Guess those rain clouds read the blog yesterday because this afternoon the weather was gorgeous - nice enough to eat dinner outside (!)

The husband and I were both ravenous and somewhat impatient (okay… maybe that was just me), so I turned to a never fail meal:

Roasted Tomato & Avocado Pasta

feeds two very hungry adults

Adapted from Oh She Glows

Materials

Sauce

• 1 avocado
• 1 cup basil
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon each of thyme, rosemary & oregano
• 3-5 tablespoons of olive oil

Pasta & Tomatoes

• 6 ounces of soba (buckwheat) noodles
• 2 lovely ripe tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (optional)

Methods

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice tomatoes into ~1/2 inch slices and place on lightly oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil and dried basil, if desired.

2. Roast for 45-50 minutes, until tomatoes have crisped around the edges. Slide a spatula underneath about halfway through to ensure they don’t stick.

3. Throw sauce ingredients (avocado, basil, spices, garlic & oil) into blender and process until smooth.

5. Add soba noodles to boiling water and cook for ~3 minutes then drain and rinse with cold water.

6. Toss noodles and sauce together then plate up: place roasted tomatoes on top of pasta and enjoy immediately!

Notes

You can dice the tomatoes if you’d rather not have whole slices. Also, the intensity of the garlic depends on how fresh it is - if you’re not a big garlic fan, use the smallest clove you have.

Results & Conclusions

Creamy and rich yet still refreshing all at the same time…deeeelicious!

After reading so many wonderful blogs about food and photography and life in general, I thought I’d jump right in with one of my own. To learn a little more, you can read here.

To start off with, I thought I’d share one of my all-time favorite breakfast recipes: french toast. Yes, I’m aware that it’s no longer morning - but hey, french toast is good any time

There are a lot of vegan french toast recipes out there and after some trial and error, here’s what has worked best for me:

Vegan French Toast

serves two hungry adults

Materials:

Batter:

• 1 banana
• 1/3 cup coconut milk (the canned version)
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon raw sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

4 thick slices of sourdough bread

 

 

 

 

 

other bread works fine, too - but sourdough is sublime

Topping:

• 1 cup frozen berries
• 1-2 tablespoons oil (canola or coconut)
• powdered sugar

Methods

1. Heat skillet over medium heat and add ~2 tbsp of vegan margarine

2. Add batter ingredients to blender & blend until smooth; pour into shallow bowl.

3. Dip bread into batter and place on heated skillet.

4. BE PATIENT and allow to cook 3-4 minutes on each side. I like to wiggle the spatula underneath every so often just to ensure the bread doesn’t stick

note: It is very important to keep the skillet well greased so that the toast does not stick

5. While toast is cooking: in a separate small pan, add canola or coconut oil and heat over medium-low heat. Add in frozen berries and cook ~4-5 minutes or until berries are soft and juicy.

6. Plate up: pour the berry topping over your french toast, top off with a dusting of powdered sugar and drizzle of maple syrup and enjoy with your favorite morning beverage!

Results & Conclusions:

YUM!