Southern Roots

Breakfast was a simple fare of a fruit salad made with banana, strawberries, grapes, and mango.  I toasted some of my peasant bread and spread apple butter on it.

I am picky about veggie burgers. The soy burgers meant to taste like real hamburgers are unappetizing.  I like the Morningstar black bean burger, but Whole Foods does not carry it. I tried Amy's brand made from bulgar wheat and it made a good lunch.  I placed it between 2 slices of  the peasant bread spread with the garlic parsley hummus and topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, alfalfa sprouts, salsa and unsweetened ketchup.

One of my dishes at dinner was Collards with Almonds.  Collard greens are a traditional southern dish, but I never had it growing up.  The only thing green in our kitchen was iceberg lettuce and canned green beans.  Southern fare as a whole is not vegan friendly, but greens are very popular - mustard greens, dandelion greens, spinach, turnip greens, and collards were found in many homes.  I had made all of theses except the collards before.  These were very tasty.  I steamed them and dressed with a little salt and rice vinegar and added some toasted almonds and minced garlic.

The main course was a Pasta al Forno. Brown rice penne was topped with a freshly made tomato sauce and sauteed  onion,  carrots and zucchini.  I added a can of cannelloni beans, some garlic stuffed olives, tomatoes, and basil and then roasted in the oven.

I think if I made these for dinner in most southern homes, there would still be a 'where's the meat to go with this' moment.