Mothers Day Feast: A Feast for Mothers

      I also spotted this Hummus stand! I imagine that the company isn’t really called Hummus, because that would be pretty dumb (“Oh what’s your name? Hummus? Ok, I’ll google that to find out more about you!” says a soon-to-be-very-frustrated individual). The hummus on offer looked pretty splendid, but I told myself it was bad form to buy something at this fair that I make pretty much every day.
      Instead, my second food installment came from Bombay Sandwich Company. I’ve heard good things about their all-vegan Indian-inspired sandwiches, so I decided to try one. I ordered the Kale & Cumin, though The Bomb (a garam masala and potato one) is the most popular. And food with ‘bomb’ in the name tends to be pretty amazing. (See, e.g., Vegan Treats.) I waited for about 20 minutes, which seemed absurd in this environment. Finally, they called my name. 
     This was…ok. It was mostly purple cabbage, and I didn’t notice any kale, which made me mad. My friend said she spotted some green shreds in her piece, but that’s not exactly enough to warrant putting kale in the title. It had a thin great northern bean puree, which was good, as were the chutneys topping the bread. However, the sandwiches are billed as being ‘sealed’, so when I saw that they were all just regular pieces of toast, sliding and letting the fillings out, it was a bit disappointing. I think I’ll spend my $8 elsewhere  next time.

First up was Asia Dog, which can make most of its specialty creations with a vegan dog. My friend ordered the purple cabbage-topped Mel & Steve, left, and I ordered the Vinh (above), which comes with banh mi toppings. I said I was vegan and the woman said there was a veg pate substitute, and that it wouldn’t come with the aioli. However, I didn’t notice a pate of any kind, nor the mustard that was listed. Just the carrots and cilantro. Oh well, it was still pretty good, and for $4 each, not a bad deal.

      Given the heat, the best part of the day was seeing the Kelvin Slush stand. Started from the Kelvin Natural Slush Truck, this company sells the most amazing, natural slushies, like 7-11 Slurpees but so much better in every way (except not as cheap). You pick your slushy base, like Green & Black Tea, Citrus, or Spicy Ginger (the best best one), and then you choose your add-in flavor, like raspberry or white peach. Today, with no Ginger base on offer, I got the Arnold Palmer (citrus and tea mixed, so good) with a guava (!) add-in. It was great!  So refreshing, and they really perfected the level of iciness. Although I’ll probably order the Ginger when I can, I loved the Arnold Palmer base, and the guava made the day seem even more summery. Such a perfect treat! 

    Hello my little bunny rabbits!  I hope you are doing well and eating well! So it’s summertime, did you know that? I haven’t really been taking advantage of all the fun produce that I should be eating; I really kind of use the same ingredients all the time. I need to get a CSA delivery, huh? Well before I’m able to do some better shopping, tonight I thought hey let’s at least make something more colorful than usual! 

Carrot Ginger Soup
Ingredients:

• 2T olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1t salt
• 2T fresh ginger, minced
• lots of black pepper
• 1 large potato, diced (see proper size at right)
• 1 pound carrots (I used a bag of baby carrots, it is so much easier, and the slightly sweeter taste works here)
• 3 cups water or vegetable broth 

Directions:

1. In a large pot, cook the onion in the oil over medium heat for about 6 minutes.
2. Add the garlic, salt, and ginger, and cook for another 4-5 minutes. In any recipe, I always prefer to cook the onion and garlic until they are super brown. It’s just better that way.
3. Add the carrots, potato, pepper, and water or broth and bring to a boil.
4. Let boil for 2-3 minutes, then cover and bring to a simmer (I used medium heat) for 25 minutes. 
5. Turn off the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until it is silky smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, order one from Amazon or Bed Bath and Beyond or something first, then use a regular blender and try not to get hurt. 

Whipped Avocado Cream
Ok…so it’s not really whipped, it’s blended. BUT WHIPPED SOUNDS BETTER DOESN’T IT I MEAN I GOT YOU TO READ IT.

Ingredients:

• 2 small very ripe avocados
• 1/3 C raw cashews
• 1/2 t salt (I used pink Himalayan sea salt and it was awesome but it probably tastes the same with regular salt.)
• 1/4C unsweetened plain almond milk

Directions:

1. Blend everything in a high-speed blender. I think if you don’t have one, second choice would be to use a food processor, rather than having you soak the cashews for a regular blender, because it might be too thin with soaked cashews. Worth a try though! If you use a food processor, try using a tablespoon less milk. Also, last choice would be trying to do it in a Magic Bullet, like I did before finally giving up on that piece of shit (that only works with pure liquids) and transferring the whole mess to the Vitamix. Anyway….
2. Top the soup with a dollop or two of the cream and enjoy!