May 22nd

Today I did some cooking for the rest of the week. I love to have my big cooking day on the weekend so that I can just heat up dishes during the week when I get back from work or from the garden and I’m too exhausted to cook. Last night I soaked some dried cannellini beans for a White Bean Casserole. I cooked them in half water, half vegetable broth, with a bay leaf of course. When they were done I strained them for the bottom of the casserole. I fried up some garlic and onions with thyme and tarragon, then I fried some cremini mushrooms with the same spices and mixed the vegetables into the beans. I spread these out in a glass casserole dish. As a topping I made my own breadcrumbs using a couple slices of whole grain bread from a local bakery, which I pulsed a couple times in the processor. I added the same amount of panko breadcrumbs, some thyme, tarragon and rosemary and ¼ cup vegan butter, melted. I put the crumb topping onto the beans and let it cook for 25 minutes in a 350 oven, and then my dinners for the week were done! The smell of the spices as it was cooking and especially as the onion was frying with them was amazing. I don’t know how to describe it, but make sure you try that particular spice combo out. I’ll just add a giant arugula salad to make my meal complete.

We had a barbecue tonight at my Grams’ for dinner. Veggie dogs for me! My go-to choice of condiment combination right now is mustard and relish. I used to hate relish and love ketchup, but now it’s the opposite. I just can’t get enough of it on my veggie dogs. Ketchup, on the other hand…it just doesn’t go with veggie dogs. I don’t know why; I just don’t like it together. My grandma had made a potato salad that was made with mayo and eggs, but she made some home-made French fries for me. I love my grandma’s home-made fries – they taste sooo good and I have no idea how she gets them so crispy on the outside but soft on the inside. It never works that way for me. It probably has something to do with oil temperature, but could just as easily have something to do with her magic cooking abilities. No recipe there: potatoes, oil, done. Mmm…