My garden after the rain

Tomorrow morning I’m off to New York City to take some classes at the Natural Gourmet Institute. I’m going with Sherri Doak and Pina Constantinos from Nature’s Emporium and we look forward to learning how to make some delicious food as well as visit some of the places we’ve been reading about. Saturday night we’ll be eating at the raw food restaurant Pure Food and Wine. I promise to post lots of details and will take some photographs too (but for now, here’s a photo of my post rain flower-filled garden).

We were disappointed to find out that tomorrow night’s class has been cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Too bad – NYC is missing out on some serious information about Spices, the key to a delicious meal in my opinion. Hopefully we will be able to attend the Seitan class instead but there is a waiting list. Failing that, I’m certain that we’ll find something to see and eat in New York! Who knows, we might even be able to do some shopping too!

Last night we went out for supper to celebrate my daughter’s passing her driving test. She wanted to celebrate – I needed a drink!! There are some delicious vegetarian options available at restaurants now – even the Roadhouse style restaurant. I found a tasty whole wheat pasta dish with spinach, roasted red peppers and tomatoes – Tuscan Linguini I think it was called. But there were also plenty of salad options too.

Supper tonight will be left-over Asian Coleslaw (recipe yesterday) with a Rice Bowl from Refresh cookbook. Here’s the recipe for Dragon Rice Bowl (it calles for Tofu, I’ll be using shrimp instead).

1 large zucchini, sliced diagonally
3 tomatoes, sliced thickly
12 shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 cups cooked brown basmati rice (per package directions – use a little vegetable stock to replace some water for more flavour)
1 batch Tamari gravy (follows)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped (I prefer parsley)
1 bunch green onions, chopped (chives from the garden will replace)
2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Grill the zucchini, tomatoes and shrimp in the oven (or on the BBQ) at medium to high heat, until lightly browned.

Put 1.5 cups brown basmati rice in each bowl. Pour 1/4 of the Tamari Gravy on top of the rice.

Divide the grilled veggies and shrimp into 4 and put on top or beside the rice. Garnish with cilantro (parsley), green onions (chives) and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Tamari Gravy (from Enlightened Eating by Caroline Dupont)

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp spelt flour (or rice flour if going gluten-free)
2 cups water
3 Tbsp tamari

Gently heat butter and oil over medium heat. Slowly stir in flour until a smooth paste is formed. Cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.

Still stirring, add water little by little, to form a smooth thick sauce – I use a whisk to help with this stage.

Add tamari, still stirring constantly. You may need to add a little more water to achieve desired thickness. But this usually takes a few minutes (1-2 minutes depending on the flour used) after the gravy has come to a boil for the flour to thicken to the desired consistency.