Frittatas and Bean Cakes and Cauliflower Pizza, Oh My! Everyday Vegetarian

Page after page, the pictures of meatless dishes lure me to go vegetarian meal after meal. Everyday Vegetarian by Cooking Light initially sucked me in because I had three to four dozen surplus eggs from the prolific ovaries of my backyard chickens endlessly spawning yoke after cased yoke into existence. And this cookbook had so many frittata recipes.

I substituted plain yogurt for the ricotta cheese in the recipe above and it tasted delicious. The tomato topping in particular is divine. I’ve made this like four times (due to egg surplus). But then I had the remaining surplus of beans from decorating my Red Beans parade costume to put into something edible. Black bean cakes!

With sauce I doctored up with Pod and Bean green chili sauce (2 or 3 tbsp) added to plain yogurt substituted for the sour cream. Delicious.

Another tasty vegetarian dish with Pod and Bean products is this quinoa dish:

1 cup quinoa

1 ½ cups water

Salt and pepper

½ red bell pepper, small dice

½ green bell pepper, small dice

2 Tbsp. red onion, small dice

1 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped

2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 Tbsp. POD & BEAN™ GREEN CHILI HOT SAUCE

1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. POD & BEAN™ WHITE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY HONEY MUSTARD

1 garlic clove, grated

Rinse the quinoa is a bowl with water, strain through a sieve and spread on paper towels to pat dry.

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add quinoa to dry (no oil) pan, constantly stirring until quinoa is lightly toasted and aromatic, about 5 minutes.

Add water and pinch of salt to saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and continue to simmer until the quinoa has absorbed most of the water (about 12 minutes).

Spread the quinoa on a baking sheet and set aside until it is cool (about 30 minutes)

Once cooled, put quinoa in a large bowl; add bell peppers, onion, and cilantro.

In a separate bowl, whisk lime juice, hot sauce, olive oil, honey mustard, and garlic together; pour over the quinoa mixture and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

And then my CSA with its cauliflower and kale and leeks and peppers and tomatoes. Pizza crust from cauliflower! This cookbook delights.

I have come to realize that I am surrounded by vegetables and pulses and ova and I should just surrender and declare that I am basically a vegetarian. And the heart goes wild. Mr Okra lives on, RIP.