Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Meatless Week

A few weeks ago I felt we ate a lot of meat within seven days, so I decided to have an (almost) meatless week after that.

We started out with a broccoli macaroni cheese - this one contains pancetta, so it's not completely meatfree. 

You will notice that this was a very pasta heavy week - we simply love to eat pasta. Next was leftover spaghetti with spinach, bok choy and kale that I seasoned with cumin and ancho chili peppers.


On Rain's blog I found the recipe for cauliflower casserole. I love cauliflower and wanted to try this - it was very cheesy and simply delicious! However, next time I will probably change out the cheddar for gruyere; I have never been a particular fan of cheddar.


The creamy mushroom and leek pasta was a new dish for me, I had found the recipe in NYT Cooking. It was okay, but I will certainly change some things when I make it again.


It was time for one of our favorite dishes - crip gnocchi with brussels sprouts and brown butter. This is to die for and so much better than those boiled-to-death brussels sprouts of my childhood.


Farfalle with creamy mushroom sauce - I make this without any recipe, you don't really need one for this. In the morning I bought creminis from the mushroom guy at the farmers market; he has the best mushrooms in the area. I still had heavy cream, added some spices - done. Easy peasy.


Sunday is the day in the week when I don't cook. That's when the freezer offers the menu. This time it was Japanese style fried rice from Trader Joe's - I only sauteed the shrimp for that and added them at the end.


I'm linking up again to Kathy's Food Wednesdays.







 

22 comments:

kathyinozarks said...

Good evening, everything looks and sounds delicious Loved ll the photos thank you for sharing with us for Food Wednesdays

Christine said...

Wow a week of delicious dishes!

Iris Flavia said...

Next time a warning, please! This ALL looks so yummy! And I have but cold, raw veggies for brekkie. I´m tempted too skip that (but then I´m too frugal for that. Will add cheese, though!).
Looks all very good!

Elephant's Child said...

All my meals are meatless. Sadly my partner is a dedicated carnivore and rejects meat free meals. Yours sound delicious. I hear you on the overcooked Brussel Sprouts thing too. My mother told me that I couldn't be a vegetarian because I don't like them. Her cooking them to a grey mush had a lot to do with it (and I still cannot face them).

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

This is a vegetarian delight, Carola. It was like you had cooked all the foods I love so very much. Thanks for the various photos and occasional recipe, too. Happy Food Wednesday.

My name is Erika. said...

Wow Carola, I want to come to your house for dinner. I do the same thing if it seems we've eaten a lot of meat. And also eat a lot of pasta. Your meals looks to die for delicious. Hope your week is full of more yummy food like this. Hugs-Erika

Jeanie said...

It's a good concept but I'd at least need some fish or seafood! The shrimp looks good.

Valerie-Jael said...

So much yummy food. Thsy evening I'm going out to dinner with a friend, we will be having Schnitzel! Hugs, Valerie

Rain said...

Hi Carola! ☺ Oh those pasta dishes really look delicious! My hubs would love that broccoli Mac and Cheese. Great idea about the Gruyere for the Cauliflower Casserole! So glad you tried it! I made it again last night with cauliflower I had in the freezer. The spinach spaghetti looks good too! I do the same when I make most sauce, like you do with the mushroom sauce. Just kind of wing it. Though I find that any kind of mushroom sauce tastes amazing with a little sweet Sherry added to it! Great pasta post!!! ☺☺

jinxxxygirl said...

Wow lots of pasta! We never eat pasta so your looks especially yummy! Happy Food Wednesday! Hugs! deb

Lorrie said...

These all look delicious. I try to serve at least one or two meatless meals each week, and when we do eat meat, it's not a huge portion. The gnocchi with the brussels sprouts looks especially tasty.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

A big Yes to loving pasta too, Carola, and I even have a pasta machine given to me by my late mother who did make her own, but only spaghetti. I have made only fettuccine myself and not very often. However, I am planning to try lasagna noodles in the near future. Good plan to take a day off from cooking, which we call dining out. I may try that recipe with the bowtie pasta, cream and mushrooms this coming week. How wonderful to be able to buy mushrooms directly from the mushroom guy.

Linda Kunsman said...

Oh wow- I am in pasta heaven here Carola!! We LOVE pasta in our house and make it often too. These all look scrumptious!

DVArtist said...

All good looking meals for sure. Shrimp and rice I could eat everyday. Uhhh if I could afford them. LOL Have a great day.

Mae Travels said...

Experimenting with vegetable dishes has been a lot of fun for us recently. I have adopted the often-repeated advice that you need to stop thinking of a meat centerpiece for the dinner plate! Pasta is great but after a while I needed to move on from that as well.

best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

DUTA said...

Your food photos look professional!
I seldom cook meat, have fish instead. If and when I get a bit 'meat sick" , I'll go out and buy myself a portion of my favorite fast food- 'schawarma', or a little hamburger at McDonalds.

Vagabonde said...

You have been busy in the kitchen and creative too – they all look so yummy. I don’t eat much meat either and have started using heirloom beans I ordered from Rancho Gordo to still get enough proteins.

Red Rose Alley said...

The dishes you make look so delicious. You are such a good cook, always making something wonderful in your kitchen. I am just drooling over the Farfalle with creamy mushroom sauce. It looks a lot of Fettuccini Alfredo, which is my favorite Italian dish. Everything on here looks amazing. It's nice to have meatless meals sometimes.

~Sheri

Lowcarb team member said...

Everything looks delicious.
We are fortunate to have so much choice when it comes to menu-plans.

All the best Jan

Veronica Lee said...

These all look yummy!

I am trying to cut down on my meat intake too.

Happy Monday, Carola.

Lowcarb team member said...

I thought I'd commented on this post, but maybe not!
Your food looks good.

All the best Jan

Red Rose Alley said...

Carola, I left a comment on your post before, but I guess it got eaten up haha. These dishes look amazing, especially the Farfalle with mushroom sauce. Anything with mushrooms is Ok with me. The brussels sprouts dish looks really good too. You should open up a restaurant. You are such a good cook.

~Sheri