weekend eats, somewhat

I haven't made much of anything noteworthy this weekend, (it's still salad time, in a bad way, and I have also been working on finishing up party leftovers from last weekend,) but I did manage to whip up a couple fresh things!

First, Almond Butter Granola Bars:

I have tried, and failed, many times to make homemade granola bars. They seem to suffer from so many problems: too sweet, too sticky, too crumbly, too hard, just never quite . . . right, you know? However, my homemade granola bar issues have been resolved, thanks to a recipe from Anja. These bars, in my opinion, are PERFECT -- soft, chewy, almost oatmeal-cookie like in texture, chock full of healthy protein and fat, and you know what they don't have? Any sugar! Or maple syrup! Or honey! The base is simply pureed banana and almond butter, with a whole bunch of good stuff stirred in, and then all baked away to perfection. MMMMMMMMM!!!!! These will come in super-handy for those mornings where I just can't stomach food at 5:30 AM, and prefer to munch on something during my commute.

I also made more spring rolls, in an attempt to use up leftover herbs:

I added tofu (yum!) and avocado (kind of weird) this time, which added to the spring rolls' staying power. I have made a meal out of spring rolls and peanut sauce a couple of times already this weekend. :) I only wish I had remembered I had a cucumber in the crisper, too! That would have added to their deliciousness.

I have been spending lots of time with friends this weekend, (tea, walking, movies, biking, bowling, and maybe even fireworks tomorrow,) and it's been good to get out of the house quite a bit! I love enjoying summer in Minnesota, as best I can. :)

housewarming

I had several friends over last night for a housewarming (apartment-warming, whatever) party, and we had so much fun! We talked, we ate, we drank (tea and lemonade,) and we played "Apples to Apples" and "Taboo." Woooo! Low-key, definitely, but that was what I was after. :)

Here's the spread I prepared . . .

Tons of local veggies from the Farmer's Market, with Red Lentil Hummus:

The veggies (summer squash, kohlrabi, radishes, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and sugar snap peas) were awesome, of course, and all local. I wasn't totally jazzed by the hummus . . . mine turned out a little runny, (maybe I didn't choose a large enough sweet potato?) and I found the flavor good, but not awesome. Oh well! Everyone else seemed to enjoy it, and many went back for seconds.

Antipasti Platter:

Kalamata olives, roasted (local) green beans, rosemary and lemon marinaded white beans (with local rosemary and scapes!), home-roased red peppers, local provolone, garlic-stuffed green olives, marinated artichoke hearts, Marinated Mushrooms (SO delicious!), and local fresh mozzarella. I have been dreaming about this antipasti platter for weeks, and it turned out as tasty and gorgeous as I had imagined! Look at all of those colors! :) (This was pretty much decimated by the end of the evening, save for a couple of lonely artichoke hearts . . . must have been good!)

Deviled Eggs:

I looooooooove deviled eggs, and had a request for them, so this was a no-brainer choice. :) (And there were only four left . . . they must have been good!) Peeling a dozen (local and gorgeous) eggs is kind of a pain; the only drawback, in my opinion. I sat and peeled eggs over a bowl between my knees while listening to jazz; that seemed to make the process more bearable.

Yogurt Cheese with Za'atar:

This is seriously the simplest, most popular party dip I've ever made. (Dan's brother, Ryan, goes crazy over this stuff!) Buy some plain yogurt, (I used low-fat, local yogurt this time, although whole milk yogurt makes quite the treat,) dump it in a coffee-filter lined strainer over a bowl, stick it in the fridge overnight, stir in some salt, top with za'atar and a little olive oil, and that's it. :)

My recipe for za'atar: 2 parts white sesame seeds, 2 parts dried thyme, 2 parts ground sumac, and 1 part kosher salt; grind in a coffee grinder until a fine powder consistency is achieved. This is also great sprinkled on rice/other whole grains, or used to top homemade focaccia/flatbreads.

Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce:

I looooooove the peanut sauce recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, although it ended up being a little thin for a dip this time round. I'd use half the amount of water next time, or even less. :) Spring rolls were stuffed with bean thread noodles, local mint, local Thai basil, local cilantro, local green onion, red bell pepper, and shredded carrot.

Dippers:

Gluten-free crackers (Blue Diamond Almond Nut Thins -- thanks for the recommendation, Liz! These were a hit with everyone!), Holy Land Deli whole-wheat pita, Wedge bakery organic baguette, and some Back to Nature Harvest Whole Wheats. Just say "yes" to carbs! :)

Beverages:

Two unsweetened iced teas (I'm loving the Celestial Seasonings cold brew teas this summer!) and Lavender Strawberry Lemonade, made with local strawberries. Please also admire the flowers Courtney bought me for a housewarming present!

I also made two different kinds of homemade popsicles for dessert, (vegan chocolate fudge pops and Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Pops) but they weren't consumed by all. Hardly anyone saved room for dessert! (I have made the fudge pop before, and was pleasantly surprised by the Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Pops -- another recipe keeper!)

Even though preparing all of this food in advance was a considerable amount of work, it was SO worth it! (Plus, it was fun! I love big kitchen projects like this.) Once I had everything set out, I didn't have to think about the food at all -- everyone just helped themselves, and I just reminded people about the popsicles a couple of times. Easy! Tasty! Healthy! Fun!

What are some of your favorite party foods?

Bamix, Glorious Bamix!

After work on Friday, I hopped on the bus and headed down to the store to buy myself a new stick blender. (Sort of a practical "new job treat.") Since I burned through my last stick blender in just about a year, I decided to invest this time -- spend a little more on a near commercial-quality blender that will definitely last longer than a year! Meet my new Bamix:

It's efficient, powerful, and remarkably quiet. I can actually hear myself think while blending, and am no longer tempted to don earplugs. (P.S. I am totally sold on stick blenders in general -- never will I buy a traditional blender again!)

The Bamix is in for a work-out this weekend, but not immediately. Spring rolls:

I make a super-simple dipping sauce made of roughly equal parts peanut butter, low-sodium tamari, and rice vinegar.

Lasagna Rolls with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce (Got Bamix's feet dirty while pureeing the sauce):

This recipe tasted fabulous (Ann joined me for dinner after giving me a ride to drop off some stuff at the Goodwill,) but was FUSSY to prepare. I may slightly alter the recipe in the future, or switch to stuffed shells or something.

And now, the tale of my crepes. Thanks to many years of high school and college French classes, I have made and eaten many a crepe in my day. (I possess an "official" recipe, according to an old French teacher.) I love, love, love crepes, but they take an eternity to make, are super fatty and not all that healthy, (especially when you slather them with Nutella,) and don't really fill me up at all. In the end, I probably haven't made a batch of crepes for at least three years.

I have been craving crepes lately. Every once in a while, someone comes in to the store to buy a crepe pan, (either stovetop or electric,) and that gets me thinking about crepes. Lately, I have been thinking about crepes a lot. So much so in fact, I had a dream last night about making and eating crepes. (That really was the whole dream -- I dreamed I made and ate crepes.) So, tonight, I decided to "make dreams come true," and whipped up a batch of basic crepes (courtesy of the Bamix, again!)

I pathetically attempted to make the crepes slightly healthier by substituting half whole-wheat pastry flour, with excellent results. (I honestly couldn't tell the difference . . . but with that much egg and butter, the flour is merely a backup singer, right?) I made up a caramel-apple filling for them, which turned out quite tasty, especially since I didn't use a recipe and didn't measure anything. I have a bunch of crepes left, and will munch on them over the course of the next week. Yum.

Lastly, this is what I get for forgetting to take the placemats off the table after dinner:

Silly Oliver. (Now I have to wash the placemats . . . ! Argh.)

More cooking tomorrow . . . off to tackle the dishes.

put THAT in your vegan lunchbox . . .

. . . and EAT IT!

