Homemade No-chicken, No-salt Chick’n Broth & Lemony Chick'n and Rice Soup

Here is a preview of the soup.  The chick'n stock worked out really well and everyone enjoyed the soup, omnivores and vegans alike.   That is definitely a win in my book.

Sunday:

We were back to the farmers market which reopened today. Good thing Pam (the farmer at our CSA) sent out reminder emails this morning or we would have missed the market. There would have been no excuse to miss the market since we both knew about. In fact the market reopening this weekend was even a topic of conversation at cooking class just a few days ago. Sometimes I wonder what my brain is thinking about when I forget important things like this. As much as I love going to the market you would have thought I would remember. *rolls eyes*

The market today was mostly plants and we picked the following for our tea and herb garden: 7 parsley, 1 marjoram, 1 bay tree, 2 calendula, 1 German chamomile, and 1 stevia. I managed to get these planted early Monday morning before running errands.

Breakfast for me was my usual savory oatmeal.

Next there was quick trip to the library to pick up a book on hold (Blue Zones) and a run to Whole Foods for organic parsley and celery.

As usual I had no idea what I was going to make for the meal with my parents on Sunday. Soup is always safe but my mother has asked me not to use beans, anything spicy and she isn’t fond of tofu which means it is getting progressively more difficult to find things that I consider healthy enough to consume that she will eat. *sigh* Why doesn’t anyone ever tell you that as your parents get older they become more child-like?

Many years ago I used to a make a lemony chicken soup that both my parents liked with veggies and rice so I decided to make a vegan version of that soup. First however I had to work on the no-chicken, no-salt chick’n broth. I think the broth is the best part of this soup personally. Here is what I did:

Lemony Chick’n and Vegetable Soup
Serves 6 as an entrée if you include some cooked whole grain

Chick’n Stock Ingredients:

1 large yellow onion, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
2 heads garlic, peeled and smashed
4 cups water
¼ cup oatmeal
8 cups water
1 bay leaf
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast (or less if you aren’t fond of the flavor you want a little umami but you don't want the soup to taste cheesy)
¼ teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon no-salt seasoning (or to taste)
¼ teaspoon sweet paprika (not the smoked)
¼ teaspoon dill, optional (this isn’t necessary but I like dill)

Soup Ingredients:

4 carrots, finely diced
2 – 3 stalks celery, finely diced (or 1/8 teaspoon celery seed)
4 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced (I used 3 cups of dried mushrooms reconstituted in 4 cups of water)
1 cup green beans, cut into small pieces that will fit on a spoon
1 cups broccoli, cut into small pieces that will fit on a spoon
1 cup frozen peas
Fresh parsley to finish the soup (about ½ cup when finely diced)
1 lemon, zested and juiced, optional (this changes the soup dramatically but it is good with or without the lemon)

Directions:

Allow the onion and garlic to stand 10 minutes before turning on the heat so the chemical reactions have time to take place. In a large pot combine the onion, garlic, water and oatmeal and cook uncovered over low heat until the vegetables are tender. Check the pot periodically to make certain that you have enough liquid in the pot. Also don’t go too far away as the mixture will try to foam and boil over. When the vegetables are completely tender pour the ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. Return this mixture to your soup pot. Add the seasonings to taste.

Now add the carrots and celery and simmer for at least 30 minutes. The remaining veggies will be added in stages. The mushroom only need about 10 minutes to infuse the in broth but longer is fine too. If you are using dried mushrooms also add the soaking liquid but strain it so you don’t add any gritty sediment to your soup. The green beans and broccoli need less than five minutes to cook to al dente and still retain their nutrition. The peas and parsley should be added just before serving. You can save some of the parsley for a garnish.

If you would like to add more calories to this soup you can add some cooked whole grain, like brown rice or quinoa. Alternately you could add cubes of potato to the soup or even a ¼ cup of barley.

Nutritional Information (for 1/6th of the soup):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 132.81
Calories From Fat (5%)-  6.99

Total Fat - 0.72g
Saturated Fat - 0.13g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 103.51mg
Potassium - 628.47mg
Total Carbohydrates - 23.15g
Fiber - 5.28g
Sugar - 6.52g
Protein - 5.78g

Nutrition Information for the entire recipe of chick’n stock:

Calories - 394.94
Calories From Fat (4%) - 16.66

Total Fat - 1.29g
Saturated Fat - 0.27g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 107.06mg
Potassium - 686.91mg
Total Carbohydrates - 56.78g
Fiber - 6.75g
Sugar - 6.28g
Protein - 9.56g

Comments:

I am sure some of you were wondering why I added oatmeal and pureed the onions and garlic right? You know how homemade chicken stock has an unctuous rather gelatinous quality to it? That was what I was trying to mimic by pureeing the onions and garlic and adding the oatmeal and it worked fairly well. *happy dance* I will probably try to refine this a little but I am very pleased with how this first attempt turned out. I hope you agree when you try it.

