Meatless March: Week 4

The week started out like any other...I did some schoolwork, went to yoga, and made myself a dinner that would provide me with plenty of leftovers.

I hadn't made pasta in awhile, so I decided to play around with something from the macaroni and cheese family.  The problem with classic baked mac and cheese (from the perspective of a person who watches what they eat) is the sauce...while delicious, it's not the healthiest thing around.  I'm always looking for a way to lighten up the recipe and have stumbled upon a foolproof plan: pureed vegetables.

Ingredients
-4 cups cauliflower florets (about 1/2 head cauliflower)
-1 medium onion, sliced
-2 cloves garlic, peeled
-4 cups penne
-2 cups milk
-1 tsp grainy mustard
-2 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
-salt and pepper to taste
-1 cup grated Gruyere
-1 cup grated Parmesan

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

2) Put the cauliflower, onion, and garlic in a steamer basket; steam until the cauliflower is tender (about 10-15 minutes).

At this point you can do one of two things.
-if you have a blender, transfer the cauliflower mixture to a blender.  Add milk and blend until smooth, then transfer to a large saucepan.
-if you are using an immersion blender, transfer the cauliflower mixture to a large saucepan.  Add milk and blend until smooth.

3) Cook the penne according to package directions; drain.

4) Add thyme, mustard, salt, and pepper to the cauliflower puree.  Cook over medium-low heat until it is hot but not boiling (about 3-5 minutes).  Add Gruyere and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, stir until melted.

5) Add the sauce to the pasta and stir to combine.  Transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Bake for 20-30 minutes (until the cheese begins to brown).

The plate is covered in veggies!

This meal was so delicious that I had it for dinner again on Monday night!

Tuesday night I stuck with the "plate full of veggies" theme and prepared a delightful Thai curry packed with enoki mushrooms, bok choy, and what asparagus I had left.  And, in the interests of doing things just a little bit differently, I decided to serve my curry with udon noodles rather than rice.

Another meal that earned a repeat performance the next night.

I had a tough time deciding what to eat on Thursday night.  On one hand, I wanted to keep up my record of not repeating recipes.  On the other hand, I'd had a busy day and was just not in the mood to get fancy in the kitchen.  I compromised: ravioli (which I keep on hand in the freezer for nights like this) with lemon brown butter and kale pesto (to prove that you can make something delicious on the fly).

Couldn't forget the garlic toast!

Friday I went out for dinner.  God bless Indian food...all of the vegetarian options are delicious!  I'm not going to lie though, there was more than one moment when all I wanted was some of the chicken tikka that my friend was chowing down on.

When the weekend arrived so did a challenge: feeding my parents.  They are carnivorous types, and I know that my father (in particular) wasn't necessarily giggly about the whole "meat free" idea.  Given that, I'm pretty sure they enjoyed what I cooked for them.

I started off with a variation on a meal I had made earlier in the month: eggs poached in marinara.  The changes I made were to make it a little heartier: I added some sauteed spinach to the sauce (which was in my freezer ready to go) and served it with polenta.

My father was sceptical, but after tasting agreed that it was delicious!

Sunday morning we went out to brunch at the resort restaurant where I was confronted with exactly how much I miss bacon.  I stuck to my guns though, and drowned my sorrows in a waffle with raspberries and creme anglaise (with a mimosa on the side).

Sunday evening (the month's last meatless meal!) we dined on a beautiful butternut squash and kale lasagna!

White sauce, gruyere and parmesan cheese, with pecans on top :)

And with that the month was over!  If nothing else, I hope that I've inspired you to give up meat one or two nights a week.  The options are just as delicious, they're easy to prepare, and going veggie is easy on the wallet.  And as always, if you want any of the recipes that I have not posted just let me know and I'm happy to share.

As for me, I'm having bacon with breakfast tomorrow..... :P

Meatless March: Week 3

One of the reasons that I'm blogging this month in diary format is so that I can give you a taste of all of the different recipes that I try out, even if I don't share all of the details.  I chose to do it this way in an effort to demonstrate all of the different options that are out there...and to dispel a lingering myth that being a vegetarian really just involves eating a lot of salad and tofu.

