Vegan Veggie Broth Powder

This recipe for Homemade Veggie Stock Powder by Tales of a Kitchen (I love this site - do check it out!) was posted on Facebook. I thought it was a terrific idea so had to try it. It is so easy to do, but with dehydrating time it does take a while. I must say, the end result is definitely well worth your time!

I sliced or chopped all my veggies using my mandolin or a knife, which took no time at all, and dehydrated them for about 18 hours. They may have been ready sooner than that, but that is when I had the time to check them. I dried 4 small parsnips, 3 good size carrots, 1 onion, 1 zucchini, 2 portabella mushrooms, 4 tomatoes, 1 Hannah sweet potato, 1 large red bell pepper, 1/4 of a yellow pepper, basil and parsley. I did not have any cabbage or clove garlic as the recipe called for, so that was eliminated, and I added a zucchini and red and yellow peppers which were not part of the recipe. This is an easy recipe to make your own.  This is how it looked when the veggies went into the dehydrator,

and this is how it looked when they came out.

Once all the moisture is gone the veggies sure shrink up!!

I used my Nutribullet to process all of the ingredients into a powder. This is the blade that I used.

I did it in batches and just dumped it all into a bowl.

At this point I added spices: a tablespoon each of turmeric and black pepper, 2 teaspoons of garlic granules, and a teaspoon of nutmeg. I did not add salt at this time, but you could, however, I prefer to let the salt be added by the person eating it when it is served. I also did not add dill, because my husband doesn't like it, and I chose not to add the chili flakes either. That can be added if desired in the soup when it is made. I stirred the mixture and added it to a mason jar.

And that is how to go from this

to this!

It made about two and three fourths cups of veggie broth powder. I used one teaspoon of the powder to two cups of boiling water and tasted it. Then I added another cup of boiling water (that makes 3 cups to one teaspoon if you are counting) and the broth was still excellent. As a matter of fact I drank a cup of it! As you can calculate, this powder will go a long way!

Soon, very soon, I am making soup!!

Butternut Squash Spaghetti

Who says spaghetti sauce always has to be red? How about orange?

Hmmmm . . . this could be an OU or OSU competition!!!! You'll get that if you are an Okie!

One day, somewhere on the internet, I saw a recipe that combined pasta and butternut squash. I looked and looked for it again, and couldn't find it. I love butternut squash. It never disappoints me.

Today I had the opportunity to have some kitchen time and came up with my own butternut squash and pasta dish.

It really is quite simple to make. I started out by roasting a butternut squash that I got at our farmer's market. I peeled it, seeded it, sliced it, and after roasting it, cut it into 1/2 - 1 inch cubes. I am not sure of the quantity, since I didn't measure, but I would guess the squash was about a pound and a half to two pounds.

In a large saucepan I sauteed a chopped onion, two minced cloves of garlic and two sliced red Anaheim peppers until they were soft. I added salt, pepper and sage to it while it sauteed. Then I added a cup to a cup and a half of water and let it simmer for ten or twenty minutes.

These little orange tomatoes are some of my favorite tomatoes. Sometimes they never make it into a salad because I eat them like they are grapes! I used a cup or so of these, cut in half in this dish. After cutting them in half I put them in a bowl and covered them with a little more than half of the hot squash mixture. It was just enough to warm them up without cooking them and making them mushy.

Using my immersion blender, I pureed the remaining squash mixture, adding water a little at a time until it was the consistency I wanted. There it is, the orange spaghetti sauce!! It would even be a good soup. But today it is spaghetti sauce. While I did this, the spaghetti was cooking.

I rarely eat processed food. So as much as I love this dish, I probably won't make it often. Or if I do I will put it on greens rather than pasta. It was the first time I tried this pasta. It was quite good, and I liked that it was gluten free. I think this sauce would be good on any pasta. Actually, it would be good on anything!

The assembly: fill a shallow bowl with spaghetti, add sauce, and then top it off with the squash mixture. Add salt and pepper and enjoy. 

You may find yourself going back for more!