Tonight’s dinner was inspired by Besto Pesto, a local Rhode Island basil pesto that is delicious. The basil and garlic in the pesto is grown by the woman who owns the company and makes the pesto.
I combined wheat rigatoni, pesto, baked tofu, topped it with some garden tomatoes and popped it in the oven.
Baking it sort of dried out the creaminess of the pesto, so I mixed in the tomatoes and it was perfect!
I had seconds.
I also had some fat free frozen yogurt for dessert. 
My Meatless Reflections
Well, I am sad to see Meatless Month go. I am proud to say that I made a lot of new things like tofu and tempeh that I will definitely incorporate into my everyday cooking. I only relied on frozen meals twice and veggie burgers twice, which is important to me because I did not want to be a “junk food vegetarian.” Luckily, I was inspired by all the local produce and meatless recipes across Blogland to cook wonderfully tasty meals. Throughout the month, I felt good about what I was eating; more “connected” to my vegetables and food choices than before. I missed chicken only when I had this salad and it was not filling without the usual grilled chicken it comes with.
On the subject of chicken, before MM, I ate a lot of it. During this month I realized that I don’t actually love chicken. I ate it because it was familiar and I thought I needed it, but it’s actually the sauce or marinade accompanying the chicken that I find delicious. Because of MM, I know that I can do just about anything with tofu, and that is what I prefer to do.
That being said, I am still hesitant to label myself a vegetarian. I like steak, which is probably not a good thing for a vegetarian to say. Worse, I like it rare. I also like meatballs. Now, most likely I will be able to turn these things down because I’ll have other delicious alternatives, but as Andrea recently expressed, I think I might fear “returning to the meat” upon a tasty morsel. I do not want to restrict myself to the point where I feel like I am missing out. I feel like without the label, I am more free to decide what I truly want to eat.
Overall, I will continue my meatless eating because I loved the experience and I think, for me, it is a kinder gentler way to live. I am excited about all the wonderful things I can eat and am curious to see what I will eat now that I do not have to be meatless.
Up Next
Now that Meatless Month is over, Mark and I are trying to decide what to do next. I am going to visit him in N.J. this weekend, so we’ll decide then and start our new project next week. Between now and then, please enjoy our unadulterated eating!