The soup itself is a very simple combination of the veggies that I had on hand. Feel free to use any veggies that are traditionally added to your favorite chicken soup recipe.

To accompany the soup we had a simple green salad of: mesclun, cucumber, tomatoes, carrot and topped with creamy “honey” mustard dressing.

After the meal with my folks Dan and I watched the Jack Canfield DVD, “ActivatingThe Law of Attraction”. Even Dan enjoyed it and that is saying something since occasionally these things are too woo woo for him if you know what I mean. The DVD was long, 2+ hours, so dinner needed to be simple.

Dinner was leftovers for Dan and me. I had some of the Greek bean soup and Dan had mushroom ragu. This is why I try to keep leftovers in the refrigerator and freezer. I love being able to get homemade food on the table in a few minutes.

We did manage to turn in much earlier than usual, thankfully. However for some reason I tossed and turned last night. *ugh*

Monday:

Because I didn’t sleep well we skipped the gym this morning opting to sleep in instead. Some days sleep is just more important. After all we can both work in exercise later in the day but if you don’t get enough sleep a nap isn’t always an option.

Dan’s breakfast was an enormous green smoothie this morning.

After Dan left for work I headed out to the garden to get my new plants into the herb and tea garden. First I had to do a little clean-up work but the weather was beautiful so I didn’t mind at all. In fact I was thrilled to see that my tarragon is about 8 inches tall, the golden oregano has sent out about 100 little seedlings, the borage has also survived the winter and has at least 20 little plants coming up. Ahhh, spring….. I love getting into the garden. Now I just need to figure out where I am going to put my basil this year since that is where the marjoram, chamomile, and stevia went in this morning.

I also managed to finalize the last post and get that up on the blog. Knowing that today was going to be a hectic one I tried to get everything in before I had to run out the door. It is just going to be one of those weeks. However with temperatures expected to flirt with the 80’s it will be a wonderful day to be outside.

My breakfast was a huge salad, as usual in a serving bowl. This salad contained: about 6 cups of mesclun greens, 1 organic Braeburn apple, ¼ cup blackberries, ¼ cup blueberries, a little fresh lime juice, a dash of vanilla and 1 tablespoon of chia seeds.

Knowing the salad would not hold me for long I backed some homemade trail mix in my purse with an orange. The trail mix contained equal portions: raw pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, dry roasted edamame, and dried blueberries.

After running errands the weather was still absolutely amazing. Needless to say dinner on the patio won out which means we went out for dinner. When we call to make reservations we always ask if Ian is there and have the kitchen warned that we are coming in. Ian prefers more than a few hours notice, but since we are happy making up our own meals I knew he would just be happy to see us.

The weather was gorgeous today with a high of 87. *woo hoo* What a fabulous eating for dinner al fresco.

As always I started the evening in the kitchen so that I could chat with Ian. I like to get a hug and hear what he has on hand that is out of the ordinary so that we can plan what we are going to eat. While I was there I asked him if he had any experience with seitan and tempeh. His response was tempeh, a little, and seitan never. When I asked if he would be willing to play around with it for us he said of course. He doesn’t think he can get it from his supplier but I quickly volunteered to drop it off since it was only for us. I am very excited to see what he comes up for us on this. *happy dance* Sometimes you just have to ask for what you want. You never know when the person will say yes. *woo hoo*

While I was chatting to Ian in the kitchen Emily came in to tell me Dan wanted iced tea. What? Knowing that green tea was better for him she doubled checked with me and I decided iced green tea was a better idea. Isn’t it very sweet of everyone at the restaurant to look out for us?  Dan knew I was right, though that wasn't what he wanted.  He did agree with me that it was better choice.

We started with gazpacho at the suggestion of Emily. I ordered a cup and Dan got a bowl. The gazpacho had a little heat in the background which I really liked. Ian makes a very good gazpacho; in fact his soup has been voted Baltimore’s best gazpacho in the past.

Next we ordered Ian’s take on the samosa which we both really like. I was in the kitchen when Ian was prepping these and they have only a brush or oil between the phyllo so they have a lot less fat than the deep fried original but are still crispy. Ian’s cilantro dipping sauce really takes these over the top. I always say his sauces are amazing and this is another one of those.

Our dinner was sautéed snow pea, and mushrooms topped with sweet potato and lentil latkes. I have no idea how he came up with that combination but they were delicious. We ordered a second plate we liked them so much. I will be making my own version of this soon.

While we were enjoying dinner on the patio, which we do at a very leisurely pace, we talked to Alan and Donna for a while (the owners). Donna said they were tasting olive oil and asked if we wanted to join in? Sure, when has any Italian ever turned down olive oil tasting? Dan and I both liked the same one with the peppery finish characteristic of Tuscan oils.

Emily and I chatted about photography since I am considering a camera upgrade. Emily has a MFA and is wonderful photographer. We are going to make plans to get together and have a photography and nutrition day. She is very excited to tell us about a destination wedding in Bali she will be working on as a photographer later this year. Can you imagine going to Bali for work? Sounds like a great deal to me.

Jenn’s birthday is coming up this Friday so we chatted about that. She is going to visit her finance who is out of town to celebrate her birthday. When we asked which birthday this was for her the response did make me feel a little old. Dan and I have been together since before she was born. *sigh* When did we get old? Oh well, we are still young at heart at least.

Steph was also very sweet last night. She had made herself some strawberry hibiscus tea and brought me some since she knew I would like it, and I did. I always say that we are part of the family here so I wanted to give you more of any idea of what it is like when we are there.

As usual we were there for hours; literally we arrived at the restaurant at 5:30 and left close to 10. I suppose that is why we know almost everyone there as well as we do. Not only are we there often but for a long time when we go. When you do this for years you become a fixture of sorts.

Happy thoughts:

• What a fabulous Sunday and Monday. This is going to be one of those times when I will need to stop myself from writing too many happy thoughts. Don’t you just love those day? I feel very fortunate today.

• I loved going the farmers’ market on Sunday and getting to see our friends at Cat’s Paw Organic and Calvert Farms. I picked up some great plants for my tea and herb garden. *woo hoo*

• I am thrilled with my latest version of no-chicken stock. You can expect to see that turning up often now.

• Monday was equally as nice as Sunday. It was a busy day but still good… and the weather was absolutely spectacular. Who wouldn’t love a day in early April with a high of 87, blue skies and a breeze? The weather couldn’t have been much better in my opinion.

• We had a lovely dinner on the patio and enjoyed the food and company very much. Even though it was just Dan and I for dinner we talked to many other people all evening like we usually do. Are you starting to understand why I say it is like a restaurant version of “Cheers” for us?

Signing out:

Tuesday is going to be another hectic one for me. My to-do list continues to grow so I need to get productive today. With a little luck since the weather is grey and rainy today that will give me incentive to stay home and cross items off my to-do list. Well ... that is the plan we will see how well that works out for me.

I hope everything is going well for you. Today I need to make some intentional leftovers for dinner and lunch tomorrow. Hopefully that means there will be a recipe in the post tomorrow. I am trying to get back into the kitchen. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Greek Inspired Soup and Eating Out

Before I start this post I wanted to let you know that my blog posting schedule is going to be a little wonky this week. It is another very hectic week here for me. I am trying to get caught up but that is proving more difficult than I expected.

Thursday’s Activities:

Since cooking class was last night I took it easy on the food this morning. I wasn’t terribly hungry so I had a little fruit and nuts for breakfast, which I forgot to photograph. When I get extremely busy I tend to forget to photograph my meals. I wonder if that is because subconsciously I find my daily food to be too boring to post. I have no idea what the problem is but that was the first thing that popped into my head. It may well be that I am just too busy and not focused on eating which also isn’t good.

Today I had another appointment but since it was by phone at least I could get a few things done while I was talking. That is where the pressure cooker comes in handy. I love that it ridiculously fast and needs almost no attention. I still feel a little silly that I was afraid of pressure cookers for so long because they really are easy to use and crazy fast.

I knew I needed to make beans since we hadn’t had any for a few days and that is what I did with the pressure cooker. I made two cups on great northern beans with no idea what I was going to do with the beans. However, I hadn’t made Greek food in a while and thought I would use the traditional flavors of the cuisine to make a white bean soup.

Traditional Greek Flavors/Foods:

For those of you that are curious the items used often in Greek food are as follows:

cinnamon
clove
garlic
goat cheese (I would probably use cultured macadamia nut cheese here)
honey (but any sweetener would do though I might add a touch of lavender since honey typically has a a floral note)
lemon
marjoram
mint
olive oil
olives
oregano
ouzo
parsley
rice
spinach
thyme
tomatoes
yogurt (any non-dairy milk with a little acid…like lemon or cashew crème fraiche would be a good substitute)

I used many of these flavors in the soup I made to have on hand for leftovers. Here is what I did:

Greek Inspired White Bean Stew
Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups great northern beans
8 cups water
32 ounces tomato sauce (stats assumes it was no salt sauce regular sauce adds 600mg sodium per serving…yikes)
16 ounces peeled, diced tomato
2 cups water
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced (about 3 cups)
10 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
¾ teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
¾ teaspoon dried oregano, or to taste
approximately ¾ teaspoon dried mint, or to taste (Dan would have preferred less mint but I love it so….) ;-)
black and green olives thinly sliced, to taste (the nutritional stats assume ¼ cup)
1 lemon, zested and juiced
¼ cup finely minced fresh parsley

Optional: brown rice, quinoa, millet or bulgur to add body and calories to the soup

Directions:

Combine the beans and water and cook until the beans are tender. I used my pressure cooker and cooked the beans on high pressure for 25 minutes then I let the pressure fall naturally. Then I added the remaining ingredients, except the parsley and optional grain and cooked for another 30 minutes to develop the flavor. Just before serving add the parsley so that the color stays a vibrant green. You can also add it to just the portion you will be eating, which is what I usually do. If you like to eat grains place a little in the bottom of a soup bowl and top with the soup. I will eat this soup without grain but Dan’s servings will contain grain.

Nutritional Information (does not include the grain):

Amount Per Serving
Calories 233.7
Calories From Fat (5%) - 11.72

Total Fat - 1.37g
Saturated Fat - 0.29g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 69.78mg
Potassium - 1257.27mg
Total Carbohydrates - 44.8g
Fiber - 12.5g
Sugar - 8.25g
Protein - 12.55g

Comments:

My lunch was two small bowls of soup for my lunch and thoroughly enjoyed it. I need to use Greek flavors more often. ;-) The only problem is that Dan isn’t too crazy about mint which means that I may need to modify this in the future. Darn it! LOL

After making the soup and brown rice for Dan I decided to go out for another walk since the rain decided to take a break….finally.

(These purple shutters always make me smile)

It may look like spring with the daffodils and forsythia but don’t let the blooms fool you it was just barely 40 degrees when I took these.

I made myself a big bowl of green salad (mesclun, artichokes, salsa, cucumbers, carrot, tomatoes topped with ground flax) for dinner, which I neglected to photograph, and Dan had a bowl of the Greek bean soup I made today with brown rice.

Friday:

This day was a complete blur for me. I had so many things to don’t remember sitting down. I didn’t take any food pictures this day because I was too busy. I promise that you didn’t miss anything noteworthy. This day I was in and out of the house all day running errands and getting ready for the weekend. It was definitely one of those days where I had way too much to do.

Saturday:

I love my weekends and this one was no exception. We started our morning with a long walk (about 3 miles). As we were heading out the door we both thought it would be a good idea to take a break at “our restaurant” so we could see Aimee (she and Michael we affectionately refer to as the kids). We hadn’t seen her in about 6 weeks so it was definitely time to catch up.

Isn’t this tulip poplar beautiful? I love these trees they are so lovely. But I also love the red bud and magnolia we planted in our yard years ago. Too bad I didn’t have room for a tulip poplar too.

When we arrived at the restaurant Aimee had seen us coming and was surprised since we are never there that early. Since it was early there were only a few customers so we had a little while to chat with her before she got busy. It was good to hear that school is going well for both she and Michael this semester.

Since we went out the door without breakfast we decided to get a little nosh while we were there. We started with a pot of green and hibiscus tea.

Next we asked if the kitchen could make us a antipasti plate that was vegan. There is a antipasti plate on the menu but it includes meat and cheese which they were happy to substitute with veggies. This plate included: marinated chickpeas, artichokes with dill, olives, cherry tomatoes, house-made pickles, roasted red peppers and crispy garlic flatbread. Delicious and animal-free. Sometimes you just need to ask for substitutions though I will be the first to admit that is easier when you are a restaurant regular. ;-)

As we walked home I noticed the detail work on porches of this building which I never saw before. I took this picture since I thought this would make a nice fence or deck pattern, when we get around to doing that.

Lunch was a green smoothie so that we got our greens in since that should have been our breakfast today.

For dinner we were meeting our friend Louis at the restaurant, you know where right? I find it much easier to go out to dinner with our friends because that way we can get vegan things and our friend can get what they prefer (which never seems to be vegan). Not to mention when you go out to eat that means there are no clean up and who doesn’t love that.

The restaurant was packed tonight since there was a wedding party of 35+ in the back of the restaurant. In addition it seemed as though the entire neighborhood decided to go out to dinner tonight. Good thing we made reservations or we would have been waiting for a while.

Ian was off on Saturday doing something with his daughter, Will is also off and that meant we actually had to order something. What? LOL, yes it was odd but it worked out fine.

One of the specials tonight was mushroom pappardelle that sounded good to both Dan and me. We asked if it could be made vegan and found out the pasta (pappardelle) was homemade and included egg but they substituted a dried pasta without egg. Our pasta included: portabella mushrooms tossed with onions, garlic, asparagus finished with truffle oil. Good stuff, I didn’t miss the cheese at all.

Since we only ordered one entrée, which the kitchen was nice enough to split for us we also ordered roasted veggies to accompany this dish. I never get tired of roasted veggies.

Louis ordered the grilled swordfish with I wanted to show you since this would be great with tofu or tempeh. Louis gave the vegetable portion of this very high praise . The veggies included: sauteed zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, olives and mint, with a sweet onion and golden raisin relish. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

Dan and I were still a little hungry and asked what fresh fruit the kitchen had. Stephanie brought us three martini glasses of fruit. This was the perfect way to end a meal.  We have avoided tradtional dessert for so long now that I am am perfectly satisfied with fruit .. .never thought that would happen.  ;-)

Happy thoughts:

• My week has been crazy but I have also had a lot of fun. It was great to see the cherry blossoms in DC, amazing to meet Jose Andres and wonderful to see everyone at cooking class. While I have been swamped it was for good reasons.

• Seeing our friend Louis on Saturday for dinner is also something that I had been looking forward to. Since Louis moved to the Delaware shore we don’t see him as often as we would like. It is always great when we have a chance to get together. We talk on the phone a few times each week but seeing each other is much better. I am grateful to have Louis in my life since we have been friends a long time and I know he is always where when I need him even if I don’t ask for help. That is definitely the sign of a very good friend.

• I was happy that the rain let up in time for me to get outside. In case you hadn’t noticed I have been trying to get outside everyday for a long walk lately. I seem to feel better when I spend at least 30 minutes outside every day. I am not sure why that is happening but as long as it keeps working I am going to keep doing it. ;-)

• While rain is annoying when it is happening I like to remind myself that it is good for farmers, and therefore our food supply, as well as the water supply. No one likes water rationing do they?

• It was fabulous to see Aimee Saturday morning. She is a very special person that Dan and I both adore. We are both very fortunate to have her in our lives.

• I was very happy to have Dan home on Saturday rather than working. It is always great when we get to spend time together.

Signing out:

Today (Monday) is going to be another very busy one here. I have an appointment this afternoon that will take a few hours and need to keep my mom company while my dad runs errands late this morning. Tomorrow will be a little better for me so I hope to get at least one post up then and possible two. *fingers crossed* Sunday a made a very good no-chicken, no-salt chick’n stock that I will be sharing in my next post. Both Dan and I were very happy with that so I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

The weather is supposed to be gorgeous here today with temperatures almost reaching 80. Woo hoo; it looks like spring is finally back. *happy dance* Yes I really do have a happy dance that I do, and you thought that was just words. Nah I am a goofy LOL! ;-)

Time for me to run talk to you soon, most likely tomorrow…. but if I can get another post up later today I will. Have a great Monday. Remember if you have any suggestion of what you want to read let me know and I will try to work it in. Laura, my review of “Oil to Nuts” is still coming. I haven’t found time to watch it a second time yet since I have been so busy. However it is on my list of things to write, promise!

Time Got Away from Me

Dan and I were busy today which meant that I didn't find time to finish my post.  Instead of rushing through it to get something up I would rather take my time tomorrow and write something that will be better.  If you have any suggestions please let me know what you want to read about.

