Cabbage Rolls - Mediterranean Couscous Style

I love my comfort foods. Who doesn't? I also have a lot of them. Some even healthy.

Every time I go home to visit my parents mom asks what I would like for her to cook. That's easy. Cabbage casserole or cabbage roles!

I have a rule of thumb in my house: never try to do what mom did exactly. It won't be as good as you remember. So I make what is familiar but with a twist. And with maintaining a meat free kitchen twists come in lots of interesting ways. Like couscous making up the meatiness of a roll.

I found this recipe for Mediterranean Couscous Cabbage rolls: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/mediterranean_cabbage_rolls.html. The smells from the kitchen have been making me drool in anticipation.

Olives, feta, mint and cinnamon. Sounds like delish to me. I had to make some amendments as I made a few mistakes when getting groceries. I got 4 tomatoes...when I needed 4 cups chopped. Whoops! Good think I had a can of diced tomatoes on hand. I also ran out of sugar so used honey instead. And then also forgot to get ground cinnamon so tossed two cinnamon sticks in instead. Fingers were crossed!

And the result was definitely flavorful! Yum yum!

Taco Salad = Yum

After three weeks vacation I'm back. And back to enjoying a meat free kitchen. So what does a jet lagged girl budget for groceries?

Taco salad!!

Here is the one I'm trying this week. Vegetarian Taco Salad from Eating Well

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons with Parsley (sans brown butter)

Still on my meat fast and finding that I'm really enjoying it. I'm feeling lighter, clearer, brighter. I've noticed subtle difference in my body as well. Maybe it's the running, boxing, snowshoeing but I'm seeing tightening here and narrowing there. Or maybe it's just my imagination. No matter. I like it.

I have been stuck a little on couscous lately and needed a change (true to my nature). So I sent out the call to those I know who truly live a vegetarian lifestyle and asked them for their tried and trues.

A co-worker sent me links to online recipes from sites she found good. And, drool, I instantly knew what I wanted: Italian. I don't remember a time when I didn't enjoy Italian! When I stumbled upon this recipe I knew it was love at first site. Not only Italian but had Gnoochi (silent G).

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons & Parsley Brown Butter. Nutmeg makes a nice surprise in this recipe. Blended with parm and parsley...there is a nice zing to it.

One subtle tweak: I used olive oil instead of butter. Little healthier and yum yum!