Rawlyvegan's Blog

Miso Ginger Mushrooms

Today we thought we’d keep lunch (our main meal each day) simple, but somehow we ended up with four salads rather than the single one we’d planned Not a bad thing!

In the photo above is my Miso Ginger Mushroom Salad which is mixed with a little Italian flat-leaf parsley, green onions, lemon zest  and grated ginger. At the last minute (so the mushrooms would stay crisp this time) I added a dressing made of dark miso, tamari (not raw, I know, but bear with me while I make the change to raw, okay?), lemon juice, a little rice vinegar, onion granules, garlic granules, salt and pepper – just enough to moisten the mushrooms without leaving dressing in the bottom of the bowl. Sadly, I didn’t keep track of the exact amounts used here, so will have to do that next time. The effect of the miso on the mushrooms was excellent, as was the fresh taste of lemon. It made a great accompaniment to the rest of the meal, including . . .

Sesame Beans & Sweet Red Pepper

. . . this Sesame Beans & Sweet Red Pepper dish which turned out very blurry in the photo (sorry!) but was clean and fresh to the taste with a nice nutty under taste because of the sesame. I sliced the skinny green beans in about one-quarter inch pieces, diced some red bell pepper to about the same size and made a dressing to go over the lot. This was rice vinegar, a few drops of sesame oil, tamari , a dash or two of cayenne powder (some like it hot!), onion granules, garlic granules, and a little sea salt, etc.  I topped it with a sprinkle or two of garam masala and a teaspoon of sesame seeds, and the whole had a slightly south-east asian feel to it without upsetting the balance of the rest of the meal.  My husband pronounced it excellent, and I’ll be buying more green beans to perfect this recipe on Tuesday.

To accompany these we had a fresh Spinach Salad with Celery and Apple . . .

Spinach Salad With Celery And Apple

. . . dressed with just a little vinegar. And we had sliced Tomatoes & Basill to go with it – there are so many tomatoes out there this time of year that we have them at nearly every meal.

Tomatoes & Basil

This salad was dressed simply – a little of this and that in the way of salt and pepper, a little crushed dried chilies, lemon juice and basil. The heirloom tomatoes have such wonderful flavour that we are going to feel devastataed when the season ends and we have to make do with ‘ordinary’ tomatoes from far far away.

At the end we more than satisfied, but we had saved a little space for some strawberries and blueberries – a lovely combination with a little cointreau to perk up their flavour.

Yesterday we did a re-run of the previous menu – the Terriyaki Zucchini Noodles and the Spinach and Thyme Soup and agreed, yet again, that Kristen Suzanne’s recipes are exceptional.

Here’s the noodle dish again, which had the red wine she recommends incorporated in the sauce plus the sweet red bell pepper of her recipe. This recipe rocks!

And the previous day we ate the usual salads and marinated mushrooms etc. that I posted last time plus meals of fruit only. It suits us. But we do indeed intend to branch out a little (especially when all this lovely fresh produce isn’t so easily available). Preparing for that, I have ordered a couple of Kristen Suzanne’s books from Amazon.ca. What anticipation!

Tonight? Not quite sure. It’s that time and I think it will be a whole wheat tortilla wrap (not raw of course) with a filling of greens and maybe something else not raw (I still have some soy ham and cheese in the fridge). Baby steps!