The sun shines bright on shiso-basil pesto.
We’ve been getting the most delicious produce ever from Alegría Farms, a vertical hydroponic farm that popped up in Laguna Canyon. Twice a week we get a beautiful bouquet of lettuces, chard, kale, collard greens and plenty of herbs. (And the tomatoes. OH the tomatoes! The taste is so good you could faint.) The Husband loved their green smoothies so much that he bought me a Vitamix, which means I’m a very happy girl. Continue reading
I think I already mentioned that I’d taken a blood test to finally figure out what my food sensitivities are. It turns out that all grains are off the menu, as are soy, beans, legumes and dairy. Well, we knew about dairy already, so no surprises there.
But it made me think seriously about my diet. Beans, legumes (i.e. lentils, my absolute FAVES) and soy are some of the first things I reach for when I’m going for a vegetarian or vegan alternative. Er, those are out the window. Basically I’ve found out that my diet falls under the “Paleo” title, which makes it easier as there’s some cookbooks out there to inspire me.
Now, please don’t think that I’ve fallen for this whole “pre-agriculture everyone was healthy and that’s how we should eat now to avoid every ailment” theory. I know it’s not scientifically accurate, but that’s not what was bothering me. It was reintroducing meat into my diet.
Cool, raw and delicious.
So, nobody ever dares make me a birthday cake, and I don’t blame them. It’s tricky with my dietary restrictions, plus I guess all my baking makes a few people a little hesitant to make things for me. Although my dad did make a vegan carrot cake for me once—it was tasty, but the presentation was hilarious, mainly because he plopped it down in front of me, saying: “And that’s what you get when you don’t make frosting with real butter!” Yes, the frosting appeared less than perfect, but it was all delicious. And I loved him for making a vegan cake for me!
This year I made my own, and about a month after my birthday. What with all the celebrating, I didn’t really have a chance before that! Continue reading
I’m posting this because Lucy requested it, and I hope she makes them for her delightful-sounding little ones. They’ve got so many food allergies, and Lucy seems to be a supermom keeping up with it all! Although they can’t have dairy or eggs, luckily they can eat wheat, so these cupcakes should be a perfect treat for them. Continue reading
I was starting to get a little worried about keeping up with the Virtual Vegan Potluck (the brainchild of the wonderful Ann, a fellow blogger with a site “An Unrefined Vegan”. Brilliant idea!). When was I going to have time to whip up a new vegan recipe? And one that isn’t full of gluten, which I’m trying to avoid right now, plus one that The Husband was going to like. He’s not that fussy, but there are a few ingredients I need to work around.
And then I happened to make a mushroom risotto and a curry two nights in a row, both vegan, both delicious—well, that’s the opinion of yours truly and The Husband. I can’t vouch for anyone else’s tastebuds!
I’ve decided to post the curry because frankly, I’m a little obsessed. I’d probably eat just about anything if it was curried. My 11 years in London got me well and truly addicted to those spices and flavors that make up “curry”. I get a little annoyed—okay, A LOT annoyed—with people who say they “don’t like curry”. Continue reading
Want to join me? I’ll be participating!
Click the photo below to learn more, and how to get on board! I think it’s a great idea, put forth by An Unrefined Vegan, certainly one of my top five blogs to follow at the moment.
Watch out for my entry and links to the others next month!
I know that they say spring comes in like a lion, and out like a lamb, but this recipe will make it the opposite. It is so super flavorful that you could literally put this sauce on anything and make it delicious.
VEGANS/VEGETARIANS: Please have a look at this sauce! It’s totally vegan and SO delicious! I can’t wait to use it on tofu, tempeh or jackfruit for tacos! Just ignore the stuff about the lamb. Please.
And this one goes out to Girl in a Food Frenzy, because I know she’s “down under” and likes lamb as much as I do. I also think my friends in the UK will love this too (well, Tracey won’t love the lamb part). I’m not sure if they’ll be able to get all the special dried chiles over there unless they order them from the Internet… Continue reading
Our neighbors, and friends, went away a week or so ago. I call them Pal and Am, fondly, but they are really Al and Pam. We have an arrangement with them where we watch each others’ cats when any of us are out of town, but this time Cookie, their older cat, was a little under the weather. I won’t go into details, but I did suggest trying to give her some puréed pumpkin.
I didn’t promise it would work, which is good, because neither of the cats even tasted it. The potassium I was supposed to give Cookie was nasty—if it tasted anything like it smelled, the poor girl was in trouble. Luckily, the poor kitty’s bad day was someone else’s delicious baked treat… Continue reading
Quinoa pasta with chive-spinach pesto
When I lived in London, I was able to grow the following on a fifth-story balcony: blueberries, radishes, green onions, tomatoes, thyme and rosemary. When I lived in Santa Barbara, I had a 10′ x 12′ garden full of everything from corn to potatoes to zucchini. In my “backyard” in Laguna Beach? I can barely grow anything. I’m not sure why Laguna Beach has turned by green thumb brown, but I’m not happy.
But there’s one thing that grows like crazy in the back—chives. Continue reading
The finished product—don't worry, you won't miss the sauce!
I have to say, I’m getting hungry again just thinking about this recipe! I was trying to cook vegetarian dishes all last week, and I had some Soyrizo lingering in the fridge. I’m always so amazed at how delicious Soyrizo is, and once I taste it I can’t wait to have more.
Last Sunday, to celebrate my nomination for the Versatile Blogger Award (thanks again!), I made myself a Soyrizo, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. Since that day I was planning what I’d do with the rest of it. And, true to form, I decided to make something that was totally labor-intensive for a weeknight. Oops. But it was totally worth it. Continue reading
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