*Quick and Easy* Fall Vegan Picnic

If summer and I were soul mates, then fall would be my secret affair. Anyone who knows me knows I love the sweltering temperatures of a hot summer day, but when the cool fall air begins to creep in I can't help but secretly get all giddy on the inside.

 For me, fall is the perfect time for picnicking. Yesterday we enjoyed our first picnic of the season, complete with a bike ride around Manhattan.

Tired bikes, resting up.

On the menu was a brown, wild rice salad with slivered almonds, sun-dried tomatoes, cranberries and a sprinkle of arame. This came together in a snap. I had a ziplock bag's worth of the rice already cooked and in the freezer. All I had to do was quickly warm up the rice (I popped it in the microwave for about 5 minutes). Toss in the cranberries, sun-dried tomatoes and almonds (all pantry staples around here) and there's a complete meal. All of the ingredients really complement each other well. You get the creamy earthiness from the rice, a burst of sweetness from the cranberries, a salty bite from the tomatoes and a little crunch with the almonds. This is especially perfect picnic food since you can enjoy the rice warm or cold.

Blue corn chips and Queso were perfect for snacking along with 2 macoun apples to round it all out. The last of the coffee cakes for dessert and 2 sample size Larabars as an extra treat/boost of energy. Have a look...

All packed up!

Queso... yummm!

So good, and soo filling!

It's not a picnic without a red blanket...

good company...

and a nice view makes it complete!

Quick & Easy Veggie Rice Pilaf

Another quick and easy one tonight folks! Can you tell how lazy I've been lately? But hey, a delicious meal doesn't need to be complicated. This is actually the 2nd night this week I've made a rice pilaf dish. The first one though had a longer cooking time. You can also use this as a kind of "clean out the fridge" type meal. I had some broccolini that was starting to wilt so in the pot they went! Definitely feel free to sub any veggies you have at the moment.

Vegetable Rice Pilaf

• ~1/4 cup vegetable stock, broth or bouillon cube (just enough to cover the pan)
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 1/2 bunch broccolini, finely chopped
• generous dash of tumeric
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 1 cup brown rice
• 3 cups water (or more veg. broth)

Gently simmer the carrot, garlic and broccolini in the veg. stock for about 2 minutes. Add the tumeric and stir. Add the orzo, rice and water, stir and briefly bring to a gentle boil. Simmer, covered on low for 25-30 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked. Taste for seasonings and fluff it up!

Lemon Asparagus Risotto (Fat Free!!)

Recently I asked my readers via Facebook and Twitter what they thought I should have for dinner. (I just could not decide.) It was a chilly day and the options were soup, risotto or pancakes (because I'm obsessed). Most replies begged for risotto. Long story short, we ended up getting take out pizza from Whole Foods... Anyway, I've had this risotto recipe dancing around in my head for about a week and I was getting anxious to try it out. I finally got to it tonight. And, that's right. There is no fat added and it is still delicious!

Lemon Asparagus Risotto

• 8 cups veg. broth + 2 cups
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 3-4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 lbs. asparagus
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 cup white wine
• salt and pepper to taste
• spice blend - I used garlic/shallot/chive/dill/lemon verbena/green onion

Begin by heating the 8 cups of vegetable broth in a sauce pan over medium heat. Keep it on a low simmer. Heat a large stock pot over medium high heat. Cover the bottom with 1 cup of the reserved veg. broth. Add garlic and saute in the broth until soft.

Meanwhile, rinse and trim the asparagus. Cut the spears into about 1/2" pieces. Line a large skillet with the remaining 1 cup of broth. Add asparagus, drizzle lemon juice over top and season with spices. Cover and cook over medium heat until asparagus is soft and bright green.

Once garlic is ready and most of the broth has cooked down, add rice and cook for about a minute. Add a ladle of broth and stir until all broth has been absorbed. Continue adding broth 1 ladle at a time and stir, stir, stir! Don't stop stirring! This may take some time, but don't worry, it will be worth it. Once you have about one more ladle to go, add in the white wine and yes, stir. You may want to taste as you go to check the rice. Once you've finished stirring the broth, add the asparagus pieces to the pot and gently combine with the risotto. Season with salt and pepper.

New Year, New Food

Hello my lovelies and Happy New Year. Did you all eat your Hoppin' John??

Ok, I'll admit it, I had never heard of Hoppin' John until about a week ago. Nevertheless, I decided it would be a great year to begin the blackeyed pea tradition because, well, who doesn't need a little good luck?

I found this absolutely adorable recipe for a Hoppin' John tart here at My Recession Kitchen  and gave it a go. I made the brown rice crust and spinach just as the recipe dictates, but for the Hoppin' John part I had neither the dried beans, nor the time. So here is what I did differently.

First I roughly chopped 2 carrots and sliced about 1/2 of a red onion. I added the carrot, onion and about 3 cups (enough to cover) of vegetable broth to a sauce pan. I cooked this on medium low heat about 5-7 minutes, until the carrots were soft.

I then added 1 can of (rinsed) blackeyed peas. I brought this up to a gentle bubble and added a pinch of sea salt and a few generous shakes of smoked paprika. I let this cook down on a low simmer until most of the veg. broth is cooked down and thickened a bit. As it cooks, be sure to taste and add more salt or paprika as you feel necessary. I wanted mine pretty "smokey" so I added a bit more.

Once the crust was finished baking, I assembled as in the original recipe. Crust, greens, pea mixture on top. Mine was not as pretty as the original tart, but it was delicious.

Ok, so it looks a little weird, but I thought the flavor was pretty excellent. In fact, the bean mixture reminded me of my mom's split pea soup she used to make before I went veg. Mmmm, nostalgia.