Reasonably Healthy Dinner Out

Good morning everyone. I hope everyone had a great Friday night.

We had planned to have dinner our friend (aka adopted daughter) Alexandra last night. However her mom had a car accident and Alex had to go to Frederick just before we were supposed to meet. We still need to catch up with her and see the pics from her trip to Machu Pichu. Since we were planning to go out to eat we decided to go without Alex. I know you all know where we went. Yes, of course we ended up having Ian make dinner. As you all know we adore Ian and his food. Last night he out did himself. Ian must really enjoy Asian food. I am basing this on the great job he always does with Asian food.

Last night one of the specials was what he called a “rice bowl”. This came out looking nothing like my rice bowls. Though I will be using some of the ideas I learned last night in the future. ;-) The recipe as designed had fish but he made a tofu version for us. Ours also included snow peas, carrot, marinated mushrooms, sweet potato salad, radish, cucumber, avocado and caramelized onions. In the center of the dish was a mound of white rice surrounded by an Asian sauce made with soy, mirin, sweet soy, and garlic. He garnished the dish with pine nuts and triangular nori flags. The dish was finished with dots of sriracha on the rim. Not only was this a gorgeous dish but was so flavorful. We split this dish, but it was so good we both thought about getting a second plate.

To go with the rice bowl we had a salad of arugula, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, hazelnuts and walnuts. This was finished with balsamic glaze.

Our final dish last night was a plate of roasted veggies (eggplant, portabella, cauliflower, red pepper, onion, sweet potato, white potato, and carrot. This was finished with balsamic glaze and pine nuts.

Dan and I both thought Ian did a wonderful job making vegan food tonight. While he isn’t comfortable cooking this way we think he does a great job considering vegan food is very different from his usual cooking style.

Here are the specials he was making last night in case it gives anyone inspiration. I have long said that eating Ian’s food has done wonders for my cooking.

The restaurant was packed but Ian had a little time to sit down and chat. He also told us about a health food store and restaurant near him that we will be checking out, maybe this weekend. According to Ian we will enjoy it. With a name like the Flying Avocado it has to be good. ;-)

After dinner we ran to Wegman’s for organic cat food. You know it would be a disaster if we ran out of that at our house. Since we were there I replenished our dried bean supply, picked up a few Indian herbs (fenugreek and cardamom), more tofu, and wine and apple cider vinegar. I also bought a little produce. The watercress was gorgeous so that may turn up in dinner tonight. I love the spicy bite you get from watercress.

According to the felines the best thing we came home with was Orkakat Wiggle Worms. These are cat nip infused gum massagers. They were so popular with our three last night that we had to take out the away so the felines didn’t play with them all night. If you have felines you may want to pick these up. Mine babies are really enjoying the new toys.

I need to get a few things done. I will be back later to let you know what I make for our meal today with my omni parents.