Category: Vegetarian

Martha Stewart’s Macaroni and Cheese

20121002-084224.jpg

We decided to celebrate “World Vegetarian Day” yesterday with a hearty vegetarian entree. This macaroni is cheesy and crusty and saucy and flavorful and not terribly difficult or time-consuming. I grated the cheese and tore up the bread a little earlier in the day, to get it to come together even more quickly. I also microwaved the milk in a large, glass batter bowl (about 3 minutes,) which was a little quicker and more “hands off” than waiting for it to warm up in a saucepan. Recipe here. I added a couple of pinches of dried herbs (parsley, oregano and basil) to both the breadcrumbs and the cheese sauce and also a bit of dry mustard powder to the sauce.

20121002-084253.jpg

Bobby Flay’s Pumpkin Bread

20120924-081218.jpg

Great all-purpose, easy, spicy and moist pumpkin bread recipe. I doubled the batch (it was Girl’s turn to bring snack to school), which required two cans of pumpkin, with one cup left over (which I froze) for another batch in the future. I may try the Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe (listed in the link), possibly for Thanksgiving.

Recipe here.

Bacon and Butternut Pasta

20120920-200105.jpg

This was really yummy, but we are a household (mostly) of veggie-loving folks. If you already love kale and butternut squash, you’ll love this pasta (the nutty Gruyère and luscious crème fraîche are a fantastic and classic combination). If you don’t, this recipe isn’t going to be the one to convert you (try this or this, instead). This recipe isn’t the simplest or the quickest (there is decent amount of peeling and chopping of kale, squash and onions and many of the components must be cooked individually first, before assembling the casserole,) but it was quite good. The red pepper flakes add a nice kick, too.

Flexitarian Note: I simultaneously prepared a veggie version of this for The Girl. I made a 1/4 batch (one pound of pasta, in total, for both versions) for her, cooking the onions in butter instead of the bacon grease. I cooked all of the pasta, kale, squash and sauce (substituting veggie broth, instead of chicken) together, then separated out 4/5ths of the mixture and just added the bacon and bacon-fat onions to that to create the carnivorous batch. I baked it in a smaller dish, but for the same amount of time.

If I haven’t scared you off, the recipe can be found here.

Bread and Butter Pickles

20120911-122102.jpg

These pickles (recipe hehttp://www.nytimes.com/recipes/12579/Bread-and-Butter-Pickles.htmlre) are SO easy and delicious. They perish quickly, but don’t last long, at least not at our house, so it hasn’t been a problem. I haven’t tried the ketchup and mustard recipes (also included in the article) but am planning to try soon. I do occasionally make my own mayonnaise, which is absolutely transcendent (and surprisingly easy), so I’ll post that recipe and photo the next time I make it.