Sequestration Meal #287

 

At first I thought I was going to make garlicky spinach with white beans and bacon, using some tempeh bacon I have in the fridge, and rice pilaf. But for some reason I went in a different direction. I used this recipe at Well-Seasoned Studio to garlicky spinach with white beans (no bacon needed). Then I chose to make herbed potatoes rather than rice (I am, after all, running low on rice, plus the potatoes very much needed using up). To round things out and make them more colorful I added some steamed carrots. Voila! Perfection.

The potatoes are not-quite fried, having been partially steamed by having the lid on for most of the cooking process, and I added some herbs (thyme and parsley, both dried) and a bit of vegan butter at the end. They're pretty garlicky themselves, with half an onion and some sliced garlic cooked in olive oil before I added the potatoes. But I'm home alone all the time. If lunch has all the garlic it is fine. My breath is not going to offend anyone.

The spinach and beans recipe was truly delightful. It was yet another opportunity for me to be amazed by fresh lemons and capers, because that's what elevated the dish from "eh" to a main dish that sings. I didn't have the fresh herbs in the recipe, so I used dried, but it was still delicious.

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Spring has definitely begun here, with the daffodils blooming. I'm looking forward to being fully vaccinated so I can go hang out on hiking trails and see some of our local meadows in bloom without being worried about all the people breathing on me (mask wearing is not so consistent here, especially outdoors, although we're still supposed to wear them, so I've mostly been driven indoors alone). In the meantime I've been admiring them in suburbia.

What are you looking forward to these days?