Macaroni & Tomatoes & Squash

Yesterday, I shared a picture of my first "cookbook," a Lisa Frank notebook filled with recipes I dreamed up when I was somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12. My mama recently dug it up while organizing a closet, and she gave it to me. I'd forgotten all about it! It's filled with craziness, like a recipe for hot dogs topped with salad or one that calls for Taco Bell mild sauce as an ingredient.

Anyway, I'm making it my mission to veganize most (or maybe all!) of the recipes contained within. I started that process last night, and I shared my recipe for Binky's Bum Beans, which are basically just baked beans with potatoes and corn. I have to say, the recipe was pretty damn good.

Tonight, I'm at it again with another recipe from Binky's Cookbook (in case you missed yesterday's post, "Binky" was my childhood nickname). This time, I made a dish I used to call Tomato 'n' Squash Casserole.

As you can see, I didn't get very detailed in my instructions with this one. I guess I was assuming everyone already knew how to make both macaroni & tomatoes and boiled squash because my mama made those dishes all the time.

She'd often make her macaroni and tomatoes (basically elbow mac cooked with stewed tomatoes) and her boiled squash (yellow squash boiled with butter and onions) as individual side dishes for the same meals. But I'd take both sides and mix 'em together. And I apparently considered that to be a casserole.

Well, now I'm older and wiser and realize that two stovetop dishes mixed together does not a casserole make. So I'm changing the name for this one. It involves making my Mama's Macaroni & Tomatoes from Cookin' Crunk, separately making boiled squash, and then combining them in the end. I tried the combo last night, and you know what? It's still delicious!

Here's the updated recipe for Macaroni & Tomatoes & Squash. This recipe is best enjoyed at the height of the summer growing season, when tomatoes are juicy (and cheap!) and crookneck yellow squash is abundant (like right now!). Stewing the tomatoes is a little time-consuming, so I'd recommend doing that the night before, or you could always cheat with a can of stewed tomatoes.

Macaroni & Tomatoes & Squash
Yields 4-6 servings

8 large tomatoes
1 cup water
8 ounces quinoa macaroni pasta or whole wheat elbow macaroni
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
4 yellow summer squash, sliced
2 tablespoons vegan margarine
2 teaspoons onion powder
Sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Wash the tomatoes and place them in a large soup pot with a lid. Add enough water to cover. Bring the water to boil over high heat and boil for 5 minutes. Drain the tomatoes into a colander over the sink. Run cold water over the tomatoes so they’re cool enough to touch. Remove the skins and discard.

Chop the tomatoes into quarters and place them back into the large soup pot with the cup of water. Bring to a boil. Then lower heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for one hour. Check periodically to ensure the water does not dry up. Add more water in 1/4 cup increments if needed.

Cook the pasta according to package directions. When the pasta is tender, drain the cooking water and return the pasta to the pot. Stir in the stewed tomatoes and olive oil.

Meanwhile, while the pasta is cooking, place the squash in another saucepan and cover with water until squash is just covered. Add the vegan margarine and onion powder, and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat to medium-high and boil until squash is just tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Drain most of the water from the squash, retaining about one-half to 3/4 cup liquid. Add the squash and liquid to the macaroni and tomatoes. Season with plenty of salt and pepper to taste.

Binky's Bum Beans

A few things you should know about my childhood:

• My nickname was Binky, short for Binky-doo. A fifth grade teacher couldn't pronounce Bianca, so she called me Binky. It stuck throughout most of high school.
• I loved all things Lisa Frank (and still do!). And yes, I've read about the sad and seedy underbelly of Lisa Frank's company on Salon.com. But that exposé will never shatter my love for frolicking rainbow unicorns, bunny ballerinas, and pineapples dressed in bikinis.
• I fancied myself a young chef. I was always in the kitchen mixing up spice blends (lots of garlic powder and seasoned salt!), and I even wrote a cookbook!

I'd actually forgotten about my early attempts at authoring a cookbook though. And then my mom found this a few months back when she was cleaning house.

That, my friends, is my first cookbook. It's an old Lisa Frank notebook with a 1990 copyright, and it's one of her Ultra Neo designs. So I'm guessing I must have been between 10 and 12 when I filled these lined pages with recipes. Flipping through, I discovered some that are pretty crazy — Stir-Fried Wieners, Salad Dog (a hot dog topped with a salad), and McBinky Burgers (hamburgers topped with lunch meat, Velvetta cheese, and Taco Bell mild sauce, among other things). And, I shit you not, there's a recipe for a Meat Dog (hot dog topped with bacon, lunch meat, and hamburger meat).

Suffice to say, I wasn't a vegetarian yet then. That didn't happen until I turned 14. And I swear I wasn't a stoner at age 10, but it certainly sounds like it, no?

Anyway, I'm making it my mission to actually veganize some of these recipes. Yes, even the Meat Dog. I'll blog about my efforts and share the recipes in a series of posts. But I wanted to start with something a little healthier than vegan meat-covered meat. So I picked this recipe for Bum Beans.

No idea why they're "bum" beans, and I'm not certain saying the word "bum" is even PC these days. But oh well. I tried this recipe tonight, and you know what? This was actually really good! Go Binky! Here's the healthy vegan version of Binky's Bum Beans.

And here's the updated vegan recipe. The only real change I made was to cut back on the onion powder and add a little garlic. I used frozen corn instead of canned corn. Oh, and I tried to get a little more specific in the steps than my previous instruction of "cook 'til hot." Ha!

Binky's Bum Beans
Yields 4 cups

1 whole Russet potato, cubed
1 14-ounce can vegetarian baked beans (I used Whole Foods 365 brand)
1 cup frozen corn
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon of seasoned salt (I used Ass Kickin' Habanero Hot Salt)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cover the potato cubes with water in a large pot with a lid. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes or until fork tender. Drain and set aside.

While the potatoes are boiling, combine the remaining ingredients in a large saucepan. Heat over medium-high for about 15 minutes or until heated through. Stir in the potatoes. Serve.