chickpea miso

This hearty and flavourful pesto orzo salad is such a crowd pleaser! A nut-free arugula and basil pesto dresses cooked orzo, perfectly roasted vegetables, and chickpeas. So tasty, 10 core ingredients, and just beautiful to look at too!

Pesto Orzo Salad with Roasted Vegetables & Chickpeas

garlic,

sunflower seeds,

capers

arugula, lightly packed (plus extra for garnish)

basil leaves, lightly packed (plus extra for garnish)

lemon juice

light miso ((I used chickpea))

sea salt and ground black pepper,

olive oil

eggplant,

zucchini,

bell pepper,

red onion,

cherry tomatoes

orzo pasta

chickpeas

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Make the pesto. In a food processor fitted with the “S” blade, add the garlic, sunflower seeds, and capers. Pulse a few times to finely chop. Then, to the food processor bowl, add the arugula, basil, lemon juice, miso, salt, and pepper. Pulse the mixture a few times until the greens are finely chopped. Then, with the lid on and the motor running on low, slowly drizzle in the olive oil through the feed tube until you have a smooth paste that’s evenly combined. Check the pesto for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Set aside.

Roast the vegetables. Combine the chopped eggplant, zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, and whole cherry tomatoes on the baking sheet. Drizzle the vegetables with the olive oil and season very generously with salt and pepper. Toss to thoroughly coat all of the vegetables in oil and seasoning. Spread the vegetables out into a single layer and roast in the oven until tender and slightly browned on the edges, about 30 minutes. Check on the vegetables at the halfway point and give them a stir with a spatula. Set aside to cool slightly.

Cook the orzo according to package directions and drain. Add the cooked orzo to a large serving bowl and immediately dress with the pesto. Once all of the pesto is coated, spread it out in the serving bowl. Top the dressed orzo with the roasted vegetables and chickpeas and give it another light toss.

Top the pesto orzo salad with some extra basil, arugula, and toasted sunflower seeds. Serve immediately.

This eggplant and walnut pasta sauce is one of my favourite homemade vegan pasta sauce recipes. The white sauce is loaded with flavour bombs like shallots, garlic, lemon, miso, and perfectly charred eggplant. Top with spiced breadcrumbs for that added crunch!

Pasta with Creamy Eggplant-Walnut Pasta Sauce

eggplants

olive oil, divided

bread crumbs

cumin

chili flakes

chopped,

walnut halves, soaked

light miso

shallots, fine dice

Preheat a grill to high. Place the whole eggplants directly on the grates and close the lid. Occasionally check in on the eggplant and give them a flip until all sides are charred and the eggplants are very soft/collapsing when pressed. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Instructions for doing this step in the oven are in the recipe notes! Once cooked, set the eggplant aside to cool in a bowl.

Make the spiced bread crumbs. Set a large sauté  pan over medium heat. Once the pan is hot, pour in 1½ tablespoons of olive oil and swirl it around. Add the breadcrumbs to the pan. They should sizzle a bit. Give them a stir and then add the cumin, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Once the bread crumbs are starting to darken around the edges, lower the heat to medium-low. Keep stirring the bread crumbs until they have dried out a bit and are evenly toasted, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the dill. Transfer the spiced bread crumbs to a plate and wipe out the pan.

Make the creamy eggplant sauce. Cut the cooled eggplants in half and scoop out all of the flesh. You should wind up with around 2 cups total of cooked eggplant. Pour out any excess water/liquid from the cooked eggplant flesh (a little bit is okay!) and then transfer the cooked flesh to an upright blender. To the blender, add the walnuts, lemon juice, miso, about ½ teaspoon of the minced garlic, and some salt and pepper. Blend this mixture on high until completely smooth and creamy. It should be fluid but still thick. Set aside.

Start cooking your pasta in boiling salted water. Follow the package directions for cooking time. Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Place the large sauté  pan back on the stove over medium heat. Pour in the remaining olive oil and swirl it around. Add the shallots and remaining garlic to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the shallots are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium low.

Add the creamy eggplant and walnut sauce to the pan along with the drained pasta and a big pinch of salt and pepper. Give everything a stir to combine. If the sauce needs loosening up, add in some of the reserved pasta cooking water and stir to combine. Serve the pasta hot with the spiced bread crumbs on top along with extra dill and chili if you like.

