The Plan.

The fall/winter garden plan.

I've said before that the garden is quite a metaphor, and this summer I have felt the pangs of an unproductive garden rattle through me in a difficult way. I've been a mess, feeling much the same way my garden looks — disheveled, unkempt, hot, uninspired, unfruitful. I'm yearning to pull myself out of this summer slump, and feeling just a hint of crispness in the air gives me hope that fall is just around the corner.

Which means it's time for the plan.

My local nurseries aren't yet ready for the fall garden, but boy am I chomping at the bit. (In fact, I called; there are no broccoli transplants for me just yet, but soon. Very soon.)

In any case, here's what I have to look forward to. Leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, sugar snap peas, and herbs. My favorite herbs, to be exact: cilantro, parsley, and rosemary. And carrots, turnips, parsnips, cauliflower, and (shh, don't tell the hubcap) a little Swiss chard.

Mostly, though, I have growth to look forward to. New life, nourishment, tiny plants that become so much more than simply leaves and stems.

This is the weekend to prepare the gardens. The cleaning out, redressing, nurturing the soil that will in turn nurture us ... This is what I need to refresh my own life. I am so looking forward to a change in the weather.

I feel better already.

Read more ►

The Do Not Eat List

The offending dish, complete with vegetarian sausage.

We have a chalkboard in the kitchen where I write our grocery list. Increasingly, I've noticed it reminds me to get the same things, week after week. Coffee, milk, cheese, bananas, veggies (so specific!), apples, tortillas, beans, red wine. And so on.

Every month or so, I get baking staples like flour and sugar, and every few months I add something especially random to the list. Curry powder or chipotle peppers — specialty items used for specific recipes.

On Sunday night, I was excited to make a pot of red beans and rice for Ryan. It was an opportunity to try a new recipe; an easy, cheap, and homey one at that.

Except it didn't quite go over that well. It was so poorly received, in fact, that it gave Ryan a new idea. "Let's keep a 'hazardous materials' list on the fridge," he said, "of things you shouldn't use in cooking."

Turns out, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce are on the list. So are curry powder, papayas, vegetarian sausage. I added a few things to the list myself: red meat, chicken, anise, licorice.

We're old enough to know what we like and don't like. And while I love cooking, it's actually nice to be able to look through a recipe, see an ingredient I know one or both of us is bound to dislike, and either modify the recipe or move on to something else.

Do you have a "haz mat" list at home? What's on it?

Read more ►

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sprinkles were especially for my niece. She approved.

A few months ago, I stumbled upon my all-time favorite cookie recipe. And since then, I have made it a point to keep all the necessary ingredients for those cookies in the cupboard at all times: a practice that makes my husband very happy, might I add.

When we had family over for grilled pizza night, I knew by dessert time, I'd likely be clamoring to hold my two-month-old nephew instead of assembling dessert, I had to come up with an easy make-ahead solution.

That's when I had a stroke of sheer brilliance: Enter the homemade ice cream sandwich. For a crowd that loves cookies and ice cream (which this crowd in particular does), it couldn't have been a better fit.

These come together so easily, especially if you use store-bought ice cream. Simply make your favorite cookie recipe, and let them cool counter-side. Test each batch to make sure they're quality.

Then set your ice cream out and let it get just a little bit soft. Pick up a cookie, flip it over, and put a scoop of ice cream on the bottom of one cookie. Grab a second cookie, place it on the scoop of ice cream, and smoosh them together to make a sandwich. If you're feeling fancy, dress them up with sprinkles.

Relocate the cookie sandwiches to the freezer for a couple of hours, and then delight your guests when you tell them to grab their own dessert — it's in the freezer! Marvel how the simple act of thinking ahead leaves you free to hold thirteen pounds of cuteness in your arms. Try not to drip any ice cream on his face while you eat one yourself.

I've decided that everyone should have ice cream sandwiches once in a while. That's why I made a few extras and hid them deeper in the freezer. Turns out, ice cream is the one thing that makes those cookies even better, especially on a hot summer evening.

Read more ►

Simple Meals: Bruschetta, Two Ways

Sunday dinner is served. Despite its fancy looks, it was quick and easy. 

Sundays are routinely busy, and dinner is often the last thing on my mind. With a load of laundry in the wash, and a few weekend projects needing their loose ends tied up before the work week begins again, it's hard to go out on a Sunday night even for a quick meal. Enter my latest Sunday night solution. Simple, fridge-clearing meals with one common item: a baguette.

