Brought to you by cottage cheese. . .

This is Day 5 of the 28 day vegetarian challenge and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying it.  There is a lot more variety in the kitchen these days, more colors, more flavors, and I love it.

Also, for whatever reason this new more colorful diet has completely eliminated my sweet tooth (for the moment.)  I made brownies the other day (my favorite thing) and there they still sit, uneaten and undesired. 
Strangest thing.

Okay, without further ado, let me introduce you to two particularly successful and delicious vegetarian dishes that we lifted from the web and recreated in our kitchen.

Miraculous Spaghetti Squash, Kale, and Mushroom Quiche
The spaghetti squash is the crust!  Genius!

For the crust:

• 1 medium spaghetti squash (2.5lbs)
• 1/2 tsp of thyme
• 1/2 tsp of onion and garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp of salt

For the filling:

• 3 cups of sliced mushrooms (we chose baby bellas, and that turned out to be a good decision)
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (hello, onion goggles!)
• 5 garlic cloves, crushed (hello, pizzeria hands for days!)
• 2 cups of kale, chopped and packed
• 2 large eggs  (is anyone else overwhelmed by the amount of egg options there are?  Is it just me?  Is it because in Korea there was one option?  Charcoal fed, tiny, fertilized, brown eggs?  Do they even have that variety in the US???)
• 1 cup egg whites (video fail to follow. . .)
• 1 cup any cheese (or combination) shredded.  
• 2 tsp onion and garlic powder
• 1 1/2 tsp of dried thyme, divided
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
• cooking spray (or butter. . .we used butter)

Directions!

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Slice spaghetti squash in half
3. Line a baking sheet with foil, cook squash face down for 30 minutes.
4. Saute mushrooms until golden brown and set aside.Saute onions and garlic--cook for two minutes
5. Add kale, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper--saute until kale is wilted
6. Transfer to a bowl with the mushrooms

To make the crust!

1. Seed the spaghetti squash, separate the flesh into strands
2. Add to medium bowl along with thyme, onion powder, garlic powder and salt.
3. Combine
4. Transfer to a deep dish 
5. Press evenly on the bottom

On to the rest!

1. Combine eggs with egg whites
2. Whisk for 30 seconds
3. Add cheese, cottage cheese, sauted onions/mushrooms/kale, 1 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of black pepper
4. Mix
5. Pour into crust
6. Bake for 50 minutes
7. Cool for 30 minutes

The big one!

The small cute one!

Aren't they lovely!

Result!

This was exceptionally delicious, I have to say.  And, if you're worried about missing meat, this is something I can recommend!  To me, it tasted like it had sausage in it, a really mild sausage, which is weird because it was so earthy and so yummy and, incidentally, gluten free!

Here's the breakdown:

Prep Time: B- -first chop to first bite, this recipe took about two hours.  Probably not something you could pull off on a work night.

Difficulty: B+ Did take quite a bit of chopping of a lot of different ingredients.  The squash was a little cumbersome, but mostly trying to cut through it while it was raw (I worried for Julie's fingers) and scooping out a hot squash was a little difficult.

Taste: A+  I loved this dish.  It was hearty and earthy and good for my soul.  However, I had very little to do with making this dish as I was busy applying for a job and being stressed out.  So, Julie (the master chef) rates it a solid A- for taste vs effort.

Leftovers: A+ for a veggie-based dish, this reheated very well and was just as delicious as the day before.  We used the oven to reheat, which might have helped preserve it.

Repeat? Jean: "Why do I not have it for dinner right now?"

               Julie: "Fine, it's your turn."

Cost: A This particular squash is not expensive and although there are a lot of ingredients, and the fact that a lot of them are commonly found in the house anyway, I think we spent about $12-$15 on this recipe and we got four hearty meals out of it!  So, that's good in my book!

OVERALL GRADE:   A

Super Fantastic Tex Mex Sweet Potato Skillet

Ingredients:

• 1lb sweet potatoes, cubed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
• 2 large red bell peppers, diced
• 14 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup of corn
• 14 oz can of diced tomatoes (we diced raw ones. . . I recommend just getting the canned ones)
• 1 Tbsp of cumin, divided
• 1/2 lime-the juice of half a lime
• 1 cup Tex Mex cheese, shredded (we used 1/2 Monterrey Jack and 1/2 extra sharp cheddar.) 
• 1/2 Tbsp taco seasoning, divided
• 2 medium avocados (Just slice it into the bowl as needed after you serve.  We just used one per meal.)
• 2 green onions, chopped (we didn't use these)
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro (we didn't use this either, I hate cilantro.)
• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt (or sour cream as you wish) and salsa, for garnish.

Diced red pepper!  Knife skills: over 9000!

Diced tomatoes, knife skill: 0

Julie's finesse is legendary!

How to make!

1. Heat the skillet (or. . .pan) on medium.  
2. Add coconut oil to hot pan-spread with spatula 
3. Add sweet potatoes   

   

   Some orange and some white :-)

4. Add 1/2Tbsp cumin and 1/2 tsp of salt  
5. Cook for 5 minutes
6. Add onion, garlic, bell peppers   

   

   So many colors!  It's like a sunset in that pan!

7. Cook for 3 minutes
8. Add black beans and corn
9. Cook for 2 minutes
10. Add diced tomatoes, remaining cumin, remaining salt, remaining pepper, and taco seasoning.
11. Stir
12. Bring to a boil
13. Reduce heat to low.
14. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until potatoes are soft
15. Squeeze lime juice on top
16. Sprinkle with cheese
17. Broil on high for 5 minutes until cheese is golden (we did not do this. . .this step is silly.)
18. Top with avo, green onions, cilantro, and greek yogurt.

Result!  Colorful, tasty result!

Time for grades!!

Prep Time: A Dicing the peppers took half of my life, but I know there are places you can buy those things already diced.  Also, I think I diced them so well a small child wouldn't have known they were there.  Also shredding all the cheese.  But that's also a step you can skip if you choose.  Otherwise, even with several ingredients, things moved right along!

Difficulty: A+ We completed this whole meal while taking general knowledge tests to see if we could become tutors one day!

Taste: A+ I know it wasn't just because we were really hungry that it tasted so good.  It was colorful, flavorful, had so many different textures, and was just an incredible dish.  My only criticism is that it was a little sweet, but that could be remedied by perhaps adding a little spice, or maybe more taco seasoning, or not use coconut oil, maybe.

Leftovers: A+! They reheated well and we had enough to eat two meals each--with a little appetizer size left over!  

Repeat?  Jean: "I feel like we should make it this weekend. . .no one will even notice it's vegetarian."

                Julie: "We will definitely repeat this!"

Expense: B+ In the end it probably cost about $15-$20 (if we don't count the coconut oil.)  We were really lucky to get avocados on a really good sale (Thanks, Publix!) but I think next time we do it we may not be so lucky.  The Greek yogurt was a little expensive, but you could sub it for sour cream.  We have really enjoyed using the Greek yogurt at breakfast though (and also the coconut oil in our coffee!  Greasy, coconutty coffee!)

OVERALL GRADE:  A!!!!

We have not seen the last of this recipe for sure.

What else have we been eating?  Why leftovers, frozen pizza topped with tons of produce, avo on toast, Greek yogurt with berries and bananas with peanut butter, of course.  Trying to keep it as colorful as possible!

What have you been trying?

Bonus: Have you seen that thing where you can remove egg yolks from egg whites by sucking them up through a water bottle?  Well, I tried that.  And it totally worked.  Until I tried to get it on video:

And then the next time it worked.  There was no point in doing it again because the whites were ruined but I had to prove it to myself!

Happy Vegetarian Month!!