Bread can always make the meal. There truly isn’t anything better than hot baguettes off the grill. Coupled with some fresh local snap peas, cherry tomatoes, big tomatoes, garlic tops and Mediterranean cucumbers, our olive bread on the grill is the perfect lunch.
Sasha and I were really hungry and just ripped bread, dipped in olive oil, and ate the veggies with our fingers. Mom wasn’t home so we didn’t have to worry about the gluten free bread this time.
I probably only needed to put the pan on the porch to cook it since it was so stinkin hot. We had our first swim team practice which ends even later than soccer so time to cook really has to be planned. Mom took the kids and I stayed at home to whip it up. I didn’t want to turn the stove or oven on again so I thought the vegan dinner on the grill shouldn’t be limited to what stays on the grate. I also wanted to celebrate the first local squash of the season. 
For the sauce we added local scapes aka garlic tops, onions and olive oil.
Since we always need to make sure the vegans have a protein source we put it all over a soy-brown rice-potato pasta.
A little crisp Colombard from Gascogne and we were set.
Our last soccer practice was in 98 degree heat. Even though practice ended at 6 p.m. on a school night and I hadn’t done a thing about dinner, I couldn’t resist taking the boys (any myself) to the pool for a quick dip.
After a much needed soak, we got home after 7 to a very hungry crew. Virginia works hard and likes a hot meal on the table when she gets home (even though she now works from home). I sent the kids to the shower and opened up the fridge. I didn’t find a whole lot since I hadn’t been to the farmer’s market in 6 days. I did have a tub of black eyed peas and some brown rice from last week’s dinner, that I thought could serve as our protein base, and saw some green beans and asparagus that needed to be eaten. I didn’t want to turn on the oven or the stove so once again I headed to the grill.
I quickly put the legumes and the brown rice into the food processor and added some olive oil salt and pepper and a little soy cheese. I then oiled a pan and threw the loaf on the grill. Next to the bean and rice mix on the grill I put some new potatoes with grape seed oil and threw them on and ran to the shower to rinse off and get the kids. Now clean I raced back to the grill which was left unattended for 5 minutes and luckily found everything to be in order except the loaf was now mousse. I was able to take off the potatoes and put on the string beans and last of the local asparagus. They sure hate the heat and the last few days ended the local asparagus season. Once again a little hot sauce goes a long way and another dip into an amazing Cote de Jura that is under 10 dollars. A good night was had by all but bed time was a little later than expected.
So when you have a vegan kid who goes to camp and they have a cooking part of the day you need to make your kid the vegan version. For Virginia, this means a 6AM wake and bake. Most of the time everyone wants what we have made so often we send for the whole class or camp. We have found that there are now so many kids with milk, dairy and wheat allergies that it is almost easier for everyone to be vegan. The kids don’t complain and it tastes great. Much healthier and usually a whole lot less sugar which makes the teachers happier as well. To take advantage of already using the oven we put bread in as well for sandwiches. In the summer we try to do as much on the grill as possible, but if we use the oven than we make sure we really use it and get our heats worth.
Every night is insane. Every day is insane for that matter, but fun for the most part. Noah still has school for a few more days, but Sasha just has morning camp. By the time I got home and made Virginia lunch it was time to start the pickups. When we got home we couldn’t help notice a number of woodsy looking people a few houses away all looking up at a tree. Upon closer inspection we saw a man at the top of one of the largest oaks in the neighborhood. He looked like a tree man, but was obviously not using a chain saw and seemingly he was fixing a nest. Quickly Sasha and I were able to find out that a baby red shouldered hawk had fallen from his nest and somehow Owlmoon Raptor Center was called to aid this beautiful bird. It really wasn’t what you would call a baby. It was probably about 16″ and had a a very nice and sharpened beak but hadn’t learned to fly. After fixing the nest, the baby hawk, who I must say was very compliant, was hoisted nearly 100 feet into the oak canopy and gently placed into the nest with a dead mouse for dinner. The rescue worker then started a CD on a portable stereo with the sound of a baby hawk calling it’s mother. During this process we were enlisted to observe the nest and the baby and see if the mother found it. The rescuers had other work to do so they left the observation to my five year old Sasha who took the job very seriously. Every five minutes he needed to go down the street to see if the Hawk had fallen or the mother hawk had found her son. Hard to get much done while hawk watching.
This back story dominated the day that had another school pickup, pool run and dinner to cook. Everyone wanted Pad Thai and the prep, cooking and rainforest temps added to the bird watch, made for an interesting evening. At this point I was starting to focus on what wine I would serve with dinner.
Since it was still blistering hot I decided to grill all the veggies first and then only assemble them together and season in the wok. This cut the inside cooking down to 5 minutes and helped keep the house cool. Snap peas, scapes, asparagus, green beans, tofu and basil were all combined after grilling and seasoned with a black bean, soy, sesame oil and curry paste sauce. Run to check the hawk nest. The dish was insanely good and even a meat eater would have been satisfied with our vegan dish. We are vegans. No meat, fish, chicken, dairy or eggs. Just to complicate things a little more, Virginia has Celiac. That means no gluten. No wheat, barley, bread, most soy sauces.
Most people send their sympathies as soon as they find out about our diet, but let me assure you, we eat well. It tastes good. Every non veggie who dines with us is more than satisfied and always comes back wanting more. We also love to drink wine with our meals and great food and great wine help at the end of an insane day. Goodnight hawk. We will check on you in the morning.
Heat advisory and hungry. We needed a quick meal and Virginia had to go to a meeting but wanted lunch. Local arugula, green leaf, grilled asparagus and local onions mixed with brown rice and a miso dressing made an awesome quick and substantial lunch. Topped with a little of our spice, we each had three bowls.
Fresh raw habaneros blended with sea salt, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar make the perfect spice. A little goes a long way and we use it on almost everything.
This time of year is always a treat. You don’t even remember what you had last summer until you take a trip to the market and find something new. I am really lucky that my whole family is in love with beets. Not only are the beets themselves amazing and full of flavor, but the greens are incredibly flavorful and the perfect mix to a dish. Scapes are another boon to spring. Earlier this spring my kids were able to harvest huge ammounts of onions from the front of our house. They are flavorful, but a little horsey. Scapes, also know as garlic tops are just incredible. My kids call them worms and we put them in everything we would put garlic in. They are incredible in guacamole and amazing in cooked or raw. Together with the first local shelling peas of the season, the dish was awesome. As almost always we needed to select a wine to go with it. Our go to rose of the season is the Domain de Mirail from Gascogne. It is a great crisp dry blend of cabernet and merlot that has the acidity to stand up to our food while still being super refreshing. 
We know how lucky we are. Every morning Virginia is home she bakes. Before the car came to pick her up for the airport she made sure we had scones and banana bread while she was away. She has become the worlds greatest gluten free-vegan baker and fills in the breakfast items and deserts I don’t make.
We are going away this weekend and needed to clear out the fridge. We didn’t get home until 7:00 last night and really only had about 15 minutes to cook dinner. I always make way more than we use each meal so we have ingredients or components for another meal. I had some left over potato and brown rice pene pasta, a head of broccoli, some baby bella mushrooms, fresh spring onions, and basil. Combined with lots of olive oil and garlic and we had a meal in moments. It was perfect with a crisp white Gascongne.
