Cook Share and Feast

Ingredients

• 4 oz pasta (Rigatoni, Rotini etc)
• 12 oz sweet potatoes cubed
• 8 oz button mushrooms quartered
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3 oz baby spinach
• 2 tablespoons goat cheese crumbled
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts lightly roasted
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• Extra goat cheese for sprinkling
• Extra salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Cook pasta and drain (I usually add a little bit of salt when cooking pasta)
• Pre-heat oven to 450 F
• Add cubed sweet potatoes and quartered mushrooms to a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Add olive oil and mix with hand thoroughly
• Roast for about 45 minutes
• In a saucepan or skillet add pasta, roasted vegetables and baby spinach
• mix pasta and veggies in a very low flame until the spinach is wilted
• Add goat cheese, pine nuts and mix well
• Sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil
• Top with crumbled goat cheese (optional)
• Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 oz pasta (Rotini)
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 4 oz red/orange bell pepper sliced thinly
• 1 cup chopped button mushrooms
• 1, 15 oz can black beans
• 1, 15 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh basil leaves
• Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Method

• Cook pasta and drain
• In a skillet add oil and stir fry bell pepper for about 4 – 4 minutes
• Add mushrooms and fry until mushroom is soft
• Add tomatoes, black bean salt and pepper and cook until the sauce from tomatoes thickens
• Add pasta and cheese and mix well and heat on a low flame
• Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with parmesan cheese
• Tear basil leaves and sprinkle on the top (since I didn’t have basil when I made this time, I omitted it)

Ingredients

• 1 cup bulgur
• 2½ cups water
• 1½ cups asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 medium carrots julliened
• 1 red or yellow bell pepper cut into strips
• 2½ – 3 cups button mushrooms chopped
• 2 cloves garlic peeled and finely chopped
• 2 – 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 12 oz extra firm tofu drained and cubed
• ½ teaspoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 – 2 tablespoons feta cheese crumbled
• salt and black pepper to taste

Method

Cooking Bulgur:

•  wash the bulgur thoroughly
• In covered saucepan bring water to boiling high
• stir in bulgur and heat to boiling
• reduce the flame to medium-low and cook for about 15 minutes or all the water is absorbed
• turn off heat and leave the cooked bulgur in the saucepan covered

Cooking tofu:

• drain all the water from tofu by squeezing them slightly between kitchen towels
• set the oven to broil at 400°F
• place the tofu on a baking tray and add cooking spray to the tofu pieces and mix them well
• broil until tofu is golden brown (about 15 minutes)
• set aside
• ** To make the bulgur spicy, sprinkle a little bit chili powder and salt on tofu pieces, add olive oil and mix well.  Broil tofu until golden brown.  This gives a nice spicy flavor to tofu.

Cooking vegetables and making bulgur pilaf:

• in a skillet add about 2 – 3 tablespoon oil and sauté asparagus and carrot for about 5 minutes on medium flame
• add mushrooms and bell pepper and cook for another 4 – 5 minutes
• now add the chopped garlic and cook for another 1 – 2 minutes
• lower the flame and add the broiled tofu and cooked bulgur to cooked vegetables and mix well
• add chopped basil leaves and crumbled feta cheese
• add salt and pepper to taste

Yields: about 3 - 4 servings