Black Bean Entree

 Austin has two restaurants that are open 24 hours and serve the perfect eclectic mix of Austin friendly foods for cheap prices: Kerby Lane Cafe and Magnolia Cafe.  People can get very intense with their loyalty about which of these similar places is better, but I have always felt equal love for them both. Each place has its unbeatable menu items.  At Kerby Lane it is the Kerby queso or the gingerbread pancakes.  At Magnolia, the MagMud queso, eggs zappatino, or the black bean entree. 

Of course theses were a staple in college for late night banana nut pancakes and coffee, but far beyond my college days I still think that they can't be beat.   I must admit that it was my husband who taught me to really appreciate the perfection of this simple (and ridiculously cheap I might add) black bean dish.  I learned traveling with him in Nicaragua that he really can have beans at every meal and never tire of them.  Being vegetarians, we eat a LOT of black beans and I can get burned out on them- but I never tire of this dish.

All this dish entails is mixing black beans with some garlic butter, and topping with amazing things. I use cheese, tomatoes, chives, avocado, and sour cream.  I aim to copy the original, but anything would be a great addition.  Maybe some marinated tofu or jalapenos.  At Magnolia they really do it right by serving this bowl with a cornmeal pancake.  What would I not have given to get my hands on cornmeal pancake ingredients yesterday.  But alas, it was 102 degrees and I was against the idea of leaving the house.  And guess what?  It was still an awesome meal without it.  Plan in advance when you try this easy recipe.  If not corn meal pancakes, some fresh corn bread will be perfect.  Enjoy!

Knit slipper project

I picked up this pattern book Whimsical Little Knits 3  when I was in Oregon earlier this summer at Websters, one of my favorite yarn stores in Ashalnd Oregon. I fell in love with this pattern for knit slippers and had this vision of me knitting piles of adorable brightly colored slippers that would be passed out at Christmas to everyone on my list.

Every summer I scheme that I am going to prepare amazing Christmas gifts in July, and this vision has never really come to life the way I envision it. I remember staying up until 1am on Christmas Eve frantically finishing an overly ambitious and started-too-late shawl for my mother.  Not my vision of gift prep perfection. 

I will now make the public statement that this year is

going to be different. I made myself a practice pair of slippers and now that I have figured out this fun and well written  pattern, I am going to start popping these out! We are going on road trip this weekend to my husband's family reunion, so I will seize this car time to start on my first giftable pair.

Please note that the practice pair is not giftable since one is bigger than the other.   I will probably re-do one of them, but for now I am ready to start on a new pair with some jewel tone teal yarn I am excited about working with.  Maybe I will fix up the practice pair for myself.  I think I might feel more giving if I have a pair for myself.  Hopefully mine turn out as cute as in this darling pattern.

       

Kale Salad

Before going out of town, we pretty much cleared out the fridge completely.  Therefore, coming home I had the perfect opportunity to try to stock up on super healthy stuff since some questionable items had been cleared out.  I bought 2 bunches of kale not having a recipe in mind for them, but was inspired by a friends amazing kale salad and thought I would find a fun way to mix it up salad style.

I remembered seeing a kale and chickpea salad recipe on a blog I really like, The Spontaneous Hausfrau - "A blog about (messy) cooking and (irreverent) domesticity."  Cute right?

I tweaked this recipe a bit based on what I had in the kitchen and it was excellent! The olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest dressing was so good, it was so simple and so flavorful.

Here is the link to original recipe from The Spontaneous Hausfrau  I didn't have any sundried tomatoes on hand like the recipe calls for, but I bet they would have been great. 
                                                           Ingredients:

For the dressing:

olive oil

lemon juice

lemon zest

*I added a little bit of ceyenne pepper for some spice 

Salad:1 bunch of kale

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

1 can garbonzo beans

kalamata olives

*I added some thai basil

Salsa shout out!

I am back from my last trip of the summer.  We went to New Mexico to stay with my aunt and uncle who are not only the best hosts ever, but also have a home on a mountain in the forrest.  It was a great place to be and we had a great trip.           

