Derailed?

Also-- what if I learn to take vacation without forgetting how to feed myself? Although I'm thrilled to have walked away from my Thanksgiving trip a few pounds lighter, I didn't feel healthy and that I was taking care of myself well.

Back on track today. Went to the grocery store last night and am all loaded up with the fixings for this week's meals. I'm experimenting a bit with the dairy question-- I have an instinct that I may eat better with it's inclusion (maybe because of the fat or protein question? I have no idea.) so I'll give it a try.

An update from yesterday:

Breakfast: coffee with coconut hazelnut creamer and stevia, oatmeal with peanut butter and maple syrup

Lunch: Whole Foods prepared foods-- sweet chili tofu, autumn couscous (includes squash, cranberries, sage, etc), salad with cranberries, candied walnuts, red onion and feta cheese; fresh carrots

Snack: kiwi; two chocolate truffles; orange

Dinner: roasted asparagus; rosemary-thyme fingerling potatoes with balsamic vinegar and parmesan; poached egg

Breakfast: coffee with coconut hazelnut creamer and stevia, oatmeal with peanut butter and maple syrup, apple, banana

Snack: low-fat vanilla yogurt, frozen fruit

I think this blog is a work in process, almost always. I keep hoping and waiting to discovery or define the perfect pattern of posting sot hat it fits with my life and still gets the *right* content here. I'm beginning to wonder what value that formula might add, though. Maybe I'll just keep throwing things up here. If folks want to read, great-- and if not, at least I'll have a good chronicle for myself.

What if.....

-- What if I focused intently on being very aware of what I put into my body?
-- What if I let go of restrictions and denials, but instead choose abundance and celebration in every meal?
-- What if I post that appreciation here, so that I can remind myself to be thankful and aware?
-- What if I start today?

Breakfast: a glorious cup of coffee with coconut milk based creamer in hazelnut and stevia; oatmeal with pumpkin, dried cranberries, raisins and spices.

Snack: a decaf soy caramel brulee latte from Sbux; half a red bell pepper; a carrot; half an english cucumber

Lunch: brown rice, caramelized onions and lentils; half an acorn squash, roasted; half an avocado, lightly salted; leftover Thai veggies in coconut milk sauce from Annapurna's; huge salad with Amy's Sesame Shitake dressing; an apple

Snack: a banana; one chocolate chunk cookie

Dinner: white bean cassoulet; roasted cauliflower; green salad; bread; two and a half glasses wine

Dessert: cherry cobbler with Dreyer's Slow Churned Vanilla ice cream

Fresh peaches galore

My roommate's grandfather owns a peach tree. For a month we have been inundated with stone fruit. Don't get me wrong, this is a good problem to have! One of my greatest pleasures in life is eating a fresh peach over the sink, its juices running down my arm. But eventually we had fresh peaches galore-- and I felt the need to do something other than inhale the peaches on their own.

My roommate has been making cobbler, crisp, oatmeal and ice cream-- all to top the peaches. Wanting to provide another option, I introduced the clafoutis.

Clafoutis are incredible-- light and airy, creamy and silky, dotted with fruit and dripping with juice. And so easy to make! Please give this recipe a try; clafoutis is now my go-to dessert, and a fabulous way to use up any extra fruit that may be laying around. Enjoy!

Peach Clafoutis
adapted from Sweet Amandine

4 to 5 fresh peaches (peeled and sliced)
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 tsp molasses
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tsp almond extract (or 2 tsp Amaretto, if you have it in the house. Speaking of which, why don't I have any in the house?)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

-- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray; lightly coat with sugar. Arrange peach slices to cover; if you have too many peaches, make two layers.
-- Whisk together the eggs, sugar, molasses, flour and salt. When combined, add milk and extracts. Continue whisking until smooth and creamy.
-- Pour batter over peaches.
-- Bake for 55 to 75 minutes. (I bake mine for 55 minutes, then check every 5 minutes until set. You can tell it is finished when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the center still wiggles a bit.)
-- Clafoutis is best served warm. Some people dust it with powdered sugar, or top it with cream (whipped, iced or otherwise), but I prefer it unadorned.

Enjoy! :)

No fuss....

I have a hard time understanding elaborate, extensive preparations for certain foods. No fancy technique could possibly taste better than thin asparagus roasted with caramelized bits of minced garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. More, please.

Satisfying

Basic vegan cooking can be enormously satisfying. Especially as summer progresses, I find that I am craving dishes that highlight the clean, unadorned taste of fresh ingredients. Herbavoracious has a great method post for creating wonderful vegetarian meals. Using this guideline, I created tonight's dinner as a means of using some produce before it went bad.

