beans

White Bean and Pesto Dip

August 6, 2014 by Erica

Is it weird to have a favorite color to photograph? Because mine is definitely green.

Cilantro on guacamole and scallions on tofu,
Asparagus with kale and avocado gazpacho,
Eggs that use herbs instead of mayonnaise, these are a few of my favorite things!

…to see through a lens.

Greens always look so fresh, the way nothing else can. I try to add at least a touch of green to every recipe I photograph (the savory ones at least!) to give that vibrant feeling to the dish. I guess that’s not so hard – what’s a vegetarian blog without greens?! – but it’s crazy to me how much more appetizing I find my own photos when they have a sprinkle of herbs.

Orrrr when they’ve got green all over!

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Kale & White Bean Tacos with Chipotle Fruit Salsa

June 5, 2014 by Erica

Let’s talk about being busy.

Busy-ness: I never thought I was one of those people that liked it. You know, the kind of person that fills their calendar to the brim with commitments until they have no room to breathe. I mean, I guess that’s everyone to a certain extent these days (and it’s certainly a hot topic), but frankly, I’m just too lazy to be one of the extreme cases. I like to have time to myself; I hate the feeling of a million demands on me and my time.

But lately, I’ve started to think that maybe I’m more like those overcommitters than I thought. I’ve noticed that being busy makes me feel important and that, actually, I have no happy medium between busy-ness and boredom. If I’m not crazy-stressed, I’m automatically bored. What! How can this be?

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Chipotle Chocolate Chili with Baked Polenta

April 14, 2014 by Erica

Chipotle Chocolate Chili with Baked Polenta

So much for seasonally-appropriate meals.

Maybe I should be posting light dishes filled with tender spring vegetables, but this right here is called a chili craving that doesn’t care about the temperature. And I have to share it with you because it’s just so tasty! Plus I’m sure there’s still a spring chill in the air for some of you out there.

For some reason, I had the intense desire to make chili last week. Or maybe it was the intense desire to eat chocolate for dinner? Either way, this chili was born. And as luck would have it, the skies really clouded up before I had the chance to take these pictures. Sigh. Well, I guess you weren’t going to eat chili on a sunny day anyway, were you?

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Buffalo Chickpea Sliders

January 27, 2014 by Erica

Buffalo Chickpea Sliders

Who’s ready for some vegan football food?!

Well, vegan + optional gratuitous amounts of cheese. The best of both worlds, in my opinion.

Buffalo Chickpea Sliders

Last week I posted quinoa burgers, and this week, we’re doing yet another veggie burger. It’s so easy to get on a food kick and want to try out endless variations, and that’s exactly what’s happening here! This time I really wanted vegan burgers… mostly because I end up eating a bunch of the dough straight from the food processor (and I bet you do the same!), so might as well leave out the raw egg, right? Right. And luckily, it’s not at all necessary here – these babies have no trouble holding together with just some flax egg magic.

Buffalo Chickpea Sliders

But like I mentioned, I topped those vegan burgers with some serious cheese. Blue cheese dressing, to be exact. It’s the same lightened-up blue cheese dressing I used on last year’s buffalo brussels potato skins. This stuff is just too good to be allowed! I couldn’t get enough on this burger, clearly.

Buffalo Chickpea Sliders

To me, there’s nothing that says football food quite like that buffalo wing flavah. Minus the wing part, of course. I think I’ve had wings maybe twice in my life and, well, I’m not into the actual wings. Too messy, and too much work for too little actual food! Meat on the bone is just not my thing, I guess. I could never have been a cavewoman! Beans and veggies, on the other hand – now that I can get behind.

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Roasted Garlic and Truffle White Bean Spread

December 6, 2013 by Erica

Roasted Garlic and Truffle White Bean Spread

Can you handle some mushy talk today before we get to the food? I hope so… and if not, just skip down to the recipe!

Today I am feeling unbelievably lucky. Lucky to somehow have such an amazing man in my life, to have such wonderful, caring and generous parents, and just generally to have the deck stacked in my favor. I’m not sure how I ended up with so much, but I am so very thankful. It’s easy to take all the wonderful people and things in my life for granted, and I do that too often, but today I am just feeling an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am not sure how I’ll ever live up to it all!

I guess in the meantime I will just make everyone lots of food. Sometimes even reeeally good food.

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