banana bread and roasted veg

suuuuch a good cooking day yesterday. i baked a new banana bread recipe by, you guessed it, amy chaplin. the recipe i used is from her cookbook, at home in the whole food kitchen, but i found one online that is very similar to what i made: recipe here. i omitted the toasted walnut swirl to save time, but next time i think i will add it — i love walnuts in banana bread!

i also cooked up the brown and sweet rice that i’ve had soaking since monday. i noticed that it had started to ferment because the surface was covered in fresh bubbles, and it smelled awful. apparently, this is completely safe and simply means phytic acid is being released, which makes the nutrients and minerals in the rice easier for our bodies to absorb (higher bioavailability!). KEWL. once the rice was cooked, it had a slightly tangy flavor that i surprisingly enjoyed. nom!

the other recipe i FINALLY cooked, was the quinoa with roasted vegetables and harissa, another recipe by you know who, amy chaplin: recipe here. i had already prepped the quinoa on monday, so it was straightforward to roast up the tomatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers, and then i caramelized some red onions. i tossed the cooked quinoa with harissa, and then added in the cooked veggies, and added chopped parsley and goat cheese. i served with olives. so filling and so good.

perhaps one of the keys to being enthused about cooking dinner is to prep almost everything beforehand, so all i need to do is throw the ingredients together. having the quinoa already prepped was very encouraging. would have been great to have the veggies chopped already too. i also had the idea, that cooking in general would be way faster if two people were doing it. i realize this is not a novel idea, and is pretty much the purpose of a sous chef. but for the average home cook like myself, we often operate as lone wolves. it could be interesting to write a recipe in a way that it’s meant for two people to prepare. sounds fun! or the head home cook chef could simply dictate the tasks. char, get ready.

i can’t believe that tomorrow is friday. the week has flown by again. i also want to express gratitude for clean air and blue skies the past couple of days. i have been thoroughly enjoying having these two aspects back in my life. the temperature has also been perfect. i’m back to enjoying being outside after work during these long summer days. and a heads up that summer officially ends on september 22nd — next tuesday! get outside and enjoy all the daylight while you can!

not sure what i’ll cook today. i have some leftover cooked tempeh, cooked sweet and brown rice, farro, scallions, parsley, and kale still… so i’m definitely feeling like i’ll be eating some amalgamation of my leftovers. let me know if you have any cooking plans! i am thinking i might try to do a bit of a project this weekend. nothing too complex, but maybe some sort of fun baked good… even just waffles?… probably something vegan, because why not! happy thursday!