A favorite recipe at home, ZUCHOS!

Every wonder what to do with all the squash in the garden??????.... ZUCHOS is the answer. It's nachos with sliced squash as the 'chip'. We use either zucchini or yellow squash from the garden!

Zuchos

1 large (larger the better) yellow squash or zucchini

Toppings of your choice including: vegan melty cheese or soy cheese (shredded), olives, mushrooms, peppers (bell, sweet or spicy), spinach, pepporoni (for the omnis), vegan tempeh sausage, marinated tofu...Go wild people!

Bake at 350 until 'cheese' is melted and desired brownish occurs.

Top with toffutti 'better than sour cream' and/or guacamole and salsa!

At home we like lots of browning of the cheese.... we call it 'crispy'....! Crispy is coveted in my home, yummy!

ps- I posted both vegan and omni zuchos. My husband is an avid meat eater and I am vegan (or very strict vegetarian, whatever you want to call it). Anyway, I try to make dishes at home where meat can be easily incorporated for my husband if he likes. When I do this I will probably post both vegan and omni style pictures because I suspect there are others out there in my situation.

Scary authentic Tempeh 'Sausage"

Who says you can't have sausage and be vegan.... you'd seriously never know this wasn't the real thing!
Tempeh Sausage

1 Pkg tempeh (I use soy tempeh)
1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp sage

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp each of dried basil & oregano

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp chili powder
Chopped onion or onion powder to taste

1 cup warm water or vegetable broth (I used mushroom broth)

Directions

Mix the above dry ingredients well with the water and soy sauce. Add the cubed Tempeh and let it stand for about 1/2 hour before using, I marinate overnight. Boil tempeh plus all marinade in a non-stick pan, covered. Once all liquid boils off (slow simmer for 1 hr if you really want the flavor to soak in)
stir fry tempeh until desired browning occurs.

Oh so yUUUUUUUUUUUUUmMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmIE!

PESTO! Who doesn't LOVE homemade pesto!

Oh and it's lowfat, low cal. Yay for pesto! I love, love, LOVE this recipe! My husband liked it too!

Pesto Ingredients:
4 cloves garlic
1 cup fresh cilantro
1 cup fresh basil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup vegan Parmesan
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. lime juice
3 Tbs. olive oil
¼ - 1/3 cup vegetable broth (as needed to reach desired consistancy)**NOTE: I used mushroom broth and it added a fabulous flavor!
Preparation: Toast pine nuts until slightly browned and fragrant.
Process all ingredients in food processor until smooth.

Disclaimer

1. I don't claim nor will I ever attempt to obtain vegan 'perfection'. What this means is I may make some vegan rookie mistakes along the way (aka buying things that aren't vegan accidentally) or continuing to buy non vegan items if I can not find a replacement (aka wool socks for my poor circulation). I will however aim to the best of my ability to live a vegan lifestyle of compassion. For me, veganism isn't about vegan perfection, its about doing everything you can with in your power to live as responsibly and compassionately as possible.
2. Because of forementioned number 1., I will never claim to be completely and totally vegan. For the time being I prefer 'near' vegan or 'to the best of my ability 'vegan'. I hope that is okay with all the vegans out there.... cuz I like vegans and I hope they like me too!!!!
3. I absolutley do not hate nor judge meat eaters (omnis). As a matter of fact my husband is omni and I respect his choice. We have meat in the freezer, I just dont eat it. For that matter everyone in my life I love is omni, family, best friends.....
Its important to respect others points of views if you expect them to respect your point of view.... make sense? I do not push veganism on anyone. I do try to cook vegan so others can see how tasty it is; in an effort to get rid of the negative stigma surrounding vegans!

Why is that your blog title????!!!

'Evil' Herbivores are awesome' is named after a totally cool t-shirts I saw once! Basically it's because you say the word vegan to a non-vegan (aka omni) and they FREAK OUT! That one word is stigmatized in society to weird and 'wrong'. So sad and quite frankly retarded. I mean veganism is about a life of compassion and thoughtfulness for those creatures that share the planet with us humans. If anything vegans should be commended for taking a stance against the cruelty and exploitation inflicted on millions of undeserving creatures.... But no...no no no.... we are exilled, if it were the middle ages vegans would probably be burned at the stake or stoned to death or something.

Anyway, off my soap box, hopefully that explains my blog title!

I have spaghetti squash coming out my ears!

Okay all, I must confess spaghetti squash is my new FAVORITE vegetable! My husband was given one by an aquantance, so I had to 1. learn what hell a spaghetti sqaush was and 2. what the hell to do with it! The stuff is seriously just like spaghetti with a fraction of the calories and 10 times the nutritional value! It is so fabulous! Anyway, I made a spaghetti squash pesto casserole and spaghetti squash ole casserole. Needless to say I have been eating spaghetti squash for lunch and dinner for about a week now...... YUM YUM!

Spaghetti Squash Pesto Bake
1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 block silken tofu
1/4 cup soy milk
1/4 cup vegetable stock (i used mushroom stock)
3-4 tablespoons (to taste) vegan pesto (see awesome and lowfat vegan pesto recipe)
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
2 tbsp red wine or sherry
3 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
black pepper to taste
1 (15 ounce) can black olives, chopped
1 cup shredded vegan melty mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup vegan parmasean cheese
mushrooms
articoke hearts
Tempeh sausage (optional - see vegan tempeh sausage recipe)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.
2. Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool. Cut open and remove squash strands with a fork.
3. Meanwhile, place silken tofu, pesto, soy milk, vegetable stock, onion, garlic, sherry, red pepper and black pepper in a food processor.
4. In a large bowl, stir spaghetti squash with pesto creamy sauce until evenly coated. Stir in stewed tomatoes.
5. In a casserole pan, layer pesto spaghetti squash strands, olives, mushrooms, articoke hearts, and vegan melty mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers until casserole dish is full, or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with vegan Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheese melts.