Meatless March

Yesterday I pulled out all the stops for brunch, and I have a bunch of meatless recipes to recommend to you. Cinnamon Rolls (Tasting Table): They take a certain amount of work, but the beauty of it is you do most of the work THE DAY BEFORE! Then you just stick them in the fridge, and remove them from the fridge an hour before baking them. While they bake, you make the sauce, which is a quick task. And the rolls are GOOOOOOOOOOOD. Oh my, they are good. Whole-Wheat English Muffins (NYT Cooking): There are quite a few steps to this recipe, so you need to have some time, but the results were very impressive. I am sure I will make them again. Eleven Madison Park Granola (NYT Cooking): This is super-easy, and delicious. And like the cinnamon rolls, it's a great make-ahead recipe. Serve it with yogurt or milk. I recommend a teaspoon of regular salt rather than the quantity recommended in the recipe - the first time I made this, it was far too salty. Pommes Anna ...

I had some random leftover food items in my kitchen today, so I decided to make up my own recipe. I had one leek, not quite a pint of cherry tomatoes, one small tomato, some kalamata olives, and some white wine that I was trying not to drink because I have been wearing the same size of jeans for a decade and they fit last spring but now it is fall and they don't fit anymore, so I've been cutting back on sugar and booze. I did a Google search on these ingredients and came up with a Washington Post recipe for " Tomato and Leek Sauce ," which I modified as below: Pasta with Tomato and Leek Sauce  SERVINGS: 4 - 6   INGREDIENTS   3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil  1 thinly sliced, cleaned leek (white and light-green parts)  1/2 cup pitted, chopped kalamata olives  2 cloves garlic, minced  2 sprigs thyme  1 pound coarsely chopped tomatoes, or cherry tomatoes  Generous sprinkle of black pepper  8 ounces any shape of pasta...

A friend recommended " Red Lentil Soup With Lemon " (NYT Cooking; subscription required) and when I went to the recipe, I realized I had made it before, who knows when. I'd given it 5/5 stars, and then promptly forgotten about it. Welcome back to the menu, red lentil soup! And you were right on time for Vegan Vednesday. After years and years of making my own stock , I just discovered a hack: instead of pressing on the cooked vegetables in the strainer to squeeze their juices out, it worked really well to place a bowl on top of them, and press on the inside of the bowl such that the outside of the bowl presses on the veggies. As far as the soup goes, you may be wondering what Jennie screwed up this time, and the answer is that I didn't have a full cup of red lentils, so I supplemented with French lentils. The resulting color wasn't as nice as with all red, but the taste was still great, and liked by all, including our guest Brian. I served bread on t...

I walked to the station yesterday morning in time to catch a 9:40 train to take me to the youth climate strike march. I've turned into something of an environmental activist over the past seven months as I have cut down on meat and dairy consumption , and urged others to do the same, in response to climate change. When I got to the station, I learned the 9:40 train had been cancelled. I discussed alternate routes with another woman waiting for the train, whose super-cute first-grade daughter introduced herself as Bridget. Were they headed to the climate march, I asked, but no: they were visiting from out of town, and did not even know about it. I reminded myself that not everyone is as wrapped up in climate change as I have become. I am not much of a marcher. I used to live in Washington, DC and someone was always protesting something, and basically I just wanted all the do-gooders to stop blocking my way so I could get to my own do-gooder job and actually do some good. My o...

At some point in my wicked past, I made " Slow Cooker Coconut Ginger Chicken & Vegetables " (Simple Bites), and made twice as much of the garlic/ginger/onion paste as I needed. I stashed the extra in my freezer. Today, I reincarnated it in a vegan version of the dish, with tofu rather than chicken. For about 2 hours and 45 minutes, I had the slow cooker on low with the defrosted paste, all the coconut milk (my Trader Joe's can didn't have the cream clumped at the top, so whatever), and the baby corn (twice as much as called for in the recipe, just because I had it). Meanwhile, I mixed the spices.... Shake it, baby ...and sauteed them in coconut oil (not olive oil and butter) for 2-3 minutes, then threw in pressed and cubed tofu, and sautéed for about 10-15 minutes, turning to brown them on as many sides as possible. I fished about 3/4 cup of the crockpot liquids out and mixed them with the cornstarch, then I put that mix and the tofu into the crockpot...

Remember my undistinguished attempt to make falafel wraps back in July ? Someone helpfully supplied me with an alternative recipe, and this time I succeeded! We pulled out our secret-weapon: the deep fryer. I have conflicting feelings about the deep fryer. On the one hand: unhealthy. On the other hand: scrumptious. Let's cut ourselves some slack and focus on the latter for today. Imagine the anticipation when the temperature rises (which takes surprisingly little time)! While we waited, the Statue of Liberty made an unexpected appearance. For the wraps, I did not use the hummus recipe pictured above; I used my standby from NYT Cooking (subscription required).  Sampling the hummus Then I squashed the falafel a bit and put it in wraps. The backup dancers were super-happy with the results, as was I. And it's vegan! Rejoice! Keep that foodie happiness foremost in your mind to soften the blow of a recent enlightening  The Interce...

I like to think of myself as a creative person, but I rarely cook without a recipe. Even when I modify the recipe ( as I did yesterday ), I am still relying on the steps someone else has laid out. This leads me to wonder what the "rules" are about modifying someone else's recipe and claiming it as your own. I beg forgiveness for the recipe below not only from Alexandra Stafford , whose " Creamy Corn Pasta With Basil " I modified, but also from the New York Times' Melissa Clark, whose " Creamy Corn Pasta With Basil " Alexandra Stafford modified! It's complicated, I guess, but I'm going to give those chefs credit and then take a little of my own. "Jennie Aylward's Alexandra Stafford's Melissa Clark's Creamy Corn Pasta With Basil" Um, never mind....let's try again: "Creamy Corn and Seaweed Pasta" Serves 4-5 Ingredients 12 ounces dry pasta 4 tablespoons oil, divided (I used vegetable only beca...