Sunday, August 18, 2013

Fragments of a tropical vegan

Hi! I am hopelessly overworked this semester! And trying to do things to keep my stress levels down, which also take time. Things like striking, to prevent some of the overworking in future years, maybe. Things like starting yoga classes again, for relaxation and adaptability. Things like gardening and running with Tika and reading novels and crocheting and spending time with Andy. Blogging isn't my top priority at the moment, but I do have some things to share. Rather than taking the mental effort to make some narrative sense out of them, I present to you some fragments.

Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Kale. We grew the pumpkin, the kale, and the coriander. We added garlic, white wine, and coconut cream, and ate with store-bought chappatis for an easy, quick dinner. 

A few weeks ago I saw Joey post about this vegan tuna salad recipe. I tried it out that weekend but used nori and wakame for the seaweeds. It was yummy, but didn't taste at all like tuna, in my opinion. Chickpea-based tuna salads are still the real winner! 

We have been eating PILES of passionfruit because our vine is ridiculous. We've also given stacks away. This cup-and-a-half went into the freezer to be enjoyed during the summer months. 

We eat flowers. It's a shame salad vegetables grow better here in winter, than in summer, but we are really starting to appreciate a good salad in the winter. This one has mizuna and rocket, a radish, nasturtiums, and cherry tomatoes from the garden, plus cucumber and capsicum from the markets. For dressing, I used Dreena Burton's recipe for hummus salad dressing, with a big handful of parsley from the garden. 

I've gotten a few new cookbooks recently, because they make me happy. This is a variation on a recipe from The Sexy Vegan's Happy Hour at Home. They are roasted green capsicums (because that is what we had most of) rolled up with hummus and rocket. Yummy and nice to have some little bites instead of a huge bowl of food every night.

Tika, Defender of Kale and Spring Onions.

Nacho, Disrupter of Academic Work.

8 comments:

Kate said...

All looks delicious! And very cute cat :) I hear you about being busy....

Kate said...

oh and cute dog too, can't play favourites :)

Amy said...

Nacho's reminding you that cats are the centre of the universe!

Anonymous said...

Love hearing about your garden and it inspires me to think about my own :) I really like the 'grow food not lawn' approach too and trying to work out what to grow in my front yard.

Kari said...

Sounds like life has been hectic - but it's good to hear you're trying to squeeze in relaxation / self-care too, and the things you mention definitely deserve priority above blogging! Your meals and garden produce look fantastic, as always.

Hannah said...

Because you're overworked and deserve only hugs and adoration, I'll refrain from telling you that Queensland is no longer allowed to say it even has a winter. ;)

But seriously, take care of yourself, ladydear. More cuddles and reading and deep breathing. xo

Joey said...

Hope the overworkedness eases up sooner rather than later - a garden and a kitchen are the best places to retreat from it! I'm massively impressed at the way your garden keeps yielding all sorts of fun stuff. And I'm a big fan of that tuna salad - advise me as a tuna newbie - do you just need to swap out the almonds and that for chick peas?

Blogger said...

3 Studies SHOW How Coconut Oil Kills Waist Fat.

The meaning of this is that you actually kill fat by consuming Coconut Fats (in addition to coconut milk, coconut cream and coconut oil).

These 3 studies from large medicinal journals are sure to turn the traditional nutrition world upside down!