After hearing Lesley sing their praises for a while, I finally ordered some heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo.
They require 4-6 hours of soaking plus another 1-3 hours of cooking time, so they will probably be something I make on the weekends. Or on a rare night I get home before 7 or 7:30 p.m.
They would have been better if I’d used fresher, larger kale, so I’m going to try again.
Recipe:
Wash/dry (spinning in a salad spinner should work) kale and remove any large stems. If you’re not using pre-chopped kale, be sure to tear it into smaller, chip-sized pieces.
Place on a large baking sheet, spaced out enough so that the pieces aren’t laying on top of each other.
Drizzle with olive oil and a seasoning of your choice (I did a third in sea salt, a third in garlic salt and a third in lemon pepper. The sea salt was STRONG but seemed to take the best).
Bake in a 350-degree oven for 10-15 minutes (mine took about 12 minutes) until crisp.
We’re doing the Avalon Acres winter CSA again this year, and I have to say that the boxes have been pretty sparse so far. I know they were hit hard last winter with all of our crazy weather, but I’m not too impressed with what I get for about $30 a box (every two weeks).
I’m trying out a new farm-fresh service that lets you order weekly; there’s no minimum order and no membership fee, you just pick up what you order each week. If this works out and is cost-effective, I think we might go with that instead of continuing on with the CSA each season.
One year ago today, I accidentally became a vegetarian. Now, I consciously made the decision to not eat meat on Aug. 13, but Aug. 10, 2009, was my last day as an official omnivore.
I remember getting to the three month mark and wondering when it would get easier. I remember going to the grocery store and ordering cheese from the deli counter and having intense cravings for a turkey sandwich. I remember driving home from work completely starving for whatever reason and wondering if it would be worth it to throw it all away on a six-piece Chicken McNugget order from McDonald’s.
But then I realized how good I felt. How I wasn’t waking up nauseated every day, and how my digestive system was working normally for what seemed like the first time in my entire life. I gained a few pounds (OK, 13) as I learned not to substitute pasta for the heaviness of meat I was used to, but I dusted off the Wii Fit and walked a few miles a night and got myself back on track.
For the first time in my life, I paid attention to what I ate and where it came from. Cutting out meat not only forced me to eat healthier by default (not too many vegetarian options are available via fast food drive-throughs), but it made me more conscious of my diet in general. And once my eyes were opened to the importance of what kind of food I was putting in my body, I watched Food Inc. and realized that where that food came from was important as well.
So we joined a CSA to ensure the bulk of the food that I ate was grown locally and naturally, and found ourselves in the middle of a culinary adventure that presented us with a mystery box of vegetables each week and we learned to cook things we never even knew existed before (I’m looking at you, kohlrabi).
And here I am, a year later, and it all seems so natural. I still want to cry when I pass a truck of cows or pigs on the interstate, but not out of guilt anymore. And every once in a while, like last week when Ian reheated some barbecued ribs, I’ll wonder if I could just eat meat every once in a while. But then I remember how I have stopped taking both of the stomach medications I had previously taken for almost 12 years, and how much healthier and happier in general I feel, and I know I can’t go back.
I also need to give props to three people here who have been tremendously supportive of my vegetarian endeavor:
And thanks to all the rest of you who have been supportive, as well as those of you who have made fun of me—both are equally encouraging that I am doing the right thing for myself. :)
I’ve never been able to stomach any kind of food cooked with soy sauce. In fact, for as long as I can remember I haven’t been able to eat Chinese, Japanese or Thai food without getting sick to my stomach (I’ll leave it at that) soon after.
I’ve mentioned it to two doctors in the past, one a gastroenterologist and one a general practitioner, and they both agreed that I have most likely have an allergy—or at least a sensitivity—to MSG, a preservative used in most Asian cuisines (both for preserving and flavoring).
So I’ve spent the last 10 years or so avoiding Asian foods, which really isn’t that big of a deal because I’m not that big of a fan of it, anyway. However, recently Ian and I have been making stir fries with all of the vegetables we’re getting from our CSA, mainly because it’s quick and easy and, honestly, what else are we going to do with all of that cabbage?
