The End of Year One

As 2015 draws to a close I've been pondering this vegetarian journey I've been on and I have to say it's been a good thing for me - I feel better having eliminated meat products from my diet, I've lost a few pounds and I feel like I have more energy. With the exception of Dan's coconut and almond crusted tilapia (which I'll be having on New Year's Day) and the famous garlic and onion turkey burgers I haven't missed eating meat so for the most part I'll continue the vegetarian lifestyle (and blogging too). 

What I've learned along the way:

• People who don't understand your food choices can be annoyed by them and they may try to thwart your efforts, convince you that you're wrong or behave rudely. I think this is the thing that surprised me the most although it probably shouldn't. I've spent a good part of my existence not eating products derived from a cow and have encountered a broad range of responses, from deciding I was too picky, to being accused of wanting attention, to being told "A little won't hurt me"  - thanks but no thanks - please understand that it's an allergy issue not a vanity issue. 

• I don't understand why my food choices are a concern to others? I've not asked anyone to conform to my lifestyle, I'm willing to bring my own food (and often do) to events, I've not asked anyone to purchase special food for me or change their way of cooking - yet it still seems to be a point of contention; go figure.

• Many restaurants that tout themselves as "vegetarian friendly" think that means cheese (as a replacement for meat) and ice berg lettuce and sometimes even those who support you - just want you to order that salad so they can get dinner and move on. In the same way carnivores want something tasty - I want something tasty that happens to be vegetarian, not something that you've simply removed the meat from - altering a dish and truly having vegetarian options are not the same thing.

• With the exception of a very few brands, most "fake meat" products taste like fake meat and should be avoided at all costs.

• Healthy cooking takes time, plan accordingly.

• Read labels if you can't pronounce or have no clue what ingredients are in something you shouldn't eat it - put it back on the shelf

• Experimentation is fun! Try one new food each week, if you don't like it don't eat it again it's not the end of the world. When Dan and I first met he told me he didn't like brussels sprouts or squash, turns out he'd only been exposed to pureed squash and boiled brussels sprouts - no wonder he didn't like them. Say hello to the oven and roasting - he's now a huge fan of both and regularly asks me to make them.

• Tempeh over tofu - while I like and will eat both, I prefer the texture and nuttiness of tempeh.

• Take a vegetarian cooking class or two (or four). I've learned so many new recipes by taking community ed and un-cooking classes at the local raw food restaurant, many are now my go to favorites.

• Vegetarians and Vegans need protein be sure to include beans and other sources of protein on a daily basis - protein is important but it doesn't have to come from an animal.

Thanks to those of you who have supported me, followed & shared my blog, shared recipes with me and tried my veggie creations - it's been a great journey and I hope you'll continue to follow my blog.

Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe New Year - see you in 2016!

A Different Perspective - Dan's View of AVFOY

Ann's movement to a vegetarian diet for a year has made me a healthier eater. However, unlike Ann, I am not a strict vegetarian. I still enjoy fish and brats (I do love brats). So I guess I am a technically a Pescaterian-Bratatarian?

My primary concern about pure vegetarian diets is that they sometimes lack good protein. Although I love mock duck and tofu, Ann is not a huge fan.  She will eat tofu if I prepare it in a specific way, other than that we have to be creative.

One of my findings is that black beans are a great source of protein. We've also explored high-protein grains like Freekeh [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freekeh] and quinoa and played around with alternative vegetarian/vegan products with mixed success.

When it gets cold in November and December we like to make soups. Ann makes a fabulous Forest Mushroom soup. So I modified her Mushroom soup recipe based on things we had available. Something you should know about me is that I love onions and I hardly ever follow a recipe. I often lookup various recipes and look for patterns (yes, design patterns I'm an architect geek by trade), but I like every dish to be different.

We had a large amount of dried mushrooms in our pantry and I wanted to use them up. We get them at a local Oriental grocery store, and as Ann has mentioned, they are much less expensive then at the traditional grocery stores. I put them in the crock pot in the morning thinking they would be soft by suppertime. I was wrong! They were still hard as a rock and rubbery; especially the stems. I tried to cut the large parts up and put them back into the crock pot. Yet even the small parts were tough after another hour. So I finally had to put the mushrooms in our Ninja blender and grind them all up into very small parts.

I then added two large onions (sautéd in olive oil until golden) and a cup of Freekeh.  I put the Freekeh and ground mushroom on the stove and let them boil for about 1/2 hour.  Then I added two cans of black beans (high protein) and put everything back into the crock pot for another hour.  I added a bit of salt and pepper and some cumin and that was about it.  I like to serve the soup with a good artisan bread (from Costco) and a bit of cheese (Brie is my favorite).