Something that we did well on our trip (besides hike, visit, and see amazing views of course) was eat.  My aunt is an amazing cook and makes home made bread at least twice a week. (!!!)  I can't believe that we ever ate out considering what she can do in her kitchen, but we did go out for Mexican food.  Being from Austin Texas, I am no stranger to tacos, mole, enchiladas, and queso.  But Mexican food is different than the TEX-Mex that we eat here in Austin.  (If you have not been to Austin, trust me when I say that tacos are part  of our daily diet at least once a week.  Especially breakfast tacos on the weekends.)  

So after enjoying green chile enchiladas with an egg on top, and even corn chowder with green chile, I came home loving the spice.  Lucky for me, our fridge was stocked with... homemade salsa.  A trio of salsas was created by our good friend who is not only culinary creative, but also really good at it.  Getting three kinds of homemade salsa was awesome gift that lead to some great food moments. (Thanks guys!) 

 We had finished off the grilled pineapple salsa and the jalapeño salsa before even leaving town.  But we still had an almost full jar of the Habanero salsa.  The only reason it was still left was that it is VERY spicy.  Delicious, but spicy.  Not something to be had in large spoonfuls, but something to be applied in "dabs."  So it has been dabbed on everything since we got back and we have really made in dent in our jar.    

Salsa is a staple in our house, but I usually stick to the "mild" or "medium" variety.  So I am feeling so much more adventurous and spicier now.  I am going to keep it up this summer and try some new varieties and see what else is out there!

  

Cucumber Salad

When it is so hot outside, the last thing I want to do is stand over a hot stove or create heat with the oven.  So since getting back home from vacation in a lovely climate to Texas summer weather, I have only bought groceries that involve no heat.  This has also turned out to be a healthy move since we are eating lots of fresh fruits and veggies by staying in the sandwich, salad, and smoothies families.  I made this salad last night when friends came over for a pot luck grill out.  I had looked at a few new salad recipe ideas and ended up splicing a few together to create a nice summer salad concoction. It is cooling and a bit spicy at the same time.  Enjoy!

Cucumber Salad

• 2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
• About 10 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1 purple onion, thinly sliced
• a handful of chopped flat leaf parsley and/or basil
• about a tablespoon of chopped mint
• a squeeze of lemon juice
• salt and pepper to taste
• 12 oz. crumbled feta cheese
• a salad dressing of your choice (I used a simple red wine vinaigrette)

Enjoying the Northwest

Josh and I went up to Oregon to spend a few days in Ashland with my parents for a few days.  I adore Ashland.  It is such a great town.  Filled with amazing parks, views, theater, and food.  It is easier to find good vegetarian food there than a good burger.  That is awesome since traveling as a vegetarian often means many grilled cheese sandwich meals.  Not that I don't love a good grilled cheese sandwich, but options are great too, and Ashland has them!  Not to mention some good local beer. 

After our time in Oregon, we rented a car and went up the Oregon coast, and then down into Northern California to see the redwoods.  Going to see the redwoods has always been on my bucket list, and they didn't disappoint.  After taking in all those trees, hikes, beer, and veggie food, I'm feeling as ready as I can be back home.  This also means that I will get back to the blog!  I'll be searching for and sharing some "beat the heat" remedies since the 100+ days are here to stay. 

  

Summer Whiten up

I am in the mood to brighten up and lighten up for summer.  We bought out house last September.  It is light and airy, but also eclectic.  So I love how easy it is to experiment. We have a great screened in sun porch and though we love using it, we have yet to really deck it out.  We are in the middle of making all kind of big plans  for our yard, so I was getting anxious to do something in the mean time.  So, on a "planning" trip to Home Depot, I picked up a few cans of white spray paint to make over 2 of our patio chairs.  Now I feel like spray painting everything white!  It brightened up our porch perfectly.  Now I can keep spray painting a few more outdoor items while I wait not so patiently to start on the "big" outdoor projects.