Summer is in full bloom and it’s brought along the most beautiful bounty. My kitchen is so full of color and life, I can’t help but photograph it! So here’s a little ‘food porn’, haha, from me to you. Enjoy!

Big Ass Salad (BAS). I’ve been eating *lots* of these! This one featured [organic] crispy crunchy romaine, cucumbers, radishes, red onions, red bells, avocados, carrots, chia seeds, and hemp hearts – tossed in lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil.

Raw Wraps! Stuffed with sunflower seed paté, cucumber, carrot, leeks, and avocados, served with a turmeric tahini dip.

Cinnamon Rolls. I made these for Damian’s first father’s day, and they were very much enjoyed by both him and my father-in-law. I didn’t actually have any, but I’ve made the recipe before and can attest that they are maybe the most delicious, and most naughtiest, breakfast food on the planet. =)

Strawberries! I growed these myself, ain’t they cute? I think this handful went straight into my blender (before I realized Waits reacts to them).

Wakame seaweed salad. This puppy packs something like 50% of my RDA for iron, and about 25% for calcium. I like it with sesame oil, lemon juice, sesame seeds, crispy cucumber, slivered onion, and a side of avocado slices. Mmm delicious!

Black bean and quinoa salad, with onion, tomato, avocado, black olives, and plenty of homegrown cilantro. This is a summer staple, and SO GOOD. Damian scoops it up on organic corn chips; I use it as filling for raw cabbage leaf ‘tacos’.

Remember when I showed you all the cherries that Damian harvested from our tree? Well, this is what I did with them!

For Damian I baked miniature cherry pies. How friggin’ cute is that??!

For myself I made raw chocolate cherry tartlets. Oh. My. God.

Plant Blood! For this veg*n vampire, muahaha. Cucumber-cilantro-celery-watermelon, plus the watermelon rinds (which are really good for you!) My first homemade green juice! Also, can you find my family hiding in this pic? ;-)

Damian bought me a raspberry bush for my first mother’s day. Isn’t that so sweet? This is the first teeny harvest. Harley was very interested . . .

My first batch of kimchi fermenting on the counter. Success! I’ll post a tutorial soon, this stuff is so amazing and crazy good for you!

Raw sushi! With chunky almond paté in place of rice, filled with cucumber, avocado, and red bell pepper. Served with kimchee (store bought).

‘Peanut Butter & Jelly’ green (pink?) smoothie. Such a treat!

This was an amazing farmer’s market stir fry, sublimely simple with sesame, tamari, garlic, and ginger. Featuring snap peas, sweet onions, tempeh, and shiitaki mushrooms. We eat this weekly these days – just had a variation tonight!

I honored the first peaches of the season in this raw tart. The peaches sit on a bed of vanilla cashew cream and are garnished with fresh berries and a generous dollop of raspberry cashew cream. Um, yeah. AMAZING

I’ve been so inspired around food lately, just loving this delicious, health-giving, high-raw fare. I’m coming up on my 2 year Veganniversary, and I’m really feeling so grateful and so delighted to be veg*n! To explore and enjoy such diverse plant-based cuisine, it’s so powerful! Such a positive force in a mindful life.

So what about you? What foods have you been enjoying lately?

Yesterday I shared some photos from a recent Farmer’s Market excursion. Being the Ultimate Food Geek™ that I am, the Farmer’s Market is pretty much my favorite place in the world. Especially this year – I’ve been eating super healthy and super seasonal, and I can feel it energizing every cell in my body! Food is so magical!

And as you know, each week Damian and I choose something special, our ‘ingredient of the week’. Sometimes it’s just something standard that happens to be at the absolute height of its season and thus overflowing with nutrients and irresistible flavors – think blueberries, sugar peas, asparagus, or raspberries! But more often than not we try to select something a bit more unique. Ideally, something we’ve never tried before. As they say, ‘variety is the spice of life‘ . . . and we like or life spicy!





So a few weeks back we waded into the waters of that big and burly bush bean, the fava. Neither of us had ever eaten favas, and I certainly hadn’t cooked with them. Not that I’d let something like that stop me! I did what I always do – I asked the farmers. They began sharing their preparation methods with me, and a few other patrons overheard and jumped in with their favorite techniques, and pretty soon we were in the midst of a full on recipe-swapping fava convention. LOVE IT!

There were tons of great ideas – favas can be enjoyed in so many ways, including raw – but as soon as I heard the words ‘like a hummus’ I knew what I would be doing. I have a deep and undying love of hummus and any excuse to riff on that template is a happy day in the kitchen as far as I’m concerned.

I think dips are an essential warm weather food. A protein-packed dip (like this one) is the perfect dinner for a hot summer night, and it’s a common theme around our house. Simple and seasonal and totally refreshing.


Ingredients:
fresh favas, between 1-2 cups shelled beans

1 medium onion, chopped
2-4 cloves garlic (to preference), chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
splash of cooking wine (I use dry vermouth)

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1 ‘heavy’ tablespoon minced parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil





Instructions:
Split the pods and remove all beans. Favas have two layers you have to get through – the outer pod and then a transparent ’skin’ covering each bean. To get this off you need to steam them. 15 minutes or so should do it. Once they’re cooled you can pop them out of their ’skin’.

In a large pan heat the olive oil over medium. Add the chopped onion and sauté until glassy. Add the garlic and the favas, cook a bit more, then deglaze with a splash of wine. Turn the heat to low and simmer a few more minutes.

Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a food processor or blender. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and thyme. Blend until smooth. If you need more liquid you can add water or olive oil or lemon juice, whichever your preference. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chill the dip in the fridge before serving. While it’s cooling down, dice the cherry tomatoes and mince the parsley. Mix these along with the olive oil and use as a garnish atop the dish when you serve.





