Sometimes I find it fun to go back and look at my old recipes from before we were vegan/plant based and see just how unhealthy we ate. I know that everyone has their own reasons for why they have chosen a plant-based or vegan diet, but my personal reasons are for the health benefits. The more I learn, the stronger I feel about my thoughts on eating less dairy and meat products. Like I mentioned in my “About Me” section, my husband and I have decided to eat a plant-based diet within our home, but then once, and occasionally twice a week, we go out to eat and we eat anything off the menu that we choose, no guilt. We have found this to be sustainable for us and has made our transition to this lifestyle quite easy on us.
I have tried a few times giving up dairy and meat completely, but haven’t quite made the jump just yet.
I recently got my hands on a copy of Neal Barnard’s book “21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health,” and I am loving it. I even texted my mom and asked her if she wanted to do a little challenge with me. We are currently on day 2 of this challenge, and so far, it’s going well! (Unfortunately, my husband and I’s 3rd anniversary will fall right in the middle of this challenge, so please don’t judge me too much when I splurge for that!:)) He basically just outlines a very healthy plant-based/vegan diet and tells you the health benefits behind it. He also lets you know that you don’t have to give up everything that you like, but that there are substitutes out there for you if you are having a hard time with the idea of giving up things like meat, and even cheese. Breads aren’t off limits, but he does suggest limiting your intake of white bread and even wheat bread because of the high glycemic index that they have. There are lots of other fun little pieces of information that he goes over in the book. If you are interested in a plant-based diet but don’t really know where to start, this is a fun book filled with great ideas and recipes to help you get started.
Anyway! Back to our Vegan Stuffed Shells recipe! What can I say about this?! It’s sooo tasty! It has a texture that is similar to a cheese version of this, and even a flavor that is similar. We love these stuffed shells so much and my husband even said that I need to make a lasagna recipe using this filling. What a great idea! Hopefully I can make that recipe sometime soon for all of you!
- 1½ cups cashews, soaked for 3 hours
- 1 box of jumbo shells
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1½ tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp dried parsley
- ½ heaping tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
- 1½ tsp sea salt
- jar of your favorite marinara sauce
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tsp olive oil
- hours prior to making, place your cashews in a bowl with water to let them soak. If you forget to do this step, you could just boil the cashews in some water for about 5-7 minutes. You want them to be soft, but not mushy.
- In a large pot, cook the jumbo shells according to the instructions on the box.
- Chop the onion and saute over high heat for 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
- Strain your cashews and add them to a food processor along with the sauteed onions, garlic, the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, parsley, crushed red pepper and sea salt. Pulse until mixed well, but make sure to leave the cashews at a slightly chunky texture (this will be more like the texture of non-vegan stuffed shells). See the above pictures if you need a reference on how much to blend it up.
- Using your favorite marinara sauce, pour about ⅓ of the jar on the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Stuff the cooked shells with the filling and line the pan with the stuffed shells.
- Pour the remaining marinara sauce over your stuffed shells.
- In a separate bowl, mix the bread crumbs and olive oil together. Sprinkle over the top of the stuffed shells.
- Cook in your oven for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Bon Appetit!
Kristin
