summer picnics!

One of the best things about spring and summer is that it is the perfect time for picnics! And one of the perks of living in Boston is being able to picnic right along the Charles River. Sunshine, friends, ducks & delicious food. I packed a 4 tier bento with some of my favorite portable snacks that are super easy to make. Not pictured are veggies, pretzels, & hummus as well as some wraps with kale, bell peppers, plum tomatoes, avocado & veg. chicken. The winner of the picnic was this pasta salad with cucumber flowers! I love bento boxes because you can make whatever you want as CUTE as you want. You can use small cookie cutters to make adorable shapes out of fruit and veggies. There is also a lot of great websites to find bento accessories if you can't find them at stores.

Cute Summer Pasta Salad

Pasta (of your choice) cooked according to the package

Green Peas or Edamame

Plum Tomatoes diced

Cucumbers sliced 

Garlic (minced)

Truffle Salt (or regular salt)

Basil

Black Pepper

Apple Cider Vinegar

I apologize for not having a better recipe but I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal so everything is sort of eyeballing and taste testing. Fortunately the beauty of pasta salad is that it can be pretty versatile based on personal preference (for instance I do not really like "mayo" based pasta salads) so give it a whirl and put your own spin of it. I will be better in the future with recipes after enlisting my friend Jess who went to culinary school. 

summer!

Summer has arrived which means a whole slew of delicious seasonal produce and picnics! I have a couple more 5ks under my belt but had to take a hiatus from most outdoor activities due to a bicycle accident. I will have a few pictures to upload this week to including a picnic pasta salad, cookies, & fried tofu from soul food saturday!

eating local.

Ever see those bumper stickers that say "eat local"? Well I personally believe in eating produce that is fresh, delicious, and preferably from fair trade farms. If it is local that is even better but I am not limited to strictly local if it follows that criteria. However I do have fond memories of walking up the street and leaving money in a jar in exchange for small bundles of asparagus as well as the satisfaction of picking from our own family garden. So as much as I try to not be a "local food snob" I do often find local companies that make simply awesome products that I like telling people about. My local pick for the week is Grillo's (boston) pickled green tomatoes. These are fantastic, addictive, and perfect for warm weather food. I will try and make something with them this week and get some pictures!

Kale Salad with BBQ Tempeh & Edamame Couscous

  

This meal is super easy to whip together AND is packed with stuff that is really good for you. Tempeh is probably best described as a fermented soy cake which can sound weird to tempeh newbies but it is quite versatile, delicious and has a ton of protein and other good for you stuff. Here it is browned and tossed with a little bit of barbecue sauce(not too much though or you will overwhelm the flavor of the tempeh). The salad consists of raw green kale, tomatoes, avocado, bell pepper & cucumbers tossed with black pepper. The couscous has garlic, veggie broth & edamame and takes about 5 minutes to make. I used the leftovers and made wraps later too!

ooooh i forgot to mention this....

I personally am vegan as a choice (even though I have been lactose intolerant for my whole life despite my childhood denial when I wanted mac 'n cheese & pizza like everyone else) but have never and will never push this choice on anyone else. I say eat what you want to eat. I do however believe that people should eat food that is fresh & real(not that processed crap) as much as possible because I think that it just makes you feel awesome.  This blog is also going to be more than food posts because I do more than just eat food. No being mean! ^_^

San Francisco Delights

Lemongrass Rice Noodles with Grilled Vegetables & Tofu from Herbivore in San Francisco. This was really filled with flavor and had a light sauce, sort of broth like, and tons of fresh vegetables. Also this dinner was especially fun because I got to meet up with my friend Kerri who I knew from college and had been roommates once. We shared pictures of our cats (Scooter & Bagel) who grew up together and grew fatter separately. I wish I had gotten pictures of everyone's meals but they were devoured quite fast. But we all loved what we got. So definitely check this place out if you are in the area. They also have at least one other location in SF.

 Jannah and I stopped in Berkley at Nature's Express because I had read that they had vegan soft serve ice cream. Unfortunately we had stopped at Cinnaholic http://www.cinnaholic-berkeley.com/ (third picture obviously hah.) and I had gotten my sweets intake for the day/year. Mine had peanut butter & bananas no icing. This place was adorable & is a definite stop during vegan travels. The real winner for me was the wrap I got(the top picture is Jannah's "Chicken" Taco) filled with kale, avocado, & tofu. Super simple & delicious! I love kale wraps!

 This sandwich was the BOMB! It is from Love & Haight which is a pretty small deli on Haight St. (hence the name) They aren't strictly vegan & is sort of a hole in the wall but get your nose out of the air & stop in. I got Barbecue Seitan(pretty sure that was the name) with tons of veggies, almost a whole avocado(!), on sourdough bread. This sandwich was enormous and under $7. It could easily be shared or half could be saved. If you are walking around & want a quick, delicious & budget friendly lunch this is a good pick.

I stopped at Boudin Bakery because they had animal bread in the window! I love bread/buns shaped like animals(it's the asian in me >_<) and this bakery is pretty cool anyways. It is in the tourist friendly Pier 39 area & is worth going in to look at the cute bread and the cool baskets of bread moving along the ceiling on a track. Totally awesome.

vacation.

I am currently on vacation in one of the least healthy/vegan friendly cities and one of the most healthy/vegan friendly cities. Las Vegas vs. San Francisco! I will have loads of pictures on their way once I am back.

Cambridge City Run

The annual Cambridge City Run was Sunday April 3rd. It is a 5 mile run or a 3 mile walk. WE DID NOT THROW UP! I finished with a 10:55 pace which is a little slower than the pace I used to run at but factoring in my recent medical issues, I am very happy with my results. The gals I ran with finished a little after me and Shannon finished before me at a 10 minute pace! We were Team Kale! I even made ribbons to promote that fact too! I will upload my craft attempts as soon as I can! I can't wait for the next run!

oh hai.

This blog is the brain meld of my friend Quicia and myself while running to prepare for our upcoming 5 mile road race which may leave us both barfing up the kale that we hold so dear. Stay tuned...