Hungry Times Two

Garden hobby-ing aside, I'm trying to eat more plant-based meals these days. After taking on a six-week fitness challenge earlier this year that included a vegetable and protein-heavy meal plan,  I'm working vegetables into my diet in ways that I never did prior. Example: this alien-colored smoothie.  A recipe from McKel Hill's Nutrition Stripped , the Creamy Ginger Green Smoothie has a few unpredictable ingredients. Sure, bananas are common. But throw in an avocado, spinach, ginger, lemon, dates and this curveball - tahini, usually reserved in the Adams household for batches of hummus -- and this ain't your average blended beverage. I didn't have dates so I swapped it for a few dashes of stevia for sweetness. I also included some extra grated ginger, as I am a ginger freak. We bought a whole root of ginger from the Charlotte Regional Farmer's Market from a vendor selling primarily Asian produce. I've frozen it and just take it out and gra...

A vegetable garden in February is just so sad. Just ask actor Ethan Hawke, aka "Troy Dyer." For a while we had our raised bed of vibrant carrot tops -- the  Scarlet Nantes  variety. Scott and I kept checking in on them, occasionally pulling a small carrot or two, just to make sure they were growing. They have a 65-75 day maturity cycle, so since we planted them in late September...   Paging quality control.  ...in the third week of January, four inches of snow came and the green carrot tops became drab and shriveled-up. So Scott grabbed a hoe and turned up all the dirt in the raised bed. And we found the carrots waiting for us to rescue them before they became too woody to eat. Filthy carrots. Clean carrots. I'd like to make a pot roast or beef stew (naturally the lazy way, in the slow cooker) with these carrots but for now a quick way to use them is Mark Bittman's recipe for Curried Carrot Lentil Soup. I can't find it online but it...