Roasted Cauliflower Bisque

Yum! This soup is thick and creamy with the comforting yet enticing flavors of roasted cauliflower. The roasting process brings out a deeper flavor with hints of sweetness that perfectly lightens while making the normally quiet flavors of cauliflower more complex. It's a warming soup that will keep you happy as these spring evenings remain cool outside.

I paired the soup with cous cous and some freshly grilled salmon, but it is versatile enough to go with a wide variety of meals. In fact, you could even make it as stand alone vegetarian dinner, perhaps paired with some nice, fresh, crusty bread for dipping. It'll also make wonderful leftovers for lunch all week, easily re-heated at work, so make extra.

Time: 1 hr 25 min
Difficulty: medium-easy

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato, Spinach, and Burrata

Yum! If you haven't had burrata before, you're in for a treat. It's fresh mozzarella stuffed with cream, a.k.a. rich, indulgent luxury. That's right, it's not world's healthiest cheese but it's so luscious and creamy that a little bit goes a long way. In my opinion, I'd rather splurge on a small amount of the good stuff than have a large amount of mediocre ingredients.

I made this dish as a stand alone since it's already filled with veggies, is bulked up by whole wheat spaghetti, and the burrata makes it filling. This dish was more than enough for my husband and myself - but feel free to make a side dish and spread it out over even more people!

Difficulty: easy
Time: 30 min

Pumpkin Lasagna

Alright, I admit, this probably would have worked better if I weren't so far behind in my posts and had published back in the cold winter months when I first cooked it. However, it turns out that having homework hinders the upkeep of blogs, so hopefully I'll be forgiven once you taste this feel-good meal. I prepared a hot, hearty, and healthy pumpkin lasagna. I made the noodles from scratch for extra flavor and health, but you can always substitute dried pasta if you want to shorten the time-span of this involved dish considerably. I did, however, start with canned pumpkin rather than an actual whole pumpkin. With no added salt, it's a reasonable shortcut to take!

I served this dish with a fresh pear and goat cheese salad, but really anything light and crisp would go well. The lasagna is thick and creamy so you'll want something to contrast it on the side. And, you may want to make extra.. you'll definitely be wanting this for lunch again the next day!

Difficulty: medium-hard
Time: 1 hr 45 min