Even though I sort of already took a picture of this food, I had to show it to you again, because leftover miso soup and a spring roll made just about the best vegan lunchbox EVER!



Miso soup, a spring roll, peanut dipping sauce, a clementine, and a few bites of Green & Black's organic super dark chocolate. Mmmmmmm.

Speaking of chocolate, I had a lesson the other day on how to taste chocolate -- it was pretty interesting! I never really realized that, like wine, chocolate has many subtle nuances hiding in its dark depths. I tasted this one bittersweet one that had strong cherry-like undertones . . . holy moly! I also tried one the other day that had a very dark, almost coffee-like bitter finish to it. Happiness.

Free high-quality chocolate tasting is just another one of the reasons why I love my job. :)

Dinner in waiting, plus cuteness!

Dan and I had a great time wandering around the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this afternoon (I hadn't been since they added the new wing, and he hadn't been in years,) and then he had to leave for BAND PRACTICE. (Boo.) However, he is coming back later to have dinner with me, so I've been cooking up a storm. (That's nothing new, right?)

First, miso soup:

Carrot, onion, red pepper, vegetable broth, miso (obviously,) mushrooms, spinach, green onion, plenty of ginger, buckwheat soba noodles, and a little cubed tofu. MMMMMMMMMMM. This is currently sitting quietly on my stove, waiting to be devoured. Let's hope band practice doesn't take too terribly long, or I might not be able to wait!

Next, spring rolls:

Rice noodles, green onion, bean sprouts, cucumber, carrot, red pepper, and cilantro. And my "secret peanut dipping sauce," consisting of peanut butter, tamari, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and ginger. Boy, am I getting hungry. (Even though I just ate a spring roll to tide me over!)

And, although these are not part of our dinner, aren't these two little clementines the cutest thing ever?

The checkout guy at the Wedge and I had a conversation about how cute the clementines were, since they all had their little stems and leaves still attached, and then he yelped, "oh lookit -- these two are still attached to each other!!!" I never thought I'd get to a point in my life where I thought food was cute! Oh well.

It's been a good day. :) (And it's not even over yet!)

spring rolls and dumplings

I wish I had a camera so I could show you the spring rolls and dumplings I just made! Gah. Anyhow, here are the recipes and the verdict:

SPRING ROLLS (courtesy of VegCooking)
Ingredients:
rice paper
lettuce leaves (I used spinach)
Thai basil
bean sprouts
cilantro
cucumber
green onions
carrot
boiled rice noodles

I was going to write out the whole recipe for you (if you want it, you can follow the link above and search for "Spring Rolls,") but I discovered that the measurements in the recipe seemed WAY off to me. I didn't want my spring rolls to explode, so perhaps I skimped on the fillings . . . but they are still almost 2 inches fat! I also made a peanut dipping sauce for these (I didn't measure -- just sloshed and stirred until it tasted good,) out of peanut butter, tamari, mined shallot, sliced green onion, rice vinegar, and water. These are pretty and tasty, and could benefit from some added strips of red pepper next time for a little more color. :) Wrapping the spring rolls wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be! Awesome snack.


EDAMAME DUMPLINGS (courtesy of Cooking Light)
Ingredients:
Sauce: green onions, tamari, honey
Dumplings: edamame, lemon juice, toasted sesame oil, cumin, salt, and wonton wrappers.

I think the cumin in these tastes REALLY WEIRD -- I think I might try them next time with ginger. I fried/steamed up about 8 of them right away, and am freezing the others on a cookie sheet and will transfer them to a ziploc when they are solid for another day. I thought of cooking all of them all at once, and then I thought about how leftover dumplings might taste . . . chewy and ick. So I'll let you know if the freezing technique works!

Off to work on the second round of dishes for today, then I might sit down for awhile before cooking something else! (I'm waiting until the sun goes down and the temperature drops a little bit before I turn the oven on -- it's in the nineties today!) More updates later!

P.S. I really like my new recipe binder.