Grillin'

Today I was looking through Pinterest (see my boards here) and I saw a recipe for Grilled Mint Julep Peaches. I do love a good grilled peach and we had a few ending the near of their life from our produce delivery as well as bourbon, mint, and sugar, so we put together a grilling fest.



The recipe for the grilled mint julep peaches is located here. We had four small peaches, so I cut the glaze down by half and still had a lot left over. I tried to turn it into a drink with ginger beer, but it was waaayy too sugary. Over the peaches, the glaze was fabulous.

We also grilled apple-sage field roast sausages, a pear, and beet slices. The beet slices were still super hard by the time they came off the grill. Next time I would probably par-cook them by boiling in water or softening in the microwave oven before putting them on the grill. When we cut the beet into spears, it was tender enough to eat with the salad.

Here is our grill set up.




We have a charcoal grill, but instead of going through the hassle of setting it up and waiting for the coals to get hot, we used my husbands burner he usually uses for beer brewing. He put our cast iron grill pan on top of it and it got hot really really quickly.

Notes
We both enjoyed this meal a lot. The sausages are always good, the peaches were excellent, the pear was a pleasant surprise, and the beets were very tasty. A win!

Dinner club: Chickpea Patties

Recently, we started having a weekly dinner club. Every Tuesday night, we rotate cooking responsibilities. It is a fun way to socialise in a low pressure environment, on a weekly basis. It is also a great way to use up the massive amount of salad greens we get with our CSA and food delivery! This is what we made the first week.




Chickpea cutlets - I have tried these both baked and cooked on the stove top and I like them best slightly burnt from cooking in cast iron skillet
mashed potatoes
gravy
salad with local greens, carrots, red onion and a vinegar, oil, basil salad dressing

Notes
Everyone enjoyed the meal. We tend to make the cutlets when we have guests over because they are delicious and seem to be liked by people who eat meat as well as those that do not.

We have now been doing dinner club for about 2 months now and I look forward to it every week!

Planet Box Lunches

So it has been a while since I have posted, but we are still cooking a lot around our household. We are currently doing a food delivery service and a winter CSA. The delivery comes right to our door every week filled with all organic fruits and vegetables - not local because we get things like oranges, bananas, and fresh blueberries. For the CSA we pick it up every three weeks and it usually full of carrots, potatoes, apples, lettuce, local milled wheat and oats, honey, etc. It is amazing, but a lot of food to receive all at once. It is a good thing it is vegetables that store really well.

Anyway, we have been eating better because we are always flush with fresh produce and I have been enjoying putting together awesome lunches.

If you are wondering about our great lunchboxes, you can find all about them on their website, Planet Box. They are pretty expensive, but we really like them. We have the rocket magnets, because you know, we are scientists!


My husband put this together for me this past weekend. It is Field Roast smoked apple sage sausage, salad with carrots, apples, and red bell pepper, chipotle spiced mashed potatoes, caramelized onions, salad dressing made with curry powder (do this! it is delicious!), an orange, and a leftover biscuit from our biscuits and gravy earlier that day.


I made this after a ladies night where we had a taco bar. I turned the TVP taco meat into a taco salad with sauteed onions and bell peppers. Actually, my husband made all the food for ladies night and then I kicked him out. He is really good to me. Next we have some pear, blueberries, a leftover macaroon, vegan mayo mixed with sriracha, bell peppers and carrots, raisins, Lara bar, orange, and tortilla chips.


In January, I test cooked the vegetarian meal for Once a Month Mom February meals. We have been slowly eating all of those meals. It is a great way to pull together an easy lunch because everything pretty much unfreezes by lunch time. On this day we had, Chickpea patties, bell pepper and blueberries, kiwifruit, BBQ sauce, carrot sticks, raisins, and a lemon poppy seed muffin.

I'm really sorry for the terrible pictures! Early morning is not the best time to take pictures in my kitchen.

Sushi Salad

The other day, I had leftover rice in my fridge and I was going to make sushi with it, but the rice had dried out too much to stay together in a roll. So I just threw all the vegetables I had cut up into a bowl with the rice.



Ingredients
1 cup cold cooked rice
1 sheet nori
avocado
cucumber
carrot
smoked tofu
sriracha mixed with vegan mayo


Method
This is for one serving. Chop up the vegetables and tofu, combine with the rice in a bowl. Cut the nori into squares and mix into salad. Top with the spicy mayo sauce.


Notes
Hmm, this was really delicious and much much easier than rolling sushi rolls. I made this for my husband and he really enjoyed it.

Airport Salad

I recently traveled to Newfoundland for a conference and traveling always proves hard to find adequate food. I was really happy to find this salad in the Toronto airport.



Notes
For airport food, this was really good. I would buy it again.

If anyone is ever in St. John's, Newfoundland, there is a FANTASTIC vegetarian/vegan restaurant called Sprout on Duckworth. We went two days in a row and was a great respite from seeing fried cod fish tongues on menus.

Orzo Pasta Salad and New Lunch box!

I like to bring my lunch to school everyday, partly because I don't like any of the restaurant choices here and partly because it is cheaper. I have been on the look out for a good, useable lunchbox for a while now and I think I have found one that is fantastic. A Planetbox!