Ann's one comment was that she thought the soup lacked color, which I totally agree with.  She suggested adding carrots, which most of my other soups do have. Next time I would grid the mushrooms stems up in the Ninja blender before soaking. Rubbery mushrooms really are not a good texture.

Thanks for supporting Ann's blog - and thanks to Ann for letting me guest post this week. 

- Dan

With Gratitude

Yikes I looked at the date of my last blog post and all I can say is I've been busy. I decided to take the NaNoWriMo challenge this year and I'm excited to say I finished around 6 am this morning. I woke up at about 4 am and knew exactly how my novel needed to end and I couldn't go back to sleep because my mind kept running through the end of my story so I decided to get up and finish! This is the 4^th time I've finished a novel – one day I'd like to go back and edit one and end up with a "real book" that I could send to a publisher.

I've also been editing a novel for one of my friends who is a "real writer" – you know the kind who gets royalty checks on a regular basis for writing books. She's a romance author and her books have a paranormal twist which I really like. Her characters are interesting and her style is elegant I'm looking forward to seeing the final version.

And then there was Thanksgiving – we had a whirlwind weekend. On Thanksgiving Day we had dinner with Dan's family (I was in charge of  appetizers) and then we headed to Fargo, to have a Friday Thanksgiving with my family. It had been a few years since we all were able to get together – there was lots of food, fun and laughter. I got to spend time with 2 of my nephews and 4 of my great nieces and nephews - something I throughly enjoyed.

Amid all of that driving and eating and laughing I did do some cooking. For those of you who have been following for a while you know we were "those kind of people" – we had a bumper crop of acorn squash so I offered to bring a baked squash dish to my family celebration.

I started by roasting 1 ½ acorn squash and about 1 ½ lbs of butternut squash with just a brush of olive oil and a few grinds of sea salt. While the squash was roasting, I diced a large onion and sautéed it in 1 T of olive oil until it was soft. To the onion I added 2 grated apples, cinnamon, 1 clove of garlic minced, coriander and cumin, covered the mixture and cooked it until the onions were slightly caramelized. I removed the pan from the heat and let the onion mixture cool.

When the squash was cool I put it into a blender added the onion mixture and then blended until it was pureed. I poured the pureed squash and onion mixture into a baking dish added 2 T of agave and sprinkled cinnamon on top.

When I got to my family celebration I heated it in a 350-degree oven until hot. We had so many good dishes that I came home with a lot of leftovers but we're eating it and I'm pondering either vegan lasagna or vegan mac n cheese with the squash as the sauce for dinner on Tuesday night.

For me the holiday season is a time of reflection – I'm grateful for the many things in my life; good health, a loving family, amazing friends, a job I enjoy and the freedom to make choices about how I live my life and what I believe in. I know I'm lucky and I try not to take these things for granted because I know it could all change in an instant. 

Ciao

Eight Hours to Dinner

For those of you who read last weeks post where I was raving about our Minnesota November; today it was 61, sunny and again beautiful – I'm happy and speechless – I know right!

With that being said, our weather has been a bit odd, we had one day of super rain, a couple cold an brisk days (which are great for walking) and warm days – all in all it seems like the weather is undecided – which is so Minnesota. On the bright side we put up the Christmas lights out front in short sleeves yesterday, which is better than parkas, mittens and snow so we're all good.

On Friday morning  (one of the chilly and crisp days) I decided a hearty soup was needed and I remembered that a bag of red lentils sat in our pantry waiting to be put to good use and I knew exactly how I would use them.

It was 7am – since I had all day to cook I decided to toss a few things in the crockpot and let them simmer. I diced an onion, added 2 cups of lentils, 2 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, 3 carrots roughly chopped, 3 cloves of garlic – minced, 32 + ounces of vegetable broth, 1 tsp. basil, 1 tsp. salt, ½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper and 3 large shakes of Penzeys Northwood's fire spice.  Cook on high (I have an older crockpot) for 8 hours –Done – I love simple!

We've been enjoying it for most of the weekend – Friday with whole grain bread, Saturday with spanakopita and tonight with whole grain bread.

On another note I tried a new banana bread recipe given to me by a co-worker – I loved that it had 100% whole wheat (no white flour), agave (the recipe called for honey but I'm not a fan) – I loved how moist it was and the agave gave it a slight sweetness but not too much sweetness – I liked it.

As Thanksgiving looms I'm reminded of all that I have -  a loving family, good friends and good health – I am truly grateful. 

Have a great day!

Root for the Roots!

Repeat after me; it's November 8^th, we have no snow and it was 58 degrees in Minneapolis today. I know it will snow in time but I can't recall the last time it was this nice in Minnesota in November. And Camille knows it too – she's been bugging us to take her out most everyday – she doesn't always stay out a long time but she wants to go out nonetheless.

Normally I'd be hunkering down and looking for a nice stew recipe about now – I did make my black bean soup recipe for our Halloween party last week, which we finished up and combined it with the last of the cornbread – it was delicious and it only had 170 calories per serving.

In my family (actually both our families) I'm known as the veggie queen. One of my favorite things to do to kill time is search for new veggie recipes – that's why I'm such a Pinterest freak – it's on-line recipe heaven to me. When I first met Dan he told me he didn't like brussels sprouts – I was amazed and confused in the same moment – my only response was "You've never had them cooked correctly, I guarantee that you will love my brussels sprouts" which by the way he does.

Before I started A Vegetarian for One Year, I would wash, trim and then cut small "x" in the bottom of each brussels sprout and then steam them until they were still crisp. While they were steaming I would sauté an onion in olive oil and cook a few strips of bacon in the microwave. When the brussels sprouts were done, I would cut them in half and add them to the onion and bacon mixture, add salt and pepper – and they were ready. I never got a bad review.

Since A Vegetarian for One Year, I've been roasting them. I wash, trim and slice them in half, toss in olive oil and then give them a few grinds of pink sea salt and black pepper. They are even better and they don't have bacon (my apologies to those of you who think bacon is part of the food pyramid).

How I digress, while I do have brussels sprouts in my fridge I took a different route this week. I had a pie crust in the fridge because I used it's mate to make a slab apple pie a week ago. I wanted to use it up and my first thought was a veggie quiche but I wasn't really in the mood. As I was going through the fridge for inspiration, I spied the beets I bought a week ago, some cauliflower, sweet potatoes, turnips and spinach. I knew exactly what I was going to make.

I started by chopping all the veggies, tossing them with olive oil and adding a few grinds of pink sea salt and black pepper (see a pattern) and put them in a 400 degree oven until they were tender. While they were roasting I caramelized a very large onion and then tossed a couple handfuls of spinach in and cooked it until wilted.

I combine the veggies, onion/spinach mixture and feta cheese in a large bowl and mixed well then poured it into the unbaked pie shell and baked it for about 30 minutes until the cheese was melted. 

It was delicious and we had leftovers for Saturday night too – what more can a girl ask for? In a couple weeks we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with my family in Fargo. I'm looking forward to a good time with family and great food. If you have any favorite Thanksgiving recipes send them my way - I'm always interested in trying new things. 

Curry + Eggplant = Deliciousness

I've been craving curry lately- ok I crave curry often and yes I eat curry often - it's my purpose in life.

We went to the farmers market a bit ago and purchased many many vegetables with the intent of having Dan's daughter Alona and her friend Nate over for dinner. But alas, the best laid plans oft go awry. We ended up at a local vegetarian friendly restaurant - with mixed success. I had a deliicious pumpkin hand pie and mixed greens but Nate had to send his pork back - too fatty.

One of our purchases was eggplant. I like eggplant but I'm not fond of recipes that require frying it in oil - simply because eggplant is like a sponge and I'm not fond of too much oil. So I'm always on the lookout for alternate cooking methods.

I pulled out one eggplant last night and decided to make a coconut curry eggplant with onions and tomatoes. I recalled seeing a recipe that roasted the eggplant first. It took me a few minutes to find it again but it was worth the effort. I started with this recipe and because I never have all of the ingredients or i have similar ingredients or I'm not a fan of some of their ingredients I usually modify it in some way. This time I didn't use the ghee, I added a can of fire roasted tomatoes instead of the roma and I didn't have canned coconut milk but I did have coconut/almond.

I really liked the flavor of the roasted eggplant it added depth to the dish and the roasting process was fairly painless so I'd definitely try it again. Now what to do with a head of cauliflower, a bunch of kale and 2 eggplant?

My original plan for the cauliflower was simple, roast it with a bit of olive oil and add a few grinds of pink sea salt and black pepper - which is what I did with half of it. I've got book club this week and I'm contemplating this sweet potato, quinoa and cauliflower dish. I'm intrigued because the cauliflower is cooked, pureed and seasoned to act like a sauce. With luck I'll have time to make it and the ladies will like.

Remember, if you have any great Halloween party appetizers send them my way - the party is coming up soooooooooooon.

The Transformation of Carrots

For the past 2 years I've planted carrots in the garden and for those of you who have seen my garden and noticed the nice straight lines and even spacing, I use the seed tape - mostly because I really, really hate thinning anything. I feel like I'm killing viable food and yes I intellectually understand it's all about the survival of the fittest, I'm a softie at heart.

