Monday, July 8, 2013

Summer Lovin'

Happened so fast. It's summertime in KC and I am loving it! For one it's been so very gorgeous and all I can do is praise the Lord for giving me a 4th of July when I was outside all day long and loved every minute of it. I have thoroughly enjoyed many evenings spent on our gorgeous front porch sipping wine and spending time with a great sister and great neighborhood friends. This particular evening I was blessed to spend time with a couple of friends that live within a stone's throw and we enjoyed some great food and wine. Our evening was originally scheduled as a porch crawl but the 90 degree weather merited an inside dining experience. Nevertheless it was simply delightful.

On the menu for tonight: 
  • Most delightful farm to market bread toasted with avocado mousse and slivered radishes.
  • Massaged and sauteed collard greens with a delightful lemon olive oil dressing, sunflower seeds, and  blueberries.
  • A couple of different veggie patty fritters that I concocted.
  • Wine and the most interesting delightful sangria I've ever had made with cucumber, radish, and ginger slices among grapefruit juice and sparkling wine.





Veggie Patty#1: Mushroom Quinoa (I rarely measure so these are rough estimates)
In food processor rough chop:
  • 2 cup mushrooms
  • 1 cup eggplant
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 Tablespoon ground flax
Add:
  • 1.5 cups cooked quinoa (I actually cooked together 1 cup raw quinoa with 1/2 cup red lentils and then ended up adding about 3/4 of the total mixture to the food processor. I ate the rest with some spices for a snack.)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 cup yellow corn meal (I started out with 1/2 cup and then added handfuls until it was the desired consistency I wanted.)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
Pulse all this until it is combined but don't over-process. Form into small patties and roll in additional corn meal. I then fried mine in a combo of grass-fed beef lard and coconut oil. Alternately they can be sauteed or probably baked if you are opposed to fat, although good fat is good for you!

Veggie Patty #2: Beet Falafel
Soak overnight 1 cup garbanzo beans. Drain the beans and into food processor put:
  • Soaked, but not cooked, garbanzo beans
  • 2 cups shredded raw beets
  • 2 Tablespoon cumin
  • 2 Tablespoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Handful of cilantro going to seed, aka turning into coriander, (alternately about 1/2 cup cilantro and 1 T coriander will do)
Remove from processor and add:
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 1 egg
Form into small patties and fry also in your fat of choice. I fried them right along side the patties #1.

These patties were served with a funny little sauce that I concocted out of cashew butter blended with coconut milk, dill, and celery seed.

Most delightful. I love cooking for friends and wish I took more time for blogging about such adventures. I've certainly been creating some new things but have been too busy enjoying them with new friends to record the moments. Thanks Esther and MaryAnna for making me write these down!



1 comment: