Vegan Vednesday

Ahoy!

Velcome to Vegan Vednesday.  Pretty straightforward, right?  A day of VEGAN FOOD :)

My interest in and trials with vegetarianism and veganism go back a long way; I used to test myself and spend weeks or months being entirely vegetarian.  Unfortunately, these tests occurred around the ages of 19 and 20, when I was first acquainting myself with food and cooking.  I felt limited and held back, and didn't know anything really at all about being vegan or vegetarian, or what nutrients my body needs.  Needless to say, I ate a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese pizza, and celebrated the day my self-imposed trials were over and I could eat meat again- which I then ironically paired with grilled or roasted veggies, beautiful spinach salads and fruit. 

Over the years, as I've lived longer and longer on my own I've developed a more balanced approach to food and cooking.  I realized, often after the fact, that many of the meals I made myself were vegan or vegetarian.  I hadn't aimed for these qualifications on purpose; I just cooked meals that seemed delicious.  Roasted sweet potatoes and onions, huge quesadillas chock full of spinach, salads with avocado and black beans... yum. 

At this point in my life, as my relationship with food and approach to cooking is still developing, I know that I'm not ready and do not desire to be 100% vegetarian or vegan.  However, one of the most important lessons I learned from the goddess of veganism, Bonzai Aphrodite, was that being vegetarian or vegan does not have to be an all-or-nothing thing.  Many of us have a preconceived notion (evident in my "trials" with vegetarianism) that starting a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle is like flipping a switch, and if you mess up, you've failed.  But incorporating vegan and vegetarian meals, both consciously and unconsciously, into my kitchen is delicious, fun, and enriching. 

Yesterday (Vednesday), my morning and afternoon were crazy busy- I didn't have a lot to do, but I had a midterm in my Finance class.  Understanding public finance, economics, and the intricacies of insurance are not my strong suit in academics, and I studied crammed all morning and early afternoon.  Breakfast was my standby peanut butter toast and coffee with Truvia and almond milk, and lunch was a quick, inhaled plate of baby carrots, hummus and tortilla chips.  Normally I'm hungry a few hours after breakfast, no matter what I eat, and lunch is glorious.  But when I'm stressed or heavily focused on something like a midterm in two hours, I don't eat as much. 

Luckily the midterm went alright, and my younger brother Chad, who is a freshman at Ohio State invited me to dinner at the dining hall.  I always like when he asks me to have dinner, but I wasn't in the mood for campus dining hall chow, so I invited him to my apartment for dinner instead.  Avocado-pesto pasta... I'm officially in love.

One of my friends at school, a vegetarian herself, had made a dish like this about a week ago, and I thought it sounded interesting.  Ironically, later that day I hopped on Pinterest to kill some time and saw not one but two recipes for avocado pastas.  I had to try it; all my favorite ingredients!  Garlic, basil, lemon, and avocado.  I've never put basil and avocado together before, but it turns out that my favorite green staples of Italian and Mexican cooking are best friends.

I didn't take any pictures of the prep work; mostly because it literally took me maybe five minutes to make this meal.  I glanced at the two recipes linked above beforehand, and then winged it with my own idea of how much of each ingredient to use.  I started cooking spaghetti, and while it boiled I made the sauce.  I tossed an avocado and a half, a (generous) handful of basil leaves, three cloves of garlic, the juice of one lemon, a drizzle of olive oil, and a dash of kosher salt into my blender and flipped the switch.  Done.  Seriously.  How easy!  When the pasta was done I drained it in a colander and returned it to the pot where I tossed it with the avocado-pesto, as I started calling it. Topped with a bit of fresh ground black pepper, and voila!

I dished up two bowls.  Chad was skeptical, and I had bought him a frozen personal pizza just in case he didn't like the pasta, since he had two meetings and a trip to the gym planned after our dinner.  But he was willing to try it!

 Yeah.  He liked it.  He even dished himself up another bowl and now I have no leftovers.  Oh well :) 

omg so goooooooooood.

Major pasta win.  This was one of the easiest dishes I've ever made- all I had to buy was the avocado and some fresh basil since it's wintry here and I have no basil on my balcony.  Everything else I always have on hand.  Also, it's pizza-and-sub-and-burger-eating-college-kid approved!  Haha.  

Oh Vegan Vednesday, you will bring so much deliciousness to my weeks.

Winter Farmer's Market

 Since last May, Saturdays for me have been synonymous with working at the Olde Worthington Farmer's Market in northern Columbus. I grew up in Worthington, an older suburb of the city, and remember countless summer Saturday mornings spent at the Farmer's Market with my mom and, sometimes, our dog. The summer market is held from May to October on High Street in the historical downtown part of the suburb, with quaint, nineteenth century buildings lining the street, dozens of vendors, and thousands of shoppers and their kids and dogs, perusing the fresh fruits and veggies, herbs and flowers, candies and soaps and pies.

