Recipe: Gigante Beans with Sausage

Gigante Beans with Sausage

Food & Wine Magazine, Sep 2025, p. 105

4.9 stars

I was SHOCKED how good this soup tasted and how well it turned out. Such a surprise from reading the recipe and seeing how "watery" this was as we didn't necessarily expect it to be like a soup. It was delicious! We made this plant-based using the modifications below. The Parmesan rind is key for adding the umami flavor.

Ingredients: gigante benas or large lima beans, soppressata log, crushed tomatoes, dry white wine, chicken broth, Parmesan cheese rind, Parmesan cheese, garlic, dried Italian seasoning, extra-virgin olive oil, red pepper, Kosher salt, parsley, toasted bread for serving

Tips/Notes:

• Do not add any water
• Used 2 cans of cannellini beans -- next time, use 4 cans
• Used plant-based sausage instead of the soppressata log
• Used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth
• Added cooked quinoa to our bowls 
• Had red wine in the fridge so used it instead of white wine

Recipe: Cuban-Style Black Beans

Cuban-Style Black Beans
Food & Wine Magazine, Sep 2025, p. 48
5 stars

Tasty!!! Best black beans we've made and will probably make from now on.

Ingredients: black beans, white onion, green bell pepper, tomato paste, bay leaves, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, dry white wine, ground cumin, dried oregano, Kosher salt, black pepper, water

Tips/Notes:

• Used 2 cans of black beans beans instead of dry
• Did not add 5 cups of water -- instead, use liquid in cans of beans and don't add more than 1/4 c of water
• Used 1 white onion instead of 2
• Used 1 large green bell pepper instead of 2
• Used 1 bay leaf instead of 4
• Used 3 garlic cloves instead of 4
• Used 1 tsp of Kosher salt altogether (don't add the salt at the end in step 4 (the 2 tsp) -- it had plenty of salt!)
• Added red pepper for heat

Recipe: Crispy Tofu Tacos

Crispy Tofu Tacos

NYTimes
5 stars

This definitely beats the Vegan Tofu Taco Crumbles recipe we tried a few weeks ago. So delicious -- and it's the red tomato paste at the end that takes this to the next level. I actually prefer this to regular taco meat!

Ingredients: firm tofu, tomato paste, soy sauce, ground cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, olive oil, black pepper; avocados, mayo, lime zest and juice, tortillas, onion, radishes, cilantro

Tips/Notes

• After adding the tomato paste, it says to continue baking 10 to 15 minutes; it needs an additional 5-10 minutes on top of that
• Used crunchy taco shells
• Didn't make the avocado cream
• Used white onion instead of red onion
• Added lettuce and tomatoes

Recipe: Bucatini with Shiitake Cream Sauce

Bucatini with Shiitake Cream Sauce

Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2025, p. 50

4.9 stars

Super delicious and flavorful -- restaurant worthy! It's very mushroom-y because of the mushrooms in the sauce AND chopped up. We made it plant-based by using plant-based sausage. The leftovers have been so good.

Shiitake Cream Sauce: oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, shallot, dry white wine, heavy cream, olive oil, red pepper

Pasta: bucatini, spicy Italian sausage, oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, garlic, shallot, dry white wine, chicken stock, olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper, lemon zest and juice

Tips/Notes:

• Use plant-based sausage
• Used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock
• Next time add 50% more mushrooms to the pasta

Recipe: Vegan Tofu Taco Crumbles

Vegan Tofu Taco Crumbles
Sam Tumball (ItDoesntTasteLikeChicken.com)
4.5 stars

This was fine, not amazing. I have another NYTimes recipe for something similar so will compare. For this one, the tofu was still really wet even though we baked it longer; didn't use all the salsa as that would've caused it to be even more wet!

Ingredients: tofu, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, soy sauce, oil, salsa

Had this in hard shell tacos with cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, cilantro, avocado

Recipe: Protein Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Protein Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

Chelsea Plummer (MaesMenu.com)
4.7 stars

Pretty good -- good for a snack and breakfast!

Ingredients: high-protein oats, chocolate chips, overripe banana, unsweetened applesauce, natural peanut butter, vanilla protein powder, chia seeds, hemp seeds, maple syrup, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon, pinch of salt

Notes:

• Didn't add hemp seeds
• Add more cinnamon
• Add 2 pinches of salt
• Next time add some date sugar to add some sweetness