We’ve used two different soy sauces now, each using different preservatives (sodium benzoate in one and I can’t recall the other), and I’ve still had the same reaction. The fact that I eat some sort of soy product on an almost daily basis makes me confident it’s not the soy that I’m allergic to—it is, in fact, the preservative as the doctors had suspected years ago. But not just MSG.
I really like stir fries, but I guess I’m going to have to find some other way of seasoning them without using soy sauce.
Saturday night we celebrated my birthday with about 10 people at the new Toot’s on South Church Street. It was awesome, except for the part where Ian got sick and walked home.
Toot’s is so great and they took really good care of us—and hooked me up big-time. I am pretty sure they’ll be seeing a lot more of us. Probably not that drunk, though.
Oh, and my friend Brianne, who is the craftiest person I have ever met, made me a freaking MUSTACHE necklace. Just wait til you see it.
Tonight on the home stretch of our laborious daily commute back from Nashville, Ian and I drove past the building where Toot’s South has been readying itself to become my new favorite hell-yeah-I-can-walk-there-and-back hangout, or so I like to believe. Anyway, every night Ian and I drive by it, and every night we shake our fists toward the brick and mortar and mutter “FASTER! BUILD FASTER, TOOT’S!!”
Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to be one of the first to inform you that Toot’s South is, indeed, open for business.
Now, you can’t live in Murfreesboro and not like Toot’s. It’s just not possible. I am not even that big of a fan of their food (sorry, guys, but you kind of leave us vegetarians out to dry), but the atmosphere, cost and beer specials are what get me. And now it can get me about a block away.
I also want to point out that Toot’s Murfreesboro and Toot’s Smyrna have an excellent social media person behind the wheel. I’m guessing it’s the same person, as the online voice is nearly identical, but whoever is doing it is good. And not good in an “I read a Chris Brogan book last week,” but good in a “We want to get our customers excited about eating at Toot’s so we’re going to have fun and be playful but not in a calculated, smarmy way that creeps people out” kind of way.
So take note, corporate social media dudes: Toot’s is tearing your ass up. They not only follow people on Twitter, they actually respond to their tweets. And they retweet people. They pay attention to what’s going on in the community. And they have fun with their Facebook page. It’s not just regurgitated content (easier for them, admittedly, as they don’t have a blog on their corporate website to regurgitate anyway); it’s original, engaging content with trivia and lunch specials and—gasp—conversation!
And you might think Twitter and Facebook are lame or unimportant—but you’re wrong. Because their customers are on there. And I’ve lived in Murfreesboro for nearly 13 years, so of course I’m going to go to Toot’s. But now that there’s one a block from my house? And I can communicate with them on Twitter and Facebook?
My ass is gonna be there allll the time. And so will my beer- and chicken-finger-basket-loving husband. And our friends down the block. And whoever I can get to come party with me for my birthday.
Next up, though, Toot’s… we’ve gotta talk about getting a veggie burger on that menu. I love y’all, but I can’t eat grilled cheese three days a week.
Ian grilled himself a steak last night (I had fresh mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar) and BK and Evil Twin had to get in on the action.
BK has never been much for beef, but Evil Twin will kill you where you stand unless you hand it over.
Saturday night Ian and I grilled out, one of the first of many seriously tasty grilled dinners to come this season. I love grilled vegetables, and these balsamic vinegar-marinated mushrooms are probably my favorite grilled food of all time. Yes, even more than a steak back when I ate meat.
In addition to the mushrooms I had marinated green peppers, and Ian grilled himself a steak. We also had sweet corn, mixed vegetables (snap peas, broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts) and garlic wheat bread that Ian made.
Eating vegetarian keeps getting easier, but now that it’s getting warm enough to grill it’s going to get more fun.
This morning at work we spotted (from our 7th floor windows) the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile was in the Dairy Queen parking lot across from our office building, so naturally six of us took off after it. Unfortunately by the time we got all the way downstairs and across the street it had departed and was turning onto 440 East.
But it wasn’t all bad—the sighting inspired the group to head to Hot Diggity Dog, a hotdog place in Nashville that most of us had never been to before. I was especially happy because they offered not only a veggie burger but a veggie dog—something I’d never seen on a menu before. I tried it and I wouldn’t say it was the best fake meat I’ve had (Morningstar Farms chik’n nuggets are my favorite so far), but with the toppings (relish, mustard and celery salt) it was good enough.
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