Who Knew? Celery Leaf and Radish Salad

Last night I made my favorite "go to" veg and tofu noodles recipe and a lovely springtime salad with an ingredient I'd never tried before: celery leaves.

I had some celery killing time in my fridge for a while, and I was just going to throw the leaves into my usual veg stock batch, but then I remembered reading somewhere that you could eat them.

I hadn't eaten celery leaves since I was a kid, when I used to pluck them off of the heads of celery in our fridge (I have a vivid memory of doing that when we lived on 2nd street, remember Mom?)

To that, I added some lovely little radishes, some freshly-squeezed lemon juice, a tiny drizzle of grapeseed oil and a slight dash of salt. So clean and refreshing! It was Spring-tacular.

One of Wichita's farmer's markets opened last weekend. I went solo (hubs was still asleep). There were several more booths this year than the first day last year. I ended up with some lovely little tomatoes (delish!), a jar of sand plum jam, and a jar of homemade mild salsa that came with a big bag of chips. It was nice to get out into the sunshine.

And for the request to see more pictures of our dog, Enu, I give you this gem:

{Enu atop all 4 couch throw pillows}

Jes

Arty Chicks

Oh brother, this was one of my favorite Vegan MoFo meals thus far! I've been wanting to make more recipes from Vegan YumYum (thus the muffins early this week...). My choice tonight: Golden Chickpea and Artichoke Salad.

Except I didn't food process my almonds, still great!

It's so easy and filling...GREAT recipe, you should totally check it out! Another bonus: it's super cheap!

In the background: Silk's Mint Chocolate! I'm still a kid at heart.

Can anyone else smell the weekend coming? I can almost taste it (seriously, if it doesn't get here soon, I won't just be crying on the inside.)...

Jes

Capellini with Garlic & Olive Oil, Yum!

That's right. Two posts in one day...still going strong, and there's sooooo much more to do!

Ok, so Sunday I was a bit on the "I don't want to cook very much" wagon (i.e. see my "Easy Peasy Chili" and Biscuits post...). For lunch that day, I made another REALLY easy recipe, also from Beverly Lynn Bennett's awesome cookbook, Vegan Bites, which is great when you are the only one in the house eating totally vegan.

Her recipe was for "Spaghetti with Garlic and Olive Oil," but since I think Spag. takes too dang long to cook (and kids, I was FAMISHED.), I decided to use the box of capellini noodles hanging around my little pantry cabinet. Capellini are a version of angel hair pasta. The brand of capellini I buy is even thinner than the Barilla angel hair I used to get.

Yup, capellini = feeding Jes' face faster!

I cooked the capellini, and in another small pan I sautéed about 2 cloves of minced garlic in 1 TBSP olive oil (being careful not to burn it). I then added 3 sliced mushrooms to the oil, along with the recommended crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Dried oregano also found its merry way in, too, and was joined by freshly-squeezed lemon juice as the very last ingredient.

This was followed by draining the pasta, tossing it with the oil sauce, plating, and topping with a shake of nooch.

Holy smokes, folks! This was so easy and yummy. Probably not the best for my waist line, but what the hay...

I ate this at about 3:30ish, and it put me in a coma-nap until 6:00pm! What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. Screw Ambien and over-the-counter sleep meds. You should try this recipe!!

Do you have a recipe that brings on a blissful nap after you eat?

Jes

My Heart Sprouts with Love for Brussels

When I was a kid, I actually LOVED Brussels Sprouts. (I know, most of the related posts I've seen lately are all like, "I hated the hell out of those nasty things when I was a kid!", but I was an odd child). Plus, it was a little kindred connection with my mom, who also enjoyed the taste of Brussels Sprouts. It was always a treat for the two of us, since my brothers abhorred them.

From time to time, I like to steam some of these emerald lovelies but I hadn't eaten any in a while and had one heck of a hankering last night.

I might add that I tend to overdo it just a PINCH when it comes to "special" veggies...For instance: this summer I got into eating beets for the first time EVA, and one night I ate three roasted beets all by myself. I had magenta urine for several days afterwards (that's probably TMI, but whatever, you get the gist).

So last night I made Brussels Sprouts--Two Ways (I smell a trend here).

First course: Sautéd Brussels Sprouts Leaves over Penne with a Lemon & Garlic Sauce

Second course: Roasted Brussels Sprouts in a Balsamic Glaze (didn't want to waste the gems leftover from course one)

Basically, I cleaned a bunch of sprouts, cut off the tough ends, and peeled away multitudes of leaves. The amount isn't certain, you can sauté as much or as little as you want. They don't wilt down as much as you think they would.

Sauté the leaves with minced garlic until the leaves start to brown slightly. At this time, I deglazed the pan with some lemon juice from the mountain of lemons I had left over after the wedding. Season as you see appropriate and then toss the leaves and lemon sauce with the penne you craftily had cooking away this whole time.

For the roasted sprouts, I halved what I had left over after the de-leafing, tossed them in olive oil and balsamic vin. (along w/S&P of course), and then spread them out on a sheetpan. I roasted them for about 30 minutes at either 350 or 400 degrees (I really need to start remembering that info!).

I then proceeded to stuff myself with the pasta and roasted sprouts until I burst. True story.

Have a SUPERB weekend (I'll be here, lonely, thinking of yummy concoctions).

Jes