With that in mind, it's humorous that Dan is so adamant about the fact that he can't tell the difference between a carrot pulled from the ground and one from the grocery store. People I hear your outrage - OMG really!  I know I say it too. I have no response.

About a week and a half ago I pulled the last of the carrots from the garden, I roasted a few for dinner and then we got busy and I forgot about them. But tonight as I was heading home from my walk I remembered they were in the crisper and thought they would make a lovely Curried Coconut Carrot Soup - which they did.

I started with this recipe and and made a few adjustments. I used 2 onions instead of one, substituted almond/coconut milk for the full fat coconut milk, I grated the ginger (to release the flavor), added garlic and increased the curry powder.

I started this project before Dan got home from work and was delighted to hear his "What smells so delicious" as he walked in the house. The smell of coconut, curry and ginger wafted through the house. Actually as we were sitting out on the deck enjoying a glass of wine we could smell it outside, with the door closed - it was that good.

Loving fall and fall foods and looking forward to some roasted brussel sprouts and beets for dinner tomorrow.

Apples, Pumpkins, Carrots and Cats!

We are in full fall mode here in Minnesota. The trees are turning, the nights are colder and as I take my daily walk along the trail the leaves are crunching beneath my feet. It's time to clean out the garden; cut the last of the mint, parsley and oregano for drying, cut down the barren tomato stalks, pull out the last of the carrots and update my gardening journal - it's been a great year.

We're getting ready for our annual Halloween Party; getting the decorations  out of the Halloween closet - and yes I do understand that I am most likely the only person in MN or the planet that has a Halloween closet - gotta love that. We made apple butter and prepped apples for pies last night and we're working on our costumes - I can't wait - I'm finally going to be a ….. well you'll just have to wait for photos to see but I'm so excited!

We spent the weekend with my Dad in Fargo and had a lovely side trip to visit my niece Katie at the U of M Morris on Sunday so my first cooking opportunity was Sunday evening. I've had my eye on making a Imam Bayildi the original recipe is here.

I made a couple changes (of course). I had one eggplant and two zucchini that needed to be used so I did a little substitution. I did two layers of eggplant and one layer of zucchini - no complaints from the peanut gallery and we finished the leftovers tonight.

Before we went to visit my Dad I harvested the carrots. I've been saving them for a velvety carrot ginger soup recipe that I found on Pinterest but since the bag was overflowing I decided to roast a batch with olive oil, agave and Himalayan sea salt for dinner tonight. We combined them with some sauteed zucchini and onions and whipped up a salad to round out a lovely dinner.

For those of you who are regularly reading my blog, in my last post I was pondering soaked oats - I can tell you without a doubt it's become a favorite breakfast food of mine. I've been soaking 2/3rd of a cup of rolled oats (not instant) in 1 cup of almond/coconut milk overnight. In the morning I add 1 Tbsp of agave (today I added 1T of apple butter), a pinch of fresh coconut, raisins and either pumpkin or sunflower seeds it's fast becoming a favorite. It's a little sweet, high fiber and gets me through the morning - give it a try I think you'll like it.

If you've been counting, our squash harvest is up to 15 - we've given some away and eaten a few but it looks like we'll be enjoying the fruits of our labor well into December.

I'm looking for Halloween food recipes, if you have any favorites please send them my way.

Ciao!

Relaxing Weekend and Healthy Food

It's been a beautiful September weekend. To be honest it's been a long time since we've had a late September weekend that was as lovely as this one. With the exception of herbs, our garden is done producing. As a matter of fact I harvested and set to dry the last of the basil, rosemary, oregano and mint. Lot's of little bundles hanging in the kitchen today – I love that I have not purchased any of those spices for the last 5 years.

After sending the hubby off to his work tech summit; 4 days of bonding, spending time with the engineers, learning about new products and team building, I went for a run, grabbed a few groceries, picked up the house and sat out on the deck to start the book club book – did I mention it was a beautiful afternoon – ahhhh.

Then of course dinner comes along and while I'm not a fan of cooking for one – I decided to bake one of the acorn squash from our garden and added a tablespoon of agave and some salt and pepper – tasty.  I served it with a small spinach salad with black beans, tomato, carrot (from garden), radish, pepper and mushroom. Camille wasn't a great dinner conversationalist but hey she does what she can.

I've been hearing and reading a lot lately about over night soaked oats (as opposed to cooking them) as a breakfast alternative so I'm planning to give it a try tonight. Start with ½ to 2/3 cups of rolled oats, ½ tsp chia seeds and 1 cup almond milk. Mix the oats and chia seed together in a container and pour the milk over the oats, stir and put in the refrigerator over night – that's it!

