What a phenomenal weekend! My brother flew in from Chicago on Thursday and parents drove up from Florida on Friday and the weekend was full of good food and sunshine! Good ol' momma's cookin, nothin like it! And no matter how hard you try, irreproducible. Is there a dish your mom makes that you try and try to replicate, but just can't get quite right? Moms are just amazing!
So over the weekend my brother and dad built us raised beds for another season of fruit and vegetable gardening. I will be starting seedlings in the next week!
We went on an Asheville day trip on Saturday, one of my favorite little cities ever. Hippie town, LOTS of veggie food, street musicians everywhere, artsy displays all around town, fabulous people, great vibes, and beautiful mountain area. Went to eat at Green Sage, drink chocolate at The French Broad, sip tea at Dobra Tea, and had dinner at ALL TIME FAVE all vegetarian restaurant Laughing Seed. So some of the food on our plates included: black bean burgers, tempeh avocado sandwich, veggie burritos, panang curry with really good seitan, and a nut encrusted tempeh with harissa sauce and wild rice pilaf. YUM YUM! And to drink: delectable liquid truffles in lavendar/honey and cinnamon/cayenne, lovely green and oolong tea incredible kombucha on tap made by local ladies. We also stopped through a spice store that would be a dream to have in my neighborhood - all sorts of spices on their own and in mixes that you can smell, sample, enjoy and buy. You must check out all of these things with a trip out to Asheville to just experience a city that is unlike any other one I have ever been to.
So I realized that the above list of foods may be on varying levels of familiarity so I wanted to go through some items and perhaps add a new ingredient or dish to your plate.
Tempeh - a WHOLE fermented soy product that started in Indonesia. They take the whole soy bean that is cultured and fermented into a cake form. Since it is made from the whole bean, it has more protein, fiber and vitamins than tofu. It can also be made using other beans or whole grains. I have cut it in thinner strips for sandwiches, crumbled it for a chili or burritos, and sauteed cubes for salads or stir-fry.
Harissa - a North African chili sauce that is made from piri piri chili peppers and other hot chili peppers mixed with olive oil. The sauce itself is this beautiful orangey-red color that looks beautiful on top of dishes and tastes incredible. There are variations on how to make the sauce based on regions and family traditions. You can add it to soups, pastas, couscous or other grain dishes or anything else you think might go with the flavor.
Seitan - a vital wheat gluten protein that can be sauteed, baked or fried. It works as a meat substitute in a lot of recipes. You can buy this in organic and natural food type grocery stores. Or you can try making your own (although I have not done this yet, it sounds like it might not be all that hard). It just requires water and whole wheat flour. You basically just wash wheat flour dough until all the starch goes away and it becomes this elasticy mass that is then cooked. It may sound not as appealing from the description, but it really is great!
Kombucha - a fermented tea that is becoming more and more popular, originally drunk for medicinal purposes. The culture, a mass of yeast and bacteria, is put into tea with sugar and allowed to sit for 1-2 weeks. The microbes feed off the sugar and create this fermented beverage that has roots in Russia, China and Japan. There are some health claims including detoxification and anti-cancer properties. Now the process itself when you look it up can seem a little eww, but when you get the right place's kombucha, it really is quite tasty. I recommend above mentioned ladies' kombucha in asheville (see listings on website) in the fire flavor (cayenne and ginger goodness).
Alright friends, that's all for now as I embark upon another day. Sorry there was only one post this weekend!
Goodnight...
So over the weekend my brother and dad built us raised beds for another season of fruit and vegetable gardening. I will be starting seedlings in the next week!
We went on an Asheville day trip on Saturday, one of my favorite little cities ever. Hippie town, LOTS of veggie food, street musicians everywhere, artsy displays all around town, fabulous people, great vibes, and beautiful mountain area. Went to eat at Green Sage, drink chocolate at The French Broad, sip tea at Dobra Tea, and had dinner at ALL TIME FAVE all vegetarian restaurant Laughing Seed. So some of the food on our plates included: black bean burgers, tempeh avocado sandwich, veggie burritos, panang curry with really good seitan, and a nut encrusted tempeh with harissa sauce and wild rice pilaf. YUM YUM! And to drink: delectable liquid truffles in lavendar/honey and cinnamon/cayenne, lovely green and oolong tea incredible kombucha on tap made by local ladies. We also stopped through a spice store that would be a dream to have in my neighborhood - all sorts of spices on their own and in mixes that you can smell, sample, enjoy and buy. You must check out all of these things with a trip out to Asheville to just experience a city that is unlike any other one I have ever been to.
So I realized that the above list of foods may be on varying levels of familiarity so I wanted to go through some items and perhaps add a new ingredient or dish to your plate.
Tempeh - a WHOLE fermented soy product that started in Indonesia. They take the whole soy bean that is cultured and fermented into a cake form. Since it is made from the whole bean, it has more protein, fiber and vitamins than tofu. It can also be made using other beans or whole grains. I have cut it in thinner strips for sandwiches, crumbled it for a chili or burritos, and sauteed cubes for salads or stir-fry.
Harissa - a North African chili sauce that is made from piri piri chili peppers and other hot chili peppers mixed with olive oil. The sauce itself is this beautiful orangey-red color that looks beautiful on top of dishes and tastes incredible. There are variations on how to make the sauce based on regions and family traditions. You can add it to soups, pastas, couscous or other grain dishes or anything else you think might go with the flavor.
Seitan - a vital wheat gluten protein that can be sauteed, baked or fried. It works as a meat substitute in a lot of recipes. You can buy this in organic and natural food type grocery stores. Or you can try making your own (although I have not done this yet, it sounds like it might not be all that hard). It just requires water and whole wheat flour. You basically just wash wheat flour dough until all the starch goes away and it becomes this elasticy mass that is then cooked. It may sound not as appealing from the description, but it really is great!
Kombucha - a fermented tea that is becoming more and more popular, originally drunk for medicinal purposes. The culture, a mass of yeast and bacteria, is put into tea with sugar and allowed to sit for 1-2 weeks. The microbes feed off the sugar and create this fermented beverage that has roots in Russia, China and Japan. There are some health claims including detoxification and anti-cancer properties. Now the process itself when you look it up can seem a little eww, but when you get the right place's kombucha, it really is quite tasty. I recommend above mentioned ladies' kombucha in asheville (see listings on website) in the fire flavor (cayenne and ginger goodness).
Alright friends, that's all for now as I embark upon another day. Sorry there was only one post this weekend!
Goodnight...
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