Our plan for tomorrow morning is to start our morning at the gym at 6am.  Wish us luck since we were still awake after midnight last night.  We are trying to get back to our early morning schedule.

I hope you had a great weekend. Talk to you tomorrow after I have time to properly write the next post.

Cooking Class Returns with Spring Vegetables

I have no idea where this week went. It is beginning to feel like I will never get caught up. Do you ever have days like that?

On Wednesday I made Dan’s breakfast (a kale and banana smoothie), packed his lunch and headed outside to get my blood pumping. I knew that I need to get moving quickly since I had a lot on my to-do list today. Good thing I work well under pressure huh?

Here are a few pictures I took while I was outside getting in a little activity.

Once I got home I did some strength training and got cleaned up so I was ready for my 10am appointment which was not to be. I thought I was doing one thing, and then something happened and I was doing something else. I am not one that adapts well to change but did manage to be constructive in spite of having my schedule turned around. It is funny when I am very busy the least little thing can throw me off my routine.

I used my unscheduled “off time” to make myself breakfast. Since I knew I would be eating more calories for dinner than I normally would at home I combined breakfast and lunch. This time it was my favorite savory oatmeal. It contained my usual: wheat germ, freshly ground flaxseeds, nutritional yeast, cumin, paprika, oregano, no-salt seasoning and was topped with broccoli, salsa and a few white chia seeds.

I worked on my post that I scheduled to post while I was in cooking class which fortunately worked fine. Technology and I are not always friends so I didn’t know what to expect. Needless to say I was happy that it worked. Now I will need to use that more going forward.

Early in the afternoon I had another appointment before I needed to leave the house. Given our very fuzzy felines that climb all over me like a jungle gym I got my face and hair ready but didn’t change clothes until I was ready to walk out the door. Something tells me all the cat and dog owners understand that process very well. ;-)

On my way to cooking class I needed to stop at Costco for a few essential items: nuts, quinoa, and herbs that sort of thing. The rain slowed down my trip but thankfully I was still on schedule, which means early since I don’t like to be late for anything.

It was wonderful to see the regulars at cooking class. I have missed attending class on Wednesday but since it was usually meat and/or cheese it wasn’t a ton of fun for me. When I ran into Donna last week (the cooking teacher) she told me that the next class was spring vegetables and that she could make dishes that were finished with cheese and/or meat and leave those off for me. That was all I needed to hear to attend class. I had a wonderful time on Wednesday and look forward to being able to attend more classes in the future when meat isn’t going to be dominate in the meal. Hmmm, I wonder how Donna would feel about using tofu or tempeh for me. Maybe I will send her an email about that. ;-)

Here are the dishes from class:

We started with roasted asparagus and shallot over mache, and quinoa cooked in veg stock. The asparagus was topped with pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. Everyone else had goat cheese and crispy capicola on their servings. I thought this was fine without the meat and dairy. If you wanted to add a crispy element you could use either kale chips, flax cracker shards, or even crispy flat bread. A good substitute for the goat cheese would be almond feta, cashew or macadamia nut cheese.

The next dish was a potato and leek galette served with a baby arugula salad dressed with truffle oil. This was excellent but then again I do love the aroma of truffle. ;-)

The final dish was a spring risotto topped with pea sprouts. I do love my risotto; it must be an Italian thing. It is hard for me to imagine that I used to always add cheese to my risotto. Once you get used to the clean flavor of food with cheese or dairy it is difficult to imagine why you were ever addicted to it. However I was a cheese addict and thankfully that situation is long gone now.

I stuck around for a while after class and talked to everyone and got caught up on what it going on in their lives. When you see people for 3+ hours once it week you tend to get very close to them. I loved having people that were as passionate about food as I was in my life. I really do need to start going to cooking class again when the dishes are ones which are finished with non-vegan items.

Happy thoughts:

• What a great week this has been. Between the cherry blossoms, meeting Jose (swoon), and cooking class it has been a notable week for me. Too bad every week can’t be this much fun. However that is probably what makes weeks like this so special.

• It was fabulous to catch up to everyone from cooking class. However now I realize how much I miss them all. As Dan pointed out I could take care of that by going to class more. Now I just need to find time in my schedule to make that happen.

• Wednesday was a super long day since I didn’t get home until after 10:30 and Dan and I talked until almost 1 am. However it was still a wonderful day.