The other reason for the diary format is more of a personal challenge: one of my aims is to not repeat any recipes...with an exception for the use of leftovers.  Thus far I have managed with the help of my many cookbooks, a cooking magazine subscription (yes, I just out-ed myself as a giant food nerd), and, of course, the internet.

I used one of those online recipes to start my week with black bean enchiladas.  I did make several changes to the recipe based on the ingredients that I actually had on hand...chipotle peppers instead of anchos (since I had some of the former in the fridge from when I made chili) which made the sauce quite a bit spicier, ketchup instead of tomato paste (a substitution I make most of the time as I always have ketchup in the fridge and don't usually keep tomato paste on hand), a slightly larger can of black beans, and regular grated cheddar instead of the mexican blend they recommend.  After reading some of the reviews I also added one cup of corn (had frozen kernels in the freezer) to the black bean mixture in order to make the filling go a little farther...I ended up with enough to generously fill 10 whole wheat tortillas.

Trust me...it might not be pretty, but it's delicious!

Overall, an excellent recipe for enchiladas.  For those of you who might not be fond of spicy food, consider adding only one chipotle pepper, or look for the dried anchos recommended by the recipe, they're milder.

The best thing about spicy food, in my opinion, is that it gets better over time...meaning that the above pictured enchiladas were even more delicious when I had them for dinner again on Monday night.

As for Tuesday...

Finding myself somewhat down due to a head cold I was in the market for something comforting but the usual suspects (pastas and such) weren't appealing to me.  So I took a spin through my cookbooks and magazines to find something that was: stuffed baked potatoes.  Stuffed with cheese and broccoli to be precise.  Having made my decision I made a list and went to the grocery store where I ran into a bit of a snafu: while there were baking potatoes in five pound bags, they didn't have any that I could purchase piecemeal.  They did have little yellow potatoes so I bought some of those and made a quick change to my plans.

Making stuffed baked potatoes is a multi step process: first you bake the potato, then you scoop out the insides and mix them with all sorts of goodies (sour cream, cheese, broccoli) before returning the insides to the skins and baking them again (ever so briefly, really just long enough to melt the cheese).  My lack of a baking potato with a nice thick skin forced me to improvise: instead of stuffing the mixture back into a potato, I would "stuff" the mixture into a little casserole dish...I'd have the delicious stuffed potato filling without the stuffed potato skin.

The broccoli did double duty: stems in with the potatoes, and the crown steamed on the side.

Wednesday there was no cooking.  I succumbed to my illness and spent most of the day wrapped in a blanket, using up kleenex like it was going out of style.  Lucky for me there were leftovers in the fridge.....

When the time dinner rolled around on Thursday I was back to my (mostly) normal self, ready to cook up a storm.  Not too much of a storm though...just a simple veggie stir fry.

Mushrooms, onion, garlic, zucchini and broccoli stems...with brown and wild rice.

Friday was when I decided to get fancy.

I have a number of different cookbooks and magazines in my house, and one of the things that happens when you have that many potential recipes on hand is that you forget that they exist.  While going through the magazines earlier this week I found one such recipe...one that I am surprised I did not attempt the first time that I saw it.  It was for roasted portobello mushrooms stuffed with spinach and artichoke dip.

I, like more sane people, love spinach and artichoke dip.  Mushrooms have grown on me in the last couple of years...but even if I weren't a fan I would probably still make this recipe.  It's quite simple, easy to lighten, and tastes DELICIOUS!

You will need.....

-3 tbsp olive oil
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-4 medium portobello mushrooms (stems and gills removed)
-100g cream cheese (I like the low far garlic and herb kind)
-3 tbsp sour cream (or plain yogurt, or mayonnaise)
-1 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 1/2 tbsp fresh)
-300g(ish) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
-1 can artichoke hearts, drained, patted dry, and chopped
-1/2 cup breadcrumbs
-1/3 parmesan cheese

First, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Combine 2tbsp of oil and two thirds of the garlic.  Brush the insides of the mushrooms with the garlic oil; season with salt and pepper.  Arrange oiled side up on a backing sheet and roast until just tender (about 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, sour cream and 1/2 tsp thyme in a medium bowl.  Add the spinach and artichokes; mix well.  In another bowl combine the remaining garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp thyme with the breadcrumbs and cheese.

