Blackberry and Coconut Macaroon Tart

This blackberry and coconut macaroon tart was almost ridiculously easy to make.  Very pretty, too.  If you make it, just don't forget to prebake the crust, like I did!

One thing - I replaced about 1/3 of the flour in the crust with almond meal, because I like the texture and flavor.

Potato salad with herbed dijon vinaigrette.

Pretty little potatoes from my mom's garden.  It's that time of year again!  I'm sure for the next few months I"ll have gifted produce up to my ears, which I LOVE.

Nothing from the grocery store can taste like these fresh baby red potatoes.  And there's nothing better to do with them than something simple.

I loved this recipe from Vegan Yum Yum for potato salad with herbed dijon vinaigrette.  So springy and flavorful.

My recommendations: use more vinegar and herbs than called for, and definitely use a blender because you want the herbs and liquids to emulsify so they coat the potatoes.

We had our potato salad with steamed veggies and bbq tofu sandwiches.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie (and I need a new camera)

Blurry photos! Curse you!  It is bad enough I am never home to cook in natural light, which is far superior to artificial, and even farther superior to my dim little lamp that looks out of place on the edge of my counter and tries not to get splatters of pesto and tomato seeds on its shade.

As I was saying, how come a perfectly clear photograph downloaded to my computer from my iphone turns out blurry once I upload it to my blog?  Anyone?

This strawberry rhubarb pie is blurry but it sure is delicious.  Who can resist long, gorgeous stalks of rhubarb in the spring? Not me. No sir.

Portabello mushroom lasagna

Had plans to make this lasagna for my bosses, who have a tiny (and very precious) new baby boy at home to take care of.  Or course, I ended up making two because someone at home wanted to eat lasagna, too. :-)

I started with Ina Garten's recipe for portabello mushroom lasagna, but tweaked it in the following ways:

1. I added more veggies: leeks, spinach, and garlic (never use frozen spinach in lasagna, always microwaved fresh - frozen is too tough, strong-tasting, and wet).

2. I added a second type of cheese: mozzarella (for this dish I recommend sticking to just parmesan because the dish relies on the stronger, salty flavor of parm - I just bought moz on accident because I originally was making a tomato sauce lasagna).

3. I added thyme to the mushrooms and leeks as well as a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end of sauteeing because I thought they needed all the flavor boost they could get, this being a béchamel lasagna.

Turned out pretty well but I'm partial to tomato-based lasagnas!

Build your rice bowl: rice with beans and fresh garnishes

One of my very favorite things to eat is plain brown rice adorned with things like toasted seeds, tahini sauce (or ume vinegar or soy sauce), fresh herbs, vegetables, and of course beans.

I love it because it's the healthiest meal you can have, yet it is also so tasty and has all the varied aspects and contrasts that make a dish interesting: warm, nutty brown rice; soft, meaty beans; crunchy toasted seeds; cold, crisp vegetables; fresh, fragrant herbs; creamy, tangy tahini sauce... I know that's a lot of adjectives but I hope I've convinced you to try some similar combination.  It's my go-to meal, what I would eat if I could only eat one sort of dish forever.

It helps that beans, rice, and all the adornments keep really well in the fridge for easy lunchtime assembly all week.

Ina's Roasted Tomatoes

Not that you need a recipe, but Ina did give me the idea to add a little balsamic vinegar to my tomatoes before roasted. I think these would be good in a pasta dish.

I ate them with rice, and they reminded me of the sweet tomatoes and rice my grandmama used to make all the time.

Field Roast sausage on sourdough with caramelized onions & peppers, and spicy mustard

This was one of my families' favorite sandwiches, sausage with mustard, peppers and onions, and cheddar cheese on bread.  I can't remember if I used Daiya cheese or not on my vegetarian version, but it was yummy.

If you haven't tried Field Roast vegetarian sausage, it's worth trying even if you eat meat.  Especially if you're the sort who likes the flavor of sausage, but is bothered by the little specks of fat and who knows what else in traditional sausage.  That part always grossed me out so I am thrilled to have a vegetarian sausage with a short ingredient list of recognizable, healthy foods!

Trust me, this faux meat is not like the others - it may be "fake" meat, but the ingredients are anything but fake.  Anyway, my sandwich was good!  So there!