Four Successes and a Failure (and a fifth success!)

This past week I experienced a lot of successes and a failure that turned out to be, in a way, a success. Got your curiosity up about the latter? Well, I will soon explain. But first, let’s talk about the obvious successes.

We celebrated our eldest granddaughter’s first birthday this past weekend at a beautiful park near her parent’s home. At the party they put out a nice luncheon for everyone. They notified us in advance that the only plant-based food would be fruit, so I volunteered to make a couple salads to add to the spread. For some reason I can’t explain, the “couple” salads turned into four. I just happened to have most of the ingredients on hand and truly wanted to help them out. So, with my husband as sous chef, we both worked in the kitchen the night before and the morning of the party. The four salads were a hit with everyone and my husband and I enjoyed sharing the food that we eat.

Unfortunately, I only have a photo of one salad! I got so busy making the food I forgot to take photos. Next time (and there will be one!) I will post photos. I am putting the full recipes in because so many people asked for them.

Here is the one I have a photo of; it is from my inspiration book “Forks Over Knives”. It is called “Mango-Lime Bean Salad” and it is yummy!!!

For two HUGE servings, combine the following:

• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• One 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• Red onion, diced to taste (I used 1/3 of a large onion)
• Cilantro. A lot! (1/2 cup or more - chopped.)
• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 juicy lime, squeezed (2T or to taste)

The next recipe came from the solid food portion of our juice fast. It is called “Fresh Summer Veggie Mix” and it is yummy!!!

For two nice servings, combine the following:

• 2-3 sliced heirloom tomatoes (when seasonal – otherwise, any tomato)
• Large handful basil (chiffonade – a method of cutting it very small)
• ½ cucumber, sliced in half moons
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• Balsamic Vinegar to taste

The third recipe also came from the solid food portion of our juice fast. It is called “Corn and Tomato Salsa” and it is yummy!!!

For four HUGE servings, combine the following:

• 4 ears corn, boiled for 5 minutes and kernels removed from ears
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 T lime juice (from fresh lime)
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 jalepeno pepper (optional)

The last recipe came from a woman I met at a vegan potluck. She was generous to email the recipe to me. It is called “Pesto Couscous” and it is yummy!!!!

I don’t know the servings this makes, but it is a lot. For the couscous:

• 2 cups dry Israeli couscous (this is also called “pearl couscous”)
• 3 cups water
• ¼ c olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 large zucchini
• 2 large yellow squash
• ½ cup toasted pine nuts (optional)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions: In a large pot, add the water, olive oil, and salt. Bring to boil. Add couscous to boiling water. Cook according to directions on couscous container (about 10-15 minutes). Chop the zucchini and squash and sauté till soft. (I used a non-stick pan and no added oil.)

While the couscous and veggies are cooking, make the pesto:

• 2 large bunches basil (about 6 cups loosely packed)
• 4-6 large cloves garlic
• 12 T raw pine nuts or walnuts (or a combination of the two)
• 1 1/2 - 2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Put all ingredients except the olive oil into a food processor. Process to a finely ground consistency. Add olive oil and process again, until smooth and creamy.

When all three parts (couscous, veggies & pesto) are ready, stir pesto into couscous. Add the veggies. Add the optional pine nuts. Mix everything well and refrigerate at least one hour. Serve cold.

The pesto recipe was from the blog called veganspoonful. Did I mention it was yummy??

Now for the failure/success. Sunday night I ate leftovers of the pesto couscous for dinner. After dinner, I couldn’t stop thinking about food and continued to eat into the evening (nuts, seeds, crackers, potato chips - yikes!- etc.) That evening laying in bed it really bothered me and I remembered an article in my VegNews magazine about food additions – the baffling inability of some people, at some times, to stop eating after they’ve had a moderate (or even immoderate) amount of food. The “flagged” foods that cause this are alcohol (nope), sweeteners (nope), caffeine (nope), chocolate (nope), fats & oils (hang on!!!!!)……did anyone see all the oil in the pesto couscous??? On my plate, I had saved the couscous for last - saving the best for last. Big mistake.

I gave that a lot of thought. So today, I had leftovers for lunch and guess what I ate first? The pesto couscous. I ate the other salads afterwards and what a difference! I got the addictive taste out of my mouth and was able to move on after eating. I don’t know how this will play out in the future, but I really believe learning this lesson was quite a success!!