This was so very good.  Such a creative use of eggplant, and the addition of the soaked walnuts really added to the flavor.  Very easy to make and very satisfying.  I oven roasted the eggplant, but I think roasting on the grill would impact more 'smokey' flavor.  The flavor of the seasoned bread crumbs were perfect -- I used panko bread crumbs instead of fresh bread.  The dill in this recipe was the 'surprise' flavor -- it added the perfect fresh, lively taste that was needed with the creamy eggplant sauce. This is definitely a recipe that is a keeper -- perfect for family and to serve to company.  I'm not vegan or vegetarian but I love fresh produce -- all types produce. It's wonderful to see recipes that make use of all types of produce and in such a creative and flavorful way.  I plan to buy her cookbook and I'm sure I'll put it to good use.

Can this be frozen?  I would like to make batches so I can enjoy this in the winter! I love all of your recipes, and my husband does too!

I tried it and this dish was great! The combination of miso, walnuts and aubergine truly delivers a flavour explosion. Also, if you're worried about the usually way too small serving sizes on food blogs, you can rest assured that won't be an issue with this recipe.

Made this last night and it was outstanding! &nbsp;Thank you for a yummy recipe!

Wow! This was delicious. Would 100% make again. Subbed parsley because my dill looked dead. So yum!!

Love it! I have just tried the recipe and the result is amazing...

Made this last night for dinner, and enjoyed it again for lunch! Huge hit at our house (two adults, one 3.5 year old). Our kid doesn't love eggplant usually--he finds the skin too bitter--but he loved it like this. We are still getting eggplants from the garden so we'll likely make this again before the season's over!

This recipe was SO good. I knew I had to make it when I saw it! I roasted my eggplant and it turned out phenomenal.

Easy enough for a Monday night and so satisfying— and I never knew such delicious breadcrumbs. I would definitely make again.&nbsp;

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/OYyM5OzZ.mp4

Ready in about 45 minutes, this creamy vegan butternut squash pasta is extra hearty with juicy bits of browned veggie sausage and fried sage leaves on top. The luscious blender sauce comes together with simple ingredients. Perfect for a fall dinner!

Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Pasta with Veggie Sausage &amp; Fried Sage

sage leaves

lb (454 grams) dry rigatoni pasta

onion,

butternut/honeynut squash

nutmeg

walnut halves ((see recipe notes))

cashews

vegetable stock

lemon juice, plus. more to taste

Set a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Pour in the olive oil and swirl it around. Once the oil is hot, add the sage leaves and fry until crispy, about 10 seconds. Remove the sage leaves to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt. Set aside.

To the skillet, add the diced veggie sausages. Stir and sauté until sausage pieces are cooked through and a bit brown on the edges. Remove to a plate and set aside.

In a separate pot, cook your rigatoni pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining the pasta and setting it aside.

To the skillet, add the diced onion. Sauté the onion until very soft and translucent, about 6-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Add the diced butternut squash and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir it up. Add the walnuts, cashews, and vegetable stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer, covered, until the squash is tender and breaking apart, about 12-15 minutes.

Transfer everything in the skillet (squash, nuts, stock and all) to an upright blender. To the blender, add the miso and lemon juice. Blend on high until creamy and completely smooth. Check the sauce for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, pepper, lemon etc).

Combine the cooked veggie sausage, cooked pasta, and butternut squash sauce in the deep skillet over low heat. Keep stirring until everything is hot. If you find that the sauce needs to be loosened up slightly, add splashes of the reserved pasta cooking water. Check the pasta for seasoning (more salt, lemon etc) and adjust if necessary.

Serve the pasta hot with fried sage leaves on top!

I made this dish tonight . I adjusted it a bit to what I had in my panty .  I added 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds and 2/3 hemp seeds .  Turned out great ! 
Great recipe.  :)

Similar to Alicia, I made this recipe twice and the color is brown and the flavor is fine, but not enough to try it again. The first time I made it I thought Iʼd done something wrong. I got fresh ingredients and tried again and decreased the onion a bit, increased the butternut squash a bit, and made sure not to overcook things. It still came out brown and the flavor is just okay. I wish Iʼd had the same experience other seems to- from face value this recipe seems like it should be stellar.

