The mint in my garden came up like gangbusters this spring, and in my overzealous delight to use it I ended up almost killing it. Oops. So when I visited my dad recently and saw how well his mint was doing, I couldn’t help but be a little jealous. I know, I know, mint grows like a weed and is impossible to kill. Well, tell that to the mint in MY garden.

Dad ended up sending me home with more mint than even I could use, and so I asked my friends on Twitter what to do with the bounty. Lots of good ideas, like fresh mojitos (but I would have to consume a LOT of mojitos in order to use all this mint!), but someone mentioned quinoa tabbouleh and it sounded perfect.

Now, if you are a tabbouleh purist you will notice from my picture that there isn’t enough green in the mix. Traditional tabbouleh is all about the parsley and mint, and less about the grain. The best tabbouleh I have ever had was in Paris at l’Institut du Monde Arabe, in the gorgeous cafe at the top of the building. And sure enough, it was perfectly verdant in a way that my picture above is not.  The recipe on the Martha Stewart website looks just like how I wanted mine to turn out, actually. This recipe below is hers, and it is good. Not quite the same as what I had in Paris, of course, but is a good stand-in.

I love that tabbouleh is quick and easy to make, and it is a light, refreshing meal for hot summer days. I have been making a ton of meals with quinoa lately as we have been eating mostly vegan for the last month. I really do love that little grain.

Toasted Quinoa Tabbouleh
From Martha Stewart

1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon coarse salt
2 cups loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves (I used more mint instead of basil)
1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1 to 2 lemons)
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 1 cup)
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup)

Toast quinoa in a 3-quart pot over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until fragrant, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the water and 1 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until grains are tender, about 15 to 16 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork and let cool to room temp.

Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Tabbouleh can be prepared up to 2 hours ahead and refrigerated, covered.

I don’t know who loves salad more in my house, me or my husband. I don’t think I know any man who likes salad as much as he does, come to think of it. In the meat-and-potatoes world of male gastronomy, my husband is the rare soul who prefers vegetables. And I adore him for it.

We have been cooking our way through Veganomicon with surprising speed. I say “we” because David is so excited about the recipes he is cooking many of them himself. The funny thing is, when I open the book and decide which recipe I want to make I go immediately to the one-pot meals which I know will be warm and hearty, and when it is David’s turn to menu plan he goes right to the salads. Love him.

This was the first salad David picked to make from the book, which is a combination of two of his favorite things: beans and quinoa. He prepared his grocery list, did all the shopping, and made this salad while I was at work so that when I came home for lunch it would be ready. Did I mention that I love him?

This is a great salad for when you want a light lunch, or to beat the heat (something we wouldn’t know anything about here in Seattle this summer).  You can add any vegetables that you fancy, but this is a good base and is really tasty. Dave served it with some fresh summer corn on the cob and it was the perfect meal.

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango
From Veganomicon

1 mango peeled and cut into small dice
1  red bell pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can
1 cup chopped scallions
1 cup fresh cilantro
2 tbs red wine vinegar
2 tbs grapeseed oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups quinoa, cooled
1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
Lettuce, for garnish
Lime, for garnish

Combine mango, bell pepper, scallions and cilantro in a mixing bowl. Add the vinegar, oil, and salt and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and stir until everything is incorporated. Fold in the black beans. You can serve immediately or let sit for a bit to let the flavors meld. Serve over lettuce tossed with lime juice.

This recipe comes from the nutrition department at Bastyr University, which is a well-known naturopathic university here in the Seattle area.  Just about all of our local naturopathic doctors, acupuncturists, etc come from this place. I really love living so close to Bastyr, because so many folks in our community are influenced by their ethic of natural healing and homeopathy. I especially love the nutritionists who come from Bastyr, because they know the USDA food guidelines are more about agricultural policy than food policy. I won’t get into a rant about it here, but as someone who works in the fitness industry where all my clients are at the mercy of the latest “research” (fat is bad! no wait, carbs are bad! eat 6 meals a day! you only have to exercise 20 minutes a day!), and thus we are all completely confused about what in the heck we are supposed to do. You know what I think? I think common sense never lets us down, and it is hard to go wrong with whole foods that come directly from the earth, not the chemistry lab.

