Easy Etouffee: For The Southerner Who's Quick On The Drawl

Happy Friday!

Labor Day weekend is upon us again and I am beyond excited for 3 days off and minimal plans. The weather promises to be gorgeous. I will be barbecuing in West Seattle and later in the weekend partaking in  homemade brunching with my book club. 

In the meantime: Southern Comfort. Not to be confused with Southern Comfort <shudder>.

I have a lot of friends who hail from the South. I don't really understand how they all ended up in Seattle, but I sure lucked out because they are all awesome. Really. So, anyway, a few weekends ago Dylan (who you may remember as the one who excels at opening champagne bottles) mentioned his desire to have a down home Southern cookin' night; minus the lard or whatever actually goes into non-vegan Southern food. Shrimp? 

We decided to make Etouffee, cornbread, collard greens and peach cobbler! What made it even more stellar was the fact that the collard greens and green onion were from the garden as was the zucchini for the Etouffee. Success!!

The Etouffee recipe is simple and delicious. Don't worry if you don't have all the ingredients, or can't find something at the grocery store. It is very user-friendly and will taste great!

Gardein Chick'n Marsala: ImPECKable

Dinner has been pretty great these days. Patrick and I have been swamped with a lot of "life happenings" and thus we have been relying on the ease of things like quinoa, cous cous, kale and Gardein! Having limited time for creative cooking has not hindered our evening meal by any means. In fact, I think it has prepared me for the 2012 Iron Chef competition!

I recently discovered Gardein's Chick'n Marsala and not only was it on sale (yesssssssssss), it also promised to be fast and delicious and full of protein. The kitchen was running a little low on supplies (it's been a busy summer!), therefore, I had to play one of my favorite games: Make Something Out Of Nothing! Or, MaSOON.

MaSOON's of the past have included flour tortillas filled with hummus and mixed nuts, a can of chili combined with Frito's and guacamole, as well as TofuYoung (that recipe I will probably end up posting because it turned out SO GREAT!)

Anyway, the Chick'n Marsala MaSOON was fantastic. It was fast, it was delicious and it looked beautiful to boot.

A Gardening Ground Rule: Eat Your Greens

My roommate's garden is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Remember Fern Gully? Of course you do.

That is actually a pretty accurate depiction of me, as well. 

This is what my backyard looks like. It's amazing. And because my roommate is not a jerk he lets me have all the kale, collard greens, arugula and bok choy that I want!

With this free grocery store at my fingertips, Patrick and I have been eating a lot of greens, naturally. (Of COURSE pun intended).

Yesterday was long. I wanted dinner to materialize in front of me. I finally pulled myself up off the floor (it was so much more comfortable down there) and surveyed the kitchen trying to decide what to eat with our endless supply of greens. 

In the freezer, like a beacon of light and a choir of angels: Morningstar Hickory BBQ Riblets. 

I love these riblets like I love jerky and we all know how much that is!

Of course, then I started thinking about sides and about picnics and barbecues and summertime and bike rides and all of a sudden I wasn't tired anymore. And then I started making dinner and it turned out just like a picnic!