Have you heard of the Healthy Voyager? Her recipes are all over the veg online world and I have always wanted to try them. This year at Expo West I had the honor of meeting her in person!!
We got to chat about how much she loves Lightlife products, and after hearing how excited I was to try some of her recipes from around the world; she offered to send me her cookbook to giveaway to my readers. Such a sweetie 🙂
Of course I had to test a recipe to give you all a taste of what you could win! I made her Better with Bechamel Macaroni and Beef and it was no surprise that it was fantastic. Don’t forget to find out how to enter the giveaway below.
Better with Bechamel Macaroni and Beef
6-8 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups vegan ground beef (I used Smart Ground)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon dried thyme, divided
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
- 3 egg replacers, divided
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 quarts cold soymilk
- Salt, white pepper, and black pepper to taste
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 1 pkg penne or elbow pasta, cooked according to package instructions
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the onion over medium-heat until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté another 2 minutes. Add the ground beef and brown for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the parsley, 1 tablespoon of the thyme, and cinnamon and stir to combine. Stir in the tomato sauce and simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool. Once it has cooled stir in 1 of the egg replacers and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth; continue whisking for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk, making sure there are no lumps, and season with salt, white pepper, and black pepper. Continue whisking until the milk is almost boiling. Whisk in the remaining 1 teaspoon thyme and the nutmeg and whisk until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Quickly whisk in the remaining 2 egg replacers and remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Mix half the sauce into half of the pasta and pour the mixture into a baking dish. Layer the entire meat mixture over the pasta. Top with a little nutritional yeast. Add the rest of the pasta and pour on the remaining sauce, spreading it evenly to cover and coat the pasta. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Let cool, then cut and serve.
To enter for a chance to win*: Tell me your favorite travel destination and the best vegetarian dish you can get while staying there.
Good luck!
**Giveaway has closed** Congrats to Jillian Campbell for winning – please check your email for a message from me 🙂
Rachael
Your Lightlife Blogitarian
*Winner will be chosen using a random number generator
Blog-itarian 
I just moved to Minnesota from Pennsylvania. That being said, my favorite place to travel would be…home to PA. I miss going to a restaurant there called Blue Sage. My favorite meal from them is probably their Buddha Crunchy Tacos
Three crispy white corn tacos filled with avocado, peanuts, cucumber, onion sprouts in special Asian taco sauce. Served with watermelon jicama slaw, poblano-lime mojo.
I have been a vegetarian since I was 12 and I am now 34. I am STILL always learning new things (since I am a picky eater). I would LOVE to get my hands on this new cookbook!! Hope the number generator picks me!
Thanks for the chance!
Posted by goosenmoosemommy | May 8, 2012, 3:58 pmMy absolute favorite travel destination is Hawaii. While on the Big Island in Feb., I had Mango Gazpacho…it was absolutely incredible! I also love regular Gazpacho…and of course, who can live without some fabulous Guacamole and bean chips???
Posted by Janice Morris | May 14, 2012, 2:25 pmHyderabad is my best travel destination and there are very variety of foods I love hyderabadi veggie dum biriyani ,which is made with variety of veggies with rice
Posted by Keren Sam | May 8, 2012, 3:58 pmPhiladelphia PA. Recently spent a long week rowing and racing on the Schuylkill River and had my first ever Philly Cheesesteak (VEGAN of course!!)
Posted by Erin K. | May 8, 2012, 4:00 pmAwesome!! Where did you find a vegan Philly Cheesesteak??? :o)
Posted by goosenmoosemommy | May 8, 2012, 6:22 pmFound it at the Home Slice or Philly Home Slice. It was in liberties walk west. If you are ever in Nashville there is a great all veg restaurant The Wild Cow and they occasionally make a philly cheesesteak but wasn’t as good as the authentic Philly!
Posted by Erin K. | May 9, 2012, 10:09 amGoing home to visit Philly next month…will certainly hunt that place down! Thanks, Erin K!
Posted by goosenmoosemommy | May 9, 2012, 1:29 pmI’m not much of a traveler, so I guess my favorite destination is home, and the best vegetarian dish to get there is my husband’s veggie sushi.
Posted by martinet | May 8, 2012, 4:03 pmDuring a trip to Ocean City, New Jersey, my friends and I decided to walk along the boardwalk to a place called the Hula Grill for dinner. I had sticky rice with a tangy sauce, salmon, and fries. The meal was absolutely delicious! It is by far one of the few best vegetarian meals I have ever had.
