Day 78: Cooking out

Summer time means cooking out.  Normally that is a good thing, but not necessarily when you are Vegan. Last night, at a birthday party, the only options were hamburgers and hot dogs.Thankfully, I had planned ahead and brought my own dinner.  Before we left the house, my husband said that it was in bad taste, to bring your own dinner to a party.  "Not if you're a Vegan.  Trust me on this,"  I said.  Besides, the party was at my brother's house.  He wouldn't be offended.  Sure enough.  I had to break out my vegan pot stickers in the middle of the party, but hey, that's the only way to do it in this meat-focused world.

Speaking of meat, I have been craving shrimp again, and butter. Not sure how the butter craving began, but it's here.  It's not so much that I'm craving plain butter, but things made with butter, like pie crust.  Our dinner guest tonight brought a beautiful blue berry pie and all I could eat was the blueberries.  The pie crust was calling my name, but I could tell it had butter because it was so flaky.

I am also missing being able to just pull something from the fridge and eating it.  I need to remember to make extra food to keep in the fridge so I can do that.  Right now, it feels like every time I have to eat, I have to cook an elaborate meal.  I'm not sure why I am feeling that, but I do not like it. The truth is I really don't have to cook that much to get breakfast on the table. Same for lunch. Dinner is the problem. 

But speaking of lunch, we had Hummus, tomato, and mushroom paninis today for lunch.  They were very, very good.  Here's the recipe:

Hummus Panini

5-6 mushrooms, slicesd
tamari

4 pieces of 100% whole wheat bread
hummus
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
1 tomato, sliced

Saute sliced mushrooms over medium-high heat until they start releasing their liquid.  Splash with tamari.  Spread a thick layer of hummus on the 4 pieces of bread.  On one side, sprinkle cilantro and green onion. Top with mushrooms and tomatoes.  Put the other slice of bread on top to finish the sandwich.

Place sandwich on pan and put a heavy skillet on top of sandwich to press on it.  Cook for five minutes per side over medium heat.  Enjoy!