Remove the mushrooms from the oven.  Spoon the artichoke mixture evenly into the mushroom caps and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs.  Bake until the crumbs are golden brown and the filling is hot (about 10 minutes).

Delicious...and this is coming from someone who did not like mushrooms until recently!

Bonus with the above recipe: easy to prep ahead.  Roast the mushrooms and make the filling, and keep both refrigerated separately until mealtime.  At that point spoon the filling into the mushrooms, add the breadcrumbs, and bake!

I spent all day Saturday working on various and assorted different school assignments, and by the time dinner time rolled around I was quite exhausted so I kept it simple: crispy tofu and asparagus.

Finger food...no need to dirty any cutlery!

The best part: you only need one pan, and your meal is ready in less than 15 minutes.  This recipe is definitely a keeper, and will be making its way into my regular weeknight rotation!

And with that another week is gone.  Next week is my last and holds the final challenge: convincing my parents that meat free meals aren't all that bad.

Wish me luck! 

Meatless March: Week 2

I'd like to say that my first week without meat was a success.  However, I did learn something about myself: I'm not the kind of person who wants to ask questions about the food I order, hence cheating-by-poutine.  Also, I'm not the kind of person who wants to give up food that I love simply because it may have been made with meat hence, again, cheating by poutine.  But I digress.....

To mark the end of a (semi) productive reading week, I decided to make myself something delicious (and comforting) for dinner on Sunday night...and I went with a vegetarian pot pie.  Super simple...just make a couple of changes to this recipe: omit the chicken (obviously) as well as the chicken stock, and replace those with mushrooms (add at the same time as the potatoes in the original recipe) and vegetable broth.

Option to add more mushroom flavor: instead of going with fresh mushrooms, pick up some dried ones.  Since you have to soak them before cooking you can use the soaking liquid (strained of course) in place of vegetable broth.

I had leftovers on Monday, so I didn't cook again until Tuesday when I decided to haul out the slow cooker to make a nice big batch of marinara sauce.  And by big I do mean BIG...the recipe I followed makes 12 cups of marinara...I froze half of it immediately and still had enough to try it out in several different ways during the.

Ingredients
-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-3 cups chopped onion
-3/4 cup diced carrot
-1/2 cup diced celery
-3 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 3 tsp dried)
-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (red pepper flakes)
-2 tbsp tomato paste (or ketchup)
-1/2 cup dry red wine (such as cabernet sauvignon)
-5 1/2 pounds plum (roma) tomatoes, peeled and chopped
-3/4 cup chopped fresh basil (or 3 tbsp dried)
-1 1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions
Heat oil in a large skillet.  Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through red pepper); saute 8 minutes.  Add tomato paste; cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.  Combine vegetables and tomatoes in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Remove 3 cups tomato mixture and place in blender; blend until smooth; return to slow cooker. (Alternatively, use an immersion blender to achieve your desired consistency.)  Add basil, salt, and pepper.  Cook uncovered on high for 30 minutes...then enjoy however you like!

Recipe makes about 12 cups...6 for now, 6 in the freezer for later!

Making this reminded me of how much I love my slow cooker!  It's brilliant...you throw all of the ingredients together first thing in the morning, turn it on low, and leave...and when you come back in 8 hours you have created something delicious.  And in the case of marinara sauce, all you really have to do when you get home is boil water for pasta.  I, however, decided to try a different way to enjoy my marinara sauce: I used it to poach an egg (heat sauce to simmer, add egg).  The motive behind using eggs is simple: they're cheap, as well as a great source of protein.  But while breakfast for dinner is delicious, I'm just not the kind of girl who wants to eat fried eggs in the evening.  The idea of eggs with marinara sauce was just a little bit fancier...and turned out to be not even a little more time consuming (once the sauce is made of course).

Served with toast...and some of the red wine that I used to make the sauce :)

Wednesday and Thursday each brought with them new applications of this lovingly made sauce...

