My Vegetarian Recipe of the Day

I first got this recipe from a friend, but I’ve made some additions, subtractions and other changes since then. It’s super easy and perfect for hot summer days when you just don’t feel like cooking. The addition of black beans (canned or homemade) makes it more filling and more capable of standing on its own for a meal.

Gazpacho

5 large tomatoes, chopped (some people prefer to dump the seeds )

2 cucumbers, peeled

1 large onion (preferably red, but I have used yellow)

chopped garlic to taste

1 bunch cilantro

juice of 2 limes (I’ve used about an 1/8 of a cup lemon juice in a pinch– I think you could also substitute balsamic vinegar, just need some acid)

sea salt to taste

1 large can of vegetable juice (I like to use the spicy kind to add a little kick)

2 cups of black beans (1 can or homemade)

Put the veggies (minus the black beans) in the food processor and blend until it’s semi-smooth. Pour the puree into a large bowl and add the veggie juice and black beans and stir well. That’s it. Enjoy with some crusty bread or as a side for quiche or whatever suits your fancy.

You can never have too many chili recipes to choose from when getting ready for the Super Bowl. And if you’re tired of plain old vegetarian chili recipes and feeling a bit adventurous, this one may be right up your alley. If you don’t want to use the espresso, you can substitute cocoa powder. This will give it more of a mole flavor. This is a pretty spicy recipe, so you may want to taste as you go along to find the right spice proportion for your tastes. I suppose you could serve this over chili dogs, but I think it’s probably better served alone. This recipe came from the January 2003 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

1/2 cup olive oil
5 large onions, chopped
1/4 cup instant espresso powder
1/4 cup chili powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup dried oregano leaves
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes with added puree
1/3 cup honey
6 large garlic cloves, minced
7 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed, drained
2 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or chili powder
Large pinch of ground cinnamon

Assorted toppings (choose as many as you like): sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro, chopped green onions, shredded cheese, sliced jalapeños, and shaved bittersweet chocolate

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Mix in espresso powder, 1/4 cup chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Cook 1 minute. Mix in tomatoes, honey, and garlic. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Add beans, 2 cups water, salt, chipotle chili powder, and cinnamon. Bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered until mixture thickens slightly, stirring often, about 30 minutes. Season with salt. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm before serving.)

Place toppings in individual condiment bowls. Ladle chili into bowl and serve toppings alongside.

Here is one of my vegetarian recipes for Lentil Soup. Let me know what you think of it.

Steps To Make Vegetarian Lentil Soup

1. Take a breakfast-cupful of green lentils and put them to soak in cold water overnight.
2. In the morning throw away any floating on the top.
3. Drain the lentils and put them in a stew-pan or saucepan with some vegetarian stock or water.
4. Add two onions, two carrots, a turnip, a bunch of parsley, a small teaspoonful of savory herbs and a small head of celery. If you have no celery add half a teaspoonful of bruised celery seed. (You can also add a crust of stale bread.)
5. Boil all the ingredients together and occasionally a dark film will rise to the surface. This must be skimmed off.
6. The soup must boil for about four hours, or until the lentils are thoroughly soft.
7. Then strain the soup through a wire sieve, and rub all of the contents through the wire sieve with the soup. (This can take a while!)
8. After all of it has been rubbed through the sieve the soup must be boiled, and if made from green lentils it can be colored green with some spinach extract–(vegetable
   coloring, sold in bottles).

Some Additional Notes
If made from red lentils, the soup can be colored with a few drops of Parisian essence (burnt sugar). In warming up this soup, after the lentils have been rubbed through a sieve, it should be borne in mind that the lentil powder has a tendency to settle, and consequently the saucepan must be constantly stirred to prevent it burning. In serving the soup at table, the contents of the soup-tureen should be stirred with the soup-ladle before each helping.

If you want to make a thicker soup then take the soup described above and do the following:

1. Slice four large onions, and fry them brown in a pan that has a little
   butter.
2. Boil the onions in some of the broth of the soup until they are tender.
3. Rub the onions through a wire sieve and add them to the lentil soup (above).

This makes for a thicker Lentil soup and/or oniony soup (I like onions so I prefer it this way).

This is a slightly updated version of 7 Layer Dip from Food Network.  It’s slightly more complicated but still pretty easy.  My mother-in-law actually heats 7 Layer Dip in the oven to melt the cheese and serves it with rice as a tasty main dish.  You could also layer these ingredients over chips and pop them in the oven to make tasty nachos.  

