Green Bean Hazelnut Salad

This summer has been just fantastic so far. Despite the fact that the high temperatures don't agree with my pregnant body, my feet are constantly swollen and I'm getting a wee bit crankier...I am actually having a really great summer.
Yesterday was a perfect day filled with two trips to the lake, a great burger from my favourite new burger joint, a long nap, a delicious quickly-thrown-together summer meal, refreshing mocktails, and board games in the yard at dusk. What more could I want?

This salad comes from (you guessed it) Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks. She comments on the surprisingly pleasant pairing of the tomatoes and the hazelnuts but I really think it's the green bean and hazelnut combo that wowed me. Either way, you must add this into your summer salad repertoire.

Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Sounds a bit weird, eh? But trust me it's oh-so-good. Just the kind of super healthy snack I've been craving lately.

White Bean and Toasted Almond Spread

Today I'm trying to slow down.

The last month has flown by and I have a feeling this month is going to zip by even faster. 

After our vacation to Cuba in November my husband and I dove head first into work preparing to open a second cafe. This last week has been non-stop, painting, cleaning, building, fixing, organizing, planning, training, practicing; hoping that we're not forgetting anything for our opening day tomorrow. 

And then if that wasn't busy enough in another two weeks we take possession of our new house and have to start packing, cleaning, painting, and moving. 

It's hard to not feel overwhelmed and stressed and exhausted. Already.

Yesterday however we spent an incredibly relaxing afternoon/evening with friends indulging in the way people should over the holidays, and it really reminded me to just slow down and enjoy this last day of any remaining calm before the storm. 

Empanadas

We just arrived home from our amazing 2 week vacation and I'm feeling rather weird.
I barely got any sleep on our red-eye flight, my stomach is still struggling to adjust to digestion without acidophilus (although I'm so thankful for it's help in saving me from sickness in Cuba), I'm excited to get back into the swing of things yet don't really want to do anything at all, I'm exhausted but I can't sleep, I'm in the middle of load #3 of probably 6 loads of laundry, I'm hungry but have no groceries...
Am I painting a vivid picture of my day so far? Phew. I wish I could just fall asleep.

But on a positive note I felt so thankful this morning to be back in our little home, to climb into our bed that feels just right, to be able to make a cup of my favourite tea, listen to CBC radio and most importantly to be able to reach into the freezer and pull out one of these black bean empanadas for a quick and completely effortless lunch.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Do you ever have those days when you wake up and it's pouring and you say to yourself "I'm not going to leave the house today."? Well I'm having one of those days and it's great!
I love that rainy days make me feel less guilty for being a hermit. It feels a bit more socially acceptable to keep my pajamas on while I bake bread, make soup and quilt, when it's pouring outside.
I predict that the rest of the day will include pots of tea,  crib games, and knitting. Is it really any wonder why I love rainy days?

Cabbage and Beans

Sounds boring doesn't it?
But I promise you this modest combination of wilted cabbage, browned potatoes and beans is far superior than the sum of it's parts. As I dove in for my first bite I was surprised (maybe even shocked) by how tasty it was. I think this is easily going to become my new favourite healthy cold weather dish.

And if that's not enough to convince you to make this right away let me tell you about how I added the leftovers to some homemade turkey soup stock for the simplest and quickest, yet hearty and filling brothy soup.
I might even just have to make it again tomorrow morning for breakfast with a poached egg on top.

Beet & Green Bean Salad with Goat Cheese

There's nothing like an early fall salad of beets and green beans. 

I am really going to miss green beans once they disappear from the markets. Thankfully we'll probably have another few weeks (right? right?) before they disappear until next summer. This was also a lovely use for all the tiny little basil leaves left on my sad looking basil plant. 

Creamy Vegan Potato Salad

My parsley plants are overflowing and despite efforts to use it often (and freeze some of it) I just can't seem to keep up. So the other day I made a real effort to find more uses for parsley. I found a recipe for Green Tahini Dressing in my copy of "Get It Ripe" by Jae Steele, that looked perfect. Steele describes the dressing as going well with "everything!" so I decided to take her up on the challenge.
I had a plate full of leftover roasted new potatoes in the fridge and a few green beans that have escaped my pickling rampage, that both seemed like the perfect contenders to try out this dressing.

Spicy Dilly Beans

This is one of the first preserves of mine that I've tasted so far this season (other than jams) and I'm in pickle heaven! I've never eaten pickled green beans before let alone made them, so this was all very new to me. However I do really love pickles in general and could never say no to a green bean put in front of me so it really just made sense.
They're crispy, salty, sour (everything that makes a perfect pickle) plus they're really spicy, which just takes them to the next level of snacking.

Bean & Corn Salad

I know you probably won't believe me when I say I've been lacking some serious kitchen inspiration lately, but it's true!
Despite the stack of cookbooks on my dining table, hoards of bookmarked recipes on my computer, and a fridge full of local produce just begging to be eaten, I just can't seem to get excited about cooking lately.
Actually I should rephrase that. I haven't been excited about "everyday" cooking (such as making myself and my husband healthy and delicious lunches everyday). Planning meals for dinner has been less of a problem, thanks to cooking classes I've been taking with the Feisty Chef. But for the food we eat during the hours of 11am - 4pm, I've been drawing a blank.

Last night I finally mustered up the motivation to inspire myself and I weeded through recipes I've bookmarked for the last few years and found some new ones I haven't tried, namely this one.