I’ve been salivating over this recipe since it was posted and due to trying to use up a big butternut squash I’ve made it twice in row! It is both divine AND a joy to make. The way each step builds on the one before is really meditative and simmering everything including the nuts at the end has really satisfying vegan witchcraft energy. I also usually disregard rigatoni but it is the perfect vehicle for the sauce. 

Both times I served it with roasted Brussels sprouts and ended up stirring them in, the flavors and textures went super well together. 

Cooking note: the first time I made this, I accidentally used pecans instead of walnuts and that was great too! 

Leftovers note: This reheated well on the stove top with a splash of water.

100% will be making again. This is the perfect antidote to missing summer produce and getting hyped about winter veggies. Thank you!

I was so excited for this recipe, but it just came out really acidic and brown! No clue what went wrong, but it’s nothing like what everyone else is describing as delicious! Help!! I wanted to like it, but it’s falling really flat.

This was DIVINE. Cooked this with my husband for date night. Sometimes we make new recipes just try something new but we don’t think we’d make it again: this one, we will make again!

Great flavors! The dish is delicious. Definitely a keeper!
I would add more sausage for the volume (1 lb) pasta or add another vegetable.

This was super yummy and comforting!!! I didn't have walnuts on hand so just doubled the amount of cashews. The fried sage was an elegant and delicious touch. Thank you!

This was delicious, the crispy sage was such a nice touch!!
Would you consider putting the ingredients in grams as well for people outside of North America? :)

SO delicious, cozy fall flavours and it comes together easily, will definitely be making again. Even my super picky son loved it!!!

My family loved loved loved this last night. I added some pan-fried chopped radicchio for pops of contrasting bitterness (and a classic with pumpkin) and it worked a treat. This will become a staple!

Quick, easy, and so delicious! I only had roasted, unsalted cashews on hand, but they worked well nonetheless. Thank you for another beautiful autumn meal.

Make this simple lentil vegetable soup with roughly 12 ingredients and about 35 minutes of cooking time. Miso brings savory depth and lemon perks up the earthy lentils and vegetables. This vegan soup is light and hearty at the same time!

Lemony Lentil Vegetable Soup with Rosemary &amp; Fennel

yellow onion, small dice

medium carrots, small dice

celery, small dice

fennel,

rosemary leaves, minced

lemon zest

coriander

lentils

vegetable stock ((see note))

⅓ cup chopped flat leaf parsley ((optional))

chili oil,

Heat a heavy soup pot over medium heat. Once hot, pour in the olive oil. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and fennel all at once. Season with salt and pepper and stir. Sauté until vegetables are quite soft, about 10-12 minutes.

Add the garlic, rosemary, lemon zest, and coriander to the pot. Sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add the lentils and stir. Add 6 cups of vegetable stock and stir once more. Place the lid on top and bring the soup to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and leave the lid on top, slightly askew so that some steam can escape.

Simmer until the lentils are tender, about 20 minutes.

Place the miso in a bowl and add a couple ladles of hot broth from the soup on top. Use a spoon to &quot;dissolve&quot; the miso into the broth. Pour this mixture into the soup and stir. Stir in the lemon juice and parsley, if using.

Check the soup for seasoning and adjust if necessary (more salt, pepper, lemon juice etc). Enjoy hot with chili oil on top if you like.

Such a delicious and hearty soup! It was so easy to put together! The lemon zest and juice gave such a freshness to the soup. I didn’t have any fennel, but I finished by adding kale to it. Thank you!

This soup is delicious and it’s better on the next day!!!
The seasoning is wonderful though I did add a piece of ginger to the mix. 
This recipe is a keeper!!

I love lentils, fennel and lemon together. I added a little extra lentils because I love them but otherwise followed the recipe. It was delicious! Thanks for this and all your other recipes and inspiration.

you are so right Laura, simple but flavourful. + I'm a sucker for fennel!

Really delicious, with subtle floral notes from the coriander and fennel. The miso is a great addition. It's going into the winter soup rotation at our house.

Looks great! Caution not to boil the soup after adding miso as this will destroy the beneficial bacteria.

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