• Do you have those days where you wonder how life got so busy? That has been my week and I am not sure how it happened. Okay so realistically I know that I did it to myself taking on too many responsibilities but when I started them I had free time. I am thankful that I have time to do so many things, and hope that I have learned to say no to many more things for the foreseeable future. ;-) Only time will tell right?  I still want to work in a few cooking classes.  I am a glutton for punishment sometimes.  LOL

Questions for You:

I was very surprised by the lack of comments to the post yesterday which I thought was one of my better posts.  Since the post did get a lot of traffic I assume I am the only one that enjoyed that post.  Which leads me to wonder what is that you want to read here?  What information are you hoping to see on the blog?  Any hints or suggestions that you can provide would be very much appreciated.  My goal is to provide information that is useful and hopefully entertaining and am not sure that I am accomplishing that at the moment.  *shrugs shoulders*

Signing out:

It is time for me to make myself presentable for dinner. Assuming that I do things correctly this will post while we are out socializing. *fingers crossed* Talk to you all again tomorrow. I hope you are having a fabulous weekend.

Lunch at Jaleo and Cherry Blossom Festival

Tuesday morning I was in a fabulous mood and looking forward to spending the day with Dan. Since he rarely takes time off of work this was a special treat. Not to mention I loved the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC the last time we were there so I knew it would be a great opportunity to take photographs. We were both planning to stop at Jaleo for a bite to eat which is always great.

Breakfast for both of us was green smoothies. I am adding cooked quinoa to them these days for a little extra protein. The remaining ingredients are the same: frozen banana, raw kale, wheat germ, freshly ground flaxseed, cinnamon, powdered ginger, water (in mine) nut milk (in Dan’s). Dan’s smoothie also gets a tiny bit of stevia which I don’t use in mine.

Dan had to send a few emails for work and make a phone call which meant we were running late. I wasn’t too worried since the days are getting longer now I knew there would be plenty of sunlight for my photographs.

Here is a picture of cherry blossoms in Baltimore as we left town.

When we got to DC we drove around (very slowly) looking for parking for over 45 minutes. To say the area around the tidal basin was mobbed would be an understatement. Since I had not packed any snacks we decided to go to Jaleo for a late lunch and then return to the cherry blossoms later in the day when it would hopefully be less packed.

While Dan was taking care of getting one of those parking slips for the dash of the car I waited in the car. I looked up and who was on the corner? OMG right there in front of me was Jose Andres. I could not believe it. He was talking to someone and then they both got in a cab and drove away. I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone (one is above) to show Dan but none of them were fabulous. Darn it! Oh well, at least I saw him right?

Once we got to the restaurant Dan needed to make another work call which meant I needed to entertain myself for about 20 minutes. Thank goodness for my smart phone. I decided to text a few friends while I waited.

Here is the front of the menu which tells you the meaning of Jaleo. I am sure this has been on the menu for a long time but I just noticed it…probably because I was killing time. Cute huh?

I also took this picture from the table looking outside. We arrived between lunch and dinner and practically had the restaurant to ourselves.

Since Dan was gone so long I had plenty of time to decide what to order because Dan usually leaves that up to me. We started with the gazpacho and Moorish chickpea and spinach soup and both were delicious.

Here is how the olive oil that comes to the table for the bread with fresh crushed garlic and a sprig of rosemary. I used to do this at home but also added hot crushed peppers which I assume is more Southern Italian. Some days I miss olive oil and fresh bread more than others. This was one of those days.

When we finished our soup I looked up and saw Jose over Dan’s shoulder being interviewed by the New York Times at the bar. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He had just left, and it was definitely him since the clothing was identical. Dan told the server we would love to meet him but didn’t want to interrupt. She said she would see what she could do. More on that to come later in this post.

Next we ordered the Brussels sprout with apple, apricot and grapes. Wow this was amazing. I would have never thought of this combination but it was terrific.

We also ordered one of our favorites the mushrooms in lemon and garlic which are always excellent.

The last dish of the day was another old favorite the cauliflower with dates, olives and smoked paprika. Another combination that I would have never thought of but again it was terrific.

Once I noticed Jose at the bar I kept glancing up to see what was going up. Customers seemed to have no problem interrupting him and getting their picture taken with him. Interrupting Jose felt so intrusive to me there was no way I could do that. The picture above is Jose after he graciously stopping his interview to have his picture taken with fans. The New York Times reporter took the photo for the couple. I wondered if this couple knew what was going on before they came to the table?  Jose was so calm about it this must happen to him all the time.

