**November 5, 2015 – I wrote this post in 2011 but it is one of my favorite recipes so I thought I would share it again. Hope you enjoy it!
So I can be a little naive at times. Just ask my husband. One day I came home upset about this guy who pulled up beside me in his car and yelled at me for cutting him off. I was like “sorry”.
He kept screaming “you little runt”. When I told my husband the story, he was like, that guy wasn't calling you a little runt – he was calling you a little _unt. I'm like oh my God! I couldn't believe it. How could anyone scream such a thing?
So today, I was at Whole Foods in the produce section. First off, the guys in the produce section at Whole Foods know me pretty well and won't even make eye contact with me.
Why? Because I ask a lot of questions about the produce. I don't think it's a big deal, but I want to know where my food comes from.
At any rate, I chased down one of the produce guys who seemed to be trying to avoid me. I asked him why I can't find any organic cucumbers, and he said “we have some over there.” I walked over to where he pointed and carefully inspected the cucumber. I have never seen a cucumber shrink wrapped like that, and I was suspicious. “Are you sure this is organic”, I asked. “Yes”, he answers a little impatiently. So I said, “this cucumber seems too hard and not ripe enough, and I want to use it today”.
He said, “no – its perfect – you don't want it soft”. I went over to the non-organic persian cucumbers and brought a couple of back. I said, “this is what a perfect cucumber should feel like”. I hand it to him, and he inspects it. He remarks, “no that is way to soft”.
This goes on for a couple of minutes when I notice the other produce guys kind of have their heads down and are laughing. I honestly didn't understand why until I got home, and was unpacking my grocery bags. I looked at that cucumber and thought what were those guys laughing about. Then lightening struck – obviously, there was a lot of innuendo going on and it went right over my head. I was the brunt of a joke. The produce guys at Whole Foods were apparently having some fun with me, and I didn't realize it. Oh well – I would rather be naive.
So I made the most delicious meal this past weekend. I have been making a Mexican spaghetti pie with ground beef for many years, and I truly missed the flavors. I decided to create a vegan version and to my surprise – it was perfect and I didn't miss the ground beef at all. This is surely getting filed under ordinary vegan favorites. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did? Vegan Day 165 – wish me luck!
Mexican Spaghetti Pie
- 6-8 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
- 2 vegan eggs ( I used Bob's Red Mill egg replacement or you can make 2 flax eggs - directions below)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast (I added a couple of extra tablespoons)
- 1 8 ounce package of ground wheat Seitan
- ¼ cup vegetable broth for sautéing
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 8 ounce can low salt tomato sauce
- 1 4 ounce can diced green chiles
- 2 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- dash of hot sauce or ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 small green pepper, cut into rings
- 1 small sweet red pepper, cut into rings
- ¼ cup Daiya shredded cheddar cheese
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions; drain and rinse. Place in a large bowl and combine with your hands the vegan eggs and nutritional yeast. Add a little ground black pepper.
- Form mixture into a crust in a 12-inch pizza pan lightly coated with oil and set aside. You could also use a cake pan.
- In a skillet heat the ¼ cup vegetable broth, ½ teaspoon salt and fresh ground pepper. Cook onion and garlic until translucent adding more vegetable broth if needed.
- Add Seitan and brown. Stir in tomato sauce, diced green chiles, chili powder, worcestershire, paprika, and hot pepper sauce.
- Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Taste for seasonings. Spread over spaghetti crust. Top with vegan cheddar cheese and pepper rings.
- Bake, uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes until cheese melts. Serves 6
- **Flax eggs - whisk together 2 tablespoons of ground flax with 5½ tablespoons of water. Put in refrigerator for 15 minutes to thicken.
Great article! You actually had me laughing out loud. I could totally see you there in Whole Foods giving that guy grief over the cucumber. But you are absolutely right, we have every right to know exactly what is in our foods and where it came from. Over the years I have become much more food conscious, but more so recently. Thank you for a fun read.
I have one other comment. For some reason, I have confused raw eating with vegan. Because this is a warm meal. How wonderful. This makes embracing a vegan diet much more inviting.
I don’t think they were making fun of you. They were most likely laughing at the produce guy. I have worked produce for almost 20 years and there are people that come in and ask so many questions that it gets old. They were probably laughing at him because you got him. He was correct though. You do not want a soft cucumber, that would be a sign of age. A fresh cucumber should be firm. Many organic foods are shrink wrapped. This is so the actual product does not get contaminated by conventional products, and so that cashiers can tell the difference.