Playing with vegetarian/vegan dishes

I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but I have recently become obsessed with making more vegetable-centric dishes. I see it as a challenge. Last week I made two vegetarian dishes that I definitely plan on keeping in my arsenal. I don't have recipes for them per se, I just improvised and threw a bunch of stuff together, as I always seem to do lately in the kitchen.

Curried farro with red pepper, green onion, dried cranberries, and pecans

I love the variety of tastes and textures going on in this dish. Bascially, the dish is what the title says. You can cook the farro in water or broth, then add a sprinkle of curry powder and cumin. Mix in the red pepper, green onions, dried cranberries, and pecans. Serve room temperature or cold.


Grilled romaine with pecorino and red pepper dressing alongside kale and lemon spaghetti

Who says meatless dishes can't be meaty? Any time you grill a vegetable, that smokiness will often give it a meaty quality. I cut the romaine head in half longways in order to get even more char on it and then drizzled the red pepper dressing over it and shaved some pecorino over top. To make the red pepper dressing I used Ajeeka, a raw red pepper and garlic sauce, and just mixed that with extra virgin olive oil. It's very simple but probably my favorite salad dressing.