Last week's vegetables were languishing on the counter and in the crisper; goat cheese and prosciutto that I purchased for a special meal needed to be used before it went bad, too. One bunch of kale threatened to go bad, too.

For each of these recipes, feel free to lightly toast the sliced baguette before topping it with bruschetta; I was feeling lazy and skipped that step. Also, I tend to burn toast, which was not my desired outcome. Burned baguettes don't go over well in our home—not even the pup will eat 'em!

And as one more vegetable on our plates, I made a batch of kale chips sprinkled with sea salt and nutritional yeast. A simple, quick way to get your greens that's tasty to boot!

Strawberries, basil, and goat cheese make for a marvelous combination.

Strawberry Basil Bruschetta
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
2 ounces goat cheese
8-10 slices of baguette, about 1/4 inch thick

Mix the chopped berries, olive oil, and basil in a small bowl and let sit while you slice the baguette. Spread each slice of bread with goat cheese, and then top with the strawberry-basil mixture.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta
1 cup chopped heirloom tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
8-10 slices of baguette, about 1/4 inch thick

sliced sharp cheddar or parmesan cheese (optional)

prosciutto (optional)

Mix the tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt, and pepper together in a small bowl and set side. Top each slice of bread with cheese (if using), then tomato mixture and prosciutto (if using).  

Read more ►

On the Grill: Pizzas Part 2

Prosciutto and asparagus on the left, butternut squash and rosemary on the right. 

The key to grilled pizzas and flatbreads is to keep the toppings to a minimum so they cook through in just a few minutes. Less can be more when you choose high-quality, fresh, gourmet ingredients.

Butternut Squash Pizza with Rosemary and Parmesan

Toppings: 

1 small butternut squash, peeled and sliced paper-thin on a mandoline 

1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

sea salt and freshly ground pepper 

Lay the thin slices of butternut squash in a single layer over the crust. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary, sea salt, pepper, and parmesan. Cook until the edges of the squash begin to curl up slightly and the cheese is melted, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

Cheese pizza on the left, and heirloom Caprese on the right.

Cheese Pizza with Marinara Sauce

Marinara (makes enough for 2 pizzas; freeze half of the recipe if you won't use it immediately):

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

splash of red wine (about 2 teaspoons); optional

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Toppings:

5 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into small pieces 

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Mix the marinara ingredients together in a bowl. Using a spatula, spread half of the marinara sauce over the par-cooked crust. Drop the mozzarella over the pizza and sprinkle with parmesan. Cook until the cheese is melted and the edges of the crust are crisp, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat.

Grilled Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Chevre Pizza

Toppings:

1 bunch asparagus

5-6 slices prosciutto

2 ounces chevre, cut into small pieces 

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Rinse the asparagus and trim off the tough end. Slice each spear in halve length-wise, then into 3-inch pieces. Toss with half of the olive oil and grill over medium-high heat in a vegetable grilling basket until tender and charred in places. Remove from heat and set aside. 

Drizzle par-cooked crust with remaining olive oil. Evenly disperse the grilled asparagus, prosciutto, and chevre over the crust. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the cheese is slightly melted, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

It's blurry, but don't the colors look delicious?

Caprese Pizza

1 cup heirloom cherry tomatoes (or 2-3 large tomatoes), sliced thin

5 ounces fresh mozzarella medallions

1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

1/4 cup basil leaves, cut into thin strips

1 tablespoon olive oil

sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Spread the sliced tomatoes evenly across the crust. Place mozzarella medallions on top, spacing them out evenly (keep in mind they will melt and spread out a bit). Sprinkle on the basil, shredded Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Cook until cheese is melted and tomatoes are still juicy but have shriveled slightly, about 5 minutes on a grill set to medium heat. 

Read more ►

On the Grill: Pizzas, Part 1

Funny shaped (but tasty!) homemade crusts on the grill.

Recently, Ryan and I have happily inherited—for a limited time, that is—a fantastically enormous fancy propane grill. Formerly, our backyard was home to only a charcoal grill, which has not been used since sometime last fall on account of the ridiculous amount of time it takes to get started and the fact that neither of us wants to stand outside and deal with it for any amount of time at all. (Sorry, Charcoal.)

But with this propane grill, it's just a turn of the knob here, a flip of the igniter switch there, and voila! Flames!