We ordered a couple pots of blood orange tea since Jose was still talking to the reporter. When we noticed a third man join the table we were both certain that we wouldn’t get to meet Jose but it was okay. I am not capable of interrupting his interview so I accepted that it wasn't meant to be. We finished our tea and were wrapping up when Jose headed for the front door. I was so disappointed and then he came around the corner with a big hola (Spanish for hello) and introduced himself, as though that was necessary. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I had convinced myself that we wouldn’t get to talk to him and there he was. Luckily Dan was able to speak since I could hardly get a few sentences out, LOL. Jose is very nice, a bit of an introvert and almost shy. I was quite surprised by all of this. But then again I seemed shy in that moment and that is hardly the case either. Jose has the best eyes; they just sparkle as though he is up to something. I have to say lunch was great but meeting Jose was out of this world.

For those of you that don’t know who Jose is let me explain. He is what I would call the superstar chef of DC. He has a number of restaurants in DC, and more in Las Vegas and LA. When he was on Iron Chef America he beat Bobby Flay. Jose has been interviewed by Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes here is the video.  Additionally Jose also has a TV show on PBS "Made in Spain".  Everyone in the restaurant business knows Jose. I am most impressed by his charity work at DC Central Kitchen which I think is terrific. Oh yeah, in the 60 Minutes interview when he called fruits and vegetables sexy and said meat was overrated I couldn’t believe my ears. Yes, I am quite the fan in case you hadn’t noticed. Dan could not stop teasing me after Jose left. In the 20+ years Dan and I have been together he has never seen me speechless. Heck, I even talk in my sleep but somehow I couldn’t string two sentences together with Jose. *ahhhh* What an afternoon. ;-)

We went back to see the cherry blossoms but honestly they were never going to be able to stand up to meeting Jose which was so thrilling for me you have no idea.

Here are a couple of shots of the blossoms that I didn’t post earlier this week.

Next we decided to make a run to the Mediterranean Bakery for a few supplies. Unlike the name implies they are more grocery store than a bakery in my opinion. They do have fresh made flat bread but we went for the unusual spices, dried beans and whole grains. I went in for a few things and came out with over a $100 of stuff. *bats eyes* I lose control when shopping for food apparently.  ;-)

Next we headed back to Baltimore for dinner. We missed seeing Ian but it was late so we expected him to be gone for the day.

I had to tell Emily about meeting Jose and she was very entertained that I couldn’t speak. I am sure anyone that knows me is still laughing at me being speechless since it never, ever happens.

For dinner we ordered a whole wheat pizza with potatoes, zucchini, fennel, onion, tomato, olives and golden raisins. If you are wondering how we can up with this combination that answer is simple. We often ask the kitchen to use vegetable sides to top pizza. By doing that we get the best of both worlds, Ian’s creativity and we don’t bother the kitchen much. This vegetable combination was something he was serving under a fish dish that evening.

We also ordered Tuscan carrots…..

broccoli and garlic ….

and green and hibiscus tea.

It was a very long day but a great one. I can’t imagine what could have made this day any better.

Happy thoughts:

• The highlight of this day had to meeting Jose Andres. It has been days now since we talked to him and I am still over the moon about it. It would be hard to imagine what would have made this a better day.

• Of course the Cherry Blossoms were gorgeous and I got some fantastic pictures of them. It was great to finally make it back to the festival since we talk about it every year and never go. Shame on us. *wags finger*

• I picked up some terrific stuff at the Mediterranean Bakery which I will tell you more about later. This post was entirely too long to go into details today. For those of you that are local to the DC metro area I highly recommend this store they have things that are tough to find elsewhere. In fact this is where I always buy my mastica which I use in Middle Eastern food.

• I am even starting to enjoy Facebook which is a riot since I drug my feet so long on this. Expect more on this soon.

• It was a fabulous day for both of us today. There is no one that I would have rather shared the day with than my hubby.

Signing out:

It turns out I took over 300 pictures on Tuesday and it took me many hours to go through them all. I need to learn to take fewer pictures I think. LOL

Here are the pictures Dan and I took of each other in DC. Sorry for the sunglasses we tried removing them but then we were squinting. In the end the pictures with the glasses were better.

The next post will be of cooking class this week. I am probably going to omit or seriously abbreviate Thursday and Friday so that I can get caught up on my posts. I hope you all have a great start to you weekend. Talk to you again tomorrow.