Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes
After Chile posted about her pancake breakfast last week on McDougalling with Chile and Friends, I was seriously craving some flapjacks. And with a jar pear butter from the farmers' market sitting patiently in the fridge, pancakes were soon on the menu. They aren't 100% local, but the whole wheat and honey are both local, as well as the pear butter (instead of maple syrup) which is made with local pears. With a side of some whole local pears I picked up at the market on Saturday, I had a a few delicious and filling almost-all-local breakfasts this week.
Veggie Sandwich
It was another week off my regular stir-fry diet (ok, that's not really a diet, but I'm notorious for eating a stir fry almost every day), and quick and easy veggie sandwiches really hit the spot. With temps still soaring here in Central Texas, a nice cool lunch was just what I needed.
Although it's hard to see in the photo, there's some of the bean burger mix I froze last week on the top and bottom of the bun topped with spinach and tomato (farmers' market). On the side is a carrot and some cucumber slices (farmers' market); and that little pepper in the front is the very first pepper harvested from the backyard. It was small but sooooo good!
"Pasta"
As I mentioned yesterday, the neighbor girls came by with some cucuzza squash on Monday. Most of it found it's way into a couple big pots of soup, but not before I took a vegetable peeler and got some nice long squash strands from each of the cucuzza. The veggie strands ended up in a frying pan with some chopped mushroom and a little olive oil. Once cooked through, they make a wonderful pasta substitute. I added a little of my canned all-local pasta sauce and voila... Veggie Heaven! This was so good, I ate it for lunch again on Wednesday. Lucky me, there's enough for another meal. Delicious and all-local. Doesn't get any better than that!
Veggie Soup and Wheat Crackers with Bean Dip
Also as I mentioned yesterday, I made 13-1/2 quarts of soup with the rest of that cucuzza. Thirteen of the jars were canned and that last pint made for a wonderful dinner Tuesday night - all those veggie in a tasty herbal sauce and every last bit of it local. Mmmm!
On the side there are some whole wheat crackers I made, but instead of using my local wheat flour, I used the wheat grits (a by-product of grinding wheat berries into flour). I had to adapt the cracker recipe a bit to get the right consistency, but they made for a nice cracker that's just loaded with fiber (and local ingredients). Topping those crackers in my all-local bean dip - tomatoes, pinto beans, and salsa (all from the farmers' market).
So much for monotony. This was a really dynamic week on the culinary front. And the best part is I just make this stuff up as I go along - you know, whatever sounds good. Eating local doesn't have to take a lot of work or planning. Just jump right in and see where the food leads you!
Have a great Thursday, everyone. And as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!
11 comments:
Wow, all of that looks and sounds sooo good. Since we get a CSA share, I pretty much always have to let the produce dictate our menu. It took a while to adjust to an ingredient-driven menu rather than a recipe-driven one, but I enjoye it most of the time. (It's only frustrating when I've got a serious craving for a type of dish that's seriously out of season.)
Everytime I read your meal updates, I get hungry. I want to enjoy what you do, but right now the Cheflet can't handle anything other than plain bread I guess. So please keep on post recipes for my to try once his digestive system matures!
It does look soo yummy. I've been eating not so great lately. Not particularly unhealthy but not many greens for example. Bad Beany.
Chile - Yeah, it was a very adventurous week for me. Produce dictates the menu for me too, but the thing is, when I eat in season, it's easy to eat the same things again and again because the same things are available for long periods of time and, well, I'm a lazy cook :) This time, I got more creative. I did have fun putting meals together. That soup was awesome! Of course so was the "pasta." I just had the last of it for lunch. Mmmm!
Fearlesschef - :) I get accused of that a lot (making people hungry that is)...
Beany - Whatcha been craving that has you off your diet? Do tell...
I haven't not eaten locally, but I've been craving cabbage, and Irish food (pot pies, stews, guiness beer, etc) - basically cold season foods. My husband made seitan yesterday that turned out amazingly well, so I'm going to coax him into satisfying my taste buds.
I've also been craving lots and lots of chocolate, but I found a San Diego based place that sells raw cacao bars that are simply heavenly!
coax him by asking him to make me pot pie Irish style.
Hey, Beany - here's a post I did back in March with links to some Irish dishes you might like. The first recipe linked for seitan corned beef is really good.
Beany - Ooh. Those cacao bars sound good. I slipped some raw cocoa nibs in my homemade granola. Nothing like a little spot of chocolate :)
I just had cabbage and rice for dinner - canned from last winter so it was local. I have some leftover if you want to swing by...
Thanks for the recipe link Chile. I'd almost forgotten about the post. I will send it to Mr. beany.
I was flipping thru my Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook and noticed there is a recipe for Wheatberry Salad in there. I bet you could find it on the foodnetwork website. It looks pretty tasty and might be a good fit if you have any of your wheatberries left. Have a wonderful day!
Thanks, Michelle! I'm all out of wheat berries, but I know exactly where to get them when I'm ready for more :)
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