We invited family over for dinner last weekend. With four adults and one child partaking in the meal, I planned out four large pizzas in hopes we'd have plenty for leftovers the next day... or I'd have one to mess up. Happily, all were met with the family meal seal of approval. This post will happen in two parts: crust and toppings. It's a lot of info, but now that I learned the gist of grilling pizzas, I think I can do it faster next time.

Grilled pizzas are perfect for a dinner party, but take a few tips from me.

• Keep the menu simple (prep and organize all the toppings ahead of time).

• Have at least one "normal" pizza that less adventurous eaters will recognize.

• Grill the crusts ahead of time, but don't cook them all the way because they'll be on the grill again with the toppings. A couple of ours got pretty charred on the bottom (rookie mistake!).

• Once you grill the crusts, take them back inside to put on all the toppings... and take 'em back out to grill. This cuts down on the work you'll be doing outside. 

• Don't load up the crusts with too many toppings; they will only be cooking on the grill for a few minutes, so you want to be sure they all cook through.
• To cut down on prep time, you can make a few recipes of dough and store it in the freezer. When you're ready to cook, bring the dough to room temp about an hour before cooking. The actual process of grilling the pizzas goes very quickly; it's the prep that takes some time.

Four funny crusts, all in a row.

The Crust
Adapted from Mark Bittman's pizza dough recipe.
Makes dough for two large pizzas.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
2 teaspoons yeast
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 1 1/4 cups water

In a food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil. Slowly pour in the water with the machine still running. Watch the dough and determine how it looks after about one cup of water; it should be forming a ball and collecting together nicely. If it still looks dry, add more water (no more than 1 1/4 cups total). If it gets too sticky, add a little more flour—one tablespoon at a time.

Roll the dough out onto a floured surface and knead a few times. Coat a large mixing bowl with a tablespoon of olive oil, and put the dough in the bowl. Turn it to coat in oil, and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until doubled in size. If you'll be letting it rise for more than a few hours, but it in the fridge. About an hour before you wish to cook it, set it on the counter and bring it to room temp.

Split the dough into two pieces. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch (very thin). Prick the dough all over with a fork, and let it rest for 20–30 minutes before cooking it.

Preheat the grill. You want it to be between 400 and 500 degrees inside. Brush one side the uncooked crust with olive oil. Using your hands, flip the oiled side onto the grill over high heat. Brush the other side with olive oil. Cook it until the first side is browned and the crust begins to bubble. Using tongs, carefully flip the crust over to cook partially on the other side (do not let it get charred; this will be the bottom of your pizza and will be fully cooked once you add toppings).

Take the partially cooked crusts inside to add toppings, and then put back on a medium-high grill to cook for about 5 minutes, or until toppings are heated through and cheese is melted.

Check in tomorrow for four pizza topping suggestions!

Read more ►

Fool 'Em: Homemade Fudgesicles

Vegan Fudgesicles with just four ingredients. I went there. 

Let me begin by saying it was 102 degrees outside today. All the drapes are shut tight and the A/C is running hard, just to keep it 80 degrees in the house. These are the kinds of summer days that make me happy to have a day job—one that keeps me in a cool office building during the most grueling months.

One of my summer goals was to make popsicles, and I've pretty much mastered the peach and tequila pops. (They're delicious on their own, of course, but I like to put one in a glass and pour a Topo Chico on top for a refreshing beverage. Oh yes, you should go there.)

Recently, though, I made something marvelous. Something that I will turn to time and time again, especially when there are kids around with discriminating palates. Something that could fool even the most critical of ice cream tasters. Something that I consider part of my dinner salad because it's mostly made up of vegetable.

Homemade vegan fudgesicles. Four ingredients—and they come together in mere minutes.

Yeah.

Of the four ingredients, two are so unlikely that you may scratch your head at first and wonder what kind of a path I've led you down: avocados (heart-healthy fat!) and coconut milk (Ayurvedic properties!). The other two ingredients—cocoa and sugar—hardly turn this into a too-sweet, bad-for-you dessert.

Canned coconut milk can be found in the Indian or Asian area of most grocery stores; I used organic light coconut milk from Whole Foods in this recipe which has even less fat and calories than the regular stuff, which makes me feel a little better.

Missing a popsicle mold? Serve this as a cool mousse-like dessert.