So far I have only used it for one day, but I really really enjoy it. There is room enough for food for my lunch and an afternoon snack. My husband also said that he had more than enough food for him. So it is not just for children! I wish that the carrying bags came in other colors, but that is a minor fault.



Ingredients
Orzo
onions
garlic
cremini mushrooms
sun-dried tomatoes
kale
basil
lemon juice
sriracha


Method
Boil the orzo until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.

Sauté the onions until softened, add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until those are soft. Add the drained orzo and kale. Mix around until the kale is wilted and the orzo has taken up some of the oil in the pan. Remove from heat, add the lemon juice and sriracha. Stir to combine and garnish with fresh basil.

Eat immediately or cool in the fridge and eat at room temperature.

Notes
This was a perfect lunch box salad. It tasted great at room temperature and held up well in the container.

Also in my lunch box is homemade hummus, black olives, plums, carrot sticks, and Late July mini peanut butter cookies.

Once again, my lunch box rocks. It even has rocket magnets on the front. I love it.

Epic Taco Salad

Last Sunday, my husband decided to spend his day hanging out at the local pub, drinking beer, reading Harper's, playing darts, and chatting with people there. I decided to spend the day with the house to myself and made a super awesome epic taco salad.



Ingredients
Lettuce
TVP (water, chipotle powder, salt, pepper)
black olives
onions
tomato
avocado
sriracha sauce
lime or lemon juice

Method
Boil about 1/2 cup water (for one serving) and take off heat. Add the TVP (about 1/2 cup for one serving) and spices. Put the lid on and set aside while preparing everything else.

Wash and tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces. Chop the onions and sauté in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat until soft. Chop the olives, tomatoes, and avocado into bite sized chunks.

Arrange the lettuce on a plate or in a bowl. Add everything else on top. Sprinkle with lime or lemon juice on top. Devour.

Notes
I did not know if I could finish a whole plate of this, but I did and it was fantastic. I always forget how much I love salads. And with lettuce being all over the place at the farmer's market, I can satisfy that love with awesome greens.

Orzo Pasta Salad

This is another recipe from Supermarket Vegan. I really really like this book. It doesn't have any pictures, but it has a great amount of recipes easy enough to do when ever you have a little bit of time to cook. My only complaint is the seasonings are never high enough, although, I think I say that about every recipe I try.





Ingredients
orzo pasta
lemon juice
olive oil
crushed garlic cloves
salt
black pepper
fresh basil
kalamata or other cured olives (I used a mixture from the olive bar)
artichoke hearts
frozen corn
green onions

Method
Boil orzo until tender, about 8 - 10 minutes. Place the frozen corn in the colander and slowly pour the hot pasta cooking water over the corn. Drain the orzo. Leave the strainer over the sink while preparing the rest of the ingredients.

In the still warm saucepan, place it on the same warm burner and add the oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and black pepper. Stir until the oil smells like garlic. Add the orzo/corn mixture as well as the other ingredients. Stir and either serve warm or refrigerate for three hours.

I wish I had added some red pepper flakes when I was heating up the oil. Other then that, it was delicious. I might add smoked tofu next time I make it, for some added protein.

My husband gave this one two thumbs up.

Pad Thai Salad

A few weeks ago I went to a Women in Science Potluck at my school. There was a panel of four people talking about being a woman in the sciences and how to handle life/school/career/family at one time. Afterwards, there was much sharing of food. There was a surprising amount of food that I could eat there, minus the bacon quiche someone brought. Most everything was vegan friendly!



I found this recipe a while ago on Veggie Bon Vivant and I thought it would be perfect for the potluck. It is from Appetite for Reduction. I am reproducing the recipe below.

Ingredients
8 C chopped romaine lettuce
4 C bean sprouts
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1 medium-sized carrot, peeled and grated
3/4 C chopped smoked tofu
1 recipe Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing
1/4 C roasted peanuts
1/2 C lightly packed fresh cilantro


Method
In a large mixing bowl, toss together the lettuce, sprouts, red onion, carrot, and tofu. Add the dressing and toss to coat. Distribute the salad among four bowls. There will most likely be dressing left over as it is fairly thin. Distribute the dressing among the bowls. Garnish with roasted peanuts, cilantro, and serve with lime wedges.

Peanut-Lime Dragon Dressing

* 1/2 C roasted peanuts
* 2 T chopped shallot
* 1/4 C squeezed lime juice
* 1/2 C water
* 2 T agave nectar
* 2 T soy sauce
* 1 tsp Sriracha (I added about a tablespoon)

Pulse 2 T of the peanuts and all of the shallot in the food processor, just to chop everything up. Add the lime juice, water, agave, soy sauce, and Sriracha, and blend until smooth. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides a few times. Now add the remaining 2 T of peanuts and pulse for a bit. These shouldn’t be blended smooth, just chopped up small. The dressing will be thin. Adjust the seasonings to your liking. Keep refrigerated in a tightly sealed container until ready to use, up to 5 days.


This salad went over really well at the potluck and was almost completely gone when I left. I will be scaling back the recipe and making it again for just my husband and myself. Delicious!