Posted by Ariel | May 8, 2012, 4:07 pmI just realized that the meal I put was not fully vegetarian. I am a semi-vegetarian so I eat seafood- sorry! But the sticky rice was my favorite part of it and I would love to find the recipe. Thank you for the chance to win the cook book! (:
Posted by Ariel | May 9, 2012, 7:21 pmLove this post, mac and beef was a big part of our dinner rotation when I was growing up.
I traveled to Israel and fell in love with falafal. It doesn’t get much better than those tasty, crunchy little patties.
Posted by Treena | May 8, 2012, 4:07 pmI definitely love hiking Hawaii. I did the Big Island a bit last year but am looking forward to hiking Oahu and it’s many summits this year. After a good long exhausting hike, I normally swing into any Thai place (or even bus!) and grabbed a green curry. It is the best.
Posted by Jillian Campbell | May 8, 2012, 4:09 pmCongrats, Jillian! You’ve won 🙂
Posted by Blogitarian | May 15, 2012, 10:48 amI would love to travel to Israel, and the best vegetarian dish would be falafels!
Posted by Stacy Miller | May 8, 2012, 4:11 pmmy favorite destination, the one I travel to at least once a year, is Quebec City. My family and I feel like we’re in old Europe when we visit, the cobblestoned streets, the language, the traditions. It’s very hard to be a vegetarian tourist there, even spaghetti usually comes in a meat sauce, but a couple of years ago, we found a restaurant serving a vegan paella. WOW! What a tremendous treat! We usually eat breakfast in our room, walking to a local boulangerie or patisserie, and picking up pastries, croissants, crusty breads and coffee. Then, we walk the city, the Grand Allee, Rue Cartier, Rue St. Jean, the old city, the Plains of Abraham. There is an abundant variety of restaurants available. On a side street, off the Rue St Jean, last summer, we climbed a hill and found a remarkable Moroccan restaurant, where they made taboulleh, hummus and tzatziki every day. We had to run across the street for a bottle of wine, but PLENTY of incredible food in this little cafe. There’s a Tonkanese restaurant we try to visit each time we’re in the city, for lunch. For such a meat centric part of the world, if you set out on foot, there is a pretty good variety available.
Posted by Laurie Brown | May 8, 2012, 4:13 pmthe best dish i ever had was stuffed grape leaves and a stuffed peppers on the island Crete. It was a simply restaurant with views of the water. The hubby and i were there for about 4 hours for a 3 course meal. I never wanted to leave. Even the french fries tasted amazing. Years later and we are still talking about it.
Posted by Kimmy Z | May 8, 2012, 4:24 pmTofu Nuggets in Las Vegas!!!!!!!!
Posted by jc | May 8, 2012, 6:53 pmHi there!
Your Better with Bechamel Macaroni and Beef looks tasty
You can submit your Better with Bechamel Macaroni and Beef pics on http://www.foodporn.net It is a food photography site where members can submit all food pictures that make readers hungry 🙂
I am already hungry to see your Better with Bechamel Macaroni and Beef photo btw, LOL
Posted by maddroid | May 9, 2012, 4:19 amMy favorite travel destination… Paris. I love their crêpes à l’orange
barbarapalermo at gmail dot com
Posted by bpal | May 9, 2012, 4:44 amI love travelling to small islands in the tropics, where the fruit is amazingly fresh and delicious!
Posted by Megan | May 9, 2012, 7:49 pmI love the avocado sandwich at the Spout House in Grosse Pointe Park,MI.
Posted by David Johnson | May 10, 2012, 8:55 amMy favorite city to travel to is NYC. Blosson Cafe has the best vegan sliders and cordon bleu. I dream about them. 🙂
Posted by Thom N | May 10, 2012, 9:56 amWe like going to Santa Cruz, California a lot and **always** visit the Saturn Cafe for vegetarian and vegan “diner” food.
Posted by Jack B. | May 10, 2012, 9:58 amWell I haven’t really been anywhere except Sarasota, FL for a mini-vacay. and I ate some awesome Faux Chicken Salad from Whole Foods.. hope that counts, I’d love to be included in this give-away.
Posted by gloria kersh | May 10, 2012, 9:59 amLaramie, WY! A great little vegetarian restaurant, Sweet Melissas’. Love the veggie enchiladas!
Posted by Kathy Everingim | May 10, 2012, 10:22 amMy favorite destination is London. Instead of a favorite dish, I have a favorite place. 222 Veggie Vegan has an excellent lunch buffet to choose from.
Posted by Bob | May 10, 2012, 10:42 amHi I’m new to vegan eating, trying to learn all that I can and how to prepare meals and learn about food products, choices. I have not travel to those wonderful places,but would love to have this book ! Thanks
Posted by PATRICIA JOHNSON | May 10, 2012, 11:34 amanything at the Chicago diner in Chicago, IL
Posted by Angie | May 10, 2012, 1:27 pmI have yet to have chance to visit a beautiful country…this would awesome oppty and very refreshing to help me get through the year!!
