I’m not a vegetarian, but I like to eat like one. I’m very picky with meats (I don’t eat seafood, beef, or pork); I try to eat healthy (even though I typically consume the calories I cut throughout the week in weekend drinking binges); and, most importantly, I’m a horrible cook, so I’d rather microwave a faux-chicken cutlet than get salmonella from undercooking a juicy piece of pollo.

A recent issue of Shape magazine suggested eating vegetarian once a week, and I was like, “Heyyy I already do that! I rock!” They also featured a mouthwatering recipe for vegetarian paella. That’s not going to happen. So, whether you’re a carnivore or a herbivore, trying to shave some calories from your diet, or too busy to slave over a hot stove, I give you vegetarian meals in five minutes or less. All you need is a microwave.

1. Boca Meatless Chili
You need:
–Boca Meatless Chili, from the freezer section of your grocery store.
–2 slices of whole wheat bread

*Zap the chili for three minutes, stir, and nuke for one more minute.
*While the chili is in the microwave, pop the whole wheat bread in the toaster.
*Cut the whole wheat toast in quarters, top with tasty chili, and enjoy! Read More »

You make a lot of mac and cheese. Right? Don’t lie. I’m onto you.

The thing is, you could very easy (and for much less money than going out to eat) make a much more enjoyable and fine-dining form of carby goodness: pasta with scallops.

This is a particularly good dish for entertaining. Also, did I mention it’s delicious? Well, it’s delicious.

Now get cracking:

Stuff You’ll Need

-1 pound of the pasta of your choice (but NOT something individual like bowties or elbows)
-1 1/2 pounds of scallops
-3/4 cups of butter
-3 shallots
-2 cups of a dry white wine (perhaps a Pinot Grigio?) Read More »

For the past several years, I seem to have forgotten that couscous existed. My grain options were either pasta or bread, all the time. Then I came across an old recipe of my mom’s that called for couscous. YUM! Definitely worth picking up a box.

The thick, Mediterranean-style sauce in this chicken recipe is full of flavor, and the couscous is great for soaking it up. It would taste a little weird with rice, and the consistency wouldn’t be right with pasta. But with couscous? Delectable.

It serves one, and here’s what you need:

• Olive oil
• 1 chicken breast
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 serving of couscous, either flavored or plain (about 1/3 cup dry)
• 1/3 of an onion, chopped in thin rings or strips
• 1 garlic clove, sliced into very thin circles
• 4-5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced (white mushrooms work, too) Read More »

When I was little, I used to hate goat cheese. It tasted so, for lack of a better word, weird. Now that I have a wider culinary palette and more sophisticated tastes (or so I hope), I try to incorporate goat cheese into more of my cooking.

In this pasta, the goat cheese flavor isn’t overwhelming, but it does make the dish nice and creamy and give it a unique taste.

To make enough pasta for two, you’ll need one baby eggplant, about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, one small onion, one large non-green bell pepper (or two small ones), two garlic cloves, 3 tablespoons of fresh basil or ½ teaspoon dried, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, enough pasta for two, 1/3 cup dry white wine (optional), and 2 ounces of fresh goat cheese.

First things first: heat the oven to 375, and peel the baby eggplant. Slice it into ¼” half-moons. Rub the eggplant pieces with half the olive oil, and place them on a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes, turn them over, then bake 10-15 more minutes. Read More »

Mmmmmm. When I was little, my mom sometimes made jumbo pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of diced mushrooms, ricotta cheese, spinach, and ground meat. They were fantastic, but a little too creamy for my taste. These, on the other hand, are not creamy at all and are every bit as good as my mom’s. They taste especially excellent with a nice hunk of Italian bread and olive oil.

When I make them, I sub out the ground pork for ground beef because I usually don’t have ground pork lying around. You can probably use frozen spinach if you want, but the fresh spinach really makes a tremendous difference. Also, I normally leave out the nutmeg—you can’t taste it in the final product, and I’m not a big nutmeg fan, anyway.

I also cut down on sodium and fat a little bit by replacing the heavy cream with light cream or milk (works just fine) and omitting the salt altogether (usually, the tomato sauce will provide all the saltiness you need). Read More »

Feeling classy? If you have some extra time to cook, I guarantee this recipe will not disappoint. It’s great to make on weekends when the pressure of schoolwork isn’t looming, and it also works like a charm to impress that special someone.

For a two-person dish, you need ¼ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, ½ tsp rosemary (fresh is best, but dried works, too), one small butternut squash, cooking spray, 2-3 slices of bacon, ½ c onions or shallots, 8 oz uncooked pasta, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 c milk, and ½ c shredded parmesan or asiago cheese.

First, heat the oven to 425. Prepare your butternut squash by halving it lengthwise and scooping out the seeds with a spoon.

Coat a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and cooking spray, then lay the squash halves, cut side up, on the sheet. Sprinkle them with the salt, the pepper, and the rosemary. Bake the squash for an hour. Don’t turn off the oven when it’s done, because you’ll need it again soon.

If you’re short on time, you can also peel and cube the squash before you bake it. You want cubes of about 1” all around. Scatter the cubes on the baking sheet, coat with the above mixture, and cook for 30-45 minutes.

When the squash is done, it should be soft and dark, like this: Read More »

So, the Food Guide Pyramid. What was the last update it gave us? Three to five servings of veggies per day?

Ha, ha, ha. I’m laughing all the way to the grocery store.

No, seriously, though, that’s a lot of vegetables. And it’s not that I don’t like vegetables—it’s just that I don’t really eat them. I can eat about ten zillion servings of fruit per day, but when it comes to vegetables… I feel like a small child sometimes because I have to sneak them into my own food. I mean, who does that?

Maybe you will after trying this awesome homemade mac and cheese. Read More »

Everyone needs a meal that they can whip out when they need to impress someone. Whether it’s that hot barista you got the balls to finally ask out, that hot barista’s parents two years down the line, or that group of friends who only get together every so often, a meal you can make quickly and expertly is always a ticket to success.

My staple Impress ‘Em Meal has always been pasta primavera. It’s simple, fresh, and healthy – but best of all? It easy to do.

Here’s my favorite primavera recipe, from the Food Network. I recently used this to impress partygoers at a giant potluck. Now, they all think I can actually cook (too bad my microwave knows better…)! Read More »

I love pasta, but it’s often not healthy. That’s really a shame, because it tastes so good. This recipe, though, has both health and taste value. It’s very like a Pasta Bolognese recipe, but doesn’t use fresh herbs (unless you have them on hand, of course—then feel free to throw them right in). Instead, it uses all fresh vegetables. Yum, yum, and more yum.

Here’s what you need: enough dry pasta (of any kind) for two people, about a tablespoon of olive oil, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 2 garlic cloves, half an onion, about ¼ or 1/3 lb. ground beef or ground turkey, about 1/3 cup milk, 2-3 plum tomatoes, ½ teaspoon dry oregano, ½ teaspoon dry basil, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and a couple tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese (optional). Read More »

It looks like a dish you would get in an authentic Italian restaurant, but it’s simple to make! And it’s a recipe from Martha Stewart, so you’ll look especially gourmet after whipping this one up.

Technically, the recipe calls for bocconcini cheese, but since I had no idea what that was, I substituted little balls of mozzarella and it worked out just fine. In fact, it was fabulous!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Salt and pepper
3/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 C plain dry breadcrumbs
2 garlic cloves, minced Read More »