I really, really miss Panama, but it feels good to be back in my normal routine, especially with regards to my eating. I wasted no time this week getting back into the kitchen 🙂 The other night Dad and I made a really fantastic, light, summery dinner, using lots of ingredients from our garden (which is flourishing, and on which I will make a separate post soon!). Dad made a recipe from the New York Times online, Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes and Arugula. He used our garden basil in the recipe and substituted our garden Swiss chard for the arugula. Ohhh it was so delicious, and unfortunately I have no pic 😦 But I do have a picture of the other *vegan* component of the meal (there were also pork ribs, which I obviously had no reason to take a picture of…), Mediterranean-Style Cashew-Cucumber Dip from Veganomicon. I served this with homemade pita chips (my own creation: whole-wheat pitas brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and paprika, and baked at 325 for about 20 minutes).
A Platter of Goodness
Dipping!!
I used our garden cucumbers for this recipe and did my best to de-seed them. The result was a delicious creamy dip that can be described as a cross between tzatziki sauce and hummus. It was reeeeeally good and even Mom was raving about it (she is a good sport about trying my vegan concoctions, but usually feels lukewarm about them).
Also on Friday morning I baked, partially because I owed J some cookies as payment for a favor he did me, and partially because I was spending the weekend at E’s and didn’t want to arrive empty-handed 🙂 So I made two of my favorites, both by Dreena Burton: Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies (I made my mint version) from Vive Le Vegan, and Chocolate Chunk Spice Cookies from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. They all turned out REALLY good (if I do say so myself!) and every last one has long-since been eaten. I have to put in my two cents regarding the Spice Cookies, and say that I think that using freshly grated/ground spices is the key to making these cookies outstanding. I used freshly grated nutmeg and ground whole cloves to use in the recipe…it is definitely worthwhile!
Beauties
Close-up (Minty Chocolate Chip cookies)
Close-up (Spice Cookies)
Mmmmm now I want to go make some more…
Will post the garden update tomorrow!
A.Cook in the Making 