Weekday vegetarian feast: chana masala

Owl holding his dinner so patiently. He quotes Parks and Rec, more or less: "Tom is a foodie, which apparently means he takes pictures of his food instead of eating it."

Sometimes you just need to celebrate Wednesdays.

We did.

• Chana masala (Indian chickpea curry)
• Brown rice
• Cabbage salad--this one (with apple cider vinegar and a bit of stone ground mustard in the dressing) because I didn't have time for this one, which looks amazing
• Naan
• And frozen peas for the little one

What we thought: Can we eat like this every night? The owl-cats stuffed the chana masala in their naan, and I almost did a jig right there. My kids are eating chickpeas! Hallelujah!

Easter menu--mostly gluten free

Here is what we ate for Easter. It was mostly gluten free for the Owl's sister. She made an amazing gluten-free lemon cake, but I don't have that recipe yet. We love baked goods so much that Celiac has always been the stuff of nightmares, but it doesn't look so bad now.

We enjoyed the food so much, we did not even think to take pictures, so here is our lovely apricot tree in blossom. Three cheers for spring!

Appetizers:
Deviled eggs
Hot corn dip and chips
Brazilian lemonade (wow!)

Roasted boneless leg of lamb
Quinoa tabbouleh
Roasted zucchini
Spinach strawberry salad with poppy seed dressing
Hot cross buns (for a gluten free option, I want to try this roll recipe--it looks amazing)

Flourless chocolate cake

Notes for next time:

Lamb

• let the roast sit at room temperature an hour before cooking
• watch at the higher temperature to make sure it doesn't burn
• use a lower temperature than 400 (325-375)

Quinoa

• use these instructions for cooking quinoa.
• I toasted the rinsed quinoa in a tablespoon of olive oil with a teaspoon of garlic.
• I used some lemon juice and broth for the water. I really liked how these steps added flavor to the quinoa itself.
• Use more lemon juice and less oil than the recipe calls for--more like 1/3 cup lemon juice to 1/4 cup olive oil. Taste to be sure you like that ratio.
• If you don't have fresh mint, don't let that stop you. If you wait until you have everything, you'll drive yourself crazy.

Flourless cake

• I used America's test kitchen recipe, but this looks close. ATK did not use any sugar, and I liked that.
• I used a combination of guittard 60% chocolate chips and special dark chocolate. It was a good balance of budget-friendliness and tastiness.