Eggplant-Garlic Sauce with Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage atop Whole Wheat Pasta, Accidentally Grilled Cucumber

I recently bought some whole wheat pasta and decided to serve it topped with a few grilled vegetables, including zucchini. I mistakenly took out some "zucchinis" and started grilling them when I realized that they were cucumbers! I have never grilled cucumber before - I just let the cucumber halves heat for maybe 2 minutes, then removed them from the heat. I did grill a spring onion, some vegan Field Roast Apple-Sage Sausage, and some kale. Dinner was good; it was our last meal before my Dad comes to live with us for a few months.

Strawberry-Lime Jerked Seitan with Kale and Spinach, Quinoa

Quinoa with Baby Bok Choy, Leftover Bamya okra dish from Talulla's Turkish Restaurant (Chapel Hill, NC)

Asparagus with Arugula-Pistachio Pesto, Squashes and Sweet Potato

There was a little bit of the pesto leftover that I had made this past Thursday, and some good lucking asparagus. I quickly grilled the asparagus with a little bit of onion, tossing a handful of pine nuts in for the final minute or two of the cooking. I mixed 1 1/2 or 2 tablespoonfuls of the pesto in and served. I also oven roasted some squash and sweet potato. Dinner was good!

Uttapam and Hashed Brown Potatoes (just for me)

We're enjoying the Full Frame Film Festival; tonight, my wife was at the Festival, and I made a simple South Indian uttapam for myself and my daughter.

Arugula-Pistachio Pesto Pizza on Whole Wheat Crust with Vegan Apple-Sage Sausage and Artichoke Heart

Strozzapreti Pasta with Arugula-Pistachio Pesto, Corn-off-the-Cob

At Whole Foods Market yesterday, I found some great looking arugula. I picked it up, remembering that I had heard of the idea of making a pesto sauce out of arugula.

Sure enough, I found a tasty sounding recipe for arugula pistachio pesto! I love pistachios, so this sounded just great. I followed the essence of the recipe, putting in my VitaMix blender about 2 packed cups of washed and dried arugula, a generous amount of olive oil (I don't think I used as much as a third of a cup, as in the recipe), about a quarter cup of shelled and lightly toasted pistachios, a garlic clove, a touch of salt, and a little bit of crushed red pepper (maybe 1/4 teaspoonful).

I blended on low, pulsing and stopping after every 5-7 seconds, for a total of maybe half a minute, until the pesto was just blended. I served it atop some strozzapreti pasta.

The pesto was good, though perhaps not fully up to expectation - my wife found it slightly bitter. I'd like to try this again with baby arugula. There's more than enough pesto left to make a pesto pizza, which is fast and perfect for these few days while we're enjoying the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.

Sauteed Vegan Sausage and Poblano Pepper on Grilled Bread with Marinara, Curried Okra

Strozzapreti Pasta with Smoky Tempeh and Asparagus

For dinner tonight, I made strozzapreti pasta with marinara and grilled crimini mushroom. I sauteed strips of smoky tempeh and asparagus. Asparagus goes great with lemon or lime, freshly ground black pepper, and maybe a dash of salt. I served it this way and used Meyer lemon, which I love and have been purchasing more often recently.

Butternut Squash - Portabello Saute with Red Rice and Pistachio Greens

For dinner tonight, I took advantage of a little butternut squash that I had purchased today that was pre-cut. I don't find it easy to cut up hard squashes, and appreciate being able to cook with cut pieces.

I used about 3/4 of a box of seitan strips and set it marinating in the juice of about a quarter Meyer lemon. I wish I had had more time for the marinade, but after about 15m, I took out the strips from the juice and started sauteeing them on a cast iron pan over medium-high.

When the strips started darkening, after maybe 5 or 6 minutes, I added the squash (about a half pound and cut into cubes about 3/4" in side) and a little (about a fifth of a medium onion) onion cut into thin slivers maybe 1" x 1/4". I cut a stemless portabella mushroom into wedges maybe 1" per side, and put them in the saute after another two minutes or so.

I cooked the vegetables for another 4-5 minutes, cooking the mushroom down a bit. Then, almost ready to serve, I put in a generous serving of fresh lemon sage (maybe 1/2 teaspoon worth) and a very little bit of salt. My toddler sometimes but not usually will eat spicy food, so I sprinkled a little jerk seasoning atop the served dish and not into the pan. A slice of Meyer lemon was included to be added to the vegetables. The dish came out great - I love crispy seitan!

I had cooked some whole grain red rice - 3:1 ratio of water to rice, a vegan bouillon cube, and about a half hour of simmering did the trick. I served it to the side of the vegetable dish, and included lettuce with some pistachios and a splash of a herb vinaigrette dressing. It was a good dinner!

Eggplant-Garlic on Sour Dough Bread with Broccolini

I couldn't resist using some fresh sour dough bread that I had purchased from Weaver Street Market. I don't often go to Trader Joe's, but did go a week or two back and had a jar of their eggplant-garlic spread.

I cut about a third of an eggplant into 1/4" cubes and sauteed with half of a large shallot, chopped into thin pieces maybe 1/2" long. Once the eggplant was cooked after about 8 minutes, I mixed in enough of the spread to amply cover two slices of bread, and gently heated for a few minutes. I added maybe 1/8 teaspoonful of fresh lemon sage and served atop the bread.

I also made a simple broccolini - garlic saute. I served it with some Meyer lemon juice. My wife had made some black-eyed peas; I put a serving atop some salad greens to complete the meal.