meansoybean

Here’s a retro-looking photo of the hot house tomatoes I got today. This growing season is actually the first in years where I’ve gotten so many. Previously, I would get only a couple of really nice looking ones, the rest would be mostly green. I plan on saving the seeds from the best of this batch in the hopes of growing my own next year.

Other goodies from the basket today were chard, yellow and green zucchinis, patty pan squash, fresh red onions, beets and a nice bunch of carrots.

That is all.

So if you didn’t know, I’m MacGyver. Seriously. I will try and kludge a problem with something readily at hand. It’s a talent, it’s a gift, it’s a calling.

Hehehhe… just kidding.

Here is my latest; a tape dispenser that lost its stick-thing.

I immediately scoured my surroundings for something suitable. I found a truant IKEA pencil — a perfect fit for the dispenser’s slot — and promptly shortened it with an exact-o knife.

Needless to say, I was pretty proud of this small accomplishment; I made an item that would have otherwise ended up trashed useful again. Take that, garbage pile!

Here we have a fair-sized chinese cabbage head, much unlike the giants you see at the grocery store. Not sure what I’ll do with it, but it’ll probably end up with some glass noodles. Other basket items included frizzy lettuce, hot house tomatoes, snow peas, young onions, patty pan squash, zucchini and basil.

Tonight I made an ad-hoc pesto with the basil. En lieu of pine nuts I used raw cashews and I added some re-hydrated sun-dried tomatoes. All it really is is blending a bunch of things in the food processor to make a yummy goo for pasta, and not rocket science :)

Last Saturday was a nice sunny Montreal day that wasn’t too humid. I happened to be in the city and decided to stick around. So my friend Sam and I walked over to Meu Meu, an ice cream parlour on the Plateau. I love this place because they have a small menu of homemade soy ice creams. The majority of the stuff is dairy-based, but they’ve always got about 6 flavours for us vegans — some of them very interesting. That day, the flavours of interest were passion fruit and, surprisingly, ginger. I wasn’t sure I’d enjoy either so I opted for the mango flavour, as you can see. It was delish! Makes me wish I had an ice cream maker at home.

Even though it’s no Lulu’s (in NYC — which is completely vegan, I totally regret not visiting), it’s still cool that I’m able to get really well crafted soy ice cream from an actual parlour. I’m surprised to see that they’re not listed on Happy Cow.

In case you’re a vegan vacationing in Montreal, take note: Crèmerie Meu-Meu is located at 4458 St-Denis (near rue Mont-Royal) and they’re open in the summer when it’s not raining — yes, their hours are weather-based. Not sure how early or how late they keep the door open but it’s definitely worth a stop. Get your ice cream and take a stroll to the mountain while you eat it!

The first beets of the season. These will most likely ends up in a salad and in a super-moist chocolate cake. Don’t be afraid to try it, it’s not at all beet-y.

Other things from tonight’s basket were: spinach, mesclun, radishes. green onions, snow peas and kohlrabi.

Every week when the basket gets home, I spend a good 30 minutes in the kitchen “processing” the goods. I scrub the sink out with baking soda, then fill it with some DIY vegetable wash and water. One by one, each item gets a bath, rinse and spin-dry. I take this time to trim off any torn or overly-wilted outer layers. The soak also clears out any stowaway critters.

Last week there were two earwigs in the giant head of lettuce and a slug, whom I found several days later while trying to make a salad. Today I found a baby slug or some-such crawling up the side of the sink. I just wonder if I’ve eaten any bugs in my past years as a farm-share member. I certainly didn’t have the luxury of a second sink to dunk my veggies in. Should I even give it another thought? I think I’m starting to get the heebie-jeebies.

Did I mention this stuff’s organic? The presence of a few insects here and there shouldn’t be cause for worry. Really. I mean, think about it.. when your veggies are growing in the field they’re exposed to all sorts of bugs. If one happens to have hitched a ride, you’ve just got to take it outside and send em on their merry way.