40 days without a post! Yikes! Let me remedy that by sharing my birthday dinner.

Really, it was the day after my birthday, because we were both too tired to make food after a picnic at the beach and a stop at a farmstand, two of my favorite things to do.

I love finding good farmstands. Usually they involve getting out of the city, although in Portland there’s a growing number of family farms setting up small stands in the city, the trip to them is usually lovely, and sometimes there’s great photography options too. Best of all, there’s the chance to possibly talk to the family and workers who actually grew the food I’m buying.

Last night, a slightly belated dinner, I made an all-grill dinner to celebrate the bounty of summer and farmstands. Mobile phone photos because we were too impatient to just eat all the yummy food! Although there isn’t an exact recipe, I’ve included notes on how each dish was made.

Here’s one of the dishes, Marinated Tofu, Cauliflower, and 3 kinds of Summer Squash (yellow & green zucchini and pale green patty-pan). Everything was chopped into largsih, but still bite-sized pieces and put into a bowl. 1/4 cup of olive oil was drizzled over along with 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, fine Alaea salt, freshly ground pepper, 4 mashed & torn up garlic cloves, and dried herbs were added. About 1/2 teaspoon of both dry basil and oregano were added along with a slightly smaller amount of dry rosemary that was lightly crushed and broken up into smaller bits. All of it was tossed together so everything was equally coated and let sit for 30 minutes.

Two kinds of roasted chilies; Sweet Banana Peppers (from the farmstand) and Padron Peppers. Christie had recently been introduced to Padron peppers roasted in some oil at a local Peruvian restaurant, Andina, during a team dinner. We found some at the market and tossed them, along with two kinds of chilies from the farmstand, in avocado oil before roasting on the grill. Once nicely grilled they went back into the bowl with the remaining oil and were lightly sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

Here’s everything going at once! I so love this new grill and this is a perfect example of why, look at all this smoky, grilled goodness!

Finally, here’s dinner all plated up. Note the pretty, orangeish pepper on the left. By time decided to cook these I’d rather forgot what kind of chilie it was. So this lovely photo is mere minutes away from my being reminded it was a Hungarian Wax Pepper after biting off about 1/3 of it at once. While a lovely, spicy taste at first, the heat rapidly progressed to burning in the ears, sinuses, and of course my tongue.

I eventually was able to cool things down enough to eat again after trying some Yumm Sauce on corn cakes. The remainder of these I plan to remove seeds, stem, and skin before blending into a paste I’ll divide up in 3s to add a little heat while cooking things like chili and dahl.

This refreshing salad is packed with extra crunch from 4 crunchy veggies that are tossed with a sweet, tangy, and very slightly spicy dressing.

It is the perfect kind salad to put together for a picnic. It stays crunchy and the dressing remains lightly coating everything because it doesn’t get watered down by all the crispy veggies. It pairs as well with Thai curry as it does with taco. Add some raw pepitas on top for extra crunch and to make this salad a satisfying lunch entrée all on its own.

All that, and this salad is loaded in Vitamins A & C with a good amount of Vitamin K!

The Stuff: Dressing

• 1 mango, peeled and sliced into large pieces
• juice of 1 lime
• juice of 1 blood orange
• 1/4 sweet red bell pepper, de-seeded
• 1/4 Anaheim chili, de-seeded
• 1/4 Poblano chili, de-seeded

Combine all ingredients into a food processor, fitted with an S-blade*. Process on high until you have a thick sauce, scraping down sides as needed until smooth. Set aside.

*If you have a powerful blender (e.g., VitaMix) you can just throw everything into the blending vessel and blend until smooth.

The Stuff: Salad

• 1 small jicama, peeled and sliced into 2″ matchsticks
• 3 medium carrots, sliced thin (slicing blade on food processor works great!)
• 1/4 sweet red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 purple cabbage, chopped small
• 5-6 sprigs of fresh coriander (cilantro), leaves removed and shredded by hand

Toss all ingredients with dressing in a large bowl and serve.

Makes 6 vitamin & fiber packed servings!

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 71
Total Fat: 0 g
Sodium: 27 mg
Carbohydrates: 17 g
Dietary Fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 10 g
Protein: 1 g

This is one of those recipes that when I finally made what I had in mind, the dish came out exactly what I was hoping for. Crunchy and tangy with a creamy, cilantro dressing. It is great as a side salad as well as making a great topping for tostados, your favorite vegan burger, or tacos.