In the morning you can add nuts, dried fruit, coconut flakes, cinnamon and maple, agave or honey to sweeten it a bit. I'm planning to add, apricots and raisins, cinnamon, a little flaxseed and some agave – can't wait to give it a try.

I've been interested in raw food for a while, you might recall that Dan and I took an uncooking class together in the Spring – we still haven't made the savory casserole at home – but it's definitely on the agenda.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's good to be home – home style cooking

We've just returned from a week long vacation in Coeur D'Alene Idaho. Neither of us had ever been there and I've always heard how beautiful it is – it's true it is beautiful. If you recall from my last post, Dan was in a bicycle accident four days before we were to leave. I was concerned about going but the doctor assured me that he would most likely be fine – and he was.

We spent time hiking, sightseeing, trying restaurants and new foods and some general relaxing, reading and moving marathons – it was good and we had fun which was exactly what the doctor ordered!

I learned a couple things on vacation. First, I'm a city girl; we rented a carriage house, which was beautiful but remote – about 15 to 20 minutes out of the city on a winding road. I loved the space, waking up in the morning and looking out the window to see 2 – 3 deer looking back at me. To see the mountain with the tall pines neatly lined, the lake clear and calm. It was all so beautiful but I would have liked to be a bit closer to civilization (and yes I know 20 minutes is not as remote as it could be ….).

The second thing I learned is traveling as a vegetarian is hard at dinnertime. We had a full kitchen so we did our own breakfasts and a number of lunches, which really helped, but dinners were at times problematic. Many restaurants believe that removing meat and adding a slice of cheese solves the "vegetarian" problem – poof we are now vegetarian friendly – and in many cases this works; just not for me – I don't do cheese that comes from a cow; a sheep or goat is fine it's those pesky cows that get me every time.

We had a couple of outstanding meals.  One at a recommend Italian restaurant called Tony's on the Lake, I had a delicious polenta, fennel, roasted tomato, mushroom, onion and vegan cheese baked dish. It was one of my favorite dinners while on vacation. We also ate at a Greek restaurant where we started with a eggplant appetizer and then Dan had a vegetarian platter and I had a falafel sandwich – both were very tasty especially the spanakopita which Dan had – I'd say it was the best I've ever eaten.

Other dinners included veggie sandwiches (without out the cheese thanks), tofu stir-fry, and a nice vegan tomato soup with a salad. Our last dinner included techno wine tasting no sommelier required. It was an interesting place; they had 28 wines - 20 reds and 8 whites all connected to technology that would precisely pour 1, 3 or 5 ounce tastes. You purchased a card up front for a certain amount and then you put the card in the slot, selected the size pour you wanted and pressed the button, instant wine, perfectly poured. It was a fun way to try small amounts of a number of wines – which ranged from 2 to 9 dollars per 1-ounce pour.

I love to travel but I hate the traveling process – I wish Scotty and Spock could get the transporter fixed so we could use it in our time – would make things much simpler. But we are back and to celebrate I made my favorite vegan black bean soup for dinner tonight.

It's a pretty simple recipe; 1 large onion diced, 3 cans black beans, 1 can fire roasted tomatoes, vegetarian broth, 4 cloves of garlic, red pepper flakes and cumin – stuff I normally have in my kitchen.

Start by chopping the onion and cooking it in a pan with the garlic until translucent. Take one can of the beans (do not drain) put in a blender and add the onion/garlic mixture – blend until smooth. Return the pureed bean mixture to the stockpot, add 15 ounces of vegetarian broth and the can of fire roasted tomatoes.

Take the second can of black beans (again do not drain) add ½ tsp. of red pepper flakes, 1 tsp. cumin and combine in the blender – puree until smooth and add to the stock pot. Take the final can of beans (yep you got it don't drain them) and add them to the stockpot, simmer for 25 – 30 minutes. Serve with chopped avocado and sour cream (if you eat that of course) and a slice of coarse-grained bread – you'll be glad you did.

For those of you who are bean purists and feel the need to make your beans from scratch – I say you're a better man than I have at it. 

It feels good to be home.

Summer Swan Song and a Prelude to Fall

Fall is definitely in the air. I just came in from walking and I noticed that the leaves are beginning to fill the driveway and the smell in the air has a certain crispness. The nights are cooler (which is awesome for sleeping with the windows open) and the days still have a warm feel – it's my favorite time of year.

Tuesday night we had a bit of excitement; Dan had a biking accident and we ended up in the ER. I'm grateful that he was wearing his helmet and that he was not seriously injured. He does however have a concussion and a nice collection of scrapes and cuts. He'll be sore for a few days however, the fog seems to have lifted and he's getting back to normal – even though he is moving a bit slowly.

