Don't Be Afraid...

Why is it that 4 day weeks seem to drag on and on and on...??  Now don't get me wrong, I love having a Monday off but for whatever reason the shorter week seems to take longer than a full one.  I filled my extra day off with a hike with my husband and some friends, followed with a veggie burger from my favorite local sports bar, Zipps.  What I love about this place is that you can make any of their specialty burgers into a veggie burger, or make it with turkey or chicken instead of beef.  I obviously get the veggie burger, but my favorite version is their "BBQ Bacon" minus the bacon.  They also include cheddar cheese and a large onion ring to top it off.  It's delish and I ALWAYS find myself lifting the bun to make sure there is indeed no bacon on it because the mixture of the flavors and the texture of the onion ring convince me that I am in fact eating a piece of bacon.  It is AMAZING!  However, at this go around, there was a piece of bacon on top.  I was annoyed because I specifically asked for it with no bacon and told the waitress and the waitress-in-training that I was a vegetarian.  So to fix it, they just took the bacon off.  I'm glad A) I'm not allergic to it OR B) That it goes against my religion.  To be honest, it annoyed me that they didn't make me a new burger but I never really complain.  I think the next time I will, even if it means that they spit in my food...


Has this ever happened to anyone?  If so, what did you do?


I made a lot of yummy food this week.  Much of it was inspired from my new obsession, Pinterest.  I follow Vegetarian Times and got some of my ideas from them and their magazine.  I also "wung" it a few times and won!


Here's some of the things I made...

 I learned the art of "poaching" vegetables for this light Sunday night dinner.  It's a Vegetarian Times recipe that you can find in their latest issue (it's not online yet).  I added brussels sprouts and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt at the end.  It was a wonderful dinner that helped to balance out all the wine I drank this weekend...  :)  Oh, wait- I drank wine while eating it.  Oops!

This is also a Vegetarian Times recipe from their latest issue.  It's a Paella Primavera and it was delish!  Both this recipe and the one above are not up on their website yet.  If you're interested, I can post the recipe when it pops up.  This recipe called for saffron which is uber expensive but definitely made the recipe come together!

I made this one up.  It was a side-dish with my Quorn (meatless) chicken nuggets.  It's a sweet potato inspired hash.


1cubed sweet potato
1/2 of a thinly sliced onion
1 large clove of garlic, minced
Fresh chopped parsley
Smoked paprika
S&P
EVOO


Oh so yum!






I also made another Veggie Times recipe: Whole Wheat Pasta and Fennel Ragout  which was like a party in my mouth!  I forgot to take a picture of it...sorry!  I have never used fennel before but thought I would give it a try.  It has a similar texture to celery but less stringy with a slight black licorice taste.  Now, I very much dislike black licorice but I really enjoyed the fennel.


This week, I feel like I experimented a lot with ingredients and techniques that I've never tried before.  Fennel, saffron, poaching...   It was a lot of fun and I found a love for all three!


Don't be afraid to try something new... you never know what you will find!


I hope you all have a fantastic week!  I'm back to watching the Academy Awards, kicking my husband's butt in our award game bet, and drinking my glass of wine. 


Be.Well.


Peace, Love, and Veggies




Which cooking method or ingredient have you experimented with and loved???  Tell me about it!