Eats of the Last Few Days

I'm not sure how it happened, but life got pretty busy all of the sudden. So, please forgive me as I briefly summarize a whole weekend's worth of good food times into one post. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

On Friday, a friend had a cooking class/dinner party with the amazing Alyssa Cox. The menu was vegan Thai, and I was so psyched because of all the foods I love, Thai is the one I never attempt to make myself. Ever. Thanks to Alyssa's tutelage (and the recipe packet we all got to take home) I am now pretty comfy making my own red curry paste, and using it to make curried kabocha squash that is so damn good I can't stand it.

See? It was fragrant with deep curry flavor and just the right amount of spice to match the creamy coconut milk. Yum! We also made amazing spring rolls AND raw collard wraps which were also delicious and very doable.

For dessert, what's better than a crazy rich chocolate torte with mint coconut "cream"? That was a rhetorical question, obviously, since the answer is NOTHING. Better still - this whole dessert had like 4 ingredients, the main three being chocolate, almonds and coconut oil. But that coconut cream is my new obsession. I want to put mint extract in everything now! Alyssa is awesome, and it was a great night full of scrumptious food and fantastic friends. So fun.





On Saturday there was a beautiful moon hanging in the sky as we walked with some friends back down the familiar road to Mezes. I love it there. We've been before, and we will go again. The gigantes beans alone are worth it, but I also filled my plate with perfectly dressed salad, savory sauteed mushrooms, marinated olives, and warm pita with roasted eggplant salad:


Not pictured but certainly ingested are the world's most perfect dolmas. Yes, all this and more can be yours with one quick trip to Mezes! Yum. Plus, if you're nice....

They'll bring you complimentary dessert wine! Gotta love it.

Sunday night we dined at home which meant a big salad, some crusty bread and my favorite spread of all (above) - the Aubergine by Affi's Marin Gourmet. I've been eating a ton of this stuff lately and I can't get enough of it's smokey rich flavor. It goes especially well with some Dr. Cow cashew cheese, but it certainly does just fine on its own too. It's sold at all the Farmer's Markets, but I got this particular container at Whole Foods and you should get some too.

OK, that's it for the weekend eats. Back to work with me now, but more good eats - including Ayurvedic yoga retreat eats - are on the menu for next weekend, so stay tuned!