Six Layer Dip 

2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1(15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups lowfat shredded Cheddar
2 ripe avocados, preferably Hass
1 jalapeno, stemmed, finely chopped, (with seeds for more heat)
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 1/2 cups nonfat yogurt, preferably Greek
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, leaves and some stems, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish
3 ripe medium tomatoes, diced
5 scallions (white and green), thinly sliced Baked tortilla chips, for dipping

On a cutting board, smash the garlic cloves, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the salt, and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear the mixture to a coarse paste. Put the garlic, beans, chili powder, water, and olive oil in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth. Spread in the bottom of a 2 quart casserole or gratin dish, or in individual sized dishes, as desired.Scatter the cheese over the beans. Halve and seed the avocados, then mash with the jalapeno and another teaspoon of salt in a small bowl. Spread a layer of the avocado over the cheese, and then scatter the lettuce on top.

Mix the yogurt with the cilantro and then spread over the lettuce. Add a layer of tomatoes and finally scatter the scallions on top. Chill until ready to serve. Garnish with a few cilantro sprigs and serve with baked chips.

Yes, I know, it’s another chili recipe. But can you really ever have too many chili recipes? And this one is Chili Blanco, or a white chili, and for some reason it’s much harder to find a vegetarian recipe for that kind of chili. And you can make this ahead and turn it into excellent nachos for you Super Bowl munching pleasure. Just put it on some tortilla chips with some diced tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos and melted cheese and voila!– the perfect snack.

Chili Blanco

1 pound small navy beans, rinsed and drained
8 cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups Imagine Not Chicken broth (or some other kind of vegetable broth or stock)
1 large bay leaf
1 4 oz. can green chilis, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup each: chopped green bell pepper, celery and julienne carrots
1 teaspoon each: cumin (or more, to taste) and fresh ground black pepper
1 cup grated jack cheese
1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped

2 cups baked tortilla chips, coarsely crushed (you can leave this out if you’re making the chili for nachos)
5 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
sour cream, optional

Place the beans in a large pot and cover with the 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let set, covered for 1 hour. Drain. Alternately, you can soak the beans overnight.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, sauté the onions until golden. Add the garlic and sauté 1-2 minutes, until garlic is translucent, but not browned.

Combine the beans, onions, broth, and bay leaf in a 6 quart pot. Bring to a low simmer, cover and cook until tender. Stir in green chilies and mash with a potato masher OR cool the mixture and puree it briefly in a blender or food processor. You want it to remain chunky, so don’t puree it too much. Season to taste with salt. When the beans are tender, sauté the bell pepper, celery, carrots, cumin and black pepper until just cooked. Stir into the beans after mashing. Add cheese and cilantro, stirring to blend. Serve garnished with green onions, chips and sour cream, if desired.

If you’re rooting for Da Bears next weekend, then there’s no better dish for you to serve than a Chicago-style Pizza. And, since it’s pizza, you can put whatever toppings on it that you like. If you want to try something a bit different than this recipe, you can find a great recipe for a stuffed Chicago-style pizza on fellow-blogger Andrea’s site.

For just the basics, use this recipe and add whatever toppings you find appealing.

Chicago-style Pizza

1 (.25 ounce) envelope rapid rise yeast
2 cups lukewarm water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup cornmeal
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 pound sliced mozzarella cheese

1 can pizza sauce (or make your own)

Topping suggestions: Peppers, onions, pineapple, olives, spinach, zucchini, soy meat substitute

3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons olive oil

Place the water in a mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the water, and let stand for 5 minutes to dissolve. Pour in the vegetable oil, olive oil, cornmeal and 3 cups of the flour. Mix with the beater for 10 minutes. Add the remaining flour, and switch from the beater to the dough hook. Mix for about 5 minutes. This can be done by hand, but the dough is very rich and moist. Pour the dough out onto a floured surface, and cover with a large bowl. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and let rise again. This time won’t take as long.

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F (245 degrees C).

Grease two 9 or 10 inch round cake pans. Divide the dough evenly between the two pans. Press the dough out so that it goes all the way up the sides of the pans. Lay the slices of mozzarella cheese onto the crusts like tile. Next put the pizza sauce over the mozzarella. This is the time to add your toppings. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top, and drizzle with olive oil.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is golden and gooey, and the crust a light golden brown.

