If August has a theme it’s Indian food! I don’t know why I wanted to make Indian dishes so badly this month. Maybe it was the heat of the food matching the heat of the day. Anyway, if you haven’t been to Salad Days in while, here’s what went down over there this month:

Aug. 5th: Cruelty free, gluten free cookies
Aug. 12th: Pasta with Potatoes, Green Beans, and Lemon-Basil Cream
Aug. 18th: Indian-Spiced Lentil Ragu
Aug. 24th: A perfect Indian meal

The Wall Street Journal might say vodka is passé, but The New York Times counters that it ain’t dead yet. Me? I’m usually indifferent to the tasteless liquor. Which is probably why we have a nearly full bottle of it in the cupboard.

The upside to tasteless, of course, is that it works well as a base spirit, letting other flavors shine. The Spokane Examiner published a most excellent cocktail called the Tuxedo, which features vermouth, absinthe, orange bitters, and maraschino liqueur. It’s slightly sweet, slightly herbal, and more than slightly yummy!

Tuxedo

2 oz. vodka
1 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
1/4 tsp. absinthe
1/4 tsp. maraschino liqueur
3 dashes orange bitters

Combine all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass. Stir well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry or twist of lemon.

With the bar exam occupying all of my attention at the end of July, I neglected to post the monthly roundup of recipes and activities from Salad Days. Better late than never!

July 3rd: It’s Time for Real Garden Burgers
July 5th: Good Eating is Skin Deep
July 6th: Tomato-Peach Salads
July 7th: Spinach Recall in WA, OR, and AZ
July 10th: How does E. coli get onto our lettuce and spinach?
July 13th: Strawberries and Cashew Cream

One of the side benefits of going dairy-free: soy milk foam you can stand a spoon in.

Here’s a quick round up of activity on Salad Days in the month of June. I wish you good health and happy eating!

June 19th: Vegetable Scrap Stock
June 20th: Indian Cauliflower & Kidney Bean Soup
June 24th: Cheese-less pizza
June 25th: Green-Ya Colada
June 27th: Corn & Kidney Bean Salad - Two Ways
June 30th: You can starve cancer with a healthy, plant-based diet

I’ve decided to move most of my food posts over to my Salad Days blog. This morning’s post is about turning vegetable scraps into a delicious stock for flavoring soups, pilafs, and sauces. If you haven’t been over there yet, check it out.

After 142 miles of bike riding this weekend, we needed some seriously calorific comfort food for dinner tonight. This luscious coconut rice curry with tomatoes, peas, and beans served over a pile of steamed collards totally fit the bill. I made it with full fat coconut milk, a luxury I will reserve for weekends like this one, and my-oh-my it was good!

The recipe came from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson. This is the second recipe we’ve tried out of this book and it is quickly becoming a favorite! So far, both recipes have involved minimal prep and came together in under an hour, including cooking time. The recipe for the curry for example, took 10 minutes of prep, then it simmered away on the stove for 35 minutes while we did other things.

Finally, I’d just like to mention that I KNOW that the last three posts have been about food. Bar prep is kicking my ass, and the only thing I have time for these days is studying, eating, and biking. You’ll just have to bear with me for the next few weeks, because that’s all you’re likely to hear about from me.

I popped over to the grocery store today for a few vegetables to make homemade stock. In the mushroom bins, I found this collection of stems. Seems someone didn’t want them and left them behind. They looked like just the thing for making stock, especially since the grocery store was willing to give them to me for free!

I finally bought a copy of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day - a wonder book for bread lovers. My first bread? Whole wheat bread, which incorporates leftover cooked brown rice.

Yum!

When people learn that Nick and I eat a plant-based diet they invariably make a comment or ask a question about protein. Now that finals are over, I finally had the time to answer the one question I get asked about as many times as I’ve eaten broccoli – but where do you get your protein?

Check out the answer on my other blog: Salad Days.