With my plate pretty full from working during the week & getting used to my daughters school routine, I’m on the hunt for some fast & easy dinners… So are you, right?! Most days I work until 5:30-6pm, so I love a good homemade meal that I know the kids will eat AND that I can whip up fairly quickly. Kids or no kids, one can never have enough recipes like that in their possession!
In my experience, most kids – and some adults – are finicky eaters (one time they love something and the next time they wont touch it!) so I get really excited when I make something that my kids really love EVERY time. It is so comforting to know when they are going to bed with a nice full belly! Here’s a few links to some of our favorite family meals that are fairly quick to make: fettucini no-fredo, biscuits and gravy, soysage casserole (prepared ahead), homemade vegan mac, pancakes/waffles (sorry no direct link, theres too many to choose from!), pot pie, homemade pizza… & spaghetti with meatballs!
My family loves this tofu ricotta! I love it for a few reasons – it is fast, it is versatile (it makes several meals – lasagna, manicotti, ziti), the dishes can be made ahead or frozen, & its healthy- the ricotta is full of protein (tofu) & vitamin B-12 (nutritional yeast), two things that are especially great for vegans. In fact, I think this ricotta just so good that I keep putting off trying vegan ricotta using cashews, a recipe I’ve been meaning to try FOREVER! I’ll get around to it soon, it’s just that Vegan Gourmet Soy cheese is very accessible to me and I personally think its delicious. I have never tried to make this ricotta recipe with Diaya, but I’m sure it would be yummy too. Let me know if you try that!
Vegan Manicotti
Manicotti is super easy and simple. The hard part is stuffing the noodles without splitting them! (Be sure to cook up lots of noodles cause they split fairly easily.) I think the best, fastest & most attractive way to achieve this is to use a pastry frosting piping bag or making your own by cutting the tip off the corner of a large freezer-ziplock bag. You can also just stuff jumbo shells if you prefer… They are easier to fill, but I find them messier overall. (TIP: Another quick meal to make with this ricotta is making baked ziti – cook & drain ziti noodles and just stir it all together (ziti noodles, ricotta, and sauce), shred some more cheese on top and bake it up!)
You will need :
- 9×13″ baking pan
- 1 jar of sauce
- 1 batch of Tofu Ricotta (recipe below)
- 1 box of Manicotti Noodles (Ferrara is what I usually use)
1) Make this tofu ricotta in a food processor. Blend all ingredients but pulse the basil in last, if you are using fresh basil.
- 1 block tofu (I like to use extra firm)
- 1 cup shredded vegan gourmet mozzarella, packed
- 1 cup soymilk
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice (fresh is best!)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil – pulse in last! (2 tsp – 3 tsp if using dry basil)
2) Cook noodles according to box. (Mine cooked about 8-9 min.) Take the noodles out of the boiling water when they are done and lay them on paper towels to wait until they are cool enough to handle.
3) Spread a little sauce in the bottom of your 9 x 12 baking dish. Now fill the noodles carefully with the tofu ricotta by spoon or piping bag (I recommend the piping/ziplock bag method).
4) Arrange the stuffed noodles side by side in the pan. Cover with sauce and bake 25 minutes at 350 F. That’s all there is to it!
Serve with fresh garlic toast or bread. Mmmmmm! So easy and satisfying!
The proof is on the plate… or in this case, an almost empty plate!!
Arlo in action! Chomp! Chomp!
I cant even tell you how happy I am now that I found my camera! Blogging recipes isn’t as much fun when you can’t share the visual of the finished product! More to come very soon! 🙂
Your Vegan Neighbor 
It looks delicious! I’m not too big on vegan cheese as they taste like they’re trying too hard. So I’ll have to find a replacements. One of the things we’ve been doing on pizza is ground cashew/garlic powder/black pepper. So that may be a good replacement here. But now that the weather is getting cooler…I can’t wait to try this recipe with a glass of wine! Thanks for sharing. I just started reading your blog. I’ve been trying to get some courage together to start my own blog.
thanks! you should do it! Having a blog is a lot of fun and its good to have a personal commitment to something… esp something that is positive! im trying myself to steer away from pre-made foods, like cheeses and such just to be more natural… eat less preservatives, etc. Cashew cheese recipes are on the top of my list!