Viva La Fiesta Vegetarian Taco Salad

This was a great summer dish. Nice and light!

Viva La Fiesta Vegetarian Taco Salad

One Pot Pasta

I've learned by now never to underestimate Martha. I used to scoff at her perfect domestication persona in my youth, but not anymore. She is now a go-to for recipes and has really neat stuff in her magazines.  So, I saw this on Pinterest and in her latest magazine and made it the other night. You can do a lot with it and it is so easy. As usual, I had to season it up, but in a pinch this is a good one. We also substituted regular pasta for quinoa pasta for gluten free and it was just as good.

One Pot Pasta

Sauté Collard Greens with Tomatoes

I bought some collard greens from the community market. I think this guy grew them in his yard. He said they were "beyond organic". I have a sentimental spot for collard greens because they are a staple food in Africa and they know how to make them! I found this recipe I wanted to do because it is stir fry, so you won't lose so much of all the good nutrients in there. While we were eating, the hubby asked if I was going to add these to the blog. Score! They are blog worthy!

Sauté Collard Greens with Tomatoes

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with a Lemon Sage Brown Butter Sauce

This meal would have been really successful if the shells hadn't overcooked a bit in the oven. The directions are brief, so they don't explain how to not let this happen, but maybe you know! I switched out ricotta for the vegan ricotta I found at the store, added some other veggies, along with chopped, toasted walnuts and this was really good. The crispy sage in the butter (margarine) was so good! I love having fresh herbs from our garden. This dinner ended up being about 70% local from our community market, so that felt nice also.

Butternut Squash Stuffed Shells with a Lemon Sage Brown Butter Sauce

Baked Avocado Salsa

This was another quick and easy, but really delicious side. I didn't have any salsa, so I just cut up grape tomatoes and it worked fine!

Baked Avocado Salsa

Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Soup

I love this cookbook! So far everything I have made out of it has been really good. One of my favorite and easiest recipes out of here is the simple and flavorful Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Soup. The author has posted the recipe online here. Don't forget to heat the garlic and herbs first. I think this is what really makes that extra level of flavor.

Garbanzo Bean and Tomato Soup

Pesto Genovese

Only two things survived in our garden last year, basil and okra, and they were prolific! We had 5 bountiful basil plants, which gave us mountains to make this wonderful pesto with. I love pesto and I make this one all the time. Sun dried tomatoes really add to the flavor.

Pesto Genovese

Mushroom and Spinach Pockets (Vegan)

I really like using phyllo dough to make tasty pockets of goodness. This vegan mushroom and spinach pocket turned out well. I think if you are not vegan, ricotta or feta would be a good substitute for the tofu. But the tofu didn't bother me in this one. I would probably add more spinach to this and I do have a non-vegan recipe very similar to this one that I like better, but this was a good vegan option. I'll add the non-vegan one a little later.

Mushroom and Spinach Pockets (Vegan)

Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash

I haven't posted anything in awhile because nothing has really been worthy or found to be a keeper. Finally, tonight we tried acorn squash for the first time and really enjoyed this recipe with it's brown sugar paste. I did substitute the chili powder with cinnamon and a little nutmeg.

Sweet Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash

3 Bean Chili and Cornbread

This chili looks and tastes better than the picture from the blog I got it on, but it's a great blog and we really like this veggie chili. This is my go-to chili recipe! I haven't made the cornbread on this blog, but I did make cornbread from an Arrowhead mix.

3 Bean Veggie Chili

Update: I felt this chili came out a bit bland tonight. Talking it over with the hubby, we agreed that veggie chorizo or sausage would have added more flavor.