veggie heaven
This week we got our first CSA box and I’m possibly a little over excited about it. The truth is I’m really awful at shopping for vegetables, and it’s rare that I buy fruit ever. So having someone else pick out some perfect organic fruits and veggies and deliver them to my door is the best. I feel like this is the impetus for my diet to be transformed from 90% carbs to maybe a little bit lower percentage. Granted, I am already dreaming of making cherry tarts and zucchini bread (I blame these ladies for posting zucchini bread instagrams for that) which isn’t quite the healthiest way to prepare these fruits and veggies, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.
Mostly I’m just happy to have really fresh and delicious foods. It’s easy to forget how good simple foods can taste when you’re used to drowning them in sauces and seasonings. Yet it’s entirely pleasing to just eat a peach or a cobb of roasted corn.
The other perk is getting creative with foods I wouldn’t normally buy. Celery for instance. While I’ll occasionally purchase celery for a recipe, it’s not on my usual slate of vegetables. Since we got some in this box, I was inspired to make some chickpea salad. It’s a recipe I make all the time, but leave out the celery. Who knew that the celery actually makes it taste way better. So here is to expanding my vegetable vocabulary. And to celebrate, here is my easy chickpea salad recipe.
Chickpea Salad
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1/4 cup vegenaise
1 Tbsp mustard
1 1/2 tsp rice vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
In a food processor, mash the chickpeas until they are sort of mushy. Add the other ingredients and blend until combined. I like my chickpea salad on the smooth side, but you can go chunky too.
in the kitchen
Despite all the hard work it takes to put together a supper for eight, I do love being able to spend so much time in the kitchen creating an assortment of dishes. Yet again, I got so caught up in preparing and serving everything for our most recent secret supper I didn’t take a single photo the night of the event when everything was finished and presented. I still think just the colorful vegetables, spices and ingredients are beautiful though. Oh and that quiche, it’s making me dream of quiches and pies to come.
The days are getting darker and cooler and I am looking forward to the many delectable meals that will be prepared in our kitchen. The turn of the seasons and the coming of fall brings me so much happiness.
Have a wonderful weekend!
easter brunch
Well, we managed to pull everything together and put together a lovely Easter brunch. We even managed to snag an amazing dining set, including a beautiful hutch and a buffet, from Craigslist and pick it up on Saturday. There was a lot of cooking and moving of furniture and cleaning (as we still haven’t quite moved in 100%) but I’m proud to say it went off without a hitch.
We reused the wonderful moss centerpieces from our rehearsal party along with a few pieces we have in our china collection. I am totally in love with this bunny.
We also used the cloth napkins that we got for our wedding (which you’ll be seeing in action, in the next few days). Clearly I have a thing for bunnies. While we do have a lovely set of spring themed dishes, we were one setting short. This mismatched mushroom plate fit in nicely though.
I even tried my hand at flower arranging for the occasion. I obviously chose a vase that was much too large, for my flower selection, but I was really happy with the extra color.
I had to get a little fancy and make these french toasts with asparagus and orange beurre blanc that I found on Martha Stewart. Of course, with a few simple substitutions, I was able to veganize the entire recipe. They were a lovely addition to the brunch, slightly decadent, but not too sweet or overwhelming of the other dishes.
I’ve never had a beurre blanc sauce before so I’m not sure if I made it quite right but it was extremely tasty.
Cooking in our new kitchen is a dream. For the first time, I have sunlight in the kitchen. It’s an amazing thing.
Shawn’s one request was a deep dish quiche filled vegan bacon and daiya cheese. I used the broccoli quiche recipe as the base from Vegan Brunch
Alicia brought some delicious roasted Brussels sprouts and a carrot ginger soup with cashew pesto. So good. I also made some roasted spring vegetables but forgot to photograph them. Oops!
My mom made an orange quinoa salad. Definitely an orange theme this year.
Nine of us fit at our new table! I still can’t believe we found it.
With so many different dishes, we had to fill our plates many times with small servings. Here’s round one with the french toast, quiche, soup and veggies.
Mochi really wanted to be part of the party.
I made some molasses candies as a treat. Having never made them before, I’m pretty pleased with how they came out. I think I could take another crack at it though. I used blackstrap molasses so they were particularly strong. Ideally I’d prefer them to be a bit more subtle and less chewy. Of course, they should also be coated in chocolate. Making candy is like making magic.
Luckily my mom brought an assortment of chocolates from Xan confectioners.
It was a wonderful day filled with family and friends. It definitely showed me how much it takes to host a good party. Thank goodness I had help with the dishes. Now I’m just glad I have the rest of my Sunday to relax.
Eat your veggies
As the weather warms up (at least here in Los Angeles), it means it’s time to bring that grill that’s been hibernating back into action. Grilling vegetables is one of my favorite ways to prepare them as you get the full flavor of each veggie. It’s also amazingly simple. Here are a few tips to making great grilled vegetables.
First, the most obvious thing is to pick fresh vegetables. Pay attention when you’re at the market and you’ll have much better results when you get home.
Next, I find that generally simple is best for the grill. Just wash your veggies, slice accordingly, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and put on the grill. For asparagus, no need to cut the ends off, just bend and they should snap off. The portobellos above were marinated for about 20 minutes in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.
For eggplant, once it’s sliced, I recommend salting it to remove any bitterness. Just sprinkle salt on the slices and let sit until you see moisture on the surface, then wipe away the water with a towel. Repeat for the other side, then grill as usual.
Okay, now get ready, because I’m about to let you in on the recipe my all time favorite grilled appetizer. If you like mushrooms, you will love this. Take a few white mushrooms, wash and remove the stalks. Sprinkle the insides of each mushroom with a fair amount of salt, put directly onto the grill and cover. The salt pulls the natural moisture from the mushrooms into the center to make little mushroom juice shots. They are so amazing and simple I can’t even tell you, you’ll just have to try it.
Along with these veggies, Shawn and I finally tried out some vegan blue cheese. I will admit that I only tried this for the novelty factor considering I did not like blue cheese when I was a vegetarian. I was pleasantly surprised at how tasty it was. It was rich and flavorful and went amazingly well with the vegetables.
I can’t wait till summer comes and more BBQ’s will be in order.
