a day in the life of a food snob

Salad for breakfast is a good, good thing:


Homemade, garden-fresh, pico de gallo:

Three different kinds of tomatoes, purple bell peppers, jalapenos, green onions, (all from Dan's garden,) lime juice, cilantro, fresh garlic, and salt. A lot of chopping, but well worth it!

Nachos for lunch:

Organic blue corn tortilla chips, black beans, local, organic monterey jack cheese, loads of homemade pico, and local, organic sour cream. I restrained myself to this platefull, but Dan went back for a second helping. Not pictured: Virgil's root beer. Perfect salty meal, sweet beverage combination!

We enjoyed the rest of the pico, with a few remaining black beans mixed in, with leftover chips as a late-afternoon snack.

Vegan spanikopita and tabouli for dinner:

I made the tabouli using quinoa, since I didn't have any bulgur in the cupboard, and all the usual tabouli ingredients: tomato, cucumber, green onion, lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, mint, chickpeas, and salt. I like a LOT of mint in my tabouli -- I use roughly equal parts mint and parsley. There's that fine line between minty deliciousness and toothpaste-land that I like to walk right up to, but never cross. :)

I loosely based the spanikopita on a recipe from Fine Cooking. This was "effing" amazing! I can't believe how good this was, containing no cheese! Yay for tofu vegan deliciousness! Here's what I did:
1. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil in a large skillet. Add one very large clove of garlic, minced, and two shallots, minced, and cook until soft. Add 1 1/2 pounds spinach, roughly torn into bite-sized pieces. Cook until the spinach is almost completely wilted. Add about 3/4 cup sliced green onions, and cook until the spinach is completely wilted. Cool.
2. Smush up one 10-ounce package super-firm tofu. Add 4 tablepoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg, pepper to taste, and 1 handfull whole almonds, pulsed in a food processor until very finely chopped. Mush the whole mixture together with a fork until it is well combined.
3. Add 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill, 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley, and 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint, along with the spinach mixture and any liquid left in the bottom of the pan, to the tofu. Mix well.
4. Preheat your oven to 375. Melt 1/2 cup (1 stick) Earth Balance or other favorite margarine. You could also use olive oil. (Don't despair -- I was somewhat generous with my margarine brushing, and still didn't use the full stick. Plus, spanikopita just isn't health food!! If you're really worried, pick up one of those oil spray pumps and get spritzing.)
5. Open a 1-pound package of filo dough, and cut the large sheets in half. Wrap up half of the sheets to use another time. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9X13 pan with the melted margarine. Layer 8 sheets of filo in the pan, brushing the top of each sheet with margarine. Add the spinach mixture, spreading evenly. Layer the remaining filo sheets, brushing the tops of each sheet with margarine.
6. Cut the spinach pie into 9 squares. Brush the cut seams with margarine. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the filo is golden brown. Allow the pie to cool until just warm before serving. (You may need to re-cut the squares before serving.)

And, there may be pie yet before bed!

Question of the evening:
What was your best meal or snack today?

My answer? That's a tough one. Everything I ate today was so fresh, delicious, and mind-blowingly awesome . . . but I think lunch had to have been my favorite. The balance between the salty nachos and the sweet root beer was soooooooo perfect!