But I digress. Last year I took a class at PCC, our local co-op, on how to ferment foods. It was great, and I came away realizing that I under-utilize miso and that it can really be used in a lot of ways. Miso is really good for us, as are most fermented foods (wine and chocloate, anyone?), and in that class I learned that miso is a great base for making salad dressing so I use it all the time now. But what I didn’t expect was that you could use it in (a really delicious) dessert? This recipe is raw, whole, vegan, and sugar- and gluten-free. These are super sweet, thanks to the dates, and are the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. You can make these with the kids and they can roll them in the coconut and then eat right away. Sounds like the perfect treat to me.

Pecan Date Bon Bons
From Cynthia Lair at Bastyr University

Makes 8-10 bon bons
Prep Time: 10 mins

3/4 cup pecans
1/2 cup pitted dates, chopped
1 tsp orange zest (from 1 orange)
pinch of sea salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 to 1 tsp white or brown rice miso
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pecans on a cookie sheet and bake/roast for about 10 mins, until they begin to give off aroma. Let cool.

Put all in ingredients except coconut in food processor.  Pulse until you have an even mealy texture. With moist hands, roll the mixture into 1-inch balls. Spread the coconut on a place and roll each ball in the coconut, covering each one evenly. Serve with orange slices from the orange you zested.

Consider my world rocked.  I have been egg- and dairy-free for years now, and thought I would never ever have something like chocolate mousse ever again.  I have already said a sad goodbye to key lime pie, coconut custard, and any flavor of creme brulée.  I love dessert, but anything with a custard has long been off the table for me, and of course those have always been my favorite kinds of dessert.

My sister-in-law, Julia, literally changed my life last month when she introduced me to this site.  She did it in the best way possible, which was to prepare one of the desserts (this mousse I am sharing with you), before telling me the secret ingredient list.  She assured me it was vegan and that I could eat it without problem.  When I took a bite, my toes curled right up in my shoes. It was the thickest, creamiest, most delicious thing I had eaten in years. How could this be vegan and taste so sinful and amazing??

I couldn’t believe it. Now, since you have the recipe below I’m just going to go ahead and tell you that the secret ingredient here is avocados.  And before you curl your lip and say “eeewww,” let me just reassure you that there is no avocado taste at all.  Just silky, dark chocolate goodness.  It is vegan, gluten-free, raw, healthy for you and whips up in the blender!  The key, as always, is to use good quality cocoa powder (not Hershey’s) because the flavor of the chocolate really sings in this recipe.

I’ve had a lot of folks ask me recently about where to start to begin a vegan diet, and I must say I am addicted to the HealthyBlender website.  She has some great stuff over there that is healthy and easy to make.  I will post a couple more things from her just to entice any stragglers

Chocolate/Cinnamon Mousse
From HealthyBlenderRecipes.com

4 ripe organic avocados – halved, pit removed and discarded, flesh scooped out
1/2-3/4 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
3/4 – 1 cup of raw agave nectar, to taste
3 Tbsp raw almond butter OR 1/4 cup coconut cream
2 Tbsp natural vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 pinches of sea salt to taste

Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender (like a Vitamix) and puree until smooth. You may need to use your tamper or spatula, scrape the sides of the blender and pulse a few times. This mixture gets very thick.  But if you keep with it, it will get to that perfect, creamy consistency.

Spoon into glasses and chill for a couple of hours before serving.

I am allergic to cow’s milk, so I eat a lot of goat cheese.  If I lived in France, I would have many more varieties available to me, but luckily more and more local, artisanal producers are cropping up in the States as well.   Here in Washington State, I have fallen in love with Gothberg Farms.  I follow them on Facebook, natch, and revel in the stories of life on the farm, caring for kids and moms and all that goes along with raising the animals.  When I purchase their products (at the Bellingham Farmer’s Market, or in Seattle at Metropolitan Market), I know where the milk came from to make the cheese and I feel good about the way the animals were raised and cared for.

