I love coleslaw. Love it.

Come May 1st, our weekly dinners contain lots of vegetable burgers, grilled vegetables, and coleslaw.

It’s one of the foods that BL won’t let me compromise on. There are certain things that I have to make correct, and can’t experiment much with. He let’s me add curry to our ketchup, cumin to our hummus, but I have very little leeway with traditional coleslaw. 

While I might not change up his favorite side dish, it doesn’t mean I won’t take a few shortcuts now and then.

A few weeks ago I made these awesome BBQ tempeh sandwiches and right before we sat down, decided that we needed some coleslaw and baked beans to go with it.

Trust me when I say this is the easiest coleslaw you will ever make. If you’ve got 5 minutes, you’ve got coleslaw. I let this sit for 20 minutes and it was great, go longer and it will taste even better.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup vegan egg-free mayonnaise thinned with 1 tbsp. milk
3 tbsp white vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 head green cabbage, sliced
3 carrots, grated

So this past weekend was the  Stockton Asparagus Festival. Did you go?

When I first moved to Stockton, 6 years (!) ago, I remember googling the city from the East Coast trying to decide if this was the job move from me.

The claim to fame in lil old Stockton? (Besides #1 in auto thefts & a crumbling housing market?)
…An annual Asparagus Festival! Ah, if only I wasn’t so blinded by food. 
While I have since high-tailed it out of Stockton, I am happy that I ended up making the decision to live there for a period of time. Besides being able to meet my darling, BL, I also enjoy eating my body weight in Asparagus every April.

Thank goodness Sacramento isn’t that far away.  
While I’ve never actually been to the Asparagus festival, I like to imagine that this is the kind of dish I would make there.

Lightly steamed, dressed in a light lemon-tarragon dressing. I’ll skip the festivities and enjoy this in the comfort of my own home. Perfect as a side, or as a light lunch or dinner. The below photo is about how many spears were left after I finished taking my photos. A bite here, a bite there… whoops. Thank goodness for the rule of thirds  

What’s your favorite way of eating Asparagus? Looking for a a little more indulgent way to enjoy this green vegetable? Why not try my Spring Asparagus tart?

Lemon Tarragon Asparagus

1 lb. asparagus
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon, zested and juiced
2 tsp. chopped tarragon
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
salt/pepper

Steam the asparagus until just tender. You want a little bite left.

Whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, dijon mustard. Add the olive oil and whisk until smooth. Stir in the tarragon. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Drizzle over the steamed asparagus.

It’s no secret that BL loves potatoes.
Baked, fried, mashed, it’s nice knowing that anyway I serve them, he will be grateful.

It’s the benefit of having a midwestern boy.
Last weekend though, I decided to switch things up a bit by making these crispy, smashed potatoes. 

Boiled to soften, then smashed and baked till crispy with rosemary & flavored olive oil. Sometimes less really is more. They also make a great breakfast potato! A step up from the usual baked home fries.

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You know what I love? (Besides yoga, chocolate, & BL of course)

Roasted vegetables.

Sweet, caramelized, crispy, I don’t know ONE vegetable that doesn’t taste better roasted. Cauliflower, eggplant, tomatoes, the list goes on and on.

This month’s Recipe Redux theme is “Gadget Gifts”, RD’s sharing our favorite kitchen tool and an accompanying recipe. I thought long and hard about this theme- what gadgets do I use the most? My blendtec, food processor &kitchen-aid mixer get almost daily billing but those puppies are also pretty expensive. Great for wedding and splurge gifts, but not so practical for the average gift.

The baking stone however is not only affordable, it’s also a healthy game-changer. This gift will actually make your friends & family eat more vegetables. It’s magic!

I roast a big batch of vegetables almost every week- perfect as a side dish, combined with rice or pasta, stuffed into a burrito or pita pocket, nothing is off limits when it comes to these vegetables. I have no affiliation with the Pampered Chef but it’s the brand I have been using for years and highly recommend their bakeware.

This recipe is inspired by one of my favorite winter dishes: angel hair pasta with balsamic vinegar and caramelized onions. I swapped the pasta for butternut squash for a great side dish for the holidays.

Balsamic Butternut Squash

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cut into large cubes
1/2 medium onion, chopped into small strips
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. brown sugar (or other sweetener)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375°F. Combine the butternut squash, onions, vinegar, oil, brown sugar, oregano, and salt in a large bowl. Toss well until everything is mixed together. Spread onto baking stone and bake for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking and uneven browning.

Remove from oven and toss with parsley- taste great hot or at room temperature!