Like a Good Southerner

I completely forgot that Clayton told me to NEVER make collard greens again. Whoops. Well, he ate it anyway...but now I hear him pouring a bowl of cereal. I liked dinner, and the kids ate it up. I was inspired by a similar soup I had at Whole Foods last week in their cafe. Yum! So, like a good Southerner, I ate my greens and peas tonight.



Collard greens & blackeyed pea soup topped with brown rice
Corn fritters
Red leaf lettuce with carrots and dill dressing
Apple





I used these new tomatoes from my favorite Muir Glen for the soup base. The chipotle is a nice, smoky touch. I also used it this last weekend in a batch of tortilla soup. Yum! For the soup: 1 soup starter + bag of frozen peas + one can of fire roasted chipotle tomatoes + oregano + thyme + cayenne pepper + salt + handful or two of chopped collard greens + a little water to keep it soupy

Lunch today:

Hotdogs with onions
Sweet potato chips
Spinach salad with vinaigrette
Bowl o berries and banana

I drove to Texas last Friday to be with my grandfather, who is gravely ill, and my grandmother. I arrived with a cooler full of food to feed myself and others who might visit over the weekend. I baked the Veganomicon's lemon coconut bundt cake to take, and I think everyone was surprised that it was vegan and tasty. I made seitan and pepper fajitas, pico de gallo, tortilla soup, chile con queso (vegan cheesy sauce), guacamole (my sis made it), lentil soup, lots of fruit, broccoli-potato-cheese soup. My brother-in-law said he never would have guessed that the queso was vegan if I hadn't told him--yea! Just mix a batch of cheesy sauce with jarred salsa.

I love sharing the gift of food. The trip was extremely hard and I am not recovering quickly. There was just too much physical and emotional stress. But I am so thankful I had the opportunity to be with my grandparents. While I manned my grandmother's kitchen, my sister cleaned the house from top to bottom--it is just a classic case of taking control of what we can because we feel completely hopeless to do anything to take away my grandfather's cancer.

I will post the corn fritter recipe tomorrow, I promise, really! Thanks for asking for it, Nicole. And, yep, they freeze really well, and I just reheat in the oven.

You?