cliché

I love reading through the vegan food blogosphere, finding delectable recipes and photos that look like art to hang on my wall. Here and there I’ll try a recipe, but I tend to return to our standard fare time and time again.  Why?  Because it works.  It fills us up, keeps my kids happy, and I don’t need to run to the store to get some bizarre ingredient.  Obviously during Vegan MoFo I’m going to push our boundaries a bit and try some new dishes.  But plenty of our familiar comfort foods will be making an appearance as well.

You can’t get any more cliché than our lunch today.  What did the kids eat?

Peanut butter sandwiches, of course. That’s natural peanut butter with a French pear jam (no sugar, sweetened with — get this — fruit) on homemade whole wheat bread, red peppers, and strawberries.  My seven year old likes hummus, chickpea/tofu salad sandwiches, et al. But my four year old would start a revolt if I tried to pry the peanut butter out of his messy little paws.

As for my husband and myself?  Just as cliché as the pb&j sandwiches, I’m afraid. Lunch is, almost always, a salad. A salad with beans. A salad with a side of soup. A salad with peanut butter and jam on the side  During the darkest days of winter I’ll usually substitute a big pot of minestrone or some other vegetable/bean-based soup. But for right now, while the sun is shining and we’re not trying to chase off the winter chill?  We’re eating as many fresh foods as possible.

Today I whipped up a quick batch of SusanV’s Vegan Buttermilk Dressing.  This is my standard, every day dressing at home. At work, my husband prefers a balsamic I’ll link to someday.  We haven’t bought bottled dressing in… I don’t know how many years.  Long before we went vegan, I’m sure.  Once you go fresh, you never go back!

Just a simple salad with kidney beans today, as the soup I was thawing out from the freezer was taking too damn long and we were getting hungry!