Meatless Monday: Pumpkin Cheesecake

I had my in-laws in town for Thanksgiving, so things were a little busy for a while, what with cooking preparations; squeezing everyone into our little house; and touring here, there, and everywhere. We had lots of fun . . . and consumed monstrous amounts of food. I can't even begin to calculate the number of calories consumed in the course of their visit, but I'll tell you one thing - I don't regret one bite!

I'm happy to report that everything in our Thanksgiving meal came out excellent. There were no major mishaps with any of the dishes this year - not even with the one recipe I'd never made before. (My philosophy is that you should stretch the limits of your cooking comfort zone by making at least one new recipe each Thanksgiving). I had a pretty good idea it was going to be amazing though because my friend had already made the recipe and posted a picture of the results (see her picture above). I reasoned, "How could anything that looks that gorgeous NOT taste amazing too?!" I'm happy to report that I was not wrong, or as my grandfather used to like to say, "Seldom am I wrong, but I was right this time."

Pumpkin Cheesecake
Recipe

My friend suggested the following adjustments to the recipe (which I followed):

• Bake at 325 in a water bath for 45 minutes.
• Turn off oven and allow to cool in oven for 60 min.
• Cool on counter for 60 min covered.

The only other thing I did differently was to use neufchatel instead of cream cheese. You know, to make the healthy version. . . .

What? . . . Okay, so maybe you'll have a little trouble fitting into the holiday outfit you recently purchased after eating this cheese cake (even with the nuefachatel/cream cheese swap), but that's okay because everyone knows that "no one likes a skinny Santa" anyway! ;)

Got any favorite vegetarian or vegan recipes?? Please share!

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Meatless Monday: Pasta with Mushrooms & Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Sauce

Back when I was reading Michael Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma (see an earlier post), I came across this sentence in the "Gathering: The Fungi" chapter:

"Mexicans call mushrooms carne de los muertos - 'flesh of the dead.'"

"Greeeaat. Thanks, Mike," I thought. "Way to ruin one of my favorite foods for me." But, turns out, give me enough time and, like a proverbial goldfish*, I forget all about the 'flesh of the dead' and return to shoveling forkfuls of mushrooms into my mouth at every opportunity. (Yay for bad memory!)

I was reminded of the whole 'mushroom/rotting flesh' thing today because it is the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead (or El Día de los Muertos), during which Mexicans celebrate and honor their deceased relatives and friends. I thought, what better way to celebrate than with a mushroom dish? And, since we're fresh off of Halloween and it's in season, why not a recipe with pumpkin in it too?

Pasta with Mushrooms & Pumpkin-Gorgonzola Sauce
Recipe

I don't have much to add to the recipe instructions other than to say that:

• Shitake mushrooms taste great and really complement the gorgonzola, but definitely feel free to substitute the mushroom of your choice;
• Freshly ground nutmeg will taste so much better than jarred pre-ground nutmeg;
• Use however much onion suits your taste; personally, I think 4 cups is overkill;
• However, I don't think 4 cloves of garlic is overkill - again, depends on your taste; and
• Remember to only use about 1/3 of what the recipe calls for if you're going to use dry, jarred sage; again, as with the nutmeg, fresh is better.
  

The cool thing about this recipe? If you've got leftover gorgonzola cheese, pumpkin, and sage (and you will if you get the usual package sizes), later in the week, you can always make the following recipe, which is also great.

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce
Recipe

This isn't as good as ravioli made from real, homemade pasta, but, on the plus side, it's also not as difficult or time-consuming to make and it should sate your craving for ravioli.

Got any favorite vegetarian or vegan recipes?? Please share!

Other Meatless Monday posts

*I say 'proverbial' because goldfish memory actually isn't as bad as the common saying would suggest.

Meatless Monday: Pumpkin-Honey Beer Quick Bread

You know those treats that someone else you know and love makes, that you don't have very often but are willing to beg, borrow, barter, or kill for? This next recipe is for one of those treats.

Pumpkin-Honey Beer Quick Bread
Recipe

My husband made this recipe for me for the first time just last year and it immediately earned a place on my top-10 dessert list. It's super easy to make, and the flax seed makes it come out really moist. I love to have it with a smear of cream cheese on it while it's still hot. *drool*

Matt also had the great idea of putting a bottle of honey beer with a small bag of flax seed inside a stack of three small disposable bread pans, wrapping a print-out of this recipe on nice paper around it, and tying it together with a pretty ribbon for small gifts last holiday season. That boy - always thinking, always thoughtful. He shared it then, . . . and I'm sharing it with you now. Consider it my early early 2009 holiday present to you!

Got any favorite vegetarian or vegan recipes?? Please share!

Other Meatless Monday posts