Squirrel’s Vegan Kitchen

Can you believe it, a post with no baked goods! It doesn’t mean it’s not happening, though, just not as often the past few weeks, which is probably a good thing. Enough babbling, though- Let the food begin!

Burrito bowl in a really cute bowl that Jim bought me, lined with hedgehogs and squirrels. I also have a matching mug. This is a standby quick dinner in our house, black beans cooked up with some cumin and garlic, salsa, Tofutti sour cream and guac, scooped up with blue organic corn chips. Drool…

Another standby that makes a great lunch the next day, too. Leslie’s Sloppy Lenties. I make this often since it’s so easy to just let them simmer while I’m doing other things. I don’t chop things down quite as fine as Leslie, because we just eat it like a chunky stew. We had it with this wonderful kalamata olive par baked bread that I picked up at New Seasons. The outside got nice and crisp, but it was still soft inside and not too chewy.

Next up, Meditteranean Pasta from Robert Robertson’s new book Quick-Fix Vegetarian. The book is actually, like 97% vegan, with only one or two suggestions of dairy in it. Anyhow, this pasta is chock full of goodness, with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, chickpeas, kalamata olives, orzo pasta, parsley and other assorted spices. It was really good, both hot and cold, and even better the next day. I’m looking forward to fitting in more recipes from this book because they are healthy and fast, since we’ve been really short on time lately.

A different take on a banana split. A banana smoosh? Banana-peanut butter ice cream from our Champion Juicer, with fresh strawberries and chocolate sauce. Last week organic strawberries were only $1 a pint at my beloved Limbo, so we stockpiled and ate a ton of them.

Brunch this morning at Veganopolis. Now, I must admit that I’m in the club of Portland vegans who just isn’t that into Veganopolis. It’s not that it’s bad and the owners are really nice, but it just doesn’t call me back for seconds. But Jim and I haven’t been there in some time, so we met up with some friends for brunch. They have their famed breakfast buffet and are now open on Sundays, so the crowd was hungry and steady, which is great for them. On the plate, clockwise, there’s a spelt biscuit with gravy, the orangy savory bread pudding (the highlight of the buffet), roasted potatoes with ketchup and some veggie hash, which had rutabaga, carrots, beet, potato and other root veggies in it. To balance the heaviness, I had some fresh fruit on the side. It was a decent breakfast, but Jim and I still aren’t their most loyal patrons.

Dinner tonight, some lentil and rice pilaf with asparagus on top. I tossed the asparagus in lemon juice, salt and pepper and a light coating on olive oil before broiling it for a few minutes. It was a nice, light springtime dinner on a beautiful sunny day. It’s not all clouds and drizzle here!

Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on with the book and whatnot. Hope you are all well and enjoying springtime weather!