I’m not waiting for the Super Bowl to make this chili. I’m planning to make it for dinner this week. Chocolate in chili? Sound absurd? Not at all. It gives the chili a nice depth that vegetarian chili can sometimes lack. I’ve never used semi-sweet chocolate pieces, opting instead for cocoa. If you prefer using cocoa, you can always just add a little extra oil.

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates. My first vegetarian cookbook was Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, and I’ve bought several other Moosewood cookbooks since then. I highly recommend any of them. I like that they’re a bit chatty about the recipes. I also like that this particular cookbook arranges things by event. So, if you need a recipe for a birthday breakfast in bed, you can flip to that section and have a whole menu laid out for you.

Anyway, enough about the cookbook and on to the recipe.

Black Bean and Chocolate Chili

2 T. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 small fresh chile, minced
1 T. ground cumin
2 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves (I’m leaving those out, not being a huge clove fan)
1 t. ground coriander
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 t. salt (I’ll probably use more like 1 t.)
1 1/2 c. chopped bell peppers
3 c. cooked or canned black beans (2- 14.5 oz. cans, rinsed and drained)
2 c. undrained crushed canned tomatoes (one 14.5 oz. can)
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. soy sauce
1 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces (or you could use about a 1/4 c. chocolate chips)
chopped scallions

In a saucepan, warm the oil on medium heat. Add the onions ad garlic and saute until the onions become translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery and chile, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Reduce the heat and stir in the spices and bell peppers. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, until the bell peppers begin to soften. Stir occasionally to keep the spices from burning. If needed, add a little juice from the canned tomatoes.

Add the black beans, tomatoes, lemon juice and soy sauce. Bring the chili to a simmer, cover, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the chocolate. When it is melted, adjust the salt, black pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Garnish with chopped scallions.

Do you need more than snacks to satisfy your hunger on Super Bowl Sunday? These sandwiches are plenty hardy. (Last year I posted a recipe for eggplant heros that would also be good.) This recipe is super easy, as it’s really more assembling than cooking.

Chicken Parmesan Hero Sandwich

2 jars marinara sauce
2 packages prepared soy chicken breaded patties (approx. 8 patties)
4 (12-inch-long) loaves Italian bread, halved lengthwise
1 lb mozzarella, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Microwave or heat soy chicken patties according to directions on the box. Cut in half.

Arrange bottom halves of bread loaves on a large baking sheet and tops on another large baking sheet, all with cut sides up. Spread 1/4 cup marinara on each top and bottom. Divide soy chicken patties between bottom halves. Top each (open-faced) sandwich with 1/4 cup marinara and one fourth of mozzarella.

Bake open-faced sandwiches in lower third of oven until cheese melts, about 3 minutes. When cheese begins to melt, put tops of loaves in upper third of oven and bake until edges are golden, 3 to 4 minutes (watch tops closely; they burn easily). Put tops on bottoms to make sandwiches, then slice into serving pieces.

Fondue may make you think of the 70s, but it’s made a real comeback. It’s cheese dip with class. So whether you are looking for something delicious and a bit different for a vegetarian New Year’s Eve, something to eat while you’re watching the Bowl Games or something to add to a New Year’s brunch buffet, here are three fondue recipes that will fit the bill. These recipes are adapted from recipes found on The Food Network.

Easy Fondue with Vegetables

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup half-and-half
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 cup grated Gruyere or Swiss
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chives, snipped or chopped
Your choice of vegetables, raw or lightly steamed
Some suggestions: broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, grilled tofu
You can also choose to use various breads, if you like

To a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, add 1 tablespoon oil and the chopped shallots. Saute shallots for 2 or 3 minutes. Add half-and-half to the pan and reduce heat to low. Cut cream cheese into 1-inch slices and add it to the pot. Allow the cream cheese to slowly melt into the half-and-half, 5 minutes. Add Parmesan and shredded Gruyere or Swiss to the sauce and stir until cheese is melted and fully incorporated. Stir in lemon juice. Season sauce with, nutmeg and black pepper. Place a candle underneath a wire rack or warm a fondue pot. Transfer cheese sauce to fondue pot or place saucepan over wire rack and burning candle. Garnish with chives. Serve with dipping forks or bamboo spears.

