Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Flavors of Dinners Past

The best meals, in my opinion, are often just thrown together on the fly. Tonight I wanted to get supper on the table and snuggle in bed with Rob and The Lacuna. Rob came down from his attic office (oh how nice it is to have him working from home) ready to chat and help me cook. I looked at the produce drawer and decided we needed to use the produce from our local farmer, Greg; oyster mushrooms, beet greens, and asparagus. I had been thumbing through Raising Vegetarian Children earlier in the day because that is the kind of nutrition geek I am. Rob does calculus when he is bored and I research nutrition information. We are a fun couple. As we chatted, we sauteed the beet greens, roasted the asparagus and mushrooms together with a bit of olive oil and tamari in the oven (sprinkled with Gomasio upon serving), fried up some tofu, boiled some whole wheat spaghetti, and I made my version of the Nutti Sauce from Raising Vegetarian Children. I don't think I've had it before and I'm no big fan of making sauces with ketchup, but after I made a few changes it ended up quite good. In fact, it took me back to 1995 and my first date with Rob at the Bermuda Onion (a local restaurant where they served vegan food before most restaurants in town even knew the word, sadly it closed not long after our first date). I don't know if I ate this dish on that date, but I remember a pasta dish with a succulent sauce, seitan, and maybe some mushrooms. I have often thought of the dish over the years, but never tried to recreate it. Tonight, I came close enough to take me back 17 years, without even trying.The entire dinner was just superb, especially with a glass of Chardonnay. I'm guessing the sauce served at the Bermuda Onion had white wine. An orange and bit of dark chocolate for dessert. Now I'm listening to the rain and the heavy breathing of my sleeping family. Now back to snuggling in bed with my book.
Nearly Bermuda Onion Sauce
1/2 cup raw unsalted almond butter
1/4 cup unsweetened or fruit sweetened ketchup
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon tamari
1/2 cup water
Blend all ingredients together (I used my immersion blender).

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