Food

I have a lot of CSA veggies this week, since my CSA-sharers are out of town. Nothing like a ton of food you didn't choose to get your culinary creativity going. Today, I combined two of the soup recipes that Martha Rose Shulman recently posted--I used fennel, garlic, and potato as well as pureed zucchini and curry. It turned out amazing. Instead of sauteeing the veggies, I roasted them first--I know it's a bit hot for roasting, but I had the oven going anyway because I had some sweet potatoes and marinated tofu I had to roast. I separately roasted the cubed zucchini, diced onion, sliced garlic, whole small potatoes, and layers of fennel. I ended up using 3 zucchini, 1 yellow squash, half a small onion, 2 cloves of garlic, just a few layers of fennel, and a quarter cup or so of cooked brown jasmine rice. Plus olive oil and water. Plus curry and paprika (and salt if it isn't already in your curry powder). Yum.

On Wednesday, the day the veggies came in, my fridge was bursting with Swiss chard. I cut up the leaves and stems and sauteed it with a little bit of onion, plumped raisins, and sunflower seeds (pine nuts will also do). Once it was soft, I added some umeboshi (plum vinegar). I usually cook chard with balsamic, but the umeboshi worked really well--it was softer and also added just enough salt.

I've also been making a ton of pesto. So much basil comes in that I make pesto once or twice a week (first world problem, I know). I used to make it without replacing the parmesan, but I've since come to love the umami that nutritional yeast adds. If we get scapes in the CSA bag, I just use those; otherwise, garlic. Oh, and I've been using pecans instead of pine nuts (toasted first)--works really well. The pesto is amazing with pasta (my favorite being Whole Foods brand organic, whole wheat linguine).

Speaking of basil, I tried some home-made (not by me) basil-infused vodka last night. It was really tasty, as was the sangria. It was a really fun night in every way.

I'm become somewhat habituated to people commenting on my apparently dramatic weight loss, and I have to admit that I love it. Especially when it's phrased tactfully ("you're even tinier!"). I also love responding by telling people about my high-carb diet and its daily portions of pasta, chocolate, and wine. Those are just the most sensational sources of carbs. There's also the oatmeal, fruit, sweet potatoes and other root vegetables, and legumes.