Ratatouille Riggies: Eggplant Marinara with Rigatoni and Zucchini

(This picture is not my own, it's Rachael Ray's!)

Someone gave me this recipe from an issue of Rachael Ray's magazine. Last night my roommate and I were celebrating the return of our amazing friend so we all whipped this little number up together, had some wine, and danced all over our apartment. It was lovely! This recipe really surprised me with some awesome flavor. I didn't really read through the recipe before we started cooking and I think I was just expecting it to taste like plain ol' pasta with marinara and some veggies. I was wrong! The eggplant marinara sauce was AWESOME and the fried zucchini added some really wonderful flavor to the dish as well. We decided instantly that this needed to become one of our staple meals. I served this with some toasted baguette slices and some vino!

Lime-Curry Tofu Stir-Fry

I just made this recipe, oh, about 30 minutes ago and I thought it was so wonderful that I just couldn't wait another second to tell the world about it (or at least the web surfers who stumble across my blog). My neighbor e-mailed this recipe to me about a week ago. She found it on allrecipes.com and knew it had my name written all over it. So, credit for this one goes to "kprzy" who submitted this recipe to the site. Anyway, the flavors in this dish are just AWESOME and so complimentary of each other. Spicy, creamy, sweet, and bold. Also, I want all of you coconut haters out there to know NOT to be afraid of coconut milk. I'm not a hater, but I know lots of people who don't like coconut and might be wary of something like this. Fear not- the coconut flavor really is super mild, and it's more the creaminess than anything else that you'll be taking from the coconut milk. Also, I think the flavors of the other ingredients kind of off-set the sweetness of the coconut anyway. Well, enough about that! You'll love this. Promise.

Zucchini Weenies

This is my mom's recipe, veganized. These little weenies are like gold and they are the perfect hors d' oeuvres for any occasion. I can honestly say that I have never met ANYONE who didn't LOVE these things. I'm telling you, this is a sure way to make lots and lots of friends. I was sooo happy the first time I made these with vegan ingredients and discovered that they are just as yummy - maybe even yummier - than the original version! This was another dish that I shared with my neighbors and they were devoured.