Plugging Away...

...on my VwaV challenge. I took score: 43 down, 91 to go (based on the recipe list in this thread). A little disheartening, but we'll eat happy trying. I had to try Kabocha Squash Stuffed with Butternut Vindaloo because there is no photo posted in the thread for it.



I know those aren't kabocha squashes (squashes? squice? squashii?) but they are really pretty. I loved the flavour of the vindaloo in all it's mustard-seedy goodness.

And lemon-poppyseed muffins.



I've always been leery of poppyseeds after my sister worked at a grocery store and handed out free samples of poppyseed-filled baked goods. She always knew who was sneaking back for seconds when they eagerly grinned for more. Good muffins, though.

And here are the famous Big Gigantoid Crunchy Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.



They were frequently mentioned in the addiction thread. Ya, I see why. They are awesome. Really awesome. Like I could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner awesome.

And these have been popular for a long time too. Raspberry Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars.



They are brilliantly simple to make (I used raspberry jam) and fancy enough to put on a Christmas cookie platter.

And finally, this week's CSA haul.



Celery, swiss chard, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, broccoli, garlic, sage, a white squash of unknown variety, and yummy fresh raspberries. It was the first time we got fruit in our basket. I'm afraid the CSA season may end any week now. It's been great - again, check out Tim and Roshan Aubin if you are in the Ottawa area and looking for a CSA.

Soup 'n' 'Chos

Continuing with the documentation of what appears in our weekly CSA box, here's this week's bounty:



1 zucchini
1 sprig of mint
1 box red potatoes
1 box peas
1 box yellow, purple and green beans
1 bag spring mix
1 bunch garlic scapes
7 green onions
2 radishes
1 beet
1 bunch green swiss chard
6 carrots
1 bulb fennel

I used much of the loot to make Minestrone from Foods that Don't Bite Back by Sue Donaldson. I didn't use eggplant and subbed chickpeas and fresh basil, and it was good. She uses a secret ingredient that I wasn't aware of before - and it was well worth the $4 or so that I paid for the book.



Last weekend Cool Teen #2 had a friend over that would stay for dinner if we weren't having anything "gross". I don't think her definition of the word and mine are quite the same. I thought about what omni teens might like to eat and what vegans might like to eat and what might fall into both categories that I had in the house. The best that I could come up with on short notice was - Vegan/Teen Skillet Nachos. I didn't want to add to my non-cool-adult-that-eats-gross-things image by taking close up photos of my food, so I'll be sure to take a pic next time I make these!

Vegan/Teen Skillet Nachos

1 tblsp olive oil
1 vidalia onion, diced
1 yellow or red pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 garlic scapes, minced (optional, I just happened to have some)
1 super large, or 3 small mushrooms, chopped finely
1 pkg Yves Original Ground Round
1 tsp Fajita spice, or to taste (mine is Victorian Epicure, due to a hostess party I was roped into going to)
1 heaping tsp Mesquite Grilling spice mix, or to taste (mine is Club House)
1/3 cup salsa
1 tblsp soy sauce or tamari
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, diced
2 finely sliced green onions
1 small handful cilantro, chopped

1 cup fresh salsa
1 cup vegan sour cream (I used Tofutti)
1 bag tortilla chips, preferably organic non-GMO baked chips

Heat oil in cast iron skillet on medium heat. Saute onion and pepper for a few minutes. Add garlic clove and scapes, sauteing until onions are soft. Add mushrooms and stir. Add Ground Round, spices, tamari and salsa, lowering heat.
Once mixture is heated through, add black beans and mango. Cook until mango has softened, depending on how ripe it is. Remove from heat and sprinkle green onions and cilantro over skillet contents.

Serve with fresh salsa and vegan sour cream, scooping with chips.

ETA: photo!


Oh, and the reason I typed up the recipe - our Cool Teen guest asked for it!

Dinner and a Mystery

Thank you to everyone who left such heart-warming congratulations! We thoroughly enjoyed our week. I didn't do a lot of cooking and we dined out a lot, which isn't all that easy as a vegan sometimes. Mostly I take photos of what I make, but I had to blog about the most spectacular meal of the week, at Sacred Garden on Bank at Riverside. It is a completely vegetarian Thai restaurant. We've been there once before and were impressed, but this time we were totally blown away. I'm just getting used to taking my camera out of the kitchen, and had polished off the amazing Tom Yum Soup before it dawned on me to take a photo of it. The second course was the Green Papaya Salad.



I don't think I'd ever be able to reproduce it since green papayas have eluded me in the grocery store. It was excellent.

For the main course, we had Red Panang Curry.



The menu describes it as a dry curry, and being a lover of juicy things, I was pleasantly surprised that it had a creamy coconut sauce and was absolutely to die for.

We also chose the less exotic Pad Thai, which was really good.



Last, off the specials board, I noticed a dessert advertised as vegan, which I had to order just because the restaurant knew that having a vegan dessert was important. Since we were both full, Pete and I decided to share. It was the very best dessert I have ever had in my life.



Sweet and icy coconut milk surrounded soft fresh coconut slivers and tiny pink tapioca pearls. Pete graciously let me have the last spoonful. Perhaps he saw the crazed look in my eye and became a little frightened.

If you live in Ottawa and are veg*n, or just looking for a fantastic meal, try the Sacred Garden. Maybe the fake shrimp in the soup will freak you out a little, but the food will be exquisite.

On a seasonal note, the local pick-your-own-berries farm opened!



We're thinking that given one week of sunny days, there will be so many ripe strawberries on the plants that you can just sit in one spot and fill a basket.

This mystery vegetable arrived in our CSA box this week.



Does anyone know what it is or what to do with it?

The Second Box

The second CSA delivery yielded:



1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch of red and green swiss chard (mixed)
1 bunch of spinach
1 box of peas
1 bag of spring mix
10 stalks of rhubarb
1 beet
2 radishes
1 bunch of green and red (?) basil
2 green onions

and four of these unique carrots - they are almost red on the outside, but orange on the inside. I've never seen carrots like them. Are they heirloom carrots?



For dinner, I sauted the swiss chard with the basil and green onions, sundried tomatoes, chickpeas and artichoke hearts and served it over brown rice pasta. Princess gobbled up the carrots and tried a radish - then determined that she isn't fond of radish.

On the Doorstep

Our first CSA box of the season arrived!



It was so much fun to see what was hiding under there - the box contained a bag of baby greens, a huge bunch of green swiss chard, red swiss chard, a GIANT head of romaine lettuce, half a daikon, one sweet beet, one red beet, 8 snow peas, a small bunch of mint and cilantro, seven stalks of rhubarb and two big green onions. For dinner we had a stirfry and for dessert, rhubarb crumble (as suggested by Sarah). I used slivered almonds instead of ground as that's what I had. The dish was really tart, but good! I would have loved to top it with a scoop of vanilla soy ice cream, but we were out :(

This week, we'll be eating LOTS of salad.

*For anyone in Ottawa, the contact info for the CSA is:
Tim and Roshan Aubin
613-658-5721
aubinfarm@aol.com