I’ve told you all about a billion times how the compound that I live on, Dhahran, is pretty  much the most beautiful place on earth. Our company, Aramco, goes [...]]]> The work week here in Saudi Arabia is Saturday through Wednesday, which means our weekends are Thursday and Friday. And this weekend we had so much fun!

I’ve told you all about a billion times how the compound that I live on, Dhahran, is pretty  much the most beautiful place on earth. Our company, Aramco, goes to a lot of trouble to make sure every single inch of it is covered in lush grass, gorgeous trees, and more flowers than you can even imagine. While the rest of Saudi Arabia is pretty bleak and sandy without any plants to be seen, our compound is a veritable oasis, with the most beautiful landscaping I’ve ever seen. (I’ll take pictures of the compound soon so you can see for yourself more of its amazingness!)

Well, this weekend we got a peek behind the scenes at how they manage to keep our compound so beautiful all the time. Aramco held a Flower Parade and opened up the nursery on the compound for a festival, with booths of flowers for sale, fun activities for families, and let us all see where all the beautiful flowers and plants we are lucky enough to be surrounded with are grown. It was wonderful!

What an AMAZING day we spent at the Dhahran nursery. It was wonderful to see how our compound is kept so breathtakingly beautiful. I am a huge lover of flowers, so I was swooning the entire time and gasping for joy around every corner. It was really one of the best days ever.

When we got home we were starving. It is already in the 90s here so all that time out in the sun really took it out of us and we needed a nice, hearty dinner.

This was one of those quick, spur of the moment throw together dinners that completely wowed me and Cody. YUM! I cooked a cup or two of quinoa, mixed it with raw chopped cucumbers and zucchini, added a can of chickpeas, a bunch of chopped oil marinated sun dried tomatoes, and dressed the whole thing with the juice of 1 lemon and a few tablespoons of vegan mayo. AMAZING!

For dessert we feasted on Frozen Banana Peanut Butter Dip with a side of crisp apples and juicy oranges. This is my new favorite dessert, it was scrumptious! I was inspired by this post from Oh She Glows, and I made my own batch by blending 2 frozen bananas, a few tablespoons of peanut butter, a pinch of cinnamon, and a drizzle of soy milk. It was seriously wonderful. I’ve had frozen banana ice cream before, but this is even better! Adding the peanut butter adds a rich lusciousness that plain banana just doesn’t have. I can’t get enough of this amazing dip, I really hope you give it a try soon!

I have been seeing delicious eggplant dishes all around the blogs this week and when I saw a big pile of the purple beauties at the grocery store I just knew I had to cook with them myself.

I didn’t know quite what to do but I knew I wanted simple and salty! So, I [...]]]>

I have been seeing delicious eggplant dishes all around the blogs this week and when I saw a big pile of the purple beauties at the grocery store I just knew I had to cook with them myself.

I didn’t know quite what to do but I knew I wanted simple and salty! So, I sliced them very thin and seared them in a hot pan with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled them with smoked sea salt. They were delicious! Crispy and salty on the outside but tender and soft on the inside. I will definitely be making these again.

On the side I served up a big bowl of sauteed zucchini, squash, garlic, onions and black beans. All in all this was such an easy meal I figured it definitely qualified to be part of my simple supper series!

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‘Beef’ & Veggie Stir-fry

This was delicious! I took two Amy’s frozen vegan burgers and cooked them in a frying pan (with a chopped yellow onion and garlic), breaking them up with a wooden spoon until they were in crumbly, crispy delicious chunks. I then added some leftover steamed broccoli and a bit of swiss chard, [...]]]>

‘Beef’ & Veggie Stir-fry

This was delicious! I took two Amy’s frozen vegan burgers and cooked them in a frying pan (with a chopped yellow onion and garlic), breaking them up with a wooden spoon until they were in crumbly, crispy delicious chunks. I then added some leftover steamed broccoli and a bit of swiss chard, added a splash of soy sauce and a dash of red pepper flakes and served it on a bed of wholesome quinoa. And a fun crunch was included by adding a handful of sunflower seeds. This was so quick and easy and did I mention the YUM!?!?

If you miss eating fried egg sandwiches, then this is the supper for you! Simple, delicious and of course, vegan. What could be better? These yummy baked tofu sandwiches really do remind me of fried egg sandwiches, they have the same delicate texture and rich flavor. The best part of these is how the tofu [...]]]>

If you miss eating fried egg sandwiches, then this is the supper for you! Simple, delicious and of course, vegan. What could be better? These yummy baked tofu sandwiches really do remind me of fried egg sandwiches, they have the same delicate texture and rich flavor. The best part of these is how the tofu gets brown and crunchy around the edges, that is my favorite bit.

If you want to make them, take a box of Mori Nu Silken Soft Tofu, freeze it, thaw it, slice it into strips and very lightly press the water out. Just press between two towels with your hands for a few minutes. The strips are very delicate so be gentle!

Lay them into a glass casserole dish and splash them with some soy sauce (and balsamic vinegar if you want a bit of a tang) and bake them for maybe 10-20 minutes, until they look like this:

There will be enough tofu from one small box to make two sandwiches. I like to pile my tofu onto toasted bread with vegan mayo and mustard. Really delicious!

What do you do when you have one lonely potato in your pantry? Why, you make a simple supper, that’s what!

