spoonful of salsa, to taste, on each taco. Divide the fillings evenly between all the tortillas. Serve hot.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 5
Total time: 15
Yield: 8-10 tacos

Farfalle with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes

I love quick and easy dinners and this veggie packed, healthy pasta dish is a wonderful weeknight meal. Another great thing: it’s a terrific way to get a variety of nutritious vegetables into those picky eaters. My toddler actually picked out the zucchini to eat! I know your family will love this Farfalle with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes as much as we do.

Do you need a break from pumpkin? A temporary reprieve from smothering holiday food? Me too. Stand down stuffing and mashed potatoes; we need some tasty, fresh veggies up in here! No worries, my friend. Tender zucchini, hearty mushrooms, and fresh cherry tomatoes are here to save you from eggnog overload.

This is a wonderful meal because it’s easy, quick and really easy on the wallet. Todd and I have decided to cut back our grocery bill because it has been a little wild this past year. There are so many amazing, new vegan finds in the grocery store and while I love testing them out we need to get back to basics: more whole foods and less vegan meats, cheeses, and processed foods. I made a goal to have rice, beans, and lentils all once per week. They should all be in our diets more, and surprise, they are about as inexpensive as it gets! Of course, if I see a brand new fun vegan option I obviously have no willpower to stop myself from trying it. See my Instagram, Facebook , or Twitter to peek at what I’ve been finding here in Alaska on our store shelves.

In the next months, be on the lookout for easy, inexpensive, healthy meals posted on the blog. It’s been real busy in our household with family and friends and to be frankly honest, we are having so much fun I have a hard time finding the time needed to dedicate to posting more regularly but I am going to try! I mean, have you seen how cute Oliver is?

Farfalle with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

I love quick and easy dinners and this veggie packed, healthy pasta dish is a wonderful weeknight meal. Another great thing: it’s a terrific way to get a variety of nutritious vegetables into those picky eaters. My toddler actually picked out the zucchini to eat! I know your family will love this Farfalle with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Cherry Tomatoes as much as we do.

Ingredients

• 8 oz bowtie (farfalle) or penne pasta, uncooked
• 2 tbsp vegan butter (optional)
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
• ½ pound fresh cremini mushrooms, sliced
• ½ pint fresh cherry tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• 1 tsp seasoning salt or table salt
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• dash of white pepper (black pepper will work in a pinch)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• ½ cup canned coconut milk (you can use any non-dairy milk but it won't be as creamy)
• 1 heaping tbsp tapioca starch or cornstarch

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Cook according to package until al dente. Reserve 2-4 tbsp of cooking water and drain. Set aside.
2. In a large rimmed frying pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Saute the garlic, zucchini, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes for about 5 minutes until the zucchini is slightly tender. Stir in the salt, thyme, pepper and green onions.
3. In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together the coconut milk and tapioca starch. Add to the vegetables over medium heat; stirring continuously for about 1-2 minutes, until it’s thickened into a sauce and coats the vegetables.
4. Stir in the reserved 2-4 tbsp cooking water, until the sauce reaches your desired thickness then add in the pasta. Stir well to combine and serve hot.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 00:25
Total time: 00:30
Yield: 4 servings

Save Money!

I buy my canned coconut milk here, at half price almost. It’s only $2.12 per can versus $3.99 per can at our local grocery store!

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