My first garden porn

This is my first time ever starting a garden from seeds. Growing up, we always had a garden going in the backyard, and I did my share of weeding, watering, and harvesting (especially harvesting). But this is my first time ever planting seeds in the soil and holding my breath until they pop up. Just as I was getting ready to replant my kale and carrot seeds this weekend, I spotted some green! I have seedlings! I think.

Itty bitty kale!

And a carrot! Or maybe grass. Who knows. But did you see the kale?

And as Dewey and I were moving bricks to build some walls for my compost heap, we disturbed a gecko nest. (For scale, this is one of the holes in the brick.) The gecko ran off, but here are four tiny gecko eggs, three of them already hatched.

Quick, Easy Dinner

Broccoli soup with garlic bread. This took maybe 15 minutes of hands on time and a bit of waiting for things to boil. A quick, healthy weeknight dinner.*

Dewey likes to watch "Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares." He's been wanting to try a recipe for broccoli soup from one of the episodes. The recipe: boil broccoli in salted water, puree with a bit of the boiling water, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of pepper.

*Dewey insists on adding "easy-peasy lemon-squeezy". There is no lemon in this recipe.

Vegan Crab Dip

More eats from the upcoming Craw-Daddy zine. Vegan crab dip, so fishy Dewey won't eat it.

Okra stew

I'm a tester for an upcoming vegan Cajun cook zine called "Cookin' with My Craw-Daddy," so no recipe this time. It's okra and spinach cooked with the Cajun trio of onions, celery, and bell pepper. Sort of like gumbo without the roux.

I can't wait to try more recipes from this zine. This okra stew was excellent. I've gotten into a bad habit of nibbling all day instead of eating meals, but at least today, I had a good, vegetable-packed lunch.

EDIT. Here's a link to the author's blog with lots of photos.

sesame balls

After a meal at a local Chinese restaurant (China Palace), Dewey and I were served a plate of sesame rice balls. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, with a center of red bean paste, they filled us with ambition. Somehow, wanting to recreate this freebie dessert snowballed. The next thing I knew we were in Half Price Books buying a wok cookbook and making a pledge to cook all our meals in the wok this week.

Here's night one. Spring rolls (not pictured), followed by the sesame balls that started it all. They're just like we remember. We used this recipe (it took a bit more water than the recipe called for. And we made our own red bean paste, too.

Taco Salad

In college every week, a lot of the Jewish students met up for a Shabbos lunch. Someone made this taco salad once, and for months after it showed up at every meal. There are so many variations though that no one ever got bored.

Taco Salad

lettuce
broken tortilla chips

toppings (choose several)
red, green, or yellow bell peppers, chopped
tomato, chopped (or canned in the winter)
corn (frozen is fine, it will thaw as you chop your vegetables)
peas (frozen is fine)
black beans
kidney beans
pinto beans
red onion, chopped
green onions, chopped
cilantro, chopped
pumpkin seeds
sunflower seeds
avocado, chopped
veggie pepperoni
veggie taco meat (the recipe from Yellow Rose Recipes is great)
other vegetables, to taste

dressing
salsa
vegenaise, or your favorite egg-free mayo

Tear your lettuce into salad-sized pieces. Don't worry about filling your salad bowl too full, the toppings will press the lettuce down some. Prepare all your toppings in bite-sized pieces. Be sure to choose a variety of colors. Spread your toppings on top of the lettuce, one topping at a time so you get a layered effect.

Prepare the dressing, mixing 4 parts salsa to one part vegenaise. (For a whole foods approach, just use plain salsa.) Just before serving, add the broken tortilla chip pieces to the salad. Don't add them too early or they'll get soggy. Serve the salad with the dressing on the side.

Office Party

Terry and Isa of Veganomicon fame, quit making me like stuff! Before today, I would have said I don't like cranberries and that I can give or take cucumbers. But these two dishes made a convert of me. It goes to show that you really have to keep trying new ways of preparing produce until you find one you like. Vegetable haters, take note!

Tonight is the office holiday party. Another celebration, another chance to make healthy, tasty food.


Cashew Cucumber dip with olives and pita. Very Greek, very good.

Cranberry Orange Nut Bread. Tastes like Christmas, if you're into that kind of thing.