1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeded
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

1. Rake the surface of the squash with a fork to separate 3/4 of the flesh into strands.
2. Combine the strands in a bowl with the tomatoes and garlic and season generously with all of the spices.
3. Fill the squash shells with the mixture and place cut side up in a baking dish.
4. Drizzle the tops with olive oil and bake in a 375 degree oven until tender, about 45 minutes.

Makes 2 large servings

4 cups water
1 cup polenta or cornmeal
2 tablespoons margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Bring salted water to a boil in a large sauce pan.
2. Gradually whisk in polenta, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Continue to whisk until mixture starts to thicken.
3. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally until very thick and smooth.
4. Stir in margarine and season with salt to taste, if necessary. Serve with sautéed vegetables or sauce.

Makes 4 servings

19 ounce can 6 bean blend
1/2 small red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper

1. Drain and rinse the beans and place in a bowl with chopped red onion.
2. Combine the remaining ingredients to form a dressing.
3. Coat beans and onion with dressing and refrigerate for at least half an hour for flavors to saturate the beans. Serve cold.

Makes 4 servings

I was challenged via e-mail to do a vegan dinner. I think that I do an alright job of having vegetarian dishes or ones that are easily adaptable to a vegetarian diet for the most part, but vegan is a little harder for me. Aside from the fact that I love dairy and eggs, I find vegan cooking to be generally either time consuming or expensive, especially in the winter. I am also not a fan of soy or soy products, so my options are pretty limited. All of the recipes used in this meal were inspired by those on The Vegan Chef.

As an entr we had Spaghetti Squash Pomodoro. I personally like spaghetti squash and used to eat a lot of it while low-carbing because it's the next best thing to real pasta, but this recipe didn't do it for me. I sort of went against my better judgment and followed the recipes word for word. Perhaps if I had prepared an actual tomato sauce and cooked it as though I normally would (just bake and scrape and top with sauce) the flavor of the tomatoes would not have completely leeched out.

While I've never been a fan of soy, I do enjoy a wide variety of beans. I love simple bean salads and the Balsamic 6 Bean Salad is no exception. It's a very simple dress and refrigerate salad that will have marinated sufficiently by the time the other dishes are finished. It's a nice meaty alternative with a tangy vinaigrette that's full of vitamins and fiber.

Finally, I'd never actually had polenta before, but it's always seemed easy enough to make. I've always enjoyed watching cooking shows where people would bake it and cut out fancy shapes for gourmet plating, but I just made a simple Creamy Polenta with sautéed zucchini and garlic. I used margarine as a substitute for butter to give it a creamier consistency, making sure I didn't have any whey or lactic acid or anything in the ingredients. Polenta is very much like a yellow cream of wheat. I can see how it could be dressed up quite easily since I thought it was very good with residual dressing from the bean salad.