Feta Cheese With Walnuts and Parsley

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
6 ounces feta cheese
2 scallions minced
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup walnuts toasted and finely chopped

In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter the stir in the flour. Stir the 2 together into a paste. Whisk in the milk to create what the French call a bechamel sauce. Drop the temperature a little and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes so it thickens and the flour taste cooks out. After that it’s easy, just fold in the crumbled feta, scallions, and parsley. Season it with salt and a little cracked pepper. Finish with the walnuts tossed on top. Serve with bread, broccoli, melons, black olives– whatever suits your fancy.

Chocolate Fondue

2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup heavy cream
8 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon cabernet sauvignon, optional
Items for dipping
Suggestions: pound cake, biscotti pieces, strawberries, grapes, oranges

In a microwave-safe bowl, mix the sugar, heavy cream, chocolate, and butter together and microwave for 2 minutes. Take out of microwave and give it a quick whisk. Add wine (if using) and whisk again. Transfer to a fondue pot with a flame underneath.

Only one week until New Year’s Eve. Whether you do snacks, a full meal, or a midnight brunch, you can find great vegetarian options. Obviously, with only sevendays, I don’t have time to post a lot of recipes, so I’m going to remind you of a couple of recipes that have been posted in the past that you might want to include in your celebrations.

Black Eyed Peas are traditional for New Year’s and over the past year I’ve posted three black eyed pea recipes.

Cumin Black Eyed Peas with Tomatoes

Lime Rice and Black Eyed Peas

Black Eyed Pea Scramble

If you’re looking for brunch recipes, here are some of my favorites from the past year:

Easy Biscuits

Prepare Ahead Breakfast Casserole

Banana Macademia Nut Muffins

What if you just want snacks for New Year’s Eve? You might want to try some of these:

Vegetarian Nachos

Cream Cheese With…

Vegetarian 7 Layer Dip

Now, I will still be posting some new recipes, as well, this week. So, if you didn’t find something that you like, check back between now and New Year’s Eve.

I meant to write this one out during Thanksgiving and then somehow forgot about it. This was originally meant as a vegan recipe, but I usually adapt it and make it vegetarian. It’s really very tasty, although it does require a bit more work than some other nut loafs. Although if you double the recipe for the stuffing, you can get a main dish and a side dish for exactly the same amount of work. Vegan ingredient options are marked with a star and in italics. Leave out the eggs for vegan option.

Nut Loaf with vegan alternatives

Loaf

two tablespoons (or more) butter *oil or margarine
2 large onions, chopped fine
5 cloves (or an entire bulb) garlic, minced
3 cups raw cashews
1 1/2 cups bread
1 cup soup stock or broth– you can use water, but I wouldn’t
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg

Cook the onion and garlic in the butter, oil or margarine until tender, and remove from the heat.

Chop the cashews by hand or in a food processor; cut up the bread as well. Add the cashews and bread to the onion, then add the vegetable stock, egg, salt and pepper, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Put half of this mixture into a small, non-stick loaf pan. Even if you’re using a non-stick pan, I would still spray it with non-stick spray or oil it with olive or canola oil. If you want to use a regular pan that is not non-stick, the original recipe recommends lining the pan with parchment paper first.

Stuffing

3 cups bread cubes, toasted
four tablespoons butter *margarine or oil, melted but not hot
1/2 to 3/4 cup finely-chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon sage
3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 egg
enough to stock to moisten

Mix together all the ingredients. Put the mixture on top of the stuff in the loaf pan, and add the rest of the first mixture so that there are three layers of food in the pan.

Place the pan on a baking sheet or in a larger loaf pan (in case it overflows while cooking), and bake at 400 degrees F for half an hour. The top should be browned.

Let the roast cool for a few minutes, then serve out of the pan or invert it on to a plate. Serve with gravy, if desired. I’d recommend the mushroom gravy.

Every year I try a new latke recipe. We all love the potato latkes, but for eight nights it can get a bit old. I’m thinking of trying this recipe for this year.

