I'm an independent filmmaker turned mom.
Last night I made all kinds of things - a loaf of bread, chard/pecan/raisin pesto, pasta, a bunch of other stuff. We're going away this weekend, so tonight I'm going to roast some vegetables, fry some bread in olive oil, and toss it all together with the leftover pesto. Clear out the veg drawers!
Just yesterday I found myself making (all from scratch) black pepper pasta, a big loaf of crusty bread, chard/pecan/golden raisin pesto sauce, and ice cream! It was such a nice day! (And I wouldn't call myself a foodie!)
I make a sort of vegetarian version of this with mushrooms. I even came up with a vegetarian version of hot water crust pastry! So much fun to make.
Upon further consideration, unless you were asked to bring a salad, I'd suggest these non-sausage rolls. They're more substantial, and at most potlucks the regular salads are vegetarian. They're easy to make because you slice them into pieces rather than shape each one. They hold up beautifully at room temperature. I've made them with white beans and roasted mushrooms, chard and olives, or butternut squash and goat cheese, and they always fly off the plate. Meateaters can have one or two as an appetizer, but they make a nice meal as well.
Or you could make one big pie, and slice it up. Like a large chard and raisin tart, or an empanada gallega, with sofrito & vegetables.
I've got a napa cabbage salad with cashews, raisins and capers. Tasty and substantial. Does it have to be a salad? Cause I've got lots of recipes for big vegetarian double crusted pies that aren't hard to make and feed a lot of people.
KB - Oh, puppies and kittens, mostly, with the odd goldfish now and again. Other than that I'm completely vegetarian.
I think you should keep it vegetarian, in honor of the animals she'll be treating!! My idea of a fun meal is lots of different stuff that goes together. So you could grill a lot of vegetables on the day, and have things to eat it with them, which you can prepare before - like roman gnocchi, or polenta (which can be grilled) or socca, or good bread (which can also be grilled). Then you could have lots of different kinds of sauces, and good cheese, different kinds of olives, etc...
Sorry, that sounded rude! It's not too complicated to explain, I was just way too tired after an epic mothers day lunch shift at the restaurant - never ending!
Linden tea madeleines were inspired by Proust's famous madeleine. As it happens, it was the tea he dipped it in, not the cookie itself, that brought memories flooding back. It reminded him of his aunt's lime-flower tisane. Which is another name for linden tea. Linden tea has a sweet, subtle flavor, and makes the cookies very mysterious and special. And, of course, Proust's memories were all about his mother, and waiting for her to kiss him goodnight.
Here's my real answer. Linden tea madeleines. You'll have to read the post to see why it's about mother's day, cause it's too complicated to explain here!
I think it would be nice to make two kinds of spiral rolls - one savory, one sweet.
Goat cheese rolls are like cinnamon buns, but savory, with thyme, goat cheese and balsamic. Delicious!
And cinnamon buns with chocolate covered ginger, which are what it says on the tin, and are really delicious!
The goat cheese rolls would be nice with a bright green salad of castelvetrano olives and asparagus and almonds.
And we'll finish it all off with a bright tart mousse of meyer lemons, rosemary and black pepper, and a fresh fruit salad.
Sadly, I won't actually be making any of it, because I have to work all day. As a waitress. It's going to be a madhouse. Sigh.
I love playing around with unusual flavor combinations - particularly with ideas of what should be sweet and what should be savory.
I've made savory vanilla sauce to go with oven roasted fries. (Like fries and a milkshake!)
And a meyer lemon mousse with rosemary and black pepper.
And I recently made a vegetarian version of a Moroccan pastilla. Traditionally, it calls for pigeons and cinnamon sugared almonds, but I used grated carrots, turnips and zucchini. It took a few bites to get used to a mouthful of shallots and cinnamon sugar, but once I did it was delcious!!
And I added dried cherries to a tapenade of castelvetrano olives and french feta - a nice kick of sweet in all the saltiness. But I've already posted too many links, haven't I?
I make these little vegetarian jerk patties with pigeon peas instead of meat. Like empanadas, almost. With a cornmeal crust and jerk spices. Pigeon peas are delicious!
I don't remember the first thing I cooked for my (now) husband, but I remember the first thing he cooked for me! Spaghetti, red sauce from a jar, garlic bread, and wine pilfered from his roommates. Certainly one of the best meals I've ever had. It's not about the food so much in these situations!!
Maybe black bean and butternut squash enchiladas with spicy tomato almond sauce
And some guacamole with cumin, lime and cilantro.
And lately I've been completely enamored of masa harina. I made some smokey masa harina crepes and a pumpkinseed sage sauce to go with them.
I made a tart with ramps that turned out delicious. Easy to make, too!.
I have some fiddlehead and asparagus recipes, too, if you're interested.
