Pasta

Sesame Tahini Soba Noodles

Soba noodle bowl with sesame, tahini, broccolini, and edamame. Ready in under 30 minutes for a cozy better-than-takeout plant-based meal.

It feels like M and I have been away more this fall than we’ve been home!

I can’t complain, because it’s all good things filling up our calendar.

This past weekend we were near Charlottesville, VA, exploring the outdoors and celebrating one of my friends’ birthdays.

We hiked Humpback Rocks and visited some local breweries and good eats all while staying at a beautiful B&B.

We arrived home last night and stuffed our suitcases up in the attic storage until next year.

As much as I loved all of our travels from this past year, I’m equally excited to cozy up at home until 2023.

That’s not to say that we don’t have things planned– there’s holiday parties and game nights and social engagements on the horizon, for sure.

But they’re all day trips and events that will find us sleeping in our own bed at the end of the day.

The temperature also dropped about 20 degrees this weekend, from the mild 60’s to the much chillier 40’s.

So I’m ready to make all of the cozy comforting food until it’s time to bring out the holiday menu.

This Sesame Tahini Soba Noodles is the quickest, most comforting meal I’ve made in a while.

It’s ready in under 30 minutes for a cozy better-than-takeout plant-based meal!

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Pesto Pasta Salad

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Pesto pasta salad made with Chickapea Penne Pasta in a delicious vegan pesto with juicy heirloom tomatoes. Perfect for a summer main or side!

I missed live music, friends!

This summer I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several concerts to see some of my favorite artists.

Feeling the energy of a live crowd around me pales in comparison to lazy listening in my living room.

I felt intrinsically connected by the pulsing beat, the shared emotion, the pregnant silence between songs.

And it’s even better if you can bring your own picnic with you!

The first time we attended an outdoor show, I threw this Pesto Pasta Salad together.

It was a hot hot day, and I knew we’d be craving something cold and fresh, yet hearty and filling.

M and I devoured the entire bowl listening to Sharon Van Etten at Wolftrap in Vienna, Virginia.

It was so good that I made it for our next outdoor event and at this point it’s a concert tradition.

Today I’m sharing this Pesto Pasta Salad Pesto made with Chickapea Penne Pasta in a delicious vegan pesto with juicy heirloom tomatoes.

It’s perfect to make and share for a summer main or side!

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1-Pot SunButter Pasta

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy 1-pot SunButter Pasta with lentil pasta and garden vegetables in a creamy SunButter-based sauce. Perfect to make for easy weeknight dinners!

There are just some meals or style of meals that I tend to make on a weekly basis.

Wednesday is usually pasta night here at F&V.

I love making pasta because it’s relatively inexpensive, easy to throw together, and tastes like a big hug mid-week.

Growing up, pasta night usually meant red marinara on noodles with a a protein.

But M isn’t the big fan of tomato sauces, which is fine, because tomato sauces aren’t always the biggest fan of my stomach.

So, I’ve been experimenting with creamier sauce alternatives, like alfredo, pesto, and now…SunButter!

This 1-Pot SunButter Pasta is my latest favorite pasta dish.

It’s made in in 1-pot with legume pasta and garden vegetables in a creamy SunButter-based sauce.

It’s perfect to make for easy weeknight dinners– I usually get it on the table in less than 30 minutes before our standing Wednesday game night!

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Soba Noodle Stir-Fry with White Wine Garlic Sauce

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Soba noodle stir-fry with white wine, garlic, lemon, and fresh vegetables. Ready in under 30 minutes for an elevated meal paired with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

Are you an April Fools jokester?

I played the *best* April Fool’s joke on M this year and I’m pretty proud of myself.

I filled an empty jar of his favorite cashew butter with tahini and waited for him to drizzle it all over his usual breakfast bowl.

He did, of course, and called me on April Fool’s Day to ask why the cashew butter tasted so bitter and roasted.

To which I replied, “Well, that’s probably because it’s actually an entire jar tahini…”

He was slightly speechless, friends.

To his credit, he continued to eat the entire breakfast bowl, anyway, tahini drizzle and all.

Jokes aside, I have a new pasta recipe for you that’s fresh, fun, and elevated.

