Not Word Salad...

I promised you a recipe... The other day, after having to scrounge for lunch for the 3rd or 4th day in a row (I just need to do a grocery run and plan better), I decided to make a Dump Salad. This was a recipe that I adapted from my Vegan Kid. 

DUMP SALAD

1 cup Wild Rice

3 cups water

1 Knorr Vegetarian Cube

1 (8 oz) container mixed mushrooms (can omit or use your favorite)

1 T. avocado or other neutral oil

1 c. frozen corn

1 can beans, drained (your favorite: garbanzo, kidney, black)

3 radishes, sliced thin

2 carrots, cut into 1/4" slices (If they're thick, cut in half first)

2 celery sticks, diced

6 spring onions, sliced - both green & white parts

1 navel orange, peeled and cut into portions (see directions)

1 bottle Farm + Field Basil Vinaigrette (oryour favorite recipe/bottle)

Put the water in a saucepan, add the Knorr cube and the wild rice. Bring to a boil, turn to a "strong simmer" and cover with a lid. Cook for 40 minutes.  In last 5 minutes, add the frozen corn to the rice and put the lid back on. When time is up, drain if there's still water left (I check after 20 minutes, just to see what's going on). 

In a saute pan, add the oil, heat to high. Add mushrooms (cleaned by removing root ends, chop if they're big mushrooms). Saute till cooked through, set aside. Add more oil if needed, sautee carrots and celery for about 5 mintues on medium-high. Then add the white part of the onion, and the sliced radishes. Cook for about 3 min. more, don't let them get too brown. Drain and set aside. 

When the rice + corn is done, dump it into a large bowl (I use a covered bowl so I mix & store in the same container). Add the mushrooms, beans, green part of the onion. Add about 1/3 of the bottle of the vinaigrette and stir together. Season with salt & pepper if desired, and you can add more vinaigrette. I tend to like mine a little on the "dry" side, but you do you. 

Pull the orange apart into sections and cut each section into 3 pieces; add, along with any juice off the cutting board, to the rice mixture. Chill or eat at room temperature. 

THIS CAN BE AS-IS. Or if you want more protein, add some chicken, chicken sausage, or low-fat kielbasa. 

This serves 6 people as a side salad or 4 people as a main dish salad. 

I love this because you can add whatever you have: broccoli, green beans, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, you get the idea. 

The Knitting...

Porch knitting tonight! I've figured out (with the help of the FB Shawl Knitting group) the one instruction that I was definitely over-thinking. I ran it past Hubby and we were both thinking along the same lines. I could've asked my knitting friend, but she's out of town, so there's that. 

I thought I'd get out there while it was nice, shady and before the pyromaniacs get started. It has been (dare I even jinx it??) quiet here for Memorial Day. 

I'm literally zipping along with this. Which means I may be wearing it by Fall, but hey - at least it'll be done, right? 

Next up will probably be a singleton sock that has the mate already done; I have to dig them out. And the Copland shawl, which is a WIP that I'm looking forward to finishing as a gift, hopefully for Christmas, but that could be a stretch. We'll have to see on that one. 

Postcard Project...

I'm back with the postcards again... Is it "doing something"? Who knows? It's something that's being done, that's for sure. I can't march, and I don't have the money to influence politicians, so I do what I can do. 

My friend came up with a pretty brilliant idea - she gathered up all the postcards she got from her own travels and those that people gave her from theirs. I have a bunch of them, and they mean nothing to anyone else. I may as well put them to good use. So she addressed them and shared them with us. I find it ironic that a few of them were buildings that meant a lot: for example, a picture of the historic Supreme Court building for Mitch McConnell and the stained glass for Ted Cruz. 

I wrote what I wanted them to do to curb gun violence. (Well, their JOB would be a start) And then I wrote a small prayer asking God to grant them the courage to DO their job. 

Hey, they're all professing to be Christians, right? So prayer shouldn't bother them. And I don't care if they ARE bothered. 

Random Picture... 

This is the garden as of today. It's been super windy (it's been like that since January...I'd swear my sister was coming back to try to tell me something...) and the middle cover is a bit twisted. 

Soon, we'll be putting on the tomato cages, and the racks for the bush cucumbers. I know - bush means not climbing, but so far, every time I've planted them (this will be my 4th go-round with them), I've needed to give them something to climb on. 

One of our tomato plants (in the far left bed) already has blossoms on it, so we should see something nice soon. 

Gardening is nature's prozac. If you have the space for even a couple pots on the patio, try it. You'll feel good getting your hands dirty and you'll have flowers or veggies. Win/win!