Cook 1/2 cup barley in 2 cups of water; salt well.
Dry-fry 1/4 block of firm tofu; cut into cubes
Stir-fry 1/2 a red onion, 2 zucchini, and 1 yellow squash. Season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika.

Place barley in serving bowl; top with veggie mixture; layer tofu cubes and splash with mirin. (Not too much, but enough to moisten the tofu a bit.) Add avocado cubes, and devour.

Dinner party redux

I attended a lovely dinner party on Saturday evening, and the hostess made a special effort to make a vegetarian casserole for those of us who could not eat her roast chicken. It was wonderful: barely, pinto beans and polenta-- mmm. :) I had volunteered to bring a vegetarian dish, too, and settled on Indian. I HIGHLY recommend this watermelon curry recipe. I know it sounds like a strange flavor combination, but it was a huge hit at the party. I'm putting it into the regular rotation. But the star was the chana masala; the leftovers went home with a friend, and she said they were even better the next day. I wasn't quite happy with the flavors the first time around, but I think I found the answer in tonight's version. The cinnamon is in no way traditional to this dish, but I find it takes the edge off the tomato acidity and adds a wonderful warmth to the sauce.

Chana Masala (adapted from Orangette)

olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garam masala
3 green cardamom pods, crushed lightly with the blade of a large knife (open slightly, but do not crush so much that the seeds escape)
1/4 cup water
1 28-ounce can peeled, crushed tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, plus a bit more to taste
2 15-ounce cans organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cinnamon
juice of one half lime

Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil; heat over medium heat. Add onion and sautee-- stirring frequently-- until browning and caramelized. This generally takes about 25 to 30 minutes on my stove top; most importantly, please do not rush the process. The slower the color builds, the better. Once onions have deepened (even begun to char in some places?), add garlic and cook until the flavors bloom-- usually a minute or so, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat to low and add spices: cumin seeds, coriander, ginger, garam masala and cardamom pods. Stir well, and cook until fragrant (30 to 90 seconds, depending on your heat). Deglaze pan by adding 1/4 cup of water, and scraping all the browned flavorful bits from the bottom of the pan. Let cook until water has dissolved and the spice onion slurry is all that remains.

Add tomatoes, breaking them up into pieces with your hands. Salt and stir well. Raise heat back to medium; bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add cinnamon and lime juice; simmer until sauce begins to thicken a bit. Reduce heat to low, add chickpeas and stir well.

Add 2 tablespoons water to the dish, and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes. Add 2 more tablespoons water, and simmer 5 minutes. This repeated process keeps the chickpeas plump and deepens the flavors of the sauce. Check for seasoning, and serve over rice/quinoa/any other grain-- or be adventurous and serve alongside roasted potatoes with garlic as I did this evening. It was still phenomenal, if not traditional. Squeeze additional limes over at table, if desired.

Small Army

I love being part of big family. I grew up as one child in five, and moving to New Mexico has only made my family bigger. I cooked dinner at Grandma's house tonight-- there were 11 of us, total. That's a lot of people to feed; and a lot of relatively picky palates. Luckily, pasta is almost universally appealing, so long as I keep the sauce/toppings simple. I reverted to a non-vegan meal.... it's all a process. :)

Caprese Pasta for Eleven

1 1/2 lbs pasta (I used orecchiette, but any small pasta will do)
extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 pints cherry tomatoes
2 pints yellow pear tomatoes
1/3 cup dry white wine (I used Sauvignon blanc-- just be careful your wine is not too rich or oaked here)
16 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into bite size pieces
2 ounces basil, torn into pieces

Boil pasta per package directions. Please do not forget to salt the water before adding pasta-- this is the only chance you will have to season the pasta itself.

While pasta cooks, heavily coat bottom of a large skillet with olive oil. (I probably used 1/4 cup of olive oil here.) Heat over medium heat; add minced garlic and sautee until fragrant (but not browned). Add all cherry tomatoes, coat well in olive oil and garlic. If needed, add more olive oil to coat well. Season well with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Cover skillet and let cook, stirring occasionally. When the tomatoes are beginning to burst open, add wine and let cook uncovered for a few minutes. You want the concentrated flavor of the wine, but not too much extra liquid.

Drain pasta, but reserve one cup of starchy cooking water-- set aside. Add pasta to skillet with tomatoes; remove from heat. Add mozzarella pieces and basil-- toss well to combine. If pasta is dry, add some of the starchy cooking water and taste again for seasoning.

Serve with a green salad and garlic bread. (Make the salad a little bigger than you think you might need-- especially if you're feeding a small army, as I was.) Enjoy!