We're still in high tomato production mode – which is heavenly although we're struggling to keep up. I'm having dinner with some friends tonight and of course I'll have to bring them each a few tomatoes – it's down right rude to show up without a gift right. And everyone loves a home-made gift – or home grown gift in this case.

As you know we've been toasting bread and consuming tomato and mayo sandwiches quite frequently this season and believe me I have no complaints. But everyone once in a while you need something a little different.

I was scrounging through the fridge and in the back I spied a forgotten cucumber an avocado, some feta and of course the large bag of cherry tomatoes. I decided to throw them together in a quick salad with a rice wine vinegar and olive oil dressing. Add baked squash with apples, onions, walnuts, cranberries and maple syrup (yes the acorn squash is from the garden) and you have dinner. Both were delicious and Dan added a side of grilled salmon to his plate. 

We've been slowly using our acorn squash. We've dropped a few off with neighbors, friends and family and Dan has calculated that if we have squash once a week we have enough to last us until early January. I've been searching for vegan mac and cheese recipes and the ones that seem the most interesting are the squash based sauces so I think we'll give that a try at our next movie night.

I'm looking forward to cooler days and Dan's famous white bean soup  We're definitely transitioning to fall and our Annual Pumpkin Carving Party – complete with costumes – let the Halloween preparations begin!

Swiss Chard, Acorn Squash and Freekah

If you've been watching my blog at all you know we're in high production mode for tomatoes, swiss chard, bok choy and acorn squash. What's a girl to do with all that produce?

Well … after an Indian birthday celebration and a 20+-mile bike ride on Saturday with Dan's sisters we were exhausted and full so we opted for goat cheese, tomato, cucumber, carrot, radish, and avocado sandwiches for dinner on Saturday night (sorry we were so hungry we forgot to take pictures)– they were however, quite tasty.

Sunday was filled with re-organizing the pantry – tossing out the things there is no way we will eat in this life time and scrubbing and cleaning the closet – a satisfying day.  After cleaning the closet I took a short nap and then headed out for my 8,500-step walk. After all that activity, my legs were tired and so was I.

But we still needed dinner – so now that we can actually see what's in the pantry I decided to make a dish that included Freekah which is a young green wheat that has been toasted and cracked. It's a healthy whole grain food, similar to bulgur wheat and other whole grains and it has a kind of nutty flavor.

I found the perfect recipe that used one of our 16 acorn squash, freekah and kale --which I substituted swiss chard for because we have more than any human should be allowed to have. The flavor combination of this dish was amazing. The sweetness of the maple roasted squash, combined with the garlic, nutmeg and pepper sautéed swiss chard and the Dijon mustard sauce was a unique taste combination – by unique I mean good.

I don't often get a "This is a top 10 recipe" comment from Dan but that was his response after a few bites; must have done something right.

We did take pictures of this dish and as you can see we have a side of sliced tomatoes (of course). If you have any favorite swiss chard or squash recipes send them my way. Lately I've been pondering a swiss chard dal and a squash based vegan macaroni and cheese - as the days get shorter and the nights cooler comfort foods seem to find their way to the dinner table. 

But take heart we still have a lot of experimenting to do in the coming weeks and my carrots are close to ready - roasted carrots with a balsamic glaze and toasted sesame seeds here we come!

Thanks for stopping and keep sending recipe suggestions!

Zoodles (Zucchini Noodles) not Noodles

I've never really been a fan of pasta; sure I have it from time to time but in reality I don't need the carbs. On the flip side, I love tomatoes, in sauce, on a toasted sandwich, in a salad, or plain with a little salt.  So when my boss posted a recipe for Spaghetti'd Zucchini with Lentil Marinara I knew I had to try it.  The original recipe is here. 
 

I started out following the recipe but as I was taste testing I felt that it needed "something" so I added a little siracha, some additional garlic, more salt and some ground black pepper. I also added fresh basil and parsley both of which are currently taking over my garden; which is a good thing. 

We had our monthly movie night with friends Maria and Gerd and got good reviews on the zoodles and sauce. Served it with a green salad, some fresh bread and ended the evening with some lemon bars and chocolate cheese cake (left over from a new book club I recently joined).

And the movie; Insurgent (part 2 of the Divergent series). I really enjoyed the movie and am looking forward to the next installment although I wish they weren't so far apart. 

Spent some time out in the garden this morning; we're still getting green and yellow beans, the swiss chard is beautiful rainbow colors and tall (guess what's on the menu tonight), tomatoes still in high production and the carrots should be the next crop. Acorn squash continue to grow and the mint never seems to stop. And somewhere in all of that my oregano and rosemary have found a place to thrive. 

