Low Bowl #2

 

I don't know if this is necessarily a typical "bowl" type meal, but I'm in love with my new bowl right now so I'm going with it. This is Spanish asparagus with red peppers, onions, and garlic (recipe from Cooked and Loved), garlic linguine (I used spinach linguine, so mine is green) with whipped pea ricotta (recipe from Curious Chickpea), and yellow squash sauteed with garlic and seasoned with oregano.

The asparagus recipe is always fun; I love the colors and the flavors. It doesn't explicitly say to, but adding a squeeze of lemon juice takes this from good to great. Plus, it's asparagus season! I have to live it up while I can!

The pasta was also amazing. I garnished it with some pine nuts as suggested, and I'd definitely recommend that, too--I had pine nuts on hand because I apparently have an absurd pantry, so keep that in mind (still working on diminishing my foods stocks, which is going reasonably well at the moment). I chose this recipe because peas are in season, even though I am using frozen peas here. I don't have to be super logical. The ricotta, made from cashews, peas, and tofu, is less cheesy than vegetal, but it's a good, creamy sauce that brings protein into the meal, and it goes really well with the pasta. If you wanted a cheesier flavor, I'd recommend adding some nutritional yeast and lemon juice. I would probably suggest adding salt to the garlic-and-oil sauce when you put in the pasta water, so the noodles can absorb more of it, but flaky sea salt was, as usual, the seasoning that took things to the next level upon serving.

The squash is essentially my go-to way of making yellow squash and zucchini, and never disappoints.