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.
Category: Favorites
Shrimp Florentine Pasta
This was SO fast and easy (recipe here.) Very tasty, too. Even Hubby, who has historically not been a big shellfish fan, loved it. Filling and healthy and VERY fast to make.
Bread and Butter Pickles
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.
Peanut Butter-Caramel Pound Cake
This wasn’t evil enough, on its own, so I decided to serve it with a little ice cream on the side. Quite rich and buttery and thoroughly indulgent. This recipe (here) is another winner from Giada.
White Chocolate Cake
I made this AMAZING (recipe here) cake for my little brother’s birthday last year (he’s a big white chocolate fan) and it was SO good. I’ll definitely be making this again. We have a sweet exchange student living with us now who also loves white chocolate, so I need to make this for her.
Asparagus Lasagna
This was SO delicious. The chewy sweetness of the sun-dried tomatoes was the perfect complement to the earthy grassiness of the asparagus. Recipe here.
Blue Cheese and Pecan Spread
Absolutely delicious spread (recipe here). I did substitute pecans for the walnuts, because they’re just so much better! The spread would be fantastic in the tea sandwiches, as specified, but was also wonderful on crackers. Would also be good on apples or celery sticks.
Whole Foods Sonoma Chicken Salad
This (recipe here) is VERY easy to throw together with leftover or even store-bought rotisserie chicken and is becoming one of our favorite recipes. Easy to keep on hand for eating “as is” or serving over greens or on a sandwich.
Espresso Ice Cream
Yum. Recipe here) were delicious and SO easy.”>here.
Gingerbread Pancakes
These (recipe here) were delicious and SO easy.