Adult Comfort Food

I would never really consider myself a cook.  I've tried a few recipes here and there, but they definitely don't turn out restaurant quality... or something I would serve someone else.  (When I make stir fry, I typically overcook the vegetables until they are almost burnt, which is the way I like it.) And usually, my recipes are low-key and cheap.  I find that following recipes out of a cookbook or magazine can be time-consuming and expensive-- especially when you're eating natural and organic.  But every now and then I find a recipe that I want to make, and I go out and buy all the ingredients hoping that it'll come together.

Recently, I was reading my latest issue of Vegetarian Times and I found a few pasta recipes that promised to be easy and made with five ingredients.  There was one for linguine in lemon cream sauce that caught my eye.  Typically, I avoid cream sauces since they're made with milk, butter, heavy cream, and cheese, and because they really hurt my stomach.  But in this case, I thought maybe I could substitute the dairy for vegan options.  The real recipe for Linguine in a Lemon Cream Sauce calls for low-fat cream cheese, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley and linguine.  My recipe used non-dairy Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese as a replacement for the recipe's low-fat cream cheese.  I also used whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta.  And since I couldn't find any organic parsley in either of the grocery stores, I decided to use a different one of my Penzey's spices.  I felt like the recipe didn't have any vegetables or nutrients in there so I added peas.

Ingredients:
8 oz. whole wheat thin spaghetti (or in my case, I just guessed since I wasn't able to measure that)
1/2 cup of Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1/2 cup of frozen peas

I started cooking the spaghetti at the same time as I prepared the peas.  I would have started the sauce at the same time, but I only have two pots.  The sauce was simply just the cream cheese, olive oil and lemon juice.  I mixed those on simmer and then added in a splash of water.  The original recipe calls for a fourth cup of water from the spaghetti pot, but I took fresh water and kind of eyeballed it.  After the sauce was mixed well enough, I threw that and the peas with the drained spaghetti.

For such a simple recipe, it turned out pretty decent.  You could really taste the lemon in it, and I felt better about the fact that it was vegan cream cheese.  I'm still not sold on whether I will make it again, but if I do I will alter it a little bit.  Peas were the way to go, and I might also add in broccoli and cauliflower next time.  I had enough for leftovers for a few days.  Again, I guessed as far as how much pasta to throw in, so I'm not sure how many servings there were.  It kept pretty well, although the texture of the sauce wasn't as smooth after refrigerating it and the reheating it in the microwave.