1hundredsixty8

I do the cooking in our household. My cuisine is eclectic, mainly reflecting my Italian heritage but incorporating other elements as well. Our standard diet consists mainly of chicken, vegetables, pasta or brown rice and an occasional risotto. Most evenings we include a leafy salad, usually spinach or arugula and radicchio. We try to eat fish once a week, depending on what’s available. (As a rule, I avoid imported seafood. Living on Long Island, we do have the opportunity to obtain local catch.) We are carnivorous, but eat beef rarely and pork slightly more frequently. If I prepare sausage, it is usually turkey or chicken. I would say I have a fairly extensive repertoire. 

An issue that comes up more and more frequently when we have guests for dinner is dealing with the special needs of vegetarians. I am referring to non-meat and poultry eaters, and not to vegans. Sometimes I go for the quick and easy, which might be thick spaghetti with a limone sauce (the zest of a few lemons sautéd with garlic in olive oil and some unsalted butter, a dash of salt a pinch of red pepper flakes, with the juice of the lemons stirred in just prior to removing it from the heat) tossed with chopped, marinated artichoke hearts. Garnish it with chopped basil and you have a heary and tangy meal.

What I have also tried to do is adapt some of my usual recipes to a vegetarian format. This particular one is an example. It is a vegetarian twist on stuffed chicken breasts. If you start with a full boneless and skinless breast (not a thin-sliced cutlet), you can slice it open on one side to create a pocket. A basic filling I use is very similar to what you would use for spanakopita, the classic Greek spinach pie made with phyllo dough. In a bowl, mix together some chopped spinach, chopped onions or scallions, crumbled feta cheese and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Here’s my veggie variation: Instead of a chicken breast, I use a block of extra firm tofu. After halving the block, I make a mortise-like cut in each half, scooping out the interior and trimming the piece of tofu I removed to form a cover.

After stuffing the pocket, I cover it with the piece of tofu, holding this "cover" in place with tooth picks. You can season the finished tofu as you please.

In the variation pictured here, I am sautéing some chopped vegetables in a little olive oil with garlic and onions. I added the juice of one lemon to create a sauce.

Simple and meatless.