It's been a good harvest so far this year – all the crops seem to play well together now if I can remember what and where I planted everything perhaps I can recreate it next year. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Zucchini in the Garden, in the Kitchen and on the Doorstep - Watch Out!

If you've ever planted zucchini you might recall right about this time of year you're searching for recipes to use it in, neighbors to give it to or doorsteps to leave it on. This year my neighbor planted zucchini and cucumbers and we planted acorn squash and tomatoes – so we could trade.

As I was coming out of the garden with the front of my shirt loaded down with tomatoes my neighbor flagged me down to see if I wanted any cucumbers and zucchini so we swapped – her husband had a big smile on his face when he saw me leaving with 2 cukes and 2 zucchini – probably happy he didn't have to have zucchini AGAIN.

I really like zucchini; a medium zucchini has about 33 calories and essentially no fat or cholesterol. It has vitamin A, C and B-6, magnesium and a little calcium. I like how it absorbs the flavors of the ingredients it's paired with – it's very versatile. And if you've seen any of my spiralized recipes they're great for spiralizing to use in place of pasta you really can't go wrong.

I have a favorite zucchini recipe, which I look forward to making every year at this time. It has zucchini (of course), caramelized onions, tomatoes, feta and fresh basil. It's a little putzy but the flavor combination is well worth the effort.  I've been making and tweaking this recipe for a long time so I'm not sure where or what the original recipe was, but a couple years ago I adapted it to use Pampered Chef tools for a show so here goes:

Zucchini and Tomato Bake

2 medium zucchini

3 - 4 Roma tomatoes (this time I used one large beefsteak and 4 romas)

2 medium red onions

10 basil leaves (or more)

2 - 3  garlic cloves - more or less depends on how much you like garlic

Feta cheese - I don't measure I just grab a chunk (remember, cooking is not science it's cooking :-)

Salt

Pepper

Olive oil

Using the PC simple slicer, thinly slice onions on setting 1. Place in pan with olive oil and cook on medium heat until caramelized.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Again using the simple slicer, slice zucchini on setting 2, place on paper towels, salt, cover with another paper towel and let sit 30 minutes. This is to extract as much moisture out of it as possible.

With a very sharp knife, thinly slice tomatoes, pat with paper towels to remove excess moisture.

To assemble: place one layer of zucchini slightly overlapping on bottom of the PC Rockcrok. Top with caramelized onions, then a layer of tomatoes. Add another layer of zucchini and finally the last layer of tomatoes. Sometimes I do 3 layers with 2 layers of carmelized onions - it depends on what I have in the fridge.

  

Using the garlic peeler, remove the skins and then place the garlic cloves in the garlic slicer.  Slice garlic on top of tomatoes.

Crumble feta and sprinkle on top of final layer of tomatoes. Chiffonade basil and sprinkle on top.  Cover and bake at 375 for approx 20 - 25 minutes or until zucchini is soft. Turn oven on broil, remove Rockcrok cover and place under broiler until feta is slightly browned.

I served this with fresh baked 10-grain bread and a green salad – it was worth the wait.  One thing to note, even when you salt and drain the tomatoes and zucchini you still get water in the bottom of the dish, I usually drain it with a turkey baster ½ way through cooking.

Thanks for stopping by - and watch out for neighbors who seem to be slinking away from your doorstep - you could be the victim of a zucchini drop.

From the Garden with Yum

For those of you wondering, yes I did finish Harper Lee's new book; Go Set a Watchman. If you read and liked To Kill a Mockingbird (her only other book) you should read this it's just as good and powerful.

It's been hot here lately – very hot. Today it was close to 90 and the humidity was high. Mind you I don't want to be one of those people who complain when it's cold and then complains when it's hot. I'd like to think of myself as a fall person – I love the warm days and cool nights, the beautiful trees of red and gold and the smells; apple pie, hot cider, bonfires – it's wonderful.

Until that comes however, I'm happy to say that we've been eating out of the garden – a lot. The hot weather has put the grape tomato and the early girl tomato in full production and the sugar snap peas, green beans and herbs are begging to be used.

Last night was movie night – yeah! We tried to keep turning on the oven to minimum so we decided on a simple spinach, mushroom and onion frittata and a salad of green beans, sugar snap peas, snow peas and grape tomatoes with a mustard dressing. There was also cantaloupe and fresh bread with rosemary (yep from the garden) and to top it off baby smores cupcakes (which I purchased).

The recipe for the green beans is here. Since we were having eggs as the entrée I opted to not put them on the beans. I also substituted dill for the tarragon and added some grape tomatoes and then I totally forgot to put the lentils on (which I had dutifully cooked Anne Lapkin)– it turned out just find tho I liked the combination of the beans with the mustard sauce and dill and the tomatoes provided  the color. 