Sweet Potato Latkes with Sugared Pecans

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 egg
1 T vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 t ground nutmeg
Up to 2 T potato flour (regular flour will do if you don’t have potato flour or potato starch)
1/3 c brown sugar; packed
Oil
Sour cream or powder sugar for dusting
Sugared Pecans (recipe below)

Parboil potatoes in boiling water until slightly tender but firm (or microwave for a couple of minutes). Refrigerate potatoes until cold. Remove skin and shred into bowl. Add egg; vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and potato flour. Mix until well blended. Coat bottom of 10″ non-stick skillet with 2 T. oil. Shape latkes into 2 1/2 ” patties. Cook until brown on both sides and transfer to paper towels to drain briefly. Add oil as needed to remaining batches. *Pipe dollop of sour cream with pastry bag on top for each latke. Top with Sugared Pecans.*

*OPT. Sugared Pecans

1 c. whole pecans
1 egg white
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. cinnamon

Put pecans in ziplock bag with egg white. Shake until coated. Mix together sugar and cinnamon. Add to the ziplock bag– shake until coated. Bake at 400F 9 to 12 min. Cool.

Lasagna is a perfect meal for the holidays. It can be prepared ahead of time and reheated for parties or family dinners. This one is a non-traditional winter inspired acorn squash creation from Martha Stewart. When I make this I plan to double it and use a 9×13 pan or my lasagna pan, but this size would be perfect for a buffet, if you’re serving lots of other dishes.

Acorn Squash Lasagna

Olive oil, for baking dish
4 cups Acorn Squash Purée or 2 packages (12 ounces each) frozen winter squash purée, thawed
1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8 no-boil lasagna noodles (half of an 8-ounce package) (You could also use regular noodles– just prepare them according to the package ahead of time.)

Preheat oven to 400°. Brush an 8-inch square baking dish with oil; set aside. In a medium bowl, mix squash purée with sage, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, mix ricotta with 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

Lay 2 lasagna noodles in the bottom of prepared dish; spread with half the squash mixture. Layer with 2 more noodles, and spread with half the ricotta mixture. Repeat layering with remaining noodles and mixtures. Sprinkle top (ricotta mixture) with remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan.

3. Cover baking dish with foil; place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until lasagna is heated through, about 45 minutes; remove foil, and continue baking until golden on top, 20 to 25 minutes more.

The great thing about Hanukkah for vegetarians is the traditional dish is not chicken, not turkey, but fried pancakes called latkes. The bad thing about Hanukkah for my waistline is the traditional dish is fried pancakes called latkes The most traditional latkes are potato, but there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of variation. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll share some of my favorites and some I want to try. This first recipe falls into the second category. Chickpeas should make for a somewhat more substantial latke, allowing it to become the main dish, if you like, rather than sitting on the side. Someone described this latke as a cross between a latke and a falafel– sounds good to me.

Chickpea and Potato Latkes

18 ounces white potatoes, about 3 medium
3/4 cup chopped leek, white and pale green parts only
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2-1/4 cups drained canned garbanzo beans/chickpeas; about 1-1/2 15-ounce cans
3 large garlic cloves
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1-1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons plus additional all purpose flour
vegetable oil (for frying)

Cook potatoes in pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain; refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

Peel potatoes; grate coarsely into large bowl. Mix in leek and cilantro.

Blend garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper and baking powder in processor until almost smooth. Stir into potato mixture. Mix in 3 tablespoons flour.

Using floured hands, shape 2 rounded tablespoons mixture into ball; flatten into 1/2″-thick disk, about 2″ in diameter. Place on lightly floured baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture, forming about 24 fritters. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Cover and refrigerate.)

Pour enough oil into 2 heavy large skillets to reach depth of 1/4″. Heat over medium heat until sprinkle of water sizzles in oil. Coat each fritter with flour. Fry fritters until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towels; drain.

This may seem like an odd Holiday recipe. There’s nothing terribly “holiday” about it. BUT it is super fast. It can be completely done by the time the pasta boils. So, since the holidays sometimes get a bit crazy, I thought it would be good to post at least one meal that is elegant, delicious and so easy that you don’t even have to think about it. I think this recipe would go great on a buffet, in case you have a holiday party, but want to do something other than cook all week long.

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup walnuts, toasted and cooled
3/4 c. shredded Romano cheese
3 cloves garlic
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
1 lb. shaped pasta (I tend to use bowtie)
red pepper flakes, to taste

Cook pasta, according to directions on bag.

Toast walnuts at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.

Throw all ingredients, except pasta, into food processor and process for about 1 minute, until thick and creamy– but don’t process it so long that the cream starts to turn to butter Add to the pasta, stir until combined and serve.

**If you don’t have a food processor, you could probably do this in a blender, but I haven’t tried that, so your results may vary.