Foodie Friday: Double Kale and Double Down

It's Foodie Friday! Foodie Friday is my weekly feature that gives you a window into my kitchen. I love to cook, I love to eat, I love to read cookbooks, and I love to inspire people to give vegan food a chance. Thus, Foodie Friday was whipped up and baked to perfection.

It has been a pretty good food week here in the haus of Heidi Renée.

We had scones! We had black bean and corn tofu scramble! And that was just the weekend menu.


Chocolate chip scones from 1,000 Vegan Recipes and my own scramble recipe
I've been trying to eat healthier. I'm not going to give up the things I like, hence the scones and pasta this week, but it won't hurt me to work some superfoods into the mix. So, when I saw Maris' recipe for baked rigatoni and kale, I went out and stocked up on Velveteen's favorite nom.

Since the original recipe is dairy-heavy, I made my own version.


Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. rigatoni
olive oil
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jar spaghetti sauce (I used Newman's Own Sockarooni)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup soy milk

Get the rigatoni started. While that cooks, heat a deep pan lightly coated with olive oil. Toss in the green onions and the kale. Cook over low heat, stirring often, just until the kale begins to wilt. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, nutritional yeast, and soy milk until everything is evenly mixed. Keep on low heat until mixture is heated through. Drain pasta and return to pot. Pour in sauce and stir until pasta is evenly coated. Try it with roasted asparagus or garlic bread!

I had some leftover kale, so when I saw that Maris had posted another leafy green recipe for which I already had all of the ingredients, Moroccan-style chickpea soup, I threw a pot on, using chopped kale instead of spinach. Jason doesn't eat much soup, but he ate this two days in a row.


And finally, this afternoon I took one for the team and did a little experiment. Everyone has been talking about KFC's new "sandwich," the Double Down. I kept saying this week that I would make a vegetarian version, so that's what I did as a late lunch for Jason. Rather than get all complicated like this recipe for a vegan Double Down, I slummed it and used the stuff I already had.


Morningstar Farms Chik Patties, Vegenaise, Lightlife Smart Bacon, Galaxy pepper jack Veggie Slices, and mustard
I'll be honest, after I took this picture I dismantled the whole thing and put the patties on buns. Jason thinks that the idea of chicken as bread sounds nasty, and I'd rather not have him wiping greasy fingers on his pants.

So, mission accomplished. And if I don't hear about the Double Down again for a whole hundred years it'll still be too soon.