salad sandwich

Simple filling and delicious.  What we have here is massaged kale with shredded carrots and beets, a home made almond 'mayo' (which is my experimenting with vegan/paleo/raw foods) and a smattering of Dijon mustard.  The bread is a store bough sourdough which is lightly toasted. I think what made this sandwich a winner was the fact that I used carrots from the garden; they were sweeter and more flavorful than any other carrots I have had!  you cannot tell from this picture but it was also a combination of standard orange carrots and some purple carrots.  they taste different but I cannot tell you exactly how  :)  

Full meal posts are gonna be off for a bit . . . my cook nights are double booked and getting food to my house is more important than the blog.  Maybe tomorrow I will make a 'full meal' lunch for my day off!

Eat Lunch!

I am still not tired of okra!  Todays version?  This is garlic brazed okra in coconut oil with rosemary.  I served it over re-fried beans with a helping of sliced cherry tomatoes.  I ate it with tortilla chips but ti would have been fine with rice or quinoa or any other grain.

a not on cooking okra:  most people don't like it because of the slimy texture it has when cooked improperly.  The trick is to fry it alone in oil, the thick gooey part which most people find unpleasant is a water soluble  compound that is not 'activated' in oil.  Meaning if your fry the okra in a really hot pan with oil you make something delicious! 

Boxed Lunch

Between TA second summer session, taking photos for as many events as I can, some recurring emotional turmoil, recovering from my sprained ankle, an internship and trying to find a stable job I am going to be boxing up my lunch more often.  Unfortunately for me that means having to think a lot harder about what I make, not only do I need to think tasty but I also need to think about what travels well, stores for 3-5 hours and is tasty edible at close to room temperature.  That makes a quick Mexican meal an easy choice.  

I made re-fried beans with sauteed onion garlic, jalapeno and corn and a hearty amount of salt and oil (key to making it creamy smooth and yummmmm).  The tortillas are home made from white masa flour with garlic added in.  In place of Spanish rice I had a large couscous salad made with grilled summer squash and okra.  To top it off salsa fresca smothers the re-fried beans to increase the vegetable content.  

Honestly it is better hot with tortillas fresh off the grill but a life on the go has particular demands.  Keep watching for more quick meals (though I am likely to be eating a lot of left overs from dinner for lunch)

A Dinner for Fun!

If you are eating seasonally sometimes it is hard to keep the meals interesting. I have to admit that for the last three weeks I have eaten some version of tomato/eggplant/okra for lunch and part of the reason I have not gotten tired of it is because I keep playing with flavors on top of the base.  

The meal featured here starts with a savory quinoa where I pre-toasted the quinoa (simmered it in oil until it popped a bit, giving it a more nutty taste)cooked it in vegetable broth and added sungold tomatoes for the last 3-5 minutes of cooking so they stayed firm.  

We have too much cucumber coming out of our garden and I am kind of sick of it but there are still ways to make it seem new.  These are thick cucumber slices tossed in a sauce of lemon juice agave and mint (about a teaspoon or two of each) then chilled while the rest is cooked.  It comes out sweet with a cool zing that is very refreshing.  

Usually I make this succotash type meal i use balsamic vinegar and try to accent the summer flavors.  In an effort to do something new I sauteed in coconut oil and added shredded coconut.  In place of the balsamic I went with rice vinegar and added in powdered ginger to go for a more Asian flavor.  First brown together the onions, bell pepper and okra then toss in thinly sliced Japanese eggplant (thin makes it cook faster).  Chopped tomatoes go in last with an extra dash of olive oil (1 Tbs), minced basil and garlic and get put on lower heat until it becomes saucy and delicious.  

Summer time and the lunching's easy

It is beginning to be a challenge. . .cooking zucchini in new ways but brazed is usually a good idea.  By using a VERY hot skillet with a minimal amount of oil you can get the natural sugars in zucchini to brown . . .of course take it too far and you are just burning it.  To help you can splash a bit of soy sauce or balsamic vinegar ti give the appearance of browning while kicking in some extra flavor.  Above is zucchini brazed in balsamic vinegar with garlic to accompany my side of rainbow chard sauteed in lemon juice garlic and butter (earth balance but do I really need to say it every time?  just assume it is some vegan butter, even better assume it is earth balance). with tomato and green beans.  The quinoa is tossed with tomato and oregano and dashed with olive oil and topped with avocado and pepper.  Yeah I can keep eating Zucchini.

TCB Lunch

Takin' Care of Business?  or Tomato Corn Basil! 

Its the later.  This simple lunch was made from produce I picked earlier in the day: Organic sweet corn cut off the cob, Tomatoes diced (the variety is a combination of 'lady in the shade' which is a slicer and 'sungolds' which is a cherry variety), and Basil.  Of course I grated fresh garlic into this mix and doused it with a combination of olive oil coconut oil and a splash red wine vinegar (though balsamic or white would have been fine too).  Just a dash of salt and a nice helping of fresh ground pepper and you are eating summer incarnate! 

