Food

I think the return of the farmer's market has made me want to cook. I won't say that I have been cooking up a storm, but I have been paying more attention to the recipe blogs I subscribe to and using the cookbooks I more often.

How to cook an eggplant? I got an eggplant in my veggie delivery and I didn't know what to do with it. I like eggplant, I'll order it when I am out, but I rarely cook with it... And then I realized I needed to use it before it went bad. So, I pulled La Dolce Vegan off the the shelf and found a recipe for eggplant bharta. This is a slightly altered version. The only thing I changed was the tomatoes. I didn't have any fresh tomatoes so I substituted a can of diced tomatoes, drained. How was it? Incredibly easy and so amazingly good.

Faux Tuna. I made fake tuna salad yesterday. I'm not a big fan of tuna salad. To me tuna is the vehicle for all the other things involved: celery, pickles, any spices, and the bread. So, after making the same thing with chickpeas and Veganaise, all I can only wonder why I hadn't done this earlier. I paired it with some homemade whole wheat bread from the market. Very good.

Radishes. I love radishes. I hated them as a kid. My dad and brother ate them all the time. I hated any food with a bite, so radishes and onions were out. Luckily, I got over this when I got older. I've always eaten radishes raw and never thought about cooking them. Right now most of the veggies at the market are greens along with a few root vegetables like carrots and radishes. I've been buying radishes and using them on salad, as a side... you know, raw. But after seeing this, I decided I must try it. I have a few other root vegetables I need to use, so why not roast them with some radishes. I'll let y'all know how they turn out.

Fat Free Vegan is my new favorite recipe blog. I already made the Stuffed Collards, and they were stupendous. Then I saw her recipe for Thai-inspired Chickpea Salad and realized I must make it. It sounds like the perfect summer salad--light, flavorful.... All around good.