Not only is it very quick to make, even if you’re also making the Creamy Cilantro Lime Ranch dressing first, but it is also packed with Vitamins C & K!

The Stuff

• 1/2 small head white cabbage
• 1/4 small head purple cabbage
• 1 small orange bell pepper
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

The Making

Quarter the half head of white cabbage. For each cabbage quarter cut at an angle along the bottom to remove most of the core and remove outer leaves. Slice cabbage very thinly and add to a large bowl.

Core pepper and cut in very thin, 1″ julienne slices. Add to bowl with cabbage.

Give all the veggies a toss together to mix. Add in the salad dressing and toss to coat evenly.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 83
Total Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 133 mg (6%)
Carbohydrates: 6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 2 g

Last year I came up with a quiche recipe that highlights the delicious winter veggies we’re still enjoying in early spring. However, spring 2014 Portland  has been unseasonably, but gloriously, sunny and warm. With the appearance of fresh asparagus in the market I was inspired to make this colorful spring quiche for the So Delicious Spring  Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest.

This recipe makes two whole quiches in pre-made pie shells which makes it a star recipe for a brunch gathering. I use pre-made pie shells to speed up the preparation of this beautiful dish. I recommend Wholly Wholesome for pre-made pie shells. They have organic vegan, white & whole wheat pie shells as well as a gluten-free shells! I’ve used the wheat crusts, both white and whole wheat, and they’ve come out wonderfully every time.

The Stuff:

• 1 small, red, sweet bell pepper, 1/4″ dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small red onion, 1/4″ dice
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1/2 pound asparagus, sliced in thin rounds (reserve 12 of the tips, cut at 2″ for garnish)
• 12 grape tomatoes, sliced in thin rounds
• 12 grape tomatoes sliced lengthwise, set aside for garnish
• 2 T fresh basil, chiffonade
• 3 T chopped parsley
• 1 t dry oregano
• 1t dry marjoram
• 12 oz firm, water-packed tofu
• 1 package firm, silken tofu
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Almond Plus 5X almond milk
• 1 T champagne vinegar
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/2 t dry mustard
• 1/2 t black salt* (optional)
• fresh pepper & sea salt
• 2 pre-made pie shells

*Black Salt, or Kala Namak is usually found at a Desi market or a good pan-Asian market that features ingredients popular in Indian and other South Asian cuisines. It is mostly sodium chloride, but it also contains sulfur in addition to the other minerals. It is pink or light purple in color and imparts a more subtle flavor cooked. It can be skipped, just add 1/4 t of sea salt, but it worth the effort to seek it out. If you don’t have any suitable markets in your area, Kala Namak Salt can be purchased online.

The Making

Bake the pie shells according to the directions and set aside.

Bring a saute pan to medium-high heat and lightly coat with spray oil. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue to saute until very fragrant, about 3 more minutes. Add zucchini, asparagus, and bell pepper, sauteing for 7 minutes before adding dried herbs, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Saute for another 7 minutes and remove from heat.

Squeeze out water from water-packed tofu. No need to press for a long time, just squeeze out a little of the excess water with your hands. Crumble into large mixing bowl and add sauteed veggies, fresh herbs, and sliced tomatoes.

Put silken tofu, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, almond milk, vinegar, turmeric, dry mustard, and black salt into the container for a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides to be certain all dry ingredients are incorporated well with wet. Add contents of the container to the mixing bowl with the tofu and sauteed veggies.

Mix together all ingredients until evenly combined. Pour mixture into pre-cooked pie crust. Garnish each quiche with the reserved asparagus tips and sliced grape tomatoes.

Place filled pie crusts onto a baking tray. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 400 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the comes out clean.

Let quiche stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 servings (six generous slices per pie crust)

Nutritional Info (with crust)

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 238
Total Fat: 14 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 0g
Sodium: 242 mg (10%)
Carbohydrates: 20 g
Dietary Fiber: 6 g
Sugars: 4 g
Protein: 12 g

*Want a lower-calorie & gluten-free version?

You can also ditch the gluten and the calories in the crust by distributing the quiche into two dozen silicone baking cups that have been lightly sprayed with oil first.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees, until a toothpick inserted into the comes out clean. This makes a whole pile (e.g., 24) of gluten-free mini quiches to enjoy!

These pack well for lunch or picnics, just don’t remove the silicone baking cup and stack into a container. They retain their shape well and are quite tasty chilled or at room temperature.

