It’s live from Friday Fast and Abstenance! As we’re in self-imposed quarantine, and we want to avoid wandering around in the (potential) contagion zone, it’s time to do a Use What Ya Got vegetarian meal. I had two slightly-past-prime cauliflowers, a just-starting-to-wilt broccolette, and the second of the 2 for 1 cottage cheese tubs that were on sale a week and a half ago. That’s definitely the start of some kind of Cheesy Cruciferous dish, am I right?

The internets served up some recipe ideas that I Frankensteined into what I did. I encourage you to also adapt this to your preferences and available ingredients.

To the method!

Chop up the vegetables you intend to use and put them in a casserole dish. I used cauliflower and broccolette, but i was also eyeing the asparagus in my fridge. I feel like you could use leafy greens like spinach, chard, or kale, too. Anything that you still like if it’s cooked quite soft. I got some purple (purple!) Brussels sprouts in my Mama Earth Organics vegetable bin this week, so i might be trying with that real soon now.

In a bowl, mix one egg per cup of cottage cheese (I used two cups and two eggs). Add a quarter cup of a grated sharp cheese (I used Romano, but I would have also used aged provolone or the amazing aged havarti that our cheesemonger put us on to a while back. Alas, no Cambridge market means no aged havarti for the Casa Di Swears right now. Even a good Swiss would be great here). Add some milk or cream to thin out the mix. I might also have used sour cream or plain yogurt if I had it kicking around. Add a bit of salt, fresh ground pepper, some minced garlic, and fresh ground nutmeg. I don’t know what magical properties nutmeg contains that make it such a great addition to savoury dishes, but man, that’s good.

Mixmixmix. You want this to pour pretty easily. It’s OK if it’s lumpy, but if you can’t mix it up with your veggies, maybe add a little more liquid.

Pour it on top and mix a bit. It doesn’t need to cover the veggies, but it helps to keep them from scorching if they’ve at least got a bit of the sauce on them. I enjoy crispy brown bits, but your mileage may vary.

Top with shredded cheese – whatever kind you like is good. I used old cheddar.

Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until the egg/cottage cheese mix seems to be fairly solid.

We had it over frilly egg noodles. And it was just as delightful warmed for lunch the next day. My gentleman associate added more Romano to it because he said that helped it stick to the egg noodles when they were warmed up and slippery. I apparently shovelled it into my gob for lunch too fast to notice that part.

Good health, friends!