Dinner for One

It's nice to be cooking again. It's like Spring: a sign that life is back. So why is food so much tastier when cooking for someone else? I love cooking, I love making good meals for myself, but the act of feeding someone is the nurturer in action. Everyone needs to eat; but so few really eat well.

Tonight it is un-chicken piccata and broccoli. Wine, lemon juice, Earth Balance, capers, shallots, garlic and parsley. The un-chicken is by Gardein - possibly the most amazing product on the planet; looks and chews like chicken cutlets and tastes amazing.

To add some ambiance, a vodka lemonade with a sprig of rosemary. Use only Simply Natural lemonade, hands down the best on the planet. The rosemary gives it that je ne sais quoi. 

When I spoke to him last he admitted he missed my cooking and that he'd probably never eat that well again. I don't know how to feel about that. Part of me is glad he appreciated that; and part of my is so sad that that is all that he walked away with.

When you are really good at one thing, does that make you deficient in others? How do I become a chef at love?

Meatout 2011

The first Taos Meetout Event was small but reached many people. it was held Saturday, March 19th at Cid's Food Market:

Thank you to our sponsors: Turtle Island Foods (Tofurky products), Follow Your Heart (Vegenaise), and Vegfund.org.. We served Tofurky deli slices (black pepper flavor), Tofurky sausages, and had a beautiful potato salad made with Vegenaise. To wash it all down, chocolate Almond Breeze almond milk. BTW, the potato salad recipe is from the Peta Vegetarian Starter kit and is the best one I've come across~

We served approximately 200 people and gave literature out to about 150.

Spreading the word:

The reception we received was wonderful; many people were thanking us for getting the word out and were pleasantly surprised at the tasteful meat alternatives.

Even though there was a glitch with our media support (we got our press release in to the local paper by deadline, but it did not run), thanks to the great foot traffic, it was still a party!

Sunday used to be for decompressing...

...now I make sure I cook enough to have leftovers for work the next three days. As Monday - Wednesday is basically wake up, work, come home, sleep, repeat, I don't have the time or energy to cook much.

So I freed 2 birds with one stone, so to speak.

Below is our way of having a picnic/bar-b-que at our house. Pictured starting from top going clockwise faux bbq 'pork' (homemade seitan, made from scratch by moi), creamy potato salad, and cole slaw. It was a gastronomical delight. The faux bbq came out better than I expected. The bbq seitan recipe and cole slaw are from Veganomicon and the potato salad is from a PETA handout "Go Vegetarian" which has a few great starter recipes. 

By the way - for anyone who loves mayonnaise, I have to give a pitch for Vegenaise:

 Not only can it replace traditional Mayo without anyone being the wiser, it has absolutely no cholesterol - no eggs. Now this is wonderful on many levels. At picnics - no worry about getting food poisoning from the macaroni or potato salad! I tasted it right out of the jar and it has a much better flavor than traditional Mayo. Just try one jar - it will make your taste buds smile.

Okay - below, because having one dinner would be too easy, is Red quinoa with black beans, broccoli, and raspberry chipotle sauce. This one is from the Post Punk Kitchen again and can be found on the website.

And just because it wouldn't be a day on Hondo Mesa without some animal adventure - these two horses decided to bolt and take a walk on the wild side when they were being led out of their trailer. The went back to their home moments later.