Soft foods

My husband had some dental surgery, and for the first couple of days he could only have liquid or very soft foods. I made sieved applesauce cooked with three varieties of apples, a cinnamon stick and crystallized ginger; arrowroot pudding made with soymilk and maple syrup with a swirl of chocolate chips; baked pumpkin pudding with blackstrap, agave and spices; and red lentil soup with ancho chili pepper and truffle oil. Just because the diet is soft doesn't mean it has to be bland. I know the photo above makes the pumpkin look really weird and kind of like dried dog poop, but it tasted amazing. It's on my "why didn't I measure anything and write it down" list.

As soon as he could have soft vegetables, we had Garden Bolognese Sauce adapted from a recipe in "Vegan Italiano" served over oven-baked polenta.

The next day, I bought some gluten-free rice lasagna noodles, and used the (thinned a little) leftover sauce, sautéed zucchini and eggplant, and some tofu ricotta to make lasagna. The noodles were the kind that don't need to be precooked, so it was an easy dish to prepare.