For dinner, roasted beet and fiddlehead tart. It's so bright and pretty and tasty, that your sense of sight, which you've no doubt been using all these years, will help your newly awakened sense of taste to understand it all.
And after that, millionaire's shortbread with rum, lemon and sea salt. It will confound your neophyte taste buds, but in a good way, a way that makes them want to continue the journey.
On the "Sweets" board you still have last week's topic!
Hancancook, I tried to post a comment on your blog about how much I liked your post, but I made a big mess of signing in. So either you'll have 3 comments or none! Anyway. Liked your post.
Wow, that turned out really long! I'm sorry to be so over-zealous!
I like eggs in tarts and quiches. I love the contrast of a crispy crust with the soft egg custard, I love the texture of vegetables and cheese with the eggs, and the flavoring that garlic, shallots and herbs provide.
I recently made a tart with ramps and chervil. The eggs form such a nice gentle base for the intensely-flavored ramps.
I like tarragon with eggs for the same reason - this tart has tarragon, smoked gouda and roasted mushrooms.
And I like to mix things in with the custard - like roasted butternut squash puree, in this tart with caramelized fennel.
Or this one with pumpkinseed sage puree mixed right into the custard, and roasted butternut coins polkadotting the top.
I didn't realize how many tarts I've made lately until I started typing this!
I'll just quickly mention quiche, the tart's deeper cousin. I love making quiches because they seem special and complicated, but they're actually very easy. Here's one for spring, with asparagus and goat's cheese. It's such a pretty green!
And finally, and then I swear I'm done, this is a sort of savory baked custard. No crust! It has asparagus, almonds, goat cheese, tarragon, and, of course...eggs!!
The formatting got messy and it looks like I have a funny accent! Ach weel.
I love asparagus, too, and baby arugula. I have lots of recipes for those as well, but I don't want to post any more links. Most of these things are best the most simply prepared anyway, aren't they!
I know it's silly, but I was very excited to find ramps recently, too. I made them into a tart with chervil and goat cheese. Here's what I wrote about them...
"but…what was this? Unbound and unlabeled, nestled on a little mound of ice…RAMPS!! I’ve been searching for ramps! I’m a curmudgeon when it comes to trendy things, I always have been. I didn’t wear lavender docksiders in third grade! I resisted the temptation! Food trends are no different. But when it comes to delicious garlicky greens that have pretty white flowers and have to be foraged when the world is cool and that completely represent spring? I’m on board! I don’t care if they’re so 2011"
And then, weirdly, the next day I was at a local market and I found mother-flippin fiddleheads! Two pretty, trendy, tasty sping delicacies in three days. We boiled them till they were bright green and had them with (also bright green) castelvetrano olives and butter and lemon juice. (And salt and pepper!) Simple and perfect.
Oh! I thought of one more! Wafer thin, crispy, lacy almond cookies.
I must say my memory of teatime in England was wolfing down some bread and butter and marmite!
I'm a big fan of little savory tarts and pies! They can be quite elegant.
These chard and raisin tarts have a savory almond frangipane topping, and are very delicious.
These little vegetarian cornish pasties are stuffed with potatoes, turnips, greens and cheese.
If you want to offer soup, how about this vegtetarian version of Jane Austen's white soup. Smooth and creamy (though actually vegan!) and very pretty garnished with pomegranate seeds and pistachio kernals.
And for sweeties, little cakes - spicy chocolate cake layered with black currant jam and topped with chocolate ganache.
Or a slice of elegant chocolate, pear, hazelnut tart.
My son invented this pizza with his own spicy sauce. The secret ingredient is toasted beets! So it's called "beezza." It was absolutely delicious, and his little brother (who doesn't like beets!) happily ate 4 slices.
It's always fun to make pizza with little ones, and this was the most fun, because it was his recipe!
We recently saw an Uruguayan/Argentinian movie in which a character ordered pizza with faina. I was so intrigued I did a bit of research. Turns out faina is a baked chickpea flour batter, with lots of herbs and black pepper. I made a pizza and some faina to go with it. Delicious together!
Has anybody tried/heard of anything similar? It was such a new & interesting idea to me!
I bought a bunch of garlic, and it turns out to have many tiny tiny cloves. I can't see me peeling and chopping each one. Does anybody have a suggestion for using them up in a more efficient manner?
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ecca31 - thank you! It was good! Greens, raisins and nuts is one of my all time favorite combinations in any form.
I used to make my boys' food, when they were brand new solid food eaters. I ruined a pan trying to make soft pears, because (sleep deprived!) I forgot it was on the stove. And to this day the only food processor I have is a tiny one I was given to make baby food.
In my experience, you'll be so joyful and delighted that she wants to eat normal meals with you, that you won't regret a freezer full of beets and lentils. And you can always ask the SE crowd for grownup ways to use them!