Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Vegan Rotini Salad and Peach Pineapple "Sangria"

Jacob and I have been doing a lot of cooking out of this book my mom got me from Goodwill called "Vegan on the Cheap." It not only has some really great recipes, but it also is legitimately affordable. The past two times we have gone grocery shopping, we have been able to feed ourselves for 2 weeks based on the recipes from this book, and both times we spent under $50 on ingredients.

A lot of the ingredients needed are pantry items (oil, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, basic herbs) that are just supplemented with bulk items (beans, grains) and fresh produce. It is really unbelievable how well we've been eating by sticking to these recipes, and that we have been able to budget it all so well. This is a testament to all of the people out there who say, "Whole Foods is too expensive!!" That is where we buy everything. Two weeks of food for two people for under $50 at Whole Foods is pretty damn good, I'd say.

Anyways, for the sake of my laziness, I have scanned the recipe to the left. Click on it to make it bigger, of course. I did make a few alterations- the first being that I forgot to buy tahini and parsley (though I did throw in some leftover lettuce we had kicking around), and the second being that we don't own a blender so I had to use a mortar and pestle and my grandmother's old handmixer. No sweat, though! It all turned out beautiful, delicious, and filling.

To accompany our dinner I made a faux Sangria by macerating some peaches, adding some pineapple juice, and adding it to a bottle of $2.50 Three Wishes white wine. All in all, I'd call it a delightful evening.