This Soba Noodle Stir-Fry with White Wine Garlic Sauce is ready in under 30 minutes.

It’s begging to be paired with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

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Avocado Collard Greens Pesto Pasta

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Easy avocado pesto made with collard greens and no added oil. Serve for an easy pasta dinner with juicy heirloom tomatoes and toasted pine nuts.

These past few weeks I’ve been getting back into meditating.

I sit cross-legged on the couch, eyes shut, listening to a guided meditation as I wait for my dark roast coffee to cool to the perfect drinking temperature.

It’s always hard at first– making the time, leaning into the discomfort of doing nothing, accepting the ferocious flood of mental activity.

But it feels good when I’m done, when I flutter open my eyes and feel a calm and clarity that I didn’t know existed beneath the chaos.

A few weeks back my fridge was in chaos too– due to an unexpected (or, rather, overlooked) produce delivery in addition to a full grocery visit.

I threw the plentiful collard greens in this plant-forward pesto with avocado, fresh herbs, lemon, and garlic.

It’s super creamy and flavorful without any added oils!

Let’s make Avocado Collard Greens Pesto Pasta as a final summer-y celebration of sweet basil and ripe tomatoes.

Grab your favorite legume-based pasta, some avocados, a handful of herbs, and let’s make pesto pasta!

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Cashew Butter Soba Noodle Stir Fry

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Simple stir-fry with buckwheat soba noodles and tender-crisp vegetables in a creamy cashew butter sauce. Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner!

Lately I’ve been struggling with persistent nightmares.

It’s a little funny that at the ripe old age of 32, I’m plagued by bad dreams.

I wake up in bed, whimpering and writhing, uncertain what’s real and what’s a twisted tall-tale told by my subconscious.

Sometimes I say things, too, the words heavy like cement on my lips as I thrust them out in slurred sentences.

Occasionally I remember what was so terrifying– a loved one leaving, being chased by bad guys, or a new classic, finding myself in a crowded public space without a mask.

What never gets old, though, is the very real relief I feel after realizing that the dream was just a dream.

My reality instantly feels like something worth cherishing and celebrating, like something I’m seriously grateful to wake up to.

So, I’m blaming my less than restful beauty sleep on stress.

Yeah, it’s a little nerve-wracking running a business and writing a cookbook.

I know you’re probably busy, too, starting 2021.

So let me make dinner easy, comforting, and nutritious for us, OK?

This Cashew Butter Soba Noodle Stir Fry……

Nut-Free 1-Pot Macaroni & Cheese

By Flora & Vino Leave a Comment

Nut-free macaroni and cheese made in one pot with your favorite pasta, steamed root vegetables, SunButter, and a crunchy sunflower seed topping.

Friends, I finally picked my pumpkins for Halloween.

And by “picked” I mean I ordered two pumpkins on the Target app and picked them up in the Curbside pick up spot on the way home from outdoor climbing yesterday.

There was something so calming about a nameless Target employee in a red bullseye shirt picking out my gourds this season.

Picking out the “perfect” pumpkin can be a bit frustrating, can’t it?

Darting from pumpkin to pumpkin in the patch, grabbing them by the stem and rolling their bulbous body over only to find a rotting or flattened backside.

Gah.

Since all forms of decision making feels hard right about now, I was more than ready to let a stranger decide the fate of my front step decor.

Luckily, whoever it was picked me out two really solid pumpkins; round and red-orange with a stocky sturdy stem.

I literally can not wait to carve them up this weekend!

I also can’t wait to share this Nut-Free 1-Pot Macaroni & Cheese with you.

It’s the perfect cozy companion for your table this fall made with veggies and seeds.

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1-Bowl Hummus Pasta Salad

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Easy pasta salad made in 1-bowl with your favorite hummus, legume pasta, kalamata olives, cherry tomato, and cucumber. Perfect for a cookout main or side!

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I chipped my tooth on a black olive?

Seated at the restaurant in Colorado, I remember I was *starving*, like, way past the point of hangry.

I was in Colorado for a family wedding, and with that came a family schedule, and not lots of time for finding plants to eat.

So I was super excited super excited to find some plant-based options on the menu.

