Cuisine: Vegetarian

Pasta with Broccoli Sauce

My daughter Grace makes incredible homemade pasta. I had a bunch of broccoli on hand and she made this Pasta with Broccoli Sauce. You don't necessarily have to make homemade, but if you have the time, it's worth the effort. The Broccoli sauce is sublime.

By Leslie Blythe

Caprese Pesto Pasta Bake

Caprese salad is a simple Italian salad, made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil. Like pizza Margherita, it features the colours of the Italian flag: green, white, and red. This Caprese Pesto Pasta Bake is taking all those ingredients with some pesto and mixing it with pasta. You can make it ahead and bake it later in the day.

By Leslie Blythe

Margherita Pizza Beans

I love this recipe for Margherita Pizza Beans. If you have lots of tomatoes from your garden, this is a great way to use them. It's basically an Italian "beans on toast". Serve it with a fresh green salad and you have a meal your family will be asking you to make again.

By Leslie Blythe

Dairy-Free Spinach Quiche

This Spinach Quiche is not only Dairy-Free, but it's also gluten-free and vegetarian. I often get requests when catering to add an option like this quiche for people with dietary restrictions. It uses oat milk, which seems to be gaining popularity, which is a plant milk derived from whole oat grains by extracting the plant material with water. I used a frozen store-bought gluten-free crust, though you could also make a crust out of hash brown potatoes. I was told this quiche was delicious.

By Leslie Blythe

Zucchini Butter Spaghetti

This Zucchini Butter Spaghetti is incredibly delicious. If you are wondering how to use all of your homegrown zucchini, this is it! Grated zucchini is cooked down with butter and garlic and tossed with parmesan cheese and fresh basil. It's so simple, yet bursting with flavor.

By Leslie Blythe

Lentil Salad with Lemon Dressing

This Lentil Salad with Lemon Dressing great for a picnic. The combination of cucumbers, sun-dried tomatoes, red onion and fresh mint goes perfectly with the lemony dressing. Lentils are an excellent source of B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. They are high in protein, fiber and a great choice for the heart and for managing blood pressure and cholesterol. I could go on with even more health benefits of lentils!

By Leslie Blythe

Indian Spiced Zucchini and Tomatoes

I made Indian-Spiced Salmon and served it with this Indian Spiced Zucchini and Tomatoes. Low in calories and high in flavor, this zucchini and tomatoes dish which uses turmeric, is a powerful antioxidant has anti-inflammatory properties.

By Leslie Blythe

Baked Cacio e Pepe Pie

My brother David made this Baked Cacio e Pepe Pie for dinner and said it was awesome and ridiculously easy to make. It's a recipe by MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, Salon, that is Inspired by David Leibovitz and Food & Wine. I know, it's a lot of tags, but if you are interested, read on!

By Leslie Blythe

Baked Feta Pasta Trend From TikTok

I usually view viral recipes with a raised eyebrow, though I have to admit, this is a brilliant method for making cheesy pasta with absolutely no effort.  As I usually do, I changed it to suit my taste. Instead of using a block of feta cheese, I used goat cheese and used fresh thyme, and oregano instead of basil. I  also added some onion. The beauty of this dish is that you can make it your own and use what you have on hand. I'm sure I will get a lot of flack for going off the rails, but tant pis (means too bad in French and also the name of our family cat - it's a long story!...)

This viral TikTok recipe originally came from Tiiu Piret, who posted a version of the dish on her blog in February 2018, fellow Finnish blogger Jenni Hayrinen is credited with making uunifetapasta (Finnish for “oven-baked feta pasta”) go viral in her country after posting her simplified version a year later. The stores actually ran out of feta cheese. See Washington Post article. Because I am a lazy cook, this suits me to a tee!

By Leslie Blythe

Pasta with Asparagus in Lemon and Wine

Yesterday, my daughter Grace invited me to lunch in her backyard. She made this absolutely delicious Pasta with Asparagus in Lemon and Wine, which she topped with garlic panko breadcrumbs. I am so proud of both my daughter's cooking abilities. I just wish we could have transported my other daughter Zoe from New Hampshire! I miss her so much, it's killing me! Grace's pasta tasted like a bit of "light at the end of the tunnel". 

By Leslie Blythe