Nutritional Info (without crust)

Serving Size: 2 mini-quiches
Calories: 91
Total Fat: 3 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0g
Sodium: 109 mg (5%)
Carbohydrates: 8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 10 g

For the past two years the “Recipes for Health” section in the New York Times has included a feature on vegan recipes for Lent. I didn’t get around to trying any last year, but this year’s dishes really caught my eye. I have been surprised by the huge amount of oil these dishes call for, but I honestly think they can be made without that much added oil.

Tonight we decided to give the lead dish of the article a try: Baked Beans with Mint, Peppers and Tomatoes.

Really, this is a three-chilies dish when you look at the dried, hot chilie added to the simmering beans, the paprika, and the chopped sweet bell pepper. The result was really delicious. Perhaps I should have left it in the oven longer than the 45 minutes or so, but we were famished. Longer cooking would just let the peppers and onions cook down further; the beans were tender and perfect. Honestly, after dinner I found myself standing next to the Dutch oven eating spoonfuls of these delicious baked beans!

I made a few other changes to the recipe as written, and I’d like to make a few more. That said, I’ll post a final recipe of my variation some other time. Here’s a quick recap of my changes.

• We used pinto beans, we had them on hand.
• I didn’t have 2 medium yellow onions on hand so I used 1 yellow and 1 red
• I did NOT use the 1/4 cup of oil, I used only a spritz of spray, high-heat canola oil in the cast iron skillet
• I used Muir Glen’s diced, fire-roasted tomatoes; delicious flavor!
• To my horror I discovered we were out of sweet paprika, so I used sweet, smoked Spanish paprika instead. This added a really marvelous smokey note that went well with the fire-roasted tomatoes
• In fact, I added a full teaspoon more of the paprika.
• I added MORE mint, probably 3 tablespoons. If I’d had more fresh mint, I would have added it in. At least 1/4 to 1/3 cup of fresh chopped mint would be great.
• I think some fresh, chopped parsley would also be good.
• I didn’t add any salt, just that added by the canned tomato products. Easier to salt at table if needed.
• In the future I plan to serve these delicious beans on a bed of steamed kale, collards, or other greens.
• I might cut the onions, especially, and possibly the bell peppers, into a smaller dice so it cooks down more quickly into the sauce.

In August I am teaching a one-day workshop on Metta (Loving-Kindness) and Hatha Yoga. I’ve requested that since I am teaching this and we are offering lunch, that the lunch provided be vegan. I just can’t get behind the thought of teaching either things when the food isn’t also sending the message of great compassion. The only request back was that I suggest a recipe I would like cooked.

In August there will be fresh zucchinis and tomatoes in great abundance. In recognition of these seasonal treats I’ve suggested that tortilla soup be served. It is light and should not feel too heavy for the work of meditation and yoga, much less the heat of August. At the same time the black beans give the soup some substance to sustain everyone for the rest of the day. The mix of citrus and tomatoes are lively and bright.

The Stuff

• 2 T canola oil
• 1/2 t cumin seeds (*optional)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large stalks celery, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 Anaheim chilie, diced fine
• 1/4 Poblano chilie, died fine
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 2-3 small/medium (10″) zucchinis, diced
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes (I used Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes)
• 15 oz can black beans (rinsed well & drained)
• 15 oz can pinto beans (rinsed well & drained)
• 15 oz can chickpeas (rinsed well & drained)
• 1 1/2 c frozen corn
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)
• 1 t powdered cumin (more if not using cumin seeds)
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1/2 t sweet, smoked paprika (or more, to taste)
• 1 t sweet paprika
• salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
• 2 T fresh cilantro, chopped (plus 1 T chopped to garnish)
• 1 avocado, diced
• 4 corn tortillas
• lime wedges
• 1/4-1/2 t coarse flake salt

The Making

Heat oil in the bottom of a stock pot and add cumin seeds (if using). When seeds begin to darken and pop, add onions. When onions become translucent add in garlic and saute until fragrant. Add in diced celery and carrots, let vegetables cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to caramelize. Add in diced chilies and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Add water, tomatoes, and zucchini. Cover, bring up to near boil and then reduce heat. Add in lime juice, spices, beans, and frozen corn. Stir, cover and simmer until all vegetables are tender; about 25 minutes. Stir the 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro into the soup before serving.

While soup is simmering cut tortillas into very thin slices, toss with a little lime juice, flake salt, and oil before toasting under low broil until crunchy. Set aside as garnish.

Serve soup with more fresh cilantro, the diced avocado, toasted tortilla strips and lime wedges.

Makes about 6 quarts.