Recently, I had been experimenting with making my own goat milk ricotta at home, with mixed results.   Part of the problem being that I don’t have access to the fresh goat milk required to make a great fresh cheese.  Finally I decided I would just benefit from the work of the pros, and so I drove up to Bellingham one fine Saturday morning (stopped for lunch at Boundary Bay, of course), and picked up some ricotta from the folks at Gothberg Farms.

Super fresh, sweet and cool and tangy and lovely.  That is how I would describe their ricotta.  Heaven, really.  All I can say is that it absolutely BLEW AWAY any store-bought cow milk ricotta that I have ever had.  This is a completely different cheese, really.  It just called out for plump black figs and some local fireweed honey, and really that was all that was necessary to make the most amazing breakfast.  When guests came, I spread out the ingredients on some puff pastry, and made a lovely appetizer (or dessert) that pairs really well with s0me muscat or reisling.

You could substitute pears now that they are in season, and add a little cinnamon to it for some warmth.  You could make a savory version, with roasted squash and carmelized red onions, sprinkled with thyme and a bit of rosemary.  You could simply add some prosciutto to this recipe.  You could even use this lovely ricotta in pancakes, muffins, etc.  But, à mon avis, this gorgeous fresh cheese is best enjoyed fresh out of the container, without much fuss.

Honey, Fig and Ricotta Tart

1 cup ricotta cheese
2 tbs honey (try to use fresh, local honey rather than supermarket brands which have additives)
12-14 fresh figs, depending on size
1 sheet puff pastry

Let ricotta come up to room temp to soften, then mix in honey.  Meanwhile, cut a standard puff pastry sheet in half lengthwise (you should have two 10×5 sheets). Being careful not to cut through the pastry, score each half sheet with a ½ inch border.

Spread the ricotta mixture on the pastry, leaving the borders clear.  Cut figs in half and arrange them on top of the pastry.

Bake tarts for about 20-25 minutes until the pastry is golden and puffed.  Serve with additional honey drizzled over the top, if you like.

As many of you know, I just returned from a lovely two week vacation in France.  It really felt more like two months, as I was totally unplugged from my life here in Seattle.  I missed my husband and my cat, but I had the most amazing time with my girlfriends in Paris, and also at the cooking school I attended in Normandy.  The cooking class I took was a 3-day course called “Mushrooms and More.”  I will post more about the course here, as it was one of the best things I have ever done, but first wanted to share some pictures from our trip foraging with our local guide.

Our treasures, gathered from the forest

Cleaning the mushrooms

We picked this just an hour before in the forest!

Foraged cepes with local morels

The day we spent in the forest of Normandy was pure magic.  We found all kinds of mushrooms, many of varieties that I had never seen.   Our guide was fantastic and knew his stuff, and we brought home quite the bounty, though I admit I tasted some of them with an ounce of trepidation!  But all were delicious and I lived to tell the tale.

I have been in Paris a week now, and it has been grand.  We have gone everywhere from the Insitut Du Monde Arabe, where we had an amazing lunch (the best tabouleh I have ever had), to the old Jewish quarter, the Marais, where we had the best falafel in the world.   Needless to say, we have been eating very well here.

L'As du Falafel

Last Sunday we went to the Bastille Market.  We picked up a rotisserie chicken which was great, but the star of the show were the potatoes that roast at the bottom of the spit, basting in all the chicken fat and developing the most amazing taste and texture.  We all agreed we have never had potatoes like this before.

I have also been enjoying the French ritual of espresso after lunch.  It really does help with the after-lunch slump, and helps power through the shopping and walking that are a favorite part of our afternoons here.

And, I finally fulfilled my dream of dining at Ladureé with my girlfriends.  Such a beautiful, girly place exists nowhere else in the world that I can think of.  It is the quintessential feminine experience and we had a lovely time.  Dreams do come true!

Tastes as good as it looks

In a few days I head up to Normandy for my cooking class.  Don’t want to say goodbye to Paris, but looking forward to the next phase of my trip!