Love That Food Experience

At home I'm a one pot, comfort food cooker. Love sitting down with a good book in one hand and a bowl of something warm and aromatic in the other. From soups to risottos, one pot cooking is serenity.

But there are so many other eating experiences out there that I enjoy equally.

Photo by Kelly Lawson of the
amazing food at Alley Gria in Saint John.
Check out her blog here.

Tapas and Dim Sum are in my mind the perfect date food. Sharing dishes of little bites. Eating without a fork or spoon but your hands and chopsticks. It takes the date from two people sharing a table to two people sharing an experience.

Take out is the ideal hanging out with friends at home food. Sitting around in your grubs, spooning out pad thai or slicing up pizza. Not caring about noodles and crumbs on the counter.

And pot luck, best if shared with other foodies. Giggle.

Greek-Style Vegetable Risotto

On chilly rainy days I go for the one pot steaming dishes. Tonight's pleasure was a Greek-Style Vegetable Risotto.

I hadn't paid much attention to arugula in the past but yum! I like the bitterness. It balanced well with the peas and zucchini. And yes, I did top it off with glorious parmesan. :)

Chickpea, Spinach & Squash Gnocchi

Another successful first time recipe. I'm really enjoying the recipes from Eating Well. Lots of great flavours and interesting combinations. Like chickpeas and gnocchi.

I love the harvest-y flavor of this meal. Am thinking it may be a must on my Thanksgiving table this year.

Chickpea, Spinach & Squash Gnocchi

Cabbage Rolls - Mediterranean Couscous Style

I love my comfort foods. Who doesn't? I also have a lot of them. Some even healthy.

Every time I go home to visit my parents mom asks what I would like for her to cook. That's easy. Cabbage casserole or cabbage roles!

I have a rule of thumb in my house: never try to do what mom did exactly. It won't be as good as you remember. So I make what is familiar but with a twist. And with maintaining a meat free kitchen twists come in lots of interesting ways. Like couscous making up the meatiness of a roll.

I found this recipe for Mediterranean Couscous Cabbage rolls: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/mediterranean_cabbage_rolls.html. The smells from the kitchen have been making me drool in anticipation.

Olives, feta, mint and cinnamon. Sounds like delish to me. I had to make some amendments as I made a few mistakes when getting groceries. I got 4 tomatoes...when I needed 4 cups chopped. Whoops! Good think I had a can of diced tomatoes on hand. I also ran out of sugar so used honey instead. And then also forgot to get ground cinnamon so tossed two cinnamon sticks in instead. Fingers were crossed!

And the result was definitely flavorful! Yum yum!

Taco Salad = Yum

After three weeks vacation I'm back. And back to enjoying a meat free kitchen. So what does a jet lagged girl budget for groceries?

Taco salad!!

Here is the one I'm trying this week. Vegetarian Taco Salad from Eating Well

What's Not in My Fridge

Lately my inventive cooking is inspired by what's not in my fridge.

Case in point: I grew up Anglican and as a result participate in some of the Christian calendar events, like pancake Tuesday.

My mom's pumpkin pancakes are my absolute favorite and my parents were visiting...so why not. Not thinking much about it the moment arrived to make them. "Where's the eggs?" Oh Oh. I'm not vegan. Yes, my house has been meat free for little over a month but I didn't think much about eggs. I just haven't had a need for eggs in a while. Shrug. What was once a consistent staple, had left the fridge.

Not to be deterred, Google it was...time to search for eggless pancakes. We tried this recipe: http://weelicious.com/2008/11/26/vegan-pumpkin-pancakes/ And were pleasantly surprised! The maple in the pancakes were a really nice touch! The consistency was different than what I was used to for a batter but the end result was absolutely the same and mucho delicious!!

So following this great experience I wasn't worried when staring down at my overcooked costco sized asparagus bundle. Not wanting to waste it I instantly thought of soup. I know there are cream asparagus soups but I don't keep cream or milk in my fridge.

No worries. Let's google.

And ta da the foodie blog world turned up another masterpiece: Roasted Asparagus Soup! Yum yum! Especially when I garnished it with hot sauce.

Drool! I'll take two bowls please.

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons with Parsley (sans brown butter)

Still on my meat fast and finding that I'm really enjoying it. I'm feeling lighter, clearer, brighter. I've noticed subtle difference in my body as well. Maybe it's the running, boxing, snowshoeing but I'm seeing tightening here and narrowing there. Or maybe it's just my imagination. No matter. I like it.

I have been stuck a little on couscous lately and needed a change (true to my nature). So I sent out the call to those I know who truly live a vegetarian lifestyle and asked them for their tried and trues.

A co-worker sent me links to online recipes from sites she found good. And, drool, I instantly knew what I wanted: Italian. I don't remember a time when I didn't enjoy Italian! When I stumbled upon this recipe I knew it was love at first site. Not only Italian but had Gnoochi (silent G).

Gnocchi with Zucchini Ribbons & Parsley Brown Butter. Nutmeg makes a nice surprise in this recipe. Blended with parm and parsley...there is a nice zing to it.

One subtle tweak: I used olive oil instead of butter. Little healthier and yum yum!