Late Summer Pasta with Leek, Pepper, and Tomato Sauce

Top with Cheese, or Not!

Recipe by Robin

In late summer we are blessed with lots of tomatoes and basil, and this pasta dish features both. We also had a large leek and lots of scallions, but you could substitute any kind of onions. Similar to my Pasta with Onion-Garlic Red Sauce and Veggie Crumbles and Early Summer Pasta with Red and Green Sauce, this recipe can be adapted to include other late summer veggies like zucchini or summer squash.

Bruce's Veggie Stir-fry II

Bruce's Latest Veggie Stir-fry

Recipe by Bruce

“Shall I stir-fry?” says my husband’s note to me while I’m on the phone with my East Coast sister around our West Coast dinnertime. I nod enthusiastically and give the thumbs-up sign. Who could turn down such an offer from the humble king of stir-frying? In addition to the purple carrots, broccoli, mei qing choi and green garlic from our CSA farm share, he used some frozen packaged shitake mushrooms approaching their expiration date.

Asparagus Salad with Lemon-Ginger Dressing

Asparagus Salad with Lemon-Ginger Dressing

Recipe Adapted by Bruce from Health Net

New recipes can be found in strange places. This one was on the back of a health insurance company mailer. Originally called “Asparagus Salad with Lemon-Soy Sauce,” Bruce kicked up the amount of ginger so much that we had to rename it. He also added extra lemon (he juiced ½ lemon) and substituted veggie broth for the chicken broth, to make the recipe vegan. You could use the smaller amount of ginger if you prefer a less gingery dish.

Bruce's Veggie Stir-fry

Bruce's Latest Stir-fry

Recipe by Bruce

My husband Bruce is the king of stir-frying, though he's quite modest if you ask him about it. Using a frighteningly high heat and an intimidatingly large wok, he cooks vegetables to perfection for any occasion. This most recent stir-fry was designed, as usual, to use up large quantities of veggies received from our CSA farm share. Because we were having Crispy Tilapia with Lemon-Onion Relish, he chose to use more cider vinegar than usual, to stand up to the strong taste of the relish. Stir-frying must be done quickly, so vegetables remain crisp rather than turning soggy. To execute this properly, one must be completely prepared before cooking.

Pasta with Onion-Garlic Red Sauce and Veggie Crumbles

Green Onions and Garlic Make Festive Pasta

Recipe by Robin

In our quest for tasty meat substitutes, my husband bought some MorningStar Farms Meal Starter Recipe Crumbles. We thought we’d experiment with this ground meat substitute in our vegetarian pasta sauce. The texture and taste were excellent. Main “crumble” ingredient is textured vegetable protein (TVP), a combination of soy protein and wheat gluten. Minor ingredients include egg whites and skim milk (plus plenty of spices), so this is not a vegan option.