Wednesday: Open faced eggplant sandwiches with mozzarella and marinara

Thursday: Simple and straightforward...spinach and cheese ravioli tossed with marinara sauce.

By Friday I was starting to get tired of tomatoes, and I was starting to crave something just a little bit meatier.  And I thought to myself: how about a veggie burger?  So I tossed some lentils and mushrooms into my food processor; added salt, pepper, and dijon mustard as well as an egg and some breadcrumbs to bind the mixture together and then threw the result on my handy indoor grill!

They certainly look right...

Honest verdict?  While they had the right amount of "meat-y" substance to them they lacked the texture that I was craving.  Suffice to say that bean-based burgers will probably not make my menu again; next time I think I will go with a grilled portobello instead.

Friday night's results brings me to an important point about cooking at home: mistakes are going to happen.  Every so often you're going to make something that either doesn't work out or just isn't that great...and that's okay.  Every home cook goes through that learning process.  There are the rare recipes that work brilliantly the first time, but for the most part cooking is a process of trial, error, and improvement.  Don't let one poor showing put you off of cooking for life: take note of what happened, try to figure out what went wrong, and you'll do better next time.

Trust me though...it's worth the effort!

Anywho, after Friday night's somewhat disappointing veggie burger debacle, Saturday demanded a pick-me-up in the form of an old favorite: pizza.  Grilled eggplant tossed with BBQ sauce, roasted mushrooms, and green onions.  A perfect end to the week!

Delish.

Perfect end to the second week I should say.  Thus far I must say that while there are certain things I miss (a perfect, juicy, burger for instance) that going meat free has actually been quite delicious.  Where will next week take me?  You'll have to come back and find out.....

Meatless March: Week 1

Well the first two days of the month went by without too many problems, which left me looking forward to my first full week as a (temporary) vegetarian.

Sunday afternoons I go to yoga, which requires me to consume a larger than normal breakfast (to prevent passing out in the studio).  My usual go-to would be something like bacon and eggs...but that is not a possibility this month.  Slight change: veggie and cheese omelet.  I've got some broccoli stems in the fridge (worth not throwing away...I also used them in the fried rice that I made last week), and no fewer than three different kinds of cheese on hand.  

(Nervous about omelets?  That's what YouTube is for!)

As for dinner...given that I hadn't seen the sun in at least a week I was in the mood for something warm and comforting.  And, as is my Sunday evening tradition, something that would provide me with leftovers for the week to come.  After some careful thought I decided to go with a nice pot of chili (featuring zucchini, quinoa, and chipotle peppers), paired with homemade buttermilk biscuits.

I decided to go with biscuits because (a) I wanted some starch with my meal and (b) I had buttermilk in the fridge from the last time I made muffins.  They are a super easy recipe, which I'm happy to share on request.

Monday was another lazy day...preview for the week, since it's spring break.  So I have more time on hand then usual, leaving me with time to experiment.  I decided that this would be a great time to try out a recipe that's been on my mind for awhile: spinach and kale turnovers.

I used the original recipe as an inspiration, but made several small changes.  For starters, I made my own crust using the fantastic whole wheat and flax pizza dough recipe featured here.  Second, I subbed a mixture of parmesan and mozzarella in place of feta, omitted the nutmeg, and added a little pizza sauce to make the turnovers more calzone-like...

Served with caesar salad.  Lots of green, lots of delicious.

When I opened my fridge to make dinner on Tuesday, extra zucchini (from the chili) and kale (from the calzone) were staring me in the face.  I decided that I had better use these ingredients before they went bad, and so I began to scour the internet in search of ideas.  Before too long I found what I was looking for: I would use the zucchini to make fritters, which I would serve with pasta and a pesto made out of kale.

You're probably at least a little familiar with pesto, at least the classic garlic, parmesan and basil version.  But "pesto" literally just means "paste", and so you can make it out of anything you want.  Here's the recipe that I used to make my kale pesto...