Lunch to go

For the rest of summer my lunches are likely to be some combination of zucchini, tomatoes and basil but with the last head of cabbage from the cooler I put together a lunch to take hiking with me.  Cabbage travels quite well and is a good source of fiber (not to mention how well it carries flavor; much like tofu, cabbage is a medium for sauce).   The cabbage is a curry cabbage made in coconut oil with roasted peanuts over the top and a sprinkling of paprika for a subtle heat and nice color.  The rice to accompany it is a saffron rice (with turmeric to bump up the color) with diced and roasted carrots, corn and coconut.  The two flavor complimented each other well and I was happy I bought enough to share (because everyone wanted a taste).  

Lunch Salad

With summer here my kale salads are now featuring tomatoes and corn!  I still use diced almonds and sesame seeds (duh) with grated garlic.  I also toss in minced basil and some fresh oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  It is probably the most filing salad I could think of! 

Speedy Lunch

I know I know. . .I need to do a full meal and get back to explaining how to make plant based living seem simple and fun! Time keeps getting away but at least I keep lunch coming :)  

This one is a bit of a cheat.  I used the re-fried beans Johnny made earlier in the week with the Barley I made tuesday night (easier than making rice and damn barley is good! ) to make somethign like an open faced taco . . .no not a tostada, the tortilla is not fried and there is not tomato or lettuce for it to be a tostada.  I did dress the tortilla with a bit of oil, garlic powder and nutritional yeast.  I also topped the barley/bean mix with fresh avocado and cilantro.  It was really yummy so I had seconds (and thirds .. .i eat a lot)

Lunchy Lunch!

summer is oh so close. . .but I am faking ti until tomatoes are actually in full swing.  Zucchini is already here in force so lunch was a make shift ratatouille with bell peppers mustard seeds fresh tarragon and basil.  After some sauteing the tomatoes are crushed in and stewed.  The ratatouille simmers while the polenta is stirred up.  I never know the right ratios for polenta to water because more water just makes it more runny and sometimes I like my polenta firm and sometimes I like it soupy but 2:1 gets the right ball park.  spoon some ratatouille over polenta and yummm!  

Another Lunch

Asparagus season is coming to an end and while it makes me want to curl up and cry until the next spring sprouts shoot up i am more inclined to celebrate its passing!  For lunch I had a grilled asparagus sandwich with grated carrots, radishes, and sliced red bell peppers.  The asparagus was sauteed in copious amounts of garlic with a little olive oil and a splash of soy sauce.  The bread was lightly toasted and slathered with locally produced spicy mustard.  I ate two of these and was thinking of going for a third but alas I ran out of asparagus

Lunch time, yeah!

The last two weeks have been BUSY!  it may be hard to believe but I dont think I have cooked a full dinner in 2 weeks!  Egads!  yet still I crank out some tasty and quick lunches.  Above you see the toasted sesame asparagus in a balsamic reduction with a side of chipotle zucchini and roasted fennel bulb.  The salad is a Dino/Red Russian kale mix with sunflower seeds and grated carrots.  The strawberries on top are just because but made an excellent cap to the meal.

Triple Carrot! 

Lunch Brief

This time of year is great!  Asparagus is growing with vengeance in the sun after brief rains.  So when i get home from the farm I always have a nice handful of the culls.  Start the pasta cooking and while that is going on get your added vegetables ready. I sautes the green onions and garlic with some olive oil on a medium heat tossing in carrot slices after the onions browned a bit (only a minute or two with green onions).  Soon after I toss in the asparagus and the collard stems and let them all sizzle for about 5 minutes.  I toss the collard greens in then and turn the heat off, letting the residual heat of the cast iron and steaming vegetables blanch the collards without turning it to mush (If I was doing a lot of greens I would need to leave the heat on a while on low).  I toss the pasta with the vegetables some 'butter' (earth balance, coconut oil, olive oil, or what ever fatty stuff you like) salt pepper and grated garlic to taste!  

This was my Lunch yesterday

Mondays are a particularly yummy lunch day for me.  Fresh food comes in from a local farm (sometimes picked by me! ) and I have enough time to do something with it.  Above is this weeks lunch which I was particularly happy with.  On the left is a green saute which started with onions, green garlic, mustard seeds and carrots.  I originally planned on putting the asparagus in that but after adding the collards stems and some thinly sliced potatoes it took on a life of its own.  The collards went in last and the dish was seasoned with oregano salt pepper and a touch of brags.

The quiona with fresh sliced radish (center) I did a bit weird.  See I wanted to have plain quiona this morning for my quiona pancakes (coming soon) so i did not cook it in broth, just water.  After separation out about a cup of cooked quiona I tossed in Spike (my favorite powdered vegetable broth) some olive oil, garlic powder, pepper and paprika (for color contrast to all the green).  A couple quick stirs and onto the plate it goes with the radish and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

The asparagus . . .lemon pepper in coconut oil. I brazed it in a hot cast iron with a bit of onion and garlic after it browned and was tender (though young fresh asparagus can be eaten raw and is already tender) I turned off the fire and added a teaspoon of coconut oil and a squeeze of half a lemon (probably only 2 tsp of juice) and let it simmer in the cooling pan.

A very happy lunch I had :)