Recipe Variation: Pasta Puttanesca

It’s been ages since I’ve made pasta puttanesca, which is a shame because it’s delicious (and great for Mostly Meatless March). I tried out Mark Bittman’s take on the recipe (similar to mine; no anchovies, though) from “How To Cook Everything” and really liked it.

Waffles

Strangely, my first time making waffles (I’ve never really had an iron, and I likde my mom’s enough to consider them an at-home treat and leave it at that). But we got a waffle iron for Christmas, which meant it was time to actually learn this skill. John’s Master Recipes cookbook provided a tasty, if somewhat labor intensive, recipe.

Pictured with surprisingly tasty vegetarian sausage.

Mushroom Risotto with Lobster Stock

I noticed this recipe when flipping through one of my sister’s cookbooks (the companion book to the Spain television series featuring Gwyneth Paltro, Mark Bittman, Mario Batali, etc.), and thought it sounded simple but delicious. Plus I have like three quarts of lobster stock taking up space in the freezer. It has a nice earthy flavor despite few ingredients.

This recipe can be made entirely vegetarian by swapping in vegetable or mushroom stock but will lose some of its complexity.

Simple White Bean Soup

This simple white bean soup is a nice lunch option, and very low fuss, even if it takes awhile to cook. From Bittman’s “How To Cook Everything Vegetarian”.

Thai Basil Tofu with Veggie Crumbles

This was delicious; probably my favorite recipe of the month. Inspired by my previous Thai Basil Chicken.

I decided at the last minute to add in the soy crumbles (I used Morningstar’s Meal Starters) to give it a texture kind of like Ma Po Tofu, and it worked well.

Shitake Mushrooms with Sage

The other Eric Ripert recipe I made over the weekend.

Mussels with Tomato-Saffron Butter

One of two recipes made recently from “Avec Eric” by Eric Ripert.

Red Kidney Bean Stew

A nice (if time consuming) vegetarian curry from my Amma’s Cookbook.

Recipe Variation: Meatless Stro-Hos

This is basically the marriage of two recipes: Portabella Stroganoff and Stroganoff Sandwiches.

I made the same sauce as the sandwiches, except I used vegetable broth and added a dash of fish sauce and a teaspoon of dijon mustard to up the umami factor. Instead of meat, I used one onion, 8 oz portabella mushrooms and 8 oz shitake mushrooms. I also subbed in spinach for the watercress. Yum!

If you use one baguette for 5 sandwiches, and divide your mushroom mixture into five servings, the mini-sandwihces are also only 3 WW Points each.

Moorish-style Chickpeas and Spinach

This recipe is courtesy of Jose Andres. The texture’s a little weird (I may have messed up blending together the bread and garlic) and I find the vinegar flavor a bit dominant. With those caveats, it’s still a satisfying meatless meal. Pictured with tomato bread with manchego.