What inspires you?

Aside from health, comfort is what inspires me in the winter. I want comfort foods that are warm, full of flavor, and make plenty of left-overs. Tonight, I thought I was going to make my version of Pad Thai for dinner. I even started marinating the tofu, chopping the onions, and formulating the rest of the dish in my head. But that's not what happened. Nope, we had Italian instead.

I'm still marveling over this huge leap from one culinary staple to another, but I saw it unfold before my eyes and I just had to go with the flow. Oh, and it was so worth it. The delicious, healthy casserole that emerged from my waning inspiration was loved by all and hailed as "glorious" by my husband.

Here's what I did:

I sauteed 1 chopped yellow onion in olive oil, then after about 5 min added chopped garlic and chopped artichoke hearts (canned in water). Then I added chopped Kale, garlic salt, and dried basil, thyme, and sage. After the Kale wilted, I removed the heat and crumbled a whole block of firm tofu in the skillet and mixed it together.

While this was happening, I boiled "rice spirals" by De Boles. I used these not because we're gluten sensitive, but because I think that too much wheat is never a good thing. These noodles are nothing like what you'd get in an Asian dish, and have all the flavor of traditional Italian pasta.

When the pasta was finished, I mixed the veggie/tofu mixture and the noodles in a casserole dish. Then I Mixed in some crumbled Chevre, olive oil, garlic salt, and Italian seasoning. Mm, then I sprinkled some grated Mozzarella on the top. I baked this at 350 for 10 min and then I broiled it for about 5 more minutes. Below you will find a picture of the "glorious" masterpiece that was fully inspired by this very cold winter weather.