Sunday, May 9, 2010

Meatless Monday.....Well, Actually Saturday

I'm back from my high school class reunion. It was a very nice weekend. Saw lots of people I had not seen or thought about in many years. It was, however, a good thing our name tags had our senior class picture on it. Some had changed very little and others......well??? But back to the groove. The past weeks there has been a lot of talk about meatless Monday's on Face Book. I decided to try to have at least one meatless day a week. This week menu:

Risotto with Artichokes, Asparagus and Leeks
Salad of Shaved Fennel and Oranges
Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

Making risotto is an experience. Have not made it often and wonder why. I really like it and it's not difficult. Sauteed leeks in EVOO. The Arborio rice is added and stirred to coat each grain with the oil. Hot vegetable broth is added a ladle at a time until almost absorbed. At the end, blanched asparagus and thawed cut up artichoke hearts are added. Parmesan cheese and minced rosemary are added just before serving. A very nice dish with a fair amount of leftovers for the week.

The salad too was easy. The fennel is shaved thinly on a mandolin and put in a bowl with segments of an orange and lots of chopped parsley. The vinaigrette is made of red wine vinegar, lemon juice EVOO and salt/pepper. I like vinaigrette's with different vinegars. Went well with the fennel and oranges. A nice contrast with the risotto.

Received a bunch of rhubarb this week and put it together with strawberries to fill a graham cracker tart shell. A spoon of vanilla flavored Greek yogurt topped off the tart. Love rhubarb and this was just the right ending to the meatless meal.

I have several vegetarian cookbooks and will do this kind of meal again. Maybe more often than once a week. I think next week I will start an adventure with main dish salads. Summer will be here soon and salads are welcome on warm days.

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