Tag: vegetarian meals

Guests

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We’ve had a major weekend here at the Peaceful Reader house. My in-laws arrived on Friday night for Groovy Girl’s dance recital on Saturday. Her recital is pretty much an all-day event and you have to really be prepared. We had a delicious breakfast to start our day and by 11 am were waiting at the event venue so we could get good seats.  In between the 1:00 pm show and the 6 pm show we met at one of our favorite healthy joints in the Cedar Valley, Greenhouse Kitchen, so we could make it through the second show.  Unfortunately she hurt her leg during one of the dances, danced two more dances and then gracefully exited the stage after it became unbearable. She’s wearing a brace and hobbling around with a borrowed pair of crutches.  Hopefully it heals fast for her. 

Beyond the injury I love having guests to cook for and my in-laws enjoy good food. Here’s a smattering of recipes I’m using this week. Tristan and his girlfriend joined us overnight so I needed a few vegan options as well.

Basil Chicken Coconut Curry: delicious and I made a second version with scrambled tofu for our vegan/vegetarians.  The flavor was amazing and I would make this recipe again.

Curried Chickpeas with mint and cilantro chutney:  I made this early in the week for everyone to have for dinner during the busy week. I already had a jar of chutney from an Indian grocery store so I didn’t make that part of the recipe. This was so yummy Groovy Girl happily ate it and she is not a fan of chickpeas!  I used two cans of organic coconut instead of the one the recipe called for-it just looked like it needed more.

Cheesy Grits Casserole: I made this easy yet delicious (you can never go wrong with cheesiness) breakfast recipe on Saturday morning. We also had Icon donuts and Milkbox bagels for everyone.  You need to calorie load even when you are just going to watch the day of dance.

Tomorrow night we host book club at our house for Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I’m going to make this Best Black Bean Soup from the New York Times for our gathering.

Bombay Frittata: I have yet to make this but I plan to one day this week for breakfast.

I hope you are cooking some amazing food at your house as well.

Peaceful Reading…

Weekend Cooking; Sweet Potato Black Bean Burritos

It’s up!  It’s up!  My guest post about Joan of Arc is up at Shelf Employed.  Click over and read mine as well as others.  Jen Bryant (author of A River of Words; the story of William Carlos Williams) shares the ideas that connect Emily Dickinson and Georgia O’Keefe. 

Ah, Spring Break has been a treat of restorative time at home to heal and get some projects done.  We invited friends over for dinner on Wednesday night to socialize which gave me the first few days of break to ponder what to make.  One of their daughters eats gluten-free so I was looking for something that would be versatile without making my own kids blanch from a lack of carbs.  I also had a pile of sweet potatoes on my counter begging to be used so I went to my Pinterest board, Eat Drink and Be Merry to search for something I’d drooled over previously.  I’d pinned it from the The Novice Chef via Janssen.

Doesn’t it look delicious (see photo below). Mine were served on a bed of greens as well but I didn’t make the delicate creme fraiche laced on the top  All I did to make it gluten-free was to lightly toast a few corn tortillas and add the filling in.  I opted to make my own black beans by soaking them a day before and cooking them in my slow cooker the day of; they simmered with bay leaves and half a diced onion.  I made a lot and plan to freeze a batch of them in packets of 2-3 for future lunches.  I had one yesterday and it was even better than Wed.  night.  I love leftovers but my family does not; so perfect for me to take to school and reheat.

At the table I served them with my own homemade salsa from last summer (made with my mom), chopped avocado, and a spicy sour cream and green chili dip I created to take the place of the fancier (and more time consuming creme fraiche).  They were a hit and this recipe will easily become one of my favorites-it would help if I could just get Teenage Boy to like sweet potatoes.  I can imagine this as a great potluck meal.

This post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads.  Pop over and see what every one else is cooking up!

Peaceful Reading…