I went all out and ordered a wrap with allllll of the mediterranean inspired fixings.

Naturally, when the wrap arrived, I took a giant half-moon bite and chewed aggressively.

Craaaaaccccck.

Guys, I thought I lost my tooth.

Pain shot up through my jaw, juxtaposing against the salty satisfaction olives and hummus on my tastebuds.

When I finally spit out the offending mouthful (sorry, TMI), I found the perpetrator.

Those darn black olives weren’t pitted.

I reluctantly returned the food to the waitress, explaining the issue to prevent future guests from their own emergency dentist visits.

When I made it back to Virginia and finally saw a dentist, they confirmed that the olive pit had slightly chipped my incisor.

Ever since then I *never* bite into my olive whole, regardless of whether the jar says “pitted” or not…just in case.

So on that note…how about an easy pasta salad with olives for Memorial Day weekend?

This 1-Bowl Hummus Pasta Salad is easy to mix up with pantry-friendly ingredients and is so delish and simple it’ll chip away at your heart but never your teeth!

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1-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Easy 1-pot pasta with gluten-free pasta, bell pepper, kale, and kalamata olives with a fresh tomato basil pasta sauce. Perfect for easy weeknight dinners!

Well, hello, stranger.

I came home from yoga teacher training this weekend with a voracious appetite that couldn’t be satiated.

This weekend we began our “teach outs” where each student teaches a 60-minute sequence of their own to the group.

It’s hard to believe that in just three weeks I will receive my YTT certification!

Anyway, this weekend we had SIX teach outs, so, that means 6+ hours on the mat.

I woke up today and texted my YTT group text saying, “Guys, I tried to do a chaturanga today and just almost died.”

It’s true. So I took a break from yoga to make something delicious.

After working out the mind, body, and soul for 22 hours this weekend, I definitely wanted all of the carbs.

And nothing says carb-loading like a healthy bowl of pasta, right?

This 1-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta comes together on the stovetop in less than 30 minutes for an im-pasta-bly good weeknight dinner!

Or, post-YTT meals– just sayin’.

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Tahini Tempeh, Sweet Potato Noodle, & Broccoli Bowl

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Easy weeknight dinner idea with tempeh, sweet potato noodles, and broccoli florets drizzled with lemon and tahini. Perfect for a fuss-free meal prep.

Hi!

How are you new year intentions going?

I didn’t really set any hard fast goals other than that I wanted to start meal-prepping again.

Somewhere in the midst of moving and holiday deadlines I decided that it was OK to eat out on the daily.

Yes, even food bloggers can spend way too much money on prepared food.

“But Lauren, don’t you eat the food you make?”” my friends often ask, perplexed.

Well, yes, but the eats don’t always work out that conveniently.

Allow me to explain.

During my busy holiday season, for example, I might have cookie recipes to share with you all week.

Cookies on the counter, cookies in the freezer, cookies in the fridge, cookies on my photography backdrop board, more cookies in the oven.

Yum. Cookies galore.

But it’s either eat cookies for lunch and dinner or suck it buttercup and dirty up the dishes I just spent an hour cleaning to making something savory.

This is where meal prep comes in clutch for me, and maybe for you too, friend.

You might not be surrounded by multiple cookie recipes but you might be in a work environment where you can’t break to make a feel good meal.

I’m not talking making 25 meals on Sunday evening pre-portioned in Tupperware.

I am talking about having readily available washed and chopped vegetables, fruit, and plant-protein prepared with potential in the fridge.

Which is precisely why I love this Tahini Tempeh, Sweet Potato Noodle, & Broccoli Bowl so darn much.

It comes together in less than 30 minutes for a vegan and gluten-free plant-powered bowl!

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Sesame Tahini Soba Noodles

Pesto Pasta Salad

1-Pot SunButter Pasta

Soba Noodle Stir-Fry with White Wine Garlic Sauce

Avocado Collard Greens Pesto Pasta

Cashew Butter Soba Noodle Stir Fry

Nut-Free 1-Pot Macaroni & Cheese

1-Bowl Hummus Pasta Salad

1-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta

Tahini Tempeh, Sweet Potato Noodle, & Broccoli Bowl

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