A few years ago, they decided to have a winter market as well, and continue the weekly tradition in a nearby reception center. There are fewer vendors (and unfortunately no dogs) but there are still plenty of delicious fruits and vegetables, breads, soaps, candies, and cheeses.

I work for Gillogly Orchards in the fall and winter. Their orchard is down in southern Ohio, near Athens and Ohio University where I did my undergraduate work. In the late summer and fall, their stand is full of peaches, pears, cherries, apricots, nectarines, and other jewels. Fall brings honey and apples galore, and people nearly mob our table for Honeycrisp, Winesap, Gold Rush, and especially the gallons upon gallons of cider the orchard produces.

The winter setup is a bit smaller, and Mark Gillogly brings the few varieties of apples that are left, honey, cider, some root vegetables, garlic, and his wife Sherry's hydroponically grown lettuce.  Here are some shots from the market!

 I love the turnips; the cut-off stems look like stars and the sides look like they were painted in watercolor.

 Fuji apples!  The Gillogly's have cold (33 degree) storage they keep apples fresh in until spring.

 Honey bears.

 Setting up around 9 am.

 The "Jelly-Lady's" wares.  Check her out!

 Pleiades Maple Products.

 Black bean flour, yo!  Shagbark Seed & Mill, also from the Athens area, offers tons of varieties of flour and grains.

 Some of Gretel's handcrafted soap...

 ...and tea, from Sunny Meadows Flower Farm.

 Silverbridge coffee, another Athens, OH institution.

 Dan the Baker's bread (check out the garlic shout-out!)

Once the doors open, it gets a bit busy...

Long live the Farmer's Market!  :)  Hope everyone had an awesome weekend.  I, for one, have midterms this week (ouch).  Wish me luck!

Phoenix Pasta

Hi! Oi! Hello!

Welcome to my new little corner of the blog-world. You can call me Sammie.

Today one of my favorite my FAVORITE blogger left the blog-world for inspiring and deeply personal reasons. Her blog (Bonzai Aphrodite) was my introduction to food blogging, a resource for gardening, home decor and fashion, and just a plain good read, and I'd followed it for over a year.

While she's still around the internet, on Twitter and such, her departure has left a blog-shaped hole in my heart.

A few months after I started following her blog, I had decided to *someday* start my own. Even my 2012 New Year's Resolution list (written on the back of an old gas bill- classy, I know) included "start blog!!" somewhere down the list between the inevitable "clean closet" and "work out more." So here I am. Starting.

Today I ran across another delicious blog, 101 Cookbooks. During my statistics class (which can only be described as lethargic), I chose a recipe to make for dinner. I took "Pappardelle with Spiced Butter," and added my own unique twists and turns:

-fettucine instead of pappardelle (I can never find pappardelle, and I've had an ongoing love affair with fettucine since the age of eleven, and always have it on hand.)
-I didn't use saffron or cream, coriander or turmeric, mint or parsley. I have no doubt these things would have added to the deliciousness of the recipe, and they wouldn't be difficult to add, but I always try to use just the ingredients I have on hand and not to go out and buy ingredients JUST to use in a new recipe that I think sounds good, unless I know I'll use the remainder of the ingredient in other dishes. I also only use herbs and certain veggies (read: TOMATOES) when they are in season. The mention of parsley and mint makes me nostalgic for my summer garden...

{My scrawled out version of the recipe, with toasted pine nuts and crushed red pepper.}

{Chopped asparagus}

{The commercial is cheesy, but McCormick Recipe Inspirations are actually really handy if you need spices for a recipe that you don't normally keep on hand, and especially if you live alone (and frugally) like me and don't want to pay $4.99 for half an ounce of ginger. This little packet was really affordable and offers a good couple of teaspoonfuls of each spice, even if I don't plan on making Asian Sesame Salmon today. I'm going to use the sesame seeds in a future Thai-inspired peanut sauce.}

{There's something magical about stirring pasta in a bubbling pot; it makes me think of Strega Nona.}

{I tossed in the chopped asparagus when the pasta was around T-minus 30 seconds to al dente. The hot water cooks the asparagus ever so slightly, and it remains green and crunchy.}

{The final product. Absolutely to die for. Delicious and buttery and spicy and robust. Inhaled Savored with a glass of Chardonnay and an old Eureka episode playing on Netflix. Oh, and remember those GORGEOUS little toasted pine nuts? Yep, I was so excited to eat that bowl of pasta that I forgot to toss them in. *sigh* Oh well, this recipe made enough for about three meals. They'll go in the next serving that I warm up for lunch tomorrow.}


While I'm already missing Bonzai Aphrodite, I happily wish her the absolute best in her new, blog-less (and I'm sure less-stressed) lifestyle. From the ashes of her sudden departure, my new little blog finally arises, brandishing delicious pasta from my humble abode in Columbus, Ohio. Stay tuned, kids!