Sequestration Meal #692

 

I riffed off my own recipe for baked penne here, made five years ago when the world was different (and so was I). Alongside that, I had some steamed cut asparagus, sauteed yellow squash, and tomato braised mushrooms (recipe from Plant Based and Broke).

I didn't have oven-ready penne, so I just added more water and kept the casserole dish covered while it baked. I also stirred it twice before the final bake (still covered) with the non-dairy cheese. I think having it steam like that was what made it melt so well, a trick I may use again. The TVP Italian sausage is still delicious and I still really enjoyed this. It allowed me to finish off a jar of pasta sauce, too.

I'd almost forgotten my asparagus, and it needed some trimming, but it turned out fine. I just steamed it and served it in my default vegetable way--a bit of vegan butter and seasoned salt.

The yellow squash is my usual recipe for Zucchini Italiano, but with yellow squash. It was delicious, as always.

The mushrooms were a confusing recipe, as some words are missing, and I had to infer what was being suggested. They were good, but I wish I'd figured out before I got started that they would take nearly 90 minutes to make! (More than an hour of that is hands off, so that's largely fine, but still.) That's probably why I ended up making both squash and asparagus instead of one or the other. But maybe that's a bonus!

I'm trying to achieve too many goals at once, so that may make things messy. But I'm using stuff up, still having lots of fresh produce, and getting in colors and protein sources, so this meal was a win, no matter what else happens.