Ingredients
-1/2 bunch kale
-2 cloves garlic
-1/4 cup olive oil
-1/2 cup grated parmesan
-1/2 tbsp lemon juice
-salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Blanch garlic cloves for 2-3 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon.  In the same water blanch kale for about 30 seconds, drain.  Puree garlic and kale in a food processor.  Add olive oil, parmesan, and lemon juice; blend well.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to one month.

This recipe makes about 1 cup of pesto...enough for several different applications.

The great thing about pesto is that it can be used in any number of ways.  There are the obvious choices, like toss it with some pasta, and the not so obvious choices, like spreading it on fish (or chicken) before covering it in breadcrumbs and baking it in the oven (which is probably what I would be doing with my leftover pesto if I hadn't given up meat for the month) or using it as a substitute for pizza sauce.

Wednesday night was a too-lazy-to-cook-so-will-reheat-leftovers evening, so I didn't venture back into my kitchen until Thursday.  And this was when I hit my first wall...what to cook?  I couldn't decide what I was in the mood for (though I knew I didn't want pasta, since I had it yesterday and was planning on making it again tomorrow), and I was not going to leave the apartment to buy groceries...so whatever dinner was, it was going to be made with things that I already had on hand.  That's when it hit me...tacos.  They require very little effort, are always delicious, and I knew I had the ingredients on hand (tortillas in the freezer, cheese and lettuce in the fridge, taco seasoning in the cupboard with my spices, and chickpeas in the pantry).

Sometimes you just don't have the energy to whip up a masterpiece.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, on Friday I found myself making pasta for some friends who had come over to study (and drink).  I decided to go with this particular recipe because it's delicious, quick, yields fancy results for little effort, and is relatively light on the calories.  I usually make this pasta with shrimp, but it was just as good sans shellfish...to further change things up, I threw a good spoonful of kale pesto into the cream sauce...

Ingredients
-1 tbsp butter
-1 or 2 cloves of garlic
-1 tsp lemon zest
-2 tsp flour
-1 cup milk
-2 tbsp cream cheese (I like to use the fat free herb and garlic kind)
-3/4 cup parmesan
-1 cup frozen peas

1) Cook whatever pasta you desire as per package directions (I usually use 4 cups of uncooked penne...the quantities given above make enough sauce to comfortably cover that much pasta).  Drain, but reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

2) Melt the butter in a small saucepan.  Add garlic and lemon zest, cooking until fragrant.  Add flour and mix well to form a paste.  Add the milk slowly to prevent clumping (add a little, stir until smooth, add a little, stir until smooth.......).  Cook until just thickened.  Add cream cheese and parmesan cheese; stir until melted.  Add frozen peas and cook until the peas are warm.

3) Toss pasta and sauce together.  If the sauce is too thick, use some of the pasta water to loosen it.

Looks fancy, but doesn't take a "fancy" amount of effort!

Saturday: Not gonna lie, I cheated a little.  Rather than cook for myself this evening, I took a drive out to the country with some friends for poutine.  

(Why would I drive out into the country for poutine?  If you have to ask me that question, then I obviously haven't brought you with me to this little gem of a place.)

While vegetarian poutine is certainly not outside the realm of possibility, I will admit that I do not know whether or not what I ate for dinner on Sunday night was made without meat.  However it was delicious, and was well worth the drive.

While my poutine may or may not have been vegetarian, I did forgo my usual hot dog in favor of a  delicious vegetable panini!

And that's one full week down...three to go.  Thus far I have not found the change that burdensome as I have simply omitted the meat from recipes that I already know and love.  Next week more challenges await...among them, the quest to make a delicious veggie burger!

Meatless March: Week 0.5

My first stretch of vegetarianism was just two days (Friday and Saturday), and I made it through with relative ease.

Friday evening found me out for a beer with friends, where I managed to avoid ordering a pound of chicken wings (mmmmm.....chicken wings) in favor of splitting a tower of beer.  However, after getting home late-ish I was then faced with the task of creating something to eat.......

Luckily, my somewhat obsessive compulsive personality was one step ahead, and I had some rice leftover from a meal earlier in the week.  Plan: veggie fried rice.  It was extremely easy (since the rice was already cooked) as well as inexpensive, since I used veggies that I already had on hand (broccoli stems, frozen peas, frozen corn, baby carrots, garlic, and green onions).  Delicious, filling, and ready in ten minutes.

