Black bean, corn & tomato stew over quinoa

This was the first free-form meal Brad & I have made in a while.  Red onions and jalapeno were sauteed in some oil with some spices, before adding some sweet yellow corn, black beans and diced tomatoes.  All of it was served over quinoa with some avocado chunks.  Gotta love a no-recipe recipe.

Here is a quick written up recipe that Brad created!


1-2 Tbsp oil
1 red onion
1 jalapeno
¼ tsp cumin
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp garlic powder
Salt to taste
¼ cup water to deglaze
½ cup corn
1 15 oz can black beans
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes w juice
1 avocado (optional topping)
sour cream (optional topping)
On top of a bed of quinoa

Sauté the onion and jalapeno in the oil for approximately 5 minutes. Add the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Add the water to deglaze the pan. Add the corn, black beans, and diced tomatoes and bring to a slow simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the mixture is soft-looking. Add avocado slices and vegan sour crème if desired. Serve final meal over a bed of cooked quinoa.

C is for cookie, that's good enough for me

Just had to share a pic of the amazing peanut butter choco chip cookies Brad made tonight!  A variation on the recipe from Kris Holechek's 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.  Seriously, to die for.

Grilled portobello tacos

Is it just me, or was it warm for the first time in forever today?!  It was totally grilling weather, and Brad & I took advantage of it.

We marinated some portobello strips in vegetable oil, cumin, chili power, onion powder, garlic powder and chili flakes.  Then we sliced up some red pepper and red onion and got grilling in a foil packet.  Add in some corn tortillas, tomato, avocado and locally made salsa (O-Hana represent!)... and you have what I have determined is the official vegan taco of summer.

The view from a top!

 

Nothing special here except the amazing view that we get from our living room. The pictures don't do the view justice!

Memorial Day race against the clock

Despite less than ideal weather, Brad & I broke out the grill this evening... and barely finished dinner outside before it started raining!

Tofurkey beer brats, homemade vegan potato salad (adapted from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table), and baked beans (usually Amy's brand of canned beans, but got the on-sale Hain kind this year) has become our summer holiday outdoor dining tradition. Last 4th of July we ate this on our balcony while watching the fireworks at Pilot Butte, and two years before that it was Eagle Crest.

As you can see, we had the fire pit going tonight - to make it feel like it wasn't 55 degrees and threatening rain. Although these plates aren't the most photo-worthy, they do put a stop to the maddening you-got-baked-beans-in-my-potato-salad/you-got-potato-salad-in-my-beans mishap that Brad and I had a couple of years ago.

OMG! A tempeh scramble!

This was one of the first things that I took with our new Canon D-SLR camera. Gardein buffalo chik'n with tomatoes, pinto beans, on a bed of whole wheat couscous. Absolutely delicious!

Portland!

went to Portland today - very yummy eats! HUGE burrito at Blossoming Lotus, then on to Food Fight for groceries and Sweetpea for dessert and coffee. no daiya cheese to be had but we snagged the teese for pizza tonight!