Penne zita rigatte with Chipotle Tofu
Roughly chop roasted red peppers and several tinned chipotle with a bit of the adobo sauce they traditionally are packed in. Roughly chop garlic. Strip the leaves from several stems of fresh oregano (put the stems aside for a stock or the compost). Place all of these ingredients in a container or mixing bowl. Season with sea salt, fresh black pepper, fresh lime juice. Pour a generous quantity of extra virgin olive oil over top. Using an immersion or hand blender, purée everything together.

Cut a block of tofu in half through its middle, then in five or six thin strips across the lenth of its top and then three or four across the width. This should provide you with rectangular pieces of tofu about the size of penne. Marinate the tofu in roasted red pepper and chipotle sauce while preparing the rest of the meal.

In a pasta cooker boil penne until al denté. Drain the pasta and pour off the pasta cooking water into a stockpot (which contains all of the scraps from the various components of the meal). Gently heat the sauce and tofu in the bottom of the pasta cooker, then add the penne and cook together for one more minute.

Pour the pasta into a serving bowl. Top with a sprinkling of panko (Japanese bread crumbs that are quite coarse). Garnish with black pepper and the tops from a few stems of oregano.

Vinegared Cabbages
Remove any wilted leaves from some Napa cabbage, baby bok choi (or bok choy), and bok choy sum (flowering bok choy), trim the root end and slice them in half lengthwise. Rinse well in salted water. Arrange the greens in the steamer that sits in the top of the pasta cooker. A few minutes before putting the penne into the boiling water, start the greens steaming. Then lift out the steaming basket, add the pasta, replace the basket. By the time the penne is ready, the cabbages will be as well. Turn them into a serving bowl, drizzle with a good balsamic vinegar or lash with a lesser balsamic, lash with extra virgin olive oil. Season with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Garnish with a few shavings of parmesan.

Peppers and Onion
Cut a white onion into largish slices. Cut poblano, red and green peppers into similar sized pieces. Sear in a good pan at a high heat in olive and grapeseed oils. Season with sea salt, fresh black pepper, and cumin seeds.

Would you like to go to 'Vegetarian Meals That Aren't Just Brown Gack'? Or see How Many Ways Can You Say "Vinegar"?

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