Composed Salads, Grain Bowls, and Organizing Photo Files

IF YOU LOVE COOKING AND YOU LOVE PHOTOGRAPHY (a match made in heaven) you will most likely end up with a backlog of photo files to sort through.

My files had gotten so big, they were bogging down my computer. It was time to stop procrastinating and get to work. I have deleted hundreds on photos and transferred others to an external drive.

I do photograph many things other than food and this process has taken me down a memory lane of the past couple of years. There are so many cute pictures of the children--they grow and change so fast. There were pictures of my head, bald from chemo, to growing out, to my first haircut last week. There are many photos of beautiful flowers, birds, bunnies, butterflies, and bugs from our yard. Scenic photos from the gorgeous, vibrant, and hip place I am blessed to live--Asheville, North Carolina.

Mandarin Chicken Salad

As I culled photographs, I decided to share some of the things I have made, we ate, but never made it to my blog. Mainly because I wasn't pleased with the photos. But also because I wasn't thrilled with the taste of the food. I only blog about things I think are delicious.

For example, the Mandarin Chicken Salad. Ho-hum.

Shrimp, Brown Rice, and Vegetable Salad

I can see the salad has a dressing but I don't remember what it was. Which is another danger of letting my photo files back up. I can't remember what I did.






































I remember loving the brown rice and tofu bowl--I would happily eat it right now. I suppose I could fake some recipes. . .

Many things I love, tuna, cheese, boiled eggs, radishes, cornichons, sprouts (!) with baby lettuces.

Waldorf Quinoa Salad

I was really happy with this meal, but I didn't get any photos I loved. Quinoa, grapes, celery, apples, lettuce, candied pecans, and crumbled blue cheese. (Some kind of dressing). Mmmm, I think I'll try this again.

I was also happy about this meal, but again did not get shots of it that I loved. It was an awesome combination of flavors, quinoa, black beans, roasted Japanese sweet potatoes, pineapple, cheddar cheese, and spinach. I dressed this one with a Honey Lime Vinaigrette.

Honey Lime Vinaigrette
1 small sweet onion, preferably Vidalia, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 large tomato, washed and peeled
1 lime, washed, roughly chopped and seeded
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients into blender and process until smooth.

A Trip to the Farmers Market

Pritchard Parker and I went to the Farmers Market but first we stopped to eat breakfast at The Moose Cafe which is located at the market.

The Moose Cafe is not an elegant restaurant nor does it serve dainty portions of "chef inspired" creations. The Moose serves hearty portions of the freshest, made from scratch, home style Southern cooking. Go there hungry. Go very hungry. 

At your table, you will be greeted with a plate of delicious "cat's head" biscuits and apple butter.

Delicious Biscuit with Apple Butter

We both ordered "The Biltmore" (Big House; Big Breakfast). While I have eaten at The Moose Cafe a number of times before, I had never ordered their Moose Cake. We ordered them with blueberries and my eyes about popped out when I saw the size of that pancake. It was the size of a plate. And not a small plate; a dinner plate. That cake was 8 or 9 inches across!

 

 

On another plate were the eggs, bacon, grits, and another huge biscuit. We both had 2 (two) platefuls of food set before us. This breakfast also included a bowl of gravy which neither of us touched. Couldn't. I have to say we did this meal justice. We took our second biscuits home and enjoyed them with dinner.

 

It was a good thing we were about to do a lot of walking!

 

 

Vidalia onions, New Potatoes, Pickling Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Colorful Bell Peppers

Yellow Zucchini

Half Runner Green Beans

Eggplant

I also bought strawberries, blueberries, and peaches. I can't wait to get cooking.

 

 

One of the vendors promised to call me in about 2 weeks--she is expecting an excellent crop of  elusive figs this summer. !!