What We’ve Been Eating: August-October 2010

November 2nd, 2010 - filed under: The Food » Food and Health

Midsummer after the market, my fruit bowl runneth over

As late summer rolls into early fall, I’m loving the constant change on my plate. This year I’ve focused on eating super seasonally; the majority of meals come straight from the Farmer’s Market. I’ve loved eating locally and I’m looking forward to carrying it through winter . . . with lots of creativity!

BBQ tempeh and corn on the cob and cole slaw, um, YUM!

Tacos two ways.

These mini white cucumbers were soooo divine, I bought them every week for months! I’ve never had a cucumber so crisp and crunchy. I miss them!

With heirloom tomatoes and aged balsamic . . .

Homemade ranch dressing, omgveganranchholygrail

Hummus and falafel in a cabbage leaf wrap.

Does this need any explanation? Nope, I don’t think so.

Homemade vinaigrette. I always prefer simple salad dressings.

And speaking of simple – this is pretty much my idea of dinner perfection.

Classic green smoothie after a chilly morning walk. This one was 2 overripe bananas, lots of spinach, some water kefir, some ice cubes, and some Manitoba Harvest vanilla hemp protein powder. I’ve always avoided flavored powders but this was free so I tried it . . . OMG BLEW MY MIND. My new favorite smoothie!

And of course, in keeping with my MoFo resolution (if this is to be the year of themes, then mine is ‘what I had for dinner’), here’s what I ate tonight:

Oven baked root veggies (red onion, red beets, and heirloom purple potatoes), dijon roasted brussels sprouts, and a bit of last night’s leftover soup.

Mmmm, I love looking back over this food porn! I remember how amazing the food tasted, and how nourished and fabulous I felt after eating it. It makes me so grateful and glad to be vegan!

Happy MoFo!

http://twitter.com/erosan erosan

Reading your blog when hungry is definitely not a good idea… I want a banana now… or a tomato…
Erin

I’d love the vegan ranch recipe!
Squiggle

I am seconding Erin! Ranch isn’t so popular (nor common) in the UK so finding vegan ranch in the shops would be impossible! Maybe a post on how to veganise common sauces would work? With what to substitute for the non-vegan ingredients as a guide so we can go forth and veganise at leisure! Just an idea :)

B x
Meghan

WTF. I have no idea what is going on on that bun that needs no explanation. Does this make me a bad vegan? :-P
http://www.heathers-perspective.blogspot.com Heather (Perspective Is Everything)

i could eat grilled/roasted veggies for every meal. man they are so satisfying…….to my tastebuds, but my poor GI needs disagrees at time!
sweet potato and artichoke. perhaps a perfect meal :)
Sandra

I have an organic restaurant nearby me, and when they served us ranch dressing I thought it was a cashew base, so I went home and found this recipe http://thesunnyrawkitchen.blogspot.com/2007/09/recipe-of-week-ranch-dressing-or-dip.html

and it is amazing.
Annie

It all looks soooo good!
What we ate for dinner last night – awesome fried-in-home-made-garlic-oil tempeh the housemate forgot he left when he went to go plant home gardens for indigenous peoples’ households in a remote community (I’m totally jealous! Once again, screw you, school schedule!)
Mashed cauliflower with a ‘fridge scavenger’ salad of: Rocket (home-grown), home-grown and home-done lentil sprouts, home-grown and home-done chickpea spouts, home-grown basil (I love how, even though it gets VERY hot in Australia, I can grown Basil year-round!), home-grown red onion, home-grown garlic, partner’s parent’s friend’s FRESH cold pressed extra-virgin olive oil (!), parsley (that thanks to the wind, is growing wild all though the back yard), farm-fresh apple cider vinegar from the orchards near aforementioned partner’s parents, friggin amazing Murray River Salt.
PS. Everything was free AND organic. Yeah!!

I don’t really like ranch sauce. Maybe because we don’t we really have it on a lot of things in Aus… Actually, not anything I can think of except US fast food places.
I like the recipe I made for vegan mayo, though, I will post it if you like :)
[I will have to get a friend to watch me - it's all rough 'by judgement' measurements]
http://lindseyrey.blogspot.com/ Lindsey Rey

Veg overload!
http://VeganBunzOfCinnamon.blogspot.com Melissa

Great post! I like your blog! I’m not too big on flavored protein powders either, but maybe I’ll give Manitoba a try!
Tenise Rae

Good lord, woman! You’re makin’ my mouth water somethin’ fierce!!
Britt

@ Erin and Meghan ~ I second it, you guys! The world needs to know! Please, Miss Sayward! Would you Please provide both the ranch dressing recipe, as well as the… freakin explanation of that stuff in the bun…! ; )>

Loves and kisses to da baby!
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

Don’t hate me guys, but I can’t give out that ranch recipe . . . I’m saving it for my recipe book! But I can say, I’ve made a version of the recipe that Sandra linked to and I can vouch for its awesomeness. That’s the one I would recommend. Raw, too!

As for the sandwich filling, I guess I meant “Clearly this looks delicious so it needs no explanation” – but not that you should know what it is. So no bad vegans! =D

It’s a chickpea un-tuna, again the recipe is under wraps. Sorry!

—

@ Squiggle – What sorts of sauces would you want to see veganized?

@ Annie – You make my mouth water!
Kelly H.

I approve of this post!

I thought that’s what you meant in regards to the sandwich, but I still found myself thinking, “Ok, yeah, clearly that looks AMAZING, but what the heck is inside?!” :o)
http://mobettavegan.blogspot.com Mo

All of this looks so great!
http://www.myspace.com/tirscatha Lenn

Ok, I have to ask…Was your other half a Vegan when you two got together, or did he convert? And if he converted, how did you get him to eat healthy? Was it a spell? A potion? A brain re-programming system? =P I’m an omnivore, but I prefer to have WAY more fruits and vegetables on my plate than anything else. So how on earth do you make men eat that stuff? My other half is an omnivore that could easily go full carnivore. As in it’s hard to make him eat anything that is not meat, a potato, or a bag of cheetos. So how do you make them try stuff? Anything that looks remotely healthy (God forbid it be a raw fruit or vegetable, that’s just blasphemy apparently) he turns his nose up at and refuses to try.
http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

@ Lenn – I hypnotized him! Haha, just kidding of course. I actually talk about this in my most recent post.

Damian was a very unhealthy eater (I was too in many ways) BUT he wasn’t opposed to healthy food – just bad/boring food! As long as it tasted great, he’d eat it. So it was a matter of finding the few healthy things he liked, and then building on those. We started slow, with lots of meat analogues and ‘naughty’ vegan foods, and over time both of our preferences changed. But, as I say in the linked article, it does take willingness and openness, and it does take time.

Look for ‘intro’ recipes that act as a compromise, like my vegan fettucini alfredo or my vegan polenta lasagna or a fab vegan burrito. You don’t need to ‘sell’ these as vegan or healthy. Just serve them, let him dig in and enjoy, and once he’s confirmed how much he loves them, THEN announce he’s eating vegan food! Hee hee.

I also serve a salad with every dinner. It helps to put it in a bowl and put the bowl in front of him (as opposed to ‘serve yourself’). Damian likes salad but will eat other stuff instead if it’s not in front of him. For your man, if he doesn’t like salad, just keep talking about how important greens are, and ask him to take one bite a night – for your sake! Then eventually up it to two bites, three bites, etc. But give him time for his tastes to change. A badass dressing helps too. =)

Luck!

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