Weekend Recap!

So last night was great — my sister-in-law was with me for dinner while my parents were out with friends. Girls’ Night! We had a great chat over dinner, and then watched a movie afterwards. So fun!

And best of all — she found a house, made an offer, and bought it yesterday!! We’re so excited!! Congrats A and R!!!

such crunch and bright flavor!

For dinner last night, I served my GF Vegan Cucumber-Fennel-and-Dill salad over Millet, with broiled wild, ocean-caught Flounder from Lobsta Bakes. I think we were both hungry, because we cleaned our plates!!! {{that’s buckwheat in the pictures}}

You can find my recipe here.

light, crisp and refreshing!

This was so delicious. The combination of the fresh cucumber, the sweet-licorice-y fennel, sweet red pepper, lemony dill, and bright-tangy lemon juice was SO refreshing. It seriously rocked!! And it was SO crunchy and juicy. It was light, but just explodingwith flavor. Over the nutty millet — priceless. My sister-in-law loved it so much, she wanted the recipe!!

Sometimes, simplicity is genius!

The food was “prime time”, but the best part of the meal was sharing it with my sister-in-law. After all, that’s the best part of cooking — making something delicious to delight the people you love, to show them that you care.

Tonight, my parents have friends from high school staying with us, so it’ll be the 3 of us, my S-I-L, and our 2 guests! So my parents are having a nice Sunday Supper here at the house. Since we didn’t want to force them to eat from the exhaustively restrictive Body Ecology Diet, they will be having one meal — this delicious Chinese Stir Fry with Ahi Tuna , and I’ll be having a different, BED meal. Ahhh, someday *hopefully soon* this tedious BED will be put to rest.

What my parents and their friends will be indulging in---mouth...is...watering

What I can’t eat in the above picture *right now while on the Body Ecology Diet*: brown rice, peas, carrots, edamame, Tamari, ginger, agave, mushrooms, and green peppers. Someday….someday.

asparagus and gorgeously caramelized red onions

Here’s what I had:

my "Incredible Hulk" sized plate! (eyes were bigger than stomach)

This is an UNmarinated, gorgeous piece of Ahi Tuna, with nutty Buckwheat, and beautiful Roasted Vegetables. The green topping is a delicious, oil-free, Artichoke Pesto! It was delicious!

artichoke basil pesto!

I guess I’m used to cooking for 3, because by the time I plated up everything I had cooked…it was an absolute MOUNTAIN of food! I couldn’t finish it all, but that was fine with my dad — he thought it was outrageously delicious!

gorgeous roasted veggies

Here’s the recipe for the pesto:

3/4 cup artichoke hearts, dethawed
1 cup of fresh basil
1 clove of garlic
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1-2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
salt
water to consistency

Whirl it up in the food processor. It is great over the ahi tuna, as well as the buckwheat and veggies!

succulent and sweet garlic inside its shell!

For the Roasted Veggies, I roasted asparagus, broccoli, red onions (don’t be scared — these were the best), and garlic (in its skin) in a bit of EVOO, salt and pepper. I roasted them at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, flipping half way through.

ruby red ahi tuna!

My meal was phenomenal. The roasted veggies had such a wonder flavor! The natural sweetness of the veggies come out and they gently caremalize. The red onions become SO sweet and delicious! My dad said they were like CANDY! And the garlic steams in its skin, so when you take it out of the shell, it is like the consistency of butter! I shared with everyone at the table, and had them spread it on their bread. They were blown away.

so many nutrients on one plate!

And the pesto was so bright and refreshing! Its tanginess paired beautifully with the nutty quinoa and the buttery ahi tuna. Great food, great company.

It was wonderful to all be together:)

This meal utilized several of my favorite tools: my mandoline, grill pan, and my faaaaavorite food processor! Here's where you can get them!

Until tomorrow!