Full of vegetable goodness!

I had more time on my hands Saturday, and so I decided to make something a little more involved.  This particular recipe is one that I made back in the fall semester for a potluck, and one that I have been since wanting to repeat: celery root, potato, and pear gratin.

Being as this was my second time around for the dish, I made some changes to the ingredients and method of preparation.  In what follows I will likewise share the recipe in a way that allows for you to make changes of your own...the steps are the same for any basic potato gratin recipe!

Ingredients
-1 small to medium celery root, sliced 1/4 inch thick
-1 or 2 medium potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
-1 medium bartlett pear, sliced 1/4 inch thick
-2 cups milk
-2 garlic cloves, smashed
-1 tsp dried thyme
-1 cup gruyere cheese, grated
-2/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Room for change: the starch, the cheese, and the add-in.  In this recipe I used both celery root and potato...feel free to use one or the other (just adjust the quantities as needed).  As for cheese, feel free to use whatever you like or have on hand (I personally like gruyere for this recipe because it tastes beautiful with the pears).  And finally, don't limit yourself to additions like pear.  Feel free to layer in any number of other things (sauteed mushrooms, bacon, onion...the possibilities are endless).

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a medium casserole dish.
2) Combine cheeses in a small bowl, set aside.

**If you have chosen to use any additional add-ins, combine these in a separate bowl and set aside with the cheese.

3) Combine celery root, potatoes, garlic cloves, thyme, and milk in a skillet.  Simmer over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes (until the potatoes are just tender).
4) Using a slotted spoon, transfer half of the potatoes/celery root into the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle 1/3 cheese mixture over potatoes.  Transfer remaining potatoes/celery root to the casserole, sprinkle 1/3 cheese mixture.  Top with slices of pear and remaining cheese; pour milk over completed gratin.

**If you are using different additions, add them at the pear step in the previous instruction.

5) Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the potatoes are completely tender.  Let sit for at least 15 minutes before serving...then enjoy!

Cheesy gratin + salad + wine = a delightful Saturday night meal!

Meatless March

This month's blogging has a theme: vegetarian.  And not only will the recipes I share be veggie friendly, I myself will be giving up my carnivorous ways for the next four weeks.  This also means that the format of the blog will be changing just a little bit...instead of sharing a single recipe every week the blog will read a little bit more like a diary.

But first, why on earth would someone who eats meat choose to give it up?

My position on vegetarianism doesn't arise because I think it's wrong to eat animals, I have less extreme reasons for wanting to consume less meat.

First: money.  Meat is expensive, especially lean meats like chicken and turkey.  Taking meat off the menu one or two nights a week is a great way to lower your food budget.

Second: treatment of animals.  Again I re-iterate, I have nothing against the basic idea of killing animals for food.  I do, however, have a problem with the way in which the practice currently occurs.  In order to meet growing demand, farmers have had to change from traditional practices of farming to high-output factory style.  Unfortunately, factory farming requires animals to live in conditions that are utterly inhumane.  So I do my (admittedly small) part in lowering the demand for meat...hoping that if enough people do the same we will no longer need to raise chickens in conditions like these.

Third: sustainability.  As the world population continues to rise, the number of people who will want to eat meat at every meal does as well.  This means that, globally, more and more space will need to be devoted to the production of animals; leaving less space for everything else.  Increasing demand also forces suppliers into more and more dubious practices (such as factory farming)...practices that will only get worse as increasing numbers of individuals demand to eat meat multiple times a day.

(I could go on and on about the above points....but I won't, since others before me already have.  For more information about the problems associated with being an omnivore, see Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" or Jonathan Safran Foer's "Eating Animals".)

Which brings me back to the theme: a month without meat.

Accordingly, the format for the blog is going to change just a touch: instead of a recipe book, it's going to read just a little bit more like a diary.  But of course this blog wouldn't be the same without sharing a recipe or two, and so I will choose the best meals of my week and tell you how to make them.  If nothing else, I hope that you are inspired to take meat off the menu once in awhile.

Happy reading!