Monday, September 6, 2010

Veg Life: Week 2

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone has enjoyed their long weekend. I know I have.

I do have some sad news, though. My camera was in my purse yesterday and now it is nowhere to be found. I hope it turns up, but in the meantime, I developed  a roll of 35 mm film today. Yes, that's right, 35 mm film. It's been awhile since I've used a camera that isn't digital, but my dad lent me his old SLR so that I could practice using it. I want to decide whether to upgrade my point and shoot camera or take the plunge and get a DSLR. Now, it is looking like I may have to make that decision sooner rather than later...

Veg Update

I am officially halfway through my 30 day vegetarian challenge. This week has been full of mixed feelings. Early on, I started to get tired of my vegetarian options. I am still so new to this lifestyle that I have trouble improvising. I realized I have been following recipes to the letter (not my usual style) because a lot of the ingredients I am using are new to me. Even though I am out of my comfort zone, I am thankful for this experience because I am learning to use new ingredients and think outside of meat and potatoes. Yes, it can be frustrating at times, but I know it will get easier.

I decided to search out some vegetarian and vegan friendly restaurants in the Louisville area and, wow! I was totally surprised to see quite a few options and they sound great! I am excited to start trying out some of these venues and I will keep you informed of what I discover along the way. A simple internet search seemed to open up a world of possibilties and the feelings of vegetarian boredom vanished immediately! There is so much for me to discover!

Juice...

I feel like I am constantly reading about other bloggers' experiences with juice bars and how wonderful they are. I was pretty sure nothing like that existed in Louisville, but I started an internet search nonetheless. I was craving some fresh juice on Saturday. It took a little digging, but I found one!

Turtle Blossom Inspired Foods and Juice Bar.


I immediately headed to check it out. Once I got there I discovered credit cards weren't accepted. Well, I had set my mind on some juice so I was about to head to an ATM when the guy behind the counter said, "Hey, its a nice day. I'll make you something on the house." Amazing! I ordered a carrot apple juice. It was fresh tasting and totally hit the spot!
(I got these pictures from their Facebook page. I took my own, but they are on my missing camera...Boo)


Look for a review of Turtle Blossom Inspired Foods and Juice Bar in the near future. I have more to say about this place!

Recipe

I mentioned earlier that I recently tried my first beet. Well, it turns out my parents got a bag of beets in their CSA share last week. They aren't crazy about beets so I offered to "do something" with them. I had never prepared beets in my life, but I was feeling adventurous.

The beets sat in the fridge for awhile as I thought about what I could do with them. As I was catching up on blog reading one night, something caught my eye: beet hummus. I thought, "I like hummus...why not"?

Having made hummus recently, I felt confident putting my own spin on a recipe. I was already thinking that I would use roasted garlic instead of raw the next time I made chickpea hummus. I decided to give it a shot.

Roasted Garlic Beet Hummus
(Adapted from Simply Recipes and Eating Bird Food)

Ingredients:
1/2 pound beets, scrubbed clean, cooked, peeled, and cubed
2 Tbsp tahini sesame seed paste
4 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, roasted
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp lemon zest
Generous pinch of sea salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Method:
1. To roast garlic, place cloves on a square aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil. Gather the aluminum foil into a pouch and set it directly on the rack of 250 degree oven. Roast until the garlic becomes very soft, approximately 1 hour ( I took mine out of the oven when my entire kitchen started smelling of garlic).

2. Meanwhile, wash beets and cook in boiling water for about 30 minutes, or until they are tender enough to stick a fork through. Strain and run cold water over the beets, then remove the peels once they are cool enough to touch.

3.Place all ingredients in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings and ingredients as desired.


Once again, these pictures were on my camera that is currently MIA. I devoured most of this stuff already, but I scraped up what was left and attempted to get some decent pictures.

 

You can believe me or not, but this stuff is GOOD! I especially liked it topped with a little goat cheese (my parents liked it, too). I served it up with my homemade whole wheat pita chips.


Do you like beets? What is your favorite way to prepare them?







5 comments:

  1. I sympathize with you on the camera sitch. I've lost so many cameras, it's ridiculous. I now have a huge DSLR that is not all that convenient to carry around, but I never misplace it or worry about it getting snatched. Good luck - maybe it'll turn up!

    And I am just starting to like beets, but I have no idea how to prepare them. I've really only had them in salads...

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  2. I'm so glad those beets didn't go to waste! The beet hummus was amazingly good--and even prettier! :)

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  3. Beet hummus? I would've never thought of thatt! It looks good :) Also good luck on your month vegetarian trial! I'm purely vegan so i kind of know what you feeel like. But i don't crave any meat or dairy anymore, at all! It's amazing :) Good luckk!

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  4. We do eat quite a few meals each week as vegetarian and I don't eat meat much (if at all) during the day, so about 1/3 of the time I follow a vegetarian diet. I think a big part of what holds us back from doing it more is not being aquainted with it enough to have a solid variety of veg only meals. I think its so awesome you're doing this challenge. I bet you're growing and learning a lot!

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  5. i recently became a fan of beets after HATING them in my childhood. my favorite way to do them is roasted in the oven then put them in a salad with some walnuts and goat cheese! :-D

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