Roasted Cauliflower Soup & Fennel-Orange Salad

In no way do I fancy myself a food blogger, or even a decent cook, but these both turned out good, so I thought I would share.

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to be kinder to my body, and since my body is all "wtf dairy?" lately, when I have some, that means eating more vegan meals. Not to mention, I know that I feel better physically when the majority of my diet is fresh fruits/vegetables, and I need to get back to that.



Roasted Cauliflower Soup

* 1 small head cauliflower, chopped in medium-sized chunks
* 3 cloves garlic (I had 5 tiny ones from the inside of the bulb)
* 1/2 onion, cut into large pieces
* 1/2 bulb fennel, cut into large pieces
* 1 wedge lemon
* 2 tsp. olive oil
* 2 tsp. sesame oil

Toss above with olive/sesame oil mixture and squeeze the lemon over, then roast in 400 degree oven (with the wedge of the lemon) until edges are browning.

* 1/4 c. white wine
* 1 large bay leaf (or 2 small)
* 8 c. water
* bouillon cube, your choice flavor (I used vegetable)
* small pinch saffron threads

Add to soup pot with 1/4 c. white wine and bay leaf, and heat on medium until wine has almost all sizzled away. Add eight cups water, saffron and bouillon cube. Bring to boil uncovered, making sure the cube is dissolved. Reduce heat to simmer and taste your broth. Add salt if needed (mine needed it, and a few cracks of pepper). Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

At about 10 minutes remaining, stir in -

* 1/4 tsp. dried tarragon
* 1/4 tsp. dried rosemary
* 1/4 tsp. dried herbes de provence
* 1/2 tsp. dried parsley

Return to simmer for the remaining time.

Remove bay leaves and the lemon wedge, and puree with immersion blender. Alternately, blend in small batches in a blender or food processor. Taste again and add more salt/pepper if it needs it (mine did). I turned the heat up to medium-low here for a few minutes to get it hot again before I had some.

Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to serve.

Note: I added 2 tbs. soy creamer while I pureed, but that could be an optional thing. Also, I'm a loser who missed one of the bay leaves, so it got pureed in. Still good!


Fennel-Orange Salad

* 1/2 bulb fennel, sliced as thin as you can
* small amount of thinly sliced white onion - it was maybe a tablespoon's worth, if that
* 1 orange, sectioned
* 2 tsp. sesame oil
* 1 tbs. orange juice (could squeeze it out of what's left of the orange)
* pinch salt

I put all the ingredients in a Tupperware container and shook it to mix them. I also let it rest in the fridge overnight.

To serve, I sprinkled toasted sesame seeds and a little black pepper.

Note: If you don't want to mess with sectioning an orange, 1/2 a cup of canned/drained mandarin oranges would probably work well.

Nuts & Seeds Egg Salad

I'm going to be eating vegan again after New Year's, and I had eggs in the fridge to use up this week. So this is my good-bye to eggs, I guess. I have an aversion to mayonnaise about 99% of the time, so this is mayo-free. I liked it - just remember that it's more of a salad than a sandwich spread!

Nuts & Seeds Egg Salad

- 5 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

- 2 slices of lemon, one squeezed (zest too, if you like it) - hang on to the other
- 1/4 tsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. white wine vinegar
- 1 tbs. olive oil
- 1/2 tsp. mustard (or more or less)

- 1 tbs. sunflower kernels
- 1 1/2 tsp. sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

- 1 tsp. dried parsley
- pinch tarragon
- generous sprinkle paprika
- salt, pepper & red pepper flakes, to taste

- any other veggie add-ins you desire (I used a heaping tablespoon of finely chopped onions and half an avocado, diced to the same size as my egg pieces)

I hard-boil eggs by placing them in a pan of cold water that just covers them up, putting a lid on it, and bringing it to a boil. Once the water reaches a boil, turn off the burner and leave it there for fifteen minutes. Then run cold water over the eggs or place in an ice water bath until they've cooled.

Chop eggs how you like. I'm not a big yolk fan, so I only used one and a half of the yolks. Yeah, for five eggs.

Whisk together mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and lemon juice from one of the slices. Squish yolks into the dressing if you want (I did).

Dump seasonings/nuts over eggs/veggies, then pour over dressing. Fold to combine. It might not seem like you have enough of the dressing, but here's where you squeeze over the other lemon wedge.

Taste to see if it needs more salt (or even if you want more lemon).

I ate some immediately with Wasa Crispbread, but I'm guessing the flavors would intensify with a little time spent in the fridge.

(fast to the midnight land)

The crowd watching Empires at Summerfest, 06/26/2009.

(it's gonna redefine you)

Yesterday afternoon I got to see a band that I've been a fan of for nearly a decade (close enough!) perform the entirety of one of my top five albums of all time. I almost didn't go, but I also knew that I would be sad in my soul if I played the loser card and stayed home.

The me of eight years ago, when I was really into The Posies, would have flipped at being directly in front of Ken Stringfellow. The me of eight years ago would have freaked out when he jumped off the stage and then climbed over the barrier next to me, to lead a handful of us like the Pied Piper over to where he and Jon Auer sold their merch, kneeling on the concrete. The me of eight years ago would barely have been able to look at them long enough to buy the vinyl of Nice Cheekbones and a Ph.D., much less say that I was glad I'd finally gotten to see them. Because the me of eight years ago would never have driven to Chicago to see a show alone, at all. Period.

Strangely enough, I never would have realized they were playing Taste of Randolph if Empires hadn't posted about performing at an after-event, because then I went "What is this Taste of Randolph thing?" and looked it up.

That was only on Tuesday. Sometimes the best things are the ones you find out about at the last minute.

Ordered: One copy of Wilco (the Album) on vinyl, due to arrive around June 30th. I am stoked for this.

(blue crush)

I think some of my pictures from that show are okay, but they need some touch-ups before I will actually post them.

My three shows of the Snakes & Suits tour were all fantastic, and it was great to see everyone again.

what the world needs more of