White beans in gravy, Pesto pasta with breaded tofu, Chicky tuna salad, Kitchen sink chocolate cookies

It's week 11 and I'm back in the kitchen!

Here’s what I made:

• White beans in sherry-bread crumb gravy

• Pesto cauliflower pasta with breaded tofu

• Chicky tuna salad sandwiches

• Kitchen sink chocolate cookies

White beans in sherry-bread crumb gravy

• I would maybe make this again

• I made 1 substitutions

• Not sure how this would freeze

This turned out better than expected, but I do think you need to make it with something else. Otherwise it’s just a bowl of beans and onions. I had some pre-chopped onions which I used, but I do think a thinner sliced onion would be best (and is what the recipe calls for). I did not have sherry and I couldn't find it at the store so I just used a bit of white wine.

I made it with baked potatoes and sautéed kale and it was tasty!

I would make it again, but I don’t think it gets a spot on my favorite new recipes list.

Pesto cauliflower pasta with breaded tofu

• I would definitely make this again

• I made 0 substitutions

• Not sure how this would freeze

The pesto pasta is the recipe that I have seen a bunch of times, but skipped over because breading and frying tofu is a little bit more involved than I usually like to do.

And this recipe did end up taking me longer than the 40 allotted minutes. So don’t make this one when you’re already hungry.

That said, the tofu turned out really nice and I did take the time to cook the cauliflower in the air fryer instead of boiling it. The pesto coats the pasta really nicely and it’s nice to have an oil free option for that as well. I used pine nuts because that’s what I had on hand but I bet this would be good with cashews also. I would definitely make this again and I would try to do some prep like cutting and making the cauliflower the day before perhaps.

Chicky tuna salad sandwiches

• I would probably not make this again

• I made 1 substitutions

• Not sure how this would freeze

For the chickpea sandwich I just assumed that I had canned chickpeas, because I usually do, but I did not! So I ended up making this with cannellini beans.

That said, I have made a lot of chickpea salads in my day. I thought this was an OK addition to that lineup. I’m not sure I love the addition of sunflower seeds in it, however, if you’ve never had a chickpea salad sandwich, I’d recommend trying this and then you can tweak it based on the flavors that you like.

Kitchen sink chocolate cookies

• I would make this again

• I made 0 substitutions

• Cookies usually freeze well!

This chocolate kitchen sink cookie is like a trail mix-inspired dessert. The recipe doesn't say to chill the dough, so I thought they would flatten out in the oven, but they didn't on their own! I flattened them when I switched the trays because I was worried about them not cooking through, but it wasn't an issue.

I think I prefer a regular oatmeal raisin, but I shared these cookies with some friends and folks at church and they were very well received!  

Weekly reflection

It was so nice to be cooking again! My favorite from this week was definitely the pesto pasta. My friends and I also did a supper club that was Japanese themed, and we made some lovely sushi! I plan to do a separate post on the supper club themes and what we make for each. Next up is Vampire-themed. I also am casually trying to try all of the Indian lunch buffets in Asheville. My favorite so far is Mela. I tried Mehfil this week and it was not as vegan-friendly.