Posted by maria | May 10, 2012, 2:06 pmoh yeah..since haven’t been able to visit any vegan cuisines…my favorite vegan meals are those i cook myself! I would love to visit a paradise island or anywhere with lots of green plantation, wildlife, fresh air and water, gentle sunshine..
Posted by maria | May 10, 2012, 2:09 pmAustin Texas The Hula Hut and Grilled Veggie Tacos- yum!!
Posted by Lori | May 11, 2012, 11:15 amMy favorite veggie dish is Cottage Cheese patties…they are delicious and very healthy…I make them at home all the time…the recipe came from Amish cookbook…
Posted by Denise Gilliam | May 11, 2012, 11:39 amWe travel to Summit County Colorado every summer and Backcountry Brewing in Frisco has an awesome black bean burger that they make in house.
Posted by Rob | May 11, 2012, 11:41 amPhilly… grindcore cafe
Posted by tay | May 11, 2012, 11:46 amI would say my favorite destination would be my kitchen for taboule and black bean tacks.
Posted by sharon daniels | May 11, 2012, 11:46 amCurrently I don’t have the ability to do much traveling but I love my eggplant and kale curry!
Posted by Rebecca Haigh (@rjh121) | May 11, 2012, 11:58 amI wish I could afford to travel, but I can’t. However, here at home we have a place called Fuzzy’s Tacos & I love their veggie tacos. Made with mixed veggies, cilantro, garlic lime sauce & lettuce, tomato, onion! Just had 2 this morning for breakfast!
Posted by Dawn Martin | May 11, 2012, 12:00 pmMy favorite destination would be San Francisco! That town is built on Vegans! I would not be doing it justice by picking only one dish! I say put me in SF and my restaurant choices are incredible!..If not I will be happy sitting in a funky little cafe in Key West eating a Spinach Pizza and a side of Mango.
Posted by Debbie Chioffe | May 11, 2012, 12:14 pmSt. Augustine, Florida. I had a delicious tempeh wrap at a little cafe we found called Casa Maya. Delicious.
Posted by Boun Smith | May 11, 2012, 12:48 pmMy fav place to visit is Chicago.I always eat at the Chicago Diner,because it is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant.I get the “Dagwood sandwich.Yum!
Posted by Jamie | May 11, 2012, 2:03 pmI am going there in a couple weeks so I will have to try it out! Thanks!
Posted by Marcia Schmidt | May 11, 2012, 4:56 pmI went to Santa Monica and ate at the Veggie Grill. Wow it was delish! I wish I didn’t live in Kansas!
Posted by Marcia Schmidt | May 11, 2012, 4:55 pmLa Jolla is always a blast…fabulous muffins from the local bakery are superdelicious and there’s a Sprinkles there too!
Posted by moonsword | May 12, 2012, 9:29 amI rarely get to travel but I love a little local place that do vegan foods from Vietnam. =)
Posted by Jo | May 14, 2012, 1:40 pmHome to MA and a trip to turners falls 🙂 just around the corner from home…the vegetarian possibilities my aunt creates are endless….
Posted by Jillybean | May 14, 2012, 1:46 pmat church we had babganoosh. it was great. And another day ratatouille
Posted by michele loconsole | May 14, 2012, 1:48 pmI love the sidetrack restaurant in Ann Arbor, Mi. They have a lot of vegetarian choices. I love the temphe philly cheesesteak sammy. Sooo delicious!
Posted by Sue kehn | May 14, 2012, 1:54 pmChicago, my home town and when I visit I go to the Chicago Diner I love the grilled portabello melt!
Posted by Mary M. | May 14, 2012, 2:15 pmI moved away from Seattle a year ago and miss wayward vegan cafe’s breakfasts cann’t wait for the next trip back
Posted by Bikingsolarvegan | May 14, 2012, 2:41 pmIn los angeles there’s this wonderful place called Follow your heart that makes a wonderful seitan breakfast burrito, but in Chicago I had the most delicious carrotburger and the best vegan gyro I’ve ever tried at Soul Vegetarian East on the southside
Posted by Guillermo | May 15, 2012, 10:13 amMy favorite vegan dish is gallo pinto (rice and beans) made by my grandparents in Costa Rica!
Posted by Kristen N. | May 15, 2012, 6:36 pmI wish I could taste that Kristen, delicious I’ll bet!
Posted by Kathy | May 16, 2012, 2:49 pmRoanoke, VA – Wildflour Cafe – Millet Grain Burger!
Posted by Tamara | June 5, 2012, 10:37 am