We also spent some time at the farmers market yesterday – it seems odd I know, especially since we have a garden full of veggies but I wanted some patty pan squash and then I found these beautiful pea shoots that I'm planning to sauté for dinner tomorrow night with a little soy sauce and some spices. Also bought some onions, and eggplant for baingan bharta – which Dan is planning to make for a potluck at work tomorrow – lucky coworkers, is all I can say.

Whether you're at home, at the lake, in the city or in the country –Enjoy!

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes ... Squash

It's becoming one of my favorite garden times; the tomatoes are starting to ripen and that means toasted tomato and mayo sandwiches – not bacon, lettuce and tomato; not bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado; not lettuce and tomato but toasted tomato and mayo sandwiches end of story.

We had a lot of excitement in the neighborhood last weekend. A nasty storm blew through and we lost power on Saturday morning about 2am and didn't get it back until Sunday evening at about 6pm. It's amazing how much we rely on electricity; for coffee, hot water, microwave, cooking, cleaning, and of course those electronic devices that seem to have taken over our lives.

I'd like think I'm a pretty good sport when it comes to adversity; knowing that camping is not my thing (and yes I have tried it – but it doesn't seem to stick) I was in pretty good spirits on Saturday but when I woke up on Sunday and we still had no power I began to get irritated and cranky and yes a little snappy with the hubby.  But we made it through and now that the power is back I'm a happy camper again!

But I digress so back to sandwiches – toasted tomato and mayo sandwiches. You need to start out with dense grain bread with seeds, lots of seeds. We were at Costco a while ago and found a hearty grain bread with seeds so we purchased a couple of loaves and tossed them in freezer knowing tomato season would soon be upon us.

Tonight we toasted that delicious bread until it was crispy and brown then added mayo (not Miracle Whip), and thinly sliced tomatoes a couple grinds of sea salt and it was heaven. The simplicity of the sandwich was amazing you could taste every individual savory flavor. If you've never had a simple tomato and mayo sandwich you should give it a try, you'll wonder why you'd never tried it before.

On a side note – I've informed Dan that we are going to be "those people" the kind that leave squash on their neighbors step or wander around looking for cars with open windows to drop off a squash.

I planted 4 acorn squash plants and just came in from the garden and the official count for squash larger than 3 inches is 10 with about 15 – 20 smaller squash coming right behind them. Sometimes those new veggies work out better than you would expect - woot woot!

The rest of the garden is going well; harvested a large batch of sugar snap peas, some corn salad and leaf lettuce (just about done tho) the bok choy and swiss chard are close behind. The basil is coming along quite nicely and the carrots even though the *&^%$# bunny ate the fluffy green tops the veggie continues to get bigger so they'll definitely be fresh carrots.

My one disappointment is the green beans; the crazy rabbit got in there one too many times and helped him/herself to the flowers so our harvest has been pretty small.  Sigh – perhaps next year.

Thanks everyone for the comments, likes and personal notes – if you have a recipe to share please leave it in the comments!

Enjoy!

Gardening, Cooking and Independence Day!

Happy Independence Day! Yesterday was the 4^th of July; a day filled with fireworks, parties and celebrations.  Dan has been under the weather lately so we decided to forgo our regular bike ride to Deephaven and just hang out around the house.

I started the day at the Farmers Market with some friends followed by coffee and then a quick dash to the grocery store to get a few final ingredients; I felt like cooking.

I recall when I was a young girl my mom would marinade cucumbers and onions with oil, vinegar and spices it was one of my favorite dishes. My dill is in full bloom and I love the smell and taste of it so I took my trusty herb scissors and a bowl out to the garden for some dill and while I was at it I harvested another batch of greens; lettuce, corn salad, bok choy, arugula and cilantro.

I thinly sliced one onion (smallest slice on the Pampered Chef simple slicer) and the chopped 2 med cucumbers and 3 large tomatoes put all in a bowl, added ½ cup rice wine vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil, fresh garlic, fresh dill and agave to taste. Poured it all in the bowl and marinated for 2 hours.

On Friday evening a friend of mine posted a picture of a beautiful pie decorated for the 4^th with lots of stars for the top crust. I was inspired to create something similar and I have lots of rhubarb in the freezer so a strawberry rhubarb pie it was. I used this recipe by Smitten kitten and substituted cornstarch for the tapioca (not a fan).  

Next time I would brush the entire crust with the egg mixture first and then cut out the stars so they wouldn't shift around but I do like how it turned out and it got good reviews :-)

My final dish was a seed and carrot loaf, from Trinity's kitchen the recipe is here no substitutions and it was delicious. 

Tonight is leftover night and I can't wait!