The Salad Standoff

As a parent trying to make sure her child is fed the best diet possible, getting all the essential vitamins and minerals, I carefully concocted a salad for Princess, with the things she likes, as well as some new things snuck in, confident that it would be appealing enough to not become a dinnertime battleground. I present to you, the salad that surely every kid would eat.



Well the avocados were rejected immediately, and even had to be hidden in a napkin so they weren't visible during dinner. The strawberries went over well. The cucumbers were half-eaten to become moons, the tomatoes disappeared somewhere and the lettuce became "wraps" for the carrots. Quite a few fava beans fell victim to the floor, and therefore the dogs, but at least three were consumed under my watchful eye in order for the meal to qualify for dessert, which was by request a vegan s'more (no pictures of that, as it wasn't very appetizing, even for chocolate).

For the adults in the crowd, the salad dressing was amazing.



Guacamole Dressing

1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tblsp chopped cilantro
1 chopped green onion
1/4 tsp sea salt
dash of ground pepper
just less than 1/2 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

It satisfied my daily craving for guac.

And tonight for dinner, I tried another recipe from Vegan World Fusion Cuisine, strangely named Tara's Pad Thai.



It was very authentic, and Pete gave it a Tony-the-Tiger "Grrrrreat!". I found the order of ingredients in the book confusing, and the result was that I accidently added the sesame oil to the sauce, so if you make it, don't say I didn't warn you.

Thus far into the book, I have not discovered who Tara is.

Blossoming Lotus Week

I used the excuse of needing to order a few birthday presents online to order myself a copy of Vegan World Fusion Cuisine.



After borrowing it from the library, I knew it was written for where I am in my current-diet-train-of-thought. It is based on "vegan transitional" recipes, those that contain light ingredients with some raw or partially raw recipes. The first recipe in the book is Radical Roasted Red Pepper Hummus. This is the Sundried Tomato Variation.



And the same hummus in a flax seed wrap with avocado and veggies.



I served the Lotus Live Tomato Sauce (pas de beets) over baked spaghetti squash. I liked this ten times better than any other pasta based spaghetti and I think it will become a staple in our house. I threw in a few dates just for sweetness.



On many days I have cravings for Gracias a Dios Guacamole. I don't add the spices, as I like the natural flavour of the lime and cilantro. We try to minimize the fat content by dipping with baked pita chips instead of tortilla chips.



And finally, a fully cooked dinner. Grilled Tempeh with peanut sauce, Daddy Dread's Jamaican Jerk Plantain and steamed broccoli. I've never had plantain, so I thought I'd give it a go. I wasn't totally impressed, it was too starchy for my taste. I couldn't give up the comparison to bananas enough to make it a fair decision.



Another recipe from the book I tried but didn't photograph was the Grilled Portbellos in Shoyu Marinade. They were excellent, and I'll remember to make them again in the upcoming barbeque season.

If you're looking for a healthy, inspirational, kinda raw vegan cookbook, I highly recommend this one. If you just like beautiful pics of food and the world, it's good for that too.