Dear readers, I'm sorry I've been quite for so long. I've been sick. Sick, sick, sick! I haven't been leaving the house much, let alone cook anything. So, I thought I'd check in and finally give you all the report of LAST Monday's meatless dinner, a la Lee the carnivore! Enjoy...

Last Monday was Lee's second week as our Meatless Monday Chef and I'm back today to report on the dinner he prepared for us.

First up, let's review the menu. Selecting menu items is often a challenge for us. We stare blankly into our pantry, flip through cookbooks and blogs, and try desperately to recall the dishes we've neglected to make for far too  long. Neither of us has particularly specific food cravings, so when some people might say, "I really feel like having broccoli tonight" we might say, "Something green, maybe?" It took a few minutes of discussion and cookbooking before we arrived at what would be our evening meal:

Balsamic Glazed Portabello Mushrooms and Tofu
Lemony Herb Mini Shell Pasta
Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Although Lee is the Monday chef around here now, no chef can work without a sous chef and that's where I come in.Our kitchen is exceptionally small, so when we cook together, we're like a tag team. We try not to both be working on the stove at the same time or both trying to squeeze in front of the sink or the cutting board. Since I knew that Lee was a little nervous about his chef responsibilities, I decided to get started early so I could stay out of his way and be available to offer guidance if he needed it later.

A couple of hours before dinner, I cut several heads of cauliflower into florets, drizzled them with olive oil and roasted them on a foiled baking sheet at 400 for about 45 minutes. After they cooled, I pureed them in the food processor with some water, vegetable broth, minced garlic, salt and pepper. In my opinion, those are the only additional ingredients that ever really need to go into roasted veggie soups, regardless of what the veggie is. Since roasting brings out such rich textures and flavors from "boring" vegetables, they just don't need a lot of help to become a delicious soup.

Right before Lee got home from work, I put a pot of water on to boil and got the pasta started. I cooked the pasta to just a hair past al dente, drained it and returned it to the pot with a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of sea salt, followed by fat pinches of oregano and thyme. Oregano and thyme are both very earthy herbs and, if left to their own devices, can easily turn a bowl of yummy pasta into an overwhelming peaty dish. To brighten up the dish, I added a big splash of lemon juice, my secret weapon. I lidded the pot and pushed it to a back burner to keep warm until Lee prepared the main event.

Glazing seems like a no brainer to me but if you've never done it before, I guess it seems a little strange. Basically, where mushrooms and tofu are concerned, you cook them for what seems like a long time so that they release as much moisture as possible. Then, just when you think they're about to burn, you add what seems like way too much balsamic vinegar (or red wine, Mmmmm) and cook for a few more minutes. Miraculously, the mushrooms and tofu suck up all the added moisture, plumping up beautifully and leaving very little excess liquid in the pan. After the fact, Lee said it wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be.

I wish I could show you beautiful pictures of this meal, but I have a confession to make about that. This week, we got so wrapped up in the preparation of the meal that I plumb forgot to take photos before we devoured everything. And, you guessed it, there were NO leftovers! So, instead, I can draw you a mental picture. Imagine the most delicious, moist, fragrant sliced portabello mushrooms you've ever seen. Turn them up to 11. Now you're getting it.