This is great served as a party dip with sliced veggies (my favorite) or organic corn chips (Damian’s favorite). But you can also make it more ‘meal-like’ by wrapping it up in the vessel of your choice. Flat breads are great for a heavier meal, while cabbage leaves are awesome for something lite and refreshing. Top with avocados for absolute deliciousness!

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place . . . I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
~ Elliott Erwitt


This year the Farmer’s Market has easily become the highlight of my week. What a delicious ritual, this. My family, my community, and the freshest, most vibrant, most vitalizing foods in the city. It’s the greatest way to start the weekend. Damian sipping on his black coffee, Waits sucking on his carrier strap, and me: nibbling off of every vendor’s table. Heaven!

This is the first year I’ve eaten so specifically seasonally, and I can sense the impact in my body. I’m eating high-raw, high-organic, and highly local plant foods. And it feels AMAZING! Each week at the market Damian and I choose a special ingredient, something new and unique and at the peak of it’s season. The week we took these pictures, we stumbled upon the glory that is . . . the Fava Bean!

I’d never eaten favas, let alone cooked with them! But I bustled about in the kitchen until I produced an awesome dish – which I’ll be sharing with you all tomorrow!

Long spring = more greens!

Berry season is still in full swing, though by now we’re moving away from strawberries, into blues and raspberries, and heading full force towards delicious blackberries (the scourge and the treasure of the Pacific Northwest!)

We’ve been eating stir-fried snap peas for weeks. Divine!

Lots of Love from the Rebhals!

“To me, photography is an art of observation. It’s about finding something interesting in an ordinary place . . . I’ve found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
~ Elliott Erwitt

It’s our family ritual, this Saturday morning farmers market. Damian, Waits and I, the bustle of the bazaar, and all that local Portland produce. We have our weekly favorites (leafy greens, salad veggies), and we always pick up something new and special. The market is so inspiring: the perfect way to start the weekend!

My dears, I want to share these images with you, so that they may inspire you as my market always inspires me. Let me know if you like them – I’d love share them regularly but only if there’s interest.





























all photos by Damian Rebhal

Now that the Solstice has come and gone we are officially into summer – woo hoo! That means it’s time for pool parties, picnics, beach excursions, lawn bowling (amiright??!) and of course, BBQ. From the 4th of July to Labor Day and many a long lazy weekend in between, tis the season for gettin’ your grill on!

At the urging of one of our readers, Kathryn, I’ve scoured the internets for vegan BBQ recipes. And you know what? There’s not a whole lot out there! Toooons of vegetarian recipes but slim pickin’s for the purely veg. Well, I’ll just have to do something about that . . . summer cooking projects!

In the meantime, here’s the best of the best that’s out there right now. My criteria were that the recipe had to be interesting (anyone can drizzle olive oil on a mushroom cap and grill it) and that it had to include an image – I won’t make something if I don’t have a picture to associate with it. If any of you have an awesome vegan BBQ recipe, please link to it or write it up in the comments!


Veggies

• Starting off with the veggie that inspired this whole post, no BBQ is complete without corn on the cob! Try my Barbecued Miso Corn, or hit up this Chili-Lime Corn on the Cob from Epicurean Vegan.
• I’m a super sucker for artichokes, and these Grilled Baby Artichokes from Planet Green look delicious!
• We all know I’m I’m not a huge fan of eggplants, but I’d be willing to try this Grilled Eggplant with Walnut-Cilantro Pesto that was featured in the LA Times food section. As well, SusanV from FatFree Vegan Kitchen offers these Grilled Baby Eggplants with Korean Barbecue Sauce that not only look delicious, but are totally adorable as well!
• For spudsy people there are a few varieties: Rachael Ray’s Spicy Steak Fry Skewers look divine, and these Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette at gourmet.com make my mouth water (that’s the power of the photograph!)
• And finally, my love of fresh seasonal tomatoes has me pining over these Plum Tomato Skewers with Artichoke Pesto, again from Rachael Ray.

Faux Meats/Omni Subs

• There’s no absence of barbecued tofu recipes out there, so I wanted to feature one that was extra special. This Chipotle Barbecued Tofu from FatFree Vegan Kitchen really impressed me! I must try this recipe! For a more traditional route check out these many variations from Vegan Dad.
• Seitan is great for grilling because it really holds up well. If you ever loved barbeque ribs, you’ve gotta try SusanV’s Barbecued Seitan Ribz. If you prefer your seitan skewered, Vegan Yum*Yum has a lovely looking Tamarind Seitan Kabob.
• And what about a not-dog?? No BBQ is complete without a sausage in a bun, right? How about Vegan Dad’s own Homemade Vegan Bratwurst, smothered in probiotic-rich sauerkraut? NOM!
• I can’t wait to try this South Carolina Golden Mustard Barbecue Sauce from the apparent BBQ Queen, SusanV. I think it would be absolutely amazing on tempeh!

Desserts

• I love the idea of barbecued desserts! These delicious looking Sweet and Hot Sugared Melons from Rachael Ray really remind me of my own Mezcal Grilled Pineapples.
• Um, Barbecued Bananas with Caramel and Chocolate Sauce? Thank you, Vegan Dad.
• This Grilled Apple Pie recipe is genius, such a fun idea. Just make sure you use vegetable shortening to make it vegan! I like this organic, non-hydrogenated palm shortening the best.

Techniques

• How to use a Clay Baker on the grill, from Vegan Dad.
• Also from Vegan Dad, how to Smoke Tofu (or veggies, or whatever).
• And last but certainly not least, The Post Punk Kitchen shows us how to Make Pizza on the Grill.

Are you hungry yet? Prepare to drool with this little video featuring one of my own personal inspirations, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau:





Happy grilling guys!