Homemade Vegan Fudgesicles
makes 10 average (two-ounce) popsicles

2 large perfectly ripe Haas avocados
3/4 cup organic cane sugar
1 13.5-ounce can light coconut milk
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Cut open the avocados, remove the pits, and put the fruit in a blender. Add the sugar and cocoa powder, and pour in the coconut milk. Puree until extremely smooth; the batter should be thick but pourable. Taste it and add a little more sugar if needed. Pour into popsicle mold and freeze for 4 hours or overnight.

Read more ►

Deciding Food: Discuss.

Most days, I bring my lunch to work for three reasons:

• It's cost-effective.
• It's healthy. 
• It allows me to make the kind of food decisions I have grown accustomed to: sustainable, organic, local, and ethical. 

Food is such a complex thing. For me, at least, it's not just about, "What am I hungry for?" Oh, were it that easy. Instead, I scrutinize it: will this meal be vegetarian? Locally sourced? Free of pesticides? If there is fish or meat involved, is it sustainably harvested and carefully processed by trusted companies? Is the dairy free of hormones, is the fat vegetarian and free of trans fats, does it lack all the other additives I want to keep out of my body—high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, etc.

My list goes on and on. 

I know it's unreasonable to eat like this 100 percent of the time. I make provisions when traveling, for instance, or for meals out with friends and family. But every meal, I think about the food decisions I'm making. 

I surely drive my family crazy with my obsessive food antics. Coworkers shook their fingers at me when I used the preservative-laden fake butter on my tortillas at a recent outing. Friends know better than to invite me for a meal without going over the menu. 

I feel that food is such an important part of my daily life that I'm happy to take the time to scrutinize my fuel. It's important for me, and I know that my decisions have an impact on my community. 

Which makes me wonder—do you do this too? How important are these factors to your everyday habits?

*Update:

Lest you think this came out of nowhere...

This post began as a thought when I stepped out to pick up a salad at Chipotle today. It comes after an insightful discussion I had regarding diminishing resources for our food supply, and thoughts of going back to full vegetarianism for that reason. And, I bring it up as I watch the world's most elite athletes compete in the Olympics, realizing that while I may not ever be an Olympian... I can choose to make the best possible decisions for my diet and my health!

So, that's all.

Read more ►

Wordy Wednesday: It Takes Time

We've done some of this over the summer...

How is it already August? I feel like just yesterday I was proclaiming that I would sit around and play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on a ukulele all summer long.

Truth be told, these last few weeks have been exhausting. Time has been the one ingredient missing for the recipe of a perfect summer. There were birthdays (our nephew was born!), and happy times, and trips out of town, and time spent with family and friends, and even one very hot night out at the Zilker Hillside Theatre, and a very cool night spent swimming at Barton Springs. There were vegan chocolate popsicles (the recipe is on its way, I promise!) and plenty of cold beers. There was house rearranging, garden clearing, and vine borer battling. And there's been work. Lots and lots of work. I'm not complaining, I'm just allowing myself to say that my day job has been rather all-encompassing lately.

But despite the lack evidence here on Sustainable Diet, there has been a lot of cooking. I have been in the kitchen every day to make breakfast at the very least—today, a work day!!, I whipped up homemade spelt biscuits with maple syrup and scrambled eggs while wearing a white button-down, pencil skirt, and the most adorable Anthropologie apron—and most days I cook dinner too.

Dinners have been quick, and not too pretty, and by the time I cook I just want to eat instead of take a photo and think about whether the meal is blog-worthy or not (like the night I married nachos and kale chips and thought I'd revolutionized the soon-to-be Olympic sport that is late-night lazy dining).

All this to say that I miss it here. The beginning of the year was a real time of renewal for me, and this blog, and I had hoped to keep up the pace all year long. Here, this hot summer has dragged me down. I feel as beat up as the garden, and my spirit needs a little reviving.

A few weekends ago, I cleared out all but two of our tomato plants. The two still standing were spared because as I began to trim back their wilted branches, I saw life in them yet. Like they still had something to offer, despite the wretched temperatures and relentless sun.

So I'm trying to be bold, like my last two tomato plants. While I don't look like much at the moment, I promise: there's a lot to offer. It's going to be tasty and wonderful and hilarious. I'm eyeing the fall planting calendar, planning a mini kitchen remodel, and getting ready for another season of fresh ideas and thoughts and photos.

Do stick around for the harvest, if you please.

Read more ►