It’s been such a productive and fun weekend that I’m sad it’s over. The chilly temps in the 30s actually made perfect weather for fast runs Saturday and Sunday mornings. And hubby and I stepped out to see Skyfall and it was awesome! I’ve never been a huge James Bond fan because, while slick and sexy, there was something too polished about past movies for me. But Daniel Craig has changed that turning Bond into more of a believably flawed and determined hero.
It’s been a great weekend for our pets too since it’s finally cold enough to justify turning on the fireplace. And Miko has been parked in front of it each morning toasting his little rear end.
You’d think the fireplace was just for him.
And, even though winter is approaching, our kitchen is still over run with late-season tomatoes I pulled from our garden last weekend. I have boxes in the pantry ripening.
And bowls full of them.
Plus our kitchen island is over run with turning tomatoes.
I can’t complain, I haven’t needed to buy tomatoes in months and have been finding ways to use them up quick as they ripen. Saturday I made a simple tomato hemp seed salad for lunch.
I mixed chopped tomatoes, hemp seeds, lemon juice, fresh minced rosemary, parsley, balsamic vinegar, and a dash of salt for a simple salad.
It came out delicious – tangy, savory, crunchy, creamy, and having a range of flavors with each bite from the seasonings.
For dinner, I used up more tomatoes in a tofu spaghetti squash curry saute by steaming half a spaghetti squash in the microwave for 10 minutes and scooping the squash contents into a wok with crumpled tofu and a little coconut oil. Then creating a sauce in the Vitamix blender of 4 tomatoes, a tbsp. of curry power, garlic clove, chunk of fresh ginger, and a dash of cayenne powder to pour over the mixture in the wok.
For a simple and fast dinner, it was spicy, creamy, rich, and warmly satisfying on a chilly fall night.
The soft tofu texture went well with the slightly crunchy spaghetti squash “noodles” and absorbing the curry sauce flavors.
For dinner tonight, I created a traditional lentil stew for another chilly evening using three of my favorite stew ingredients – veggie broth, Bob’s Red Mill Organic Kamut Berries, and Eden Organic Green Lentils.
I simmered about a cup of kamut berries and lentils in 4 cups of veggie broth adding chopped carrots, chopped caramelized onions, two bay leaves, and 5 chopped tomatoes.
I let the mixture simmer on low for about an hour adding garlic powder, salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, parsley, and Trader Joe’s 21 seasoning salute to taste.
For a very hearty and warming vegan stew on another chilly night. The kamut berries cooked to the perfect chewy, but firm texture. I love making huge batches of stew like this because single serving leftovers can be frozen for simple meals months down the road.
But after this weekend, I’m not hurting for lycopene and probably won’t be for weeks now since tomatoes are supposed to be such a darn good source of it along with cardiovascular support, bone health support, and anti-cancer. Hmm, think I’ll go eat some more tomatoes. :-)
Man are you strugglin! Or does raw actually mean cooked now?
I’m not struggling at all. It’s a high raw whole foods vegan diet and, while breakfast and lunches tend to be raw smoothies and salads for me, dinners are more cooked whole food dishes during the winter.