Dinner this Week in Whoville.

Guess who's coming to dinner? Primavera sits in her favorite spot. Whenever db and I are busy in the kitchen, she'd like to be on the counter or the island, but often has to settle for the stool instead.


Our meals this week varied from our usual fare. It's amazing how the season and the weather of the day can affect how we plan our meals and cook that day.

Blueberry season is in its final days. I bought some organic blueberries at the farmer's market to make a fruit cobbler. We served it with a creamy cashew whipped topping. No photo available I'm afraid. Sorry.


Eventhough I started with desert, I assure you that db and I had dinner first. Honest. db made the Dragon rice bowl from our refresh cookbook. It's grilled veg over rice with miso gravy. db made marinated crusted tofu to go with it.









Later in the week the summer returned bringing warmer temperatures. I had been reading about mushrooms (thinking about our next hike into the woods) one day, which led to me dreaming about them that night. The next day I was thinking veggie burgers with portobello mushrooms, a lighter meal that would require the stove to be on for as little time as possible. By the evening I decided it would just be portobello burgers. A work friend had given me a giant zucchini harvested from her garden so we sliced it thick and decided to grill both mushroom and zucchini on the bbq. db made a nice balsamic sauce to brush over the portobellos. While he grilled I tossed up a spinach, yellow beet & heirloom tomato salad. It seemed like such a simple idea and then it turned into such a treat.


Since I'm starting to work all Saturdays at my new job in September, I won't have any more 2 day weekends with db. C'est la vie. We wanted to do something a little special this weekend. We stayed close to home, played some tennis, went for a couple of runs, and of course cooked.

Saturday we decided to take on something new and more challenging. One of us suggested an Ethiopian meal. We were off. While db worked on the Berebere spice mix and the clarified vegan butter, I prepped all of the veg, stock, lentils and split peas. We decided on three dishes, split peas, potato and green bean stew, and stewed lentils. The key to such an Ethiopian meal is the injera. Everything is served on this sponge bread and you eat with your hands using the bread to scoop up the food.

I had made injera once before, but it didn't turn out as I had hoped or as I had tasted before in a restaurant. Typically the bread is a longer process where the flours and water sit overnight or for several days. Being short on time I found a quick recipe in our flatbreads book that only require a couple of hours for the mixture to sit. I mixed buckwheat, garbanzo, and spelt flours together, added water, and then added the yeast. We covered the mixture and went to play tennis. By the time we came home the batter looked as the book said it should: bubbly. It had the consistency of a crepe batter. We were ready to go.

The whole apartment filled with the spicy aromas from the Berebere seasoning. Once all of our stews were made, I started to make the injera. I followed the directions, watching the bread bubble and cook. It turned out beautifully, even the flavour was correct. What a meal. What a week of meals.