Foregoing The Yolks I Proclaimed, It Is You, Hummus, Again!

After procrastinating at work to the fullest extent (just joking) I am finally not caught up. Wow- deadlines tomorrow and all I can think about is food! I woke up this morning about to fry eggs and remembered; hey it's my Vegan Day, so I turned my thoughts toward the fresh bagels I purchased yesterday from the co-op. I refrained from using the commercial bagel slicer the store had set out on the counter beside the bagel rack (complimentary single-serving condiments to the left) as I winced at its guillotine-like resemblance, and sighed at its implied higher safety standards, that is, higher than a kitchen blade whereas an astonishing 98% of emergency room visits are due to some klutz slicing into his or her palm while fighting a frozen or 3 day old bagel. The dilemma! Then I imagined the last time it was cleaned; Roosevelt was in office, and they hadn't invented bagels yet- only doughnuts, and a bagel was only to be found in remote areas of Brooklyn at delicatessens with such names as "Bennies" or "Saullies." Would the bacteria actually digest the little bits of onion that seemed to clench onto the blade, each time some petchuli douser sliced her onion bagel? And then the floorman came 'round, wiping down everything, and I quickly snatched my two E.T. bagels, bagged them, and got the heck put of there. That was yesterday. Today is Vegan Day, a chance at redemption. Dana recently whipped up some hummus from canned chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, salt, and I dunno what else- I've been dipping everything in it and it goes great with toast or bagel as a protein substitute. Today I'll try to maintain sequential order:

Breakfast



½ large fresh E.T. Bagel sliced & toasted, vegan “butter” spread, and Dana's homemade hummus.

+ french press coffee and I dusted off the old style grinder as I am sick and tired of the airplane taking off in my kitchen whenever I use the burr grinder not to mention cleaning coffee “soot” off every foresaken surface in the kitchen after some of it lands in the coffee maker while the rest flies away statically charged. To all you coffee snobs who swear by burr grinders, I respectfully disagree. I'll stick with my $8.95 rotary grinder and have all the clean control I want. And guess what- I never have to take apart anything to stick some silly brush in there like a bumbling doofus to unclog coffee at 5:45 am when I can't even see straight, nor do I have to replace $89.00 burr blades every 6 months. Whew!

And the winner is.....

Lunchtime crept up fast as I was scrambling all morning to get work done. Dana offered to heat up some paella however I chose to sneak in a run instead. When I got back I wolfed down paella, more bagel and hummus, and a small glass of rice milk.

Lunch




Leftover veggie paella (doggie bag from tapas restaurant)

For dinner I promised to cook so I really went to town.

Baked Yellow Squash with Garden Medly and Tofu

2 enormous yellow squash from road-side farmer's stand


Preheat oven to 400degF. Add some olive oil to a shallow baking pan, and slice squash lengthwise and place flat side down in olive oil, while rubbing a little on the tops. Top with plenty of cracked black pepper. Bake for 35 min, then reduce heat to 200degF while you sauté the rest.

Also get a medium pot of quinoa going, you've seen the recipe before (if not leave a comment with your email and I will “CC” it to you!)

Chop the following:

½ Green pepper
½ red bell pepper
½ jalepeno pepper or Anaheim pepper
1 med onion
1 small endive
2 carrots
900 cloves of garlic.....7 will do fine
½ cube firm tofu




fresh parsley
fresh basil

Ahhh a reason to visit the garden

1 package of mushrooms (I used white; anything will do)

Other ingredients you will need:

2 tspn capers
¼ cup red wine
2 tspn blue agave
cracked black pepper
kosher sea salt

Soak the tofu
in wine, capers, basil, parsley, and 3 of the chopped garlic cloves.

Heat 2-3 tblspn olive oil in a large pan on med-high. Add onions, carrots, and peppers. Sauté for 3-5 minutes, then add mushrooms and all but the tofu soak. Cook for another 3 minutes...stir stir stir.. and add the tofu, strained. Cook for another minute, and finally add the wine mixture along with 2 tspn agave.

Serve the yellow squash like a filet of salmon, with quinoa and tofu with veggies on the side. I added vegan “butter” to the quinoa and seasoned all on plate with the kosher sea salt. Top with a little more cracked pepper and you are home free.