I remember last year we had some of the worst weather for summer. I remember lying on the couch under a blanket in July – !!! I’m not super crazy about hot humid weather, but I do like for the weather to be seasonal. Like when it gets warm in the winter, I find it disturbing because it’s not supposed to be warm, even if the warm weather is “nice.” Warm weather is nice in spring and fall, not winter. This is New England and we’re supposed to have four seasons. So anyway, now it’s summer and the weather is acting like summer. The cicadas start singing early in the morning, and you just know you’re in for another hot summer day.
On Friday, I had a real scare when I looked at my bank account online. I was just checking to see if a payment I’d made had gone through, and I saw an overdraft charge and a couple days previous a charge for $499.99 that I had not made. What???!!! I googled the name of the company and found a website with very little info. No “about” page, no “contact us” link. There was also an “888″ number (on my bank statement, not the website) that I called once I got to work and the number just rang and rang so I hung up. I tried it again a few minutes later and finally after about a gazilion rings I got someone’s voice mail. I gave my name and told them that there was an unauthorized charge and corresponding overdraft fee on my bank account and that it was “unacceptable” and that they needed to call me back. They never did.
At first, I was afraid that I had made a mistake and inadvertently signed up for something without reading the fine print, but I’m pretty convinced that this was not my mistake. I just googled the company again, and nothing comes up. Fortunately, I called my bank and they refunded the charge and the overdraft fee and are starting a fraud investigation. The charge was made at 6 PM on July 7th and I happen to remember that at that time I was getting a pedicure. I sincerely hope it wasn’t anyone at the spa who fraudulently used my card, but it does make me wonder. At least my toes look nice.
And now it’s time for our random meal of the day picture. I had some sliced mushrooms, shredded carrots and an onion hanging around, and I decided they would work well stir-fried with greens and served over soba noodles. I just needed something green. There is a lot of local produce becoming available right now, and I found some nice small cabbages that fit the bill. Unfortunately, once they’re cooked, they don’t really look that green, but the meal still tasted good. Sweetie and I seasoned our plates with nutritional yeast, sesame oil, sesame seeds and tamari.
Tags:
cabbage,
carrots,
meal of the day,
money,
mushrooms,
nutritional yeast,
onions,
pasta,
pedicure,
sesame,
summer
One of my favorite foods is squash, but I always found summer squash and zucchini a little ho-hum until I learned some different ways to cook them. See, I was steaming them which results in a somewhat bland and mushy product. Tasty with some salt, pepper and Earth Balance, but still a bit lackluster. Then with the help of google, I discovered a recipe for Pan-Seared Balsamic Baby Squashon the blog Vegan Yum Yum. Oh my, summer squash has never been the same since. I’ve made it several times, and I have been so pleased with the discovery. Yum yum indeed.
Here it is served up with some quinoa, a nice summer dinner we had last week.
Cooking sqaush this way has sent me in a whole new direction with it even when I don’t follow that exact recipe. For example, a couple weeks ago, I cut the squash into rounds and seared them that way, without vinegar. I like my food cooked, and sometimes even a little burned so these were A-OK with me. I don’t think I’ll ever become a raw food aficionado, but then I never thought I’d become a vegan either. I served it with some seitan and fried rice Sweetie had bought frozen at Trader Joe’s.
And then there’s zucchini. I found a great way to make zucchini “fries” on this “flashback” post on the blog Peas and Thank You: Groundhog Day. I think I cooked mine a bit longer than she recommended, but they were delish. I seasoned them with nutritional yeast and served them alongside some seitan. I don’t think I want my zucchini cooked any other way.
Unless it’s grilled. I don’t own a grill, but my mom does, and when we visited her on Fourth of July weekend, I suggested we have a grilled dinner. I had brought some Gardein BBQ Skewers with me for this purpose. Sweetie and I had those and my mom and sister had some kind of beef. We also had corn on the cob and some Swiss chard I steamed up. My mom suggested that she would cook the zucchini with some stewed tomatoes and onions as she likes to do, but I said, “You know what I’d really like – if you’d grill it. As long as it’s not too much trouble.” She replied that grilling them would actually be easier. She sliced them lengthwise, scored them and seasoned them (I’m not sure with what – probably oregano was involved). I’m not sure how long she cooked them, but they were pretty much perfect. And they made a delicious addition to this summer holiday meal.
Tags:
BBQ,
corn,
grains,
nutritional yeast,
seitan,
summer squash,
Swiss chard,
vegan meat,
zucchini
Days off mean hash browns, sprinkled with nutritional yeast, for breakfast .
And for lunch, perhaps potato salad dressed up with avocado, greens and Annie’s Goddess Dressing.
Potato Salad Recipe
~3 pounds of red potatoes, skins on
1 cucumber
1 bunch of radishes
1 handful of sprouts of your choice
~.5 oz. of chives
~.5 oz. of dill
Vegenaise
red wine vinegar
sunflower seeds
salt & pepper
Leave potatoes whole unless very large. Put in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring water to boil and then reduce to simmer. Let potatoes simmer for about 20 minutes. They should pierce easily with fork, but not fall apart. Drain potatoes and set aside until they are cool enough to handle.
While the potatoes are cooking, peel, seed & chop the cucumber into small dice. Wash the radishes and cut those into small dice. Finely mince the chives and dill. Add all of these to a large mixing bowl. Add Vegenaise to the vegetables and herbs in the bowl, and mix well. I didn’t measure the Vegenaise; I’m guessing it was about a cup or so – ? Just add what seems to be enough to mix everything together, taking into account all the potatoes you’ll be adding. (And remember you can always add more, but you can’t take any out.) Add 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar to the mixture and mix well. Mix in a handful of sprouts and a handful of sunflower seeds. Add salt and pepper to taste.
When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, chop them into medium dice, leaving the skins on. Add the diced potatoes to the vegetable and Vegenaise mixture and fold together. Eat at room temperature or chilled. The potato salad should keep at least week if stored covered in the refrigerator.
Makes a great main course for lunch. I got a work week’s worth of brown bag lunches, plus Sweetie’s and my lunches yesterday before it was gone.
Tags:
avocadoes,
hash browns,
nutritional yeast,
potato salad,
recipes,
salad greens
The main news here is that spring semester is over. Woo hoo! The last week of it had some pretty intense writing (and freaking out), but I got the paper done , did a presentation and got an A in the class. It’s been a week now, and I’m still reveling in being done! At least for now. I need four more classes to get my degree. But still – four more classes – that’s not many at all.
Right now I’m in Rockport with Blue, visiting my mom and Andrea (my sister) and the cats of course. I brought Woody’s ashes with me to give to Andrea. Sweetie and I still miss Woody, but she was my sister’s cat for years before that, and besides, with the ashes of Max (my dog) and Trinka (my cat) on the fireplace mantle, I feel like that’s enough. I don’t think I will be saving the ashes of all my pets for years to come. I mean, it could get out of control. I did put Woody’s personalized ceramic bowl on the mantle though.
During the last few weeks of the semester, I gave myself something of a pass on working out, planning to train for a 5K and hit it hard once I was “free” again. I pictured myself running fast and feeling great. It didn’t really end up going that way. Monday I didn’t have any running buddies so I ended up walking (I ran for like two minutes somewhere in there) the 2.2 mile path at work, then Tuesday I went to Power Sculpt class (more on that in another post), Wednesday I bagged out, but on Thursday I did run-walk intervals for 20 minutes on the ‘mill and 10 minutes on the recumbent bike, and that felt more like it as far a training for a 5K. That is, training to *run* a 5K. I have to do some more cardio this weekend too…
I also kind of took a break from cooking the last couple weeks of the semester, but last week, I got back into it. I guess it’s fortunate that I love vegetables so much since they’re naturally vegan and healthy. Monday night I made of my favorite combinations: braised leek, Swiss chard and corn served over soba noodles, seasoned with roasted sesame oil and nutritional yeast.
I also adore the seitan made by The Bridge, (admittedly, I haven’t tried any other brands yet), but I hadn’t had any for a while when I finally made some on Thursday. I came home from my workout and slapped together an easy but yummy dinner: pan-fried seitan, Road’s End Shells & Chreese, and steamed asparagus. It was all delicious, and especially great to have seitan again. I’m going to make sure buy some more for the coming week. A friend mine who tried seitan after she learned how much I love it commented on Facebook that she’d like to love it but she really doesn’t. Oh well, more for me then!
Tags:
animals,
asparagus,
corn,
leeks,
nutritional yeast,
pasta,
recipes,
Rockport,
running,
school,
seitan,
sesame,
Swiss chard,
working out
Next to purple (and maybe pink), green is my favorite color. I also enjoy eating greens. I think my favorite greens are Swiss chard, and I buy them fairly frequently. A couple of months ago, I realized I was buying the same vegetables over and over: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green beans, sweet potatoes and Swiss chard so I have tried to branch out since then, but last week, there was the most beautiful Swiss chard at Whole Foods so I bought it even though I was probably “due” to add something else to the rotation. Seriously, how could I resist this?
It’s very easy to prepare: wash the leaves and then cut them crosswise into about 1 inch strips. You can include some of the stems because they’re quite edible too. I like to braise my Swiss chard: first cooking it in oil with crushed garlic over medium heat, and then adding about half a cup of water, bringing it to a boil and covering the pan until the chard is done, still bright green, but limp. It only takes a few minutes. Swiss chard cooks down quite a bit, but I usually find the bunch I get at the store is enough for two generous servings. I use nutritional yeast as a seasoning for a lot of my vegetables (see my vlog where I talk about nutritional yeast a little), and Swiss chard is no exception: hence, the yellow topping you see below. I served the chard alongside some vegan shells and “cheese:” Road’s End brand is quite yummy.
Tags:
nutritional yeast,
pasta,
recipes,
Swiss chard
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