I love potatoes prepared any different way, but this just might be my favorite. Crunchy and crispy on the outside with a tender center of fluffy potato goodness. Just perfect!

Ingredients:one potato – shreddedall purpose flour [...]]]>

What do you do when you have one lonely potato in your pantry? Why, you make a simple supper, that’s what!

I love potatoes prepared any different way, but this just might be my favorite. Crunchy and crispy on the outside with a tender center of fluffy potato goodness. Just perfect!

Ingredients:
one potato – shredded
all purpose flour – 2 or 3 Tbsps
nutritional yeast – 2 or 3 Tbsps
2 cloves garlic – diced fine
creole seasoning
hot sauce
salt and pepper

There isn’t a precise recipe, it is pretty basic. Take the shredded potato and pat it dry with a kitchen towel. Mix in the other ingredients and form into a thick patty and fry it in a bit of olive oil on both sides, till it is golden brown and crunchy. Top with a sprinkle of sea salt and a handful of green onions and enjoy!

I often find myself eating a beautiful, healthy meal filled with colorful, nutritious foods but not getting out my camera and snapping a picture to post on my blog because I think to myself ‘well, there wasn’t any recipe, it’s just a couple of ingredients thrown together.’

But then I realized, these are some of my [...]]]>

I often find myself eating a beautiful, healthy meal filled with colorful, nutritious foods but not getting out my camera and snapping a picture to post on my blog because I think to myself ‘well, there wasn’t any recipe, it’s just a couple of ingredients thrown together.’

But then I realized, these are some of my favorite meals. They are not only tasty they are also easy to prepare and are usually cobbled together from leftovers, perfect for those evenings when my frazzled brain can’t be bothered to create and document an elaborate recipe.

So, why not start posting these delicious dinners? That is why I have decided to start The Simple Supper Series! It will document those dinners that we have that consist of just a few ingredients and minimal preparation time. I hope you enjoy!

This lovely meal had sauted portabella mushrooms piled on top of wilted spinach leaves, with a side of seared brussel sprouts and chopped cherry tomatoes.

The portabella mushrooms were marinated for about an hour in a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. I then sauted them for just a few minutes because I like them to retain a firm bite. At the last minute of cooking I threw in a diced clove of garlic. DELICIOUS! Can I just say that portabella mushrooms are perfect? Seriously, my favorite thing to eat. They absorb every single last bit of flavor in a way that meat never could. Why do people even eat chicken or beef when they could be eating these luscious beauties???

I then dumped a bag of baby spinach into the now empty frying pan and tossed them around until they were just lightly wilted and then splashed them with a bit of lemon juice.

The brussel sprouts couldn’t be easier. I just chopped them in half and sauted them in the same pan. When the extra virgin olive oil absorbed into the sprouts I just keep the pan dry and didn’t add any more oil, that’s what gave them the nice sear. These also got a crushed garlic clove too.

And I do believe the cherry tomatoes are pretty self explanatory.

So, what are some of your favorite simple suppers???

I took a few days off of work and stretched my weekend into a 5 day experiment in decadence. I never changed out of my pajamas, I only ventured from my bed to get a popcorn/potato chip/chocolate chip cookie/sambosa refill from the kitchen and I watched dozens of delightfully bad movies. I was surrounded by [...]]]>

I took a few days off of work and stretched my weekend into a 5 day experiment in decadence. I never changed out of my pajamas, I only ventured from my bed to get a popcorn/potato chip/chocolate chip cookie/sambosa refill from the kitchen and I watched dozens of delightfully bad movies. I was surrounded by my lounging dogs and waited on hand and foot by my doting fiancé. And let me please mention that I felt completely entitled to this break. Not that I am ever opposed to any sort of laziness at all, but I just felt especially deserving after the 2 month long stretch of brutal insanity and non-stop chaos that I have been enduring at my job. So, I luxuriated, I lounged, I wallowed in my own filth. And yes, I ate pounds of chocolate, entire tons of curly fries, and veritable vats of popcorn. And when those 5 glorious days were over, my mind was happy and zen like, peaceful and free of any emotion or thought, other than where my next dose of cupcakes was going to come from.

But my body? Oh my body. Every single cell was pleading with me, begging for fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains and legumes, anything not fried, covered in chocolate or coated in breading.

So, today I got back on track. For breakfast I had an amazing berry and banana smoothie courtesy of that same doting fiance, for lunch raw veggies with hummus and whole grain bread. For snacks I munched on a bright and tangy apple and a few handfuls of roasted almonds. And for dinner I had something so yummy I thought I would share. It’s not really a recipe, so I’ll just give you the technique.

In a bit of extra virgin olive oil I sautéed squash, zucchini, garlic and leek with a bit of salt, pepper and fennel seed for seasoning. On the side I had deliciously wholesome quinoa sprinkled with a bit of toasted walnuts. So simple. So fresh. And so good!

I have always loved sautéed squash and zucchini and I’m always amazed at how buttery and luscious it ends up tasting. However, this was my first time cooking with leeks, but I figured, if that drone-like sign of the apocalypse Rachel Ray can do it, so can I. And I was really pleased with how easy and tasty they were. But the best part of the meal was the few dashes of fennel seed I added. It took the taste to a different world!