Tuesday, July 08, 2008

any excuse to eat potato salad.

Ken and I enjoyed a lazy day off last Friday for Independence Day. We had grand plans to go for a light hike at Kennesaw Mountain, but those plans were eventually shot down by our apathy and desire to stay in air conditioning. So it goes.
We even kept the food simple, but I just had to make potato salad. My family aways had potato salad for the summer holidays, and it seems to taste best when eaten outside. Weird, but true! I whipped up a batch of herbed potato tomato salad (recipe from DEOTS zine), and I coated some May Wah vegan chicken nuggets with the cajun spice seasoning from Yellow Rose Recipes. Any excuse to use more of the huge tub of bright red Hungarian paprika I have, I'm all over it. These were really delicious. I'm definitely going to try that same rub on tofu next time around. Anyway, we also had baked beans, and more fake meat in the form of May Wah citrus sparerib cutlets.
Ken approves:

ken thumbs up

july fouth food

And for dessert, a big, luscious vegan strawberry milkshake topped with whipped cream:

vegan strawberry milkshake

So, I have a question for you folks. Lately I've had a strong desire to eat foods with grill marks, so I'm looking into an indoor grill-type of thing. What's your favorite? A basic grill pan? George Foreman? Eh?

Oh! And I have to mention that my husband is my favorite person in the world. Well for many reasons, but he did something especially sweet and wonderful this weekend. He knew I realllly wanted to go see Tom Waits on the last stop of his tour, but we really can't afford overpriced $100 tickets these days. Well, Ken bought a pair back in May the day they went on sale and kept it a secret from me until he actually drove us to the venue this past Saturday. So we got to see Tom Waits and it was fantastic! Truly one of the highlights of my concert-going career.
I love my Ken. All together now: Awww.

Crappy video from an amazing show.

13 comments:

Pink Theory said...

That looks like a gorgeous plate of summer time food! I've been craving some potato salad myself. For pretty grill marks, we just use a grill pan placed over our 2 gas burners. It works great for many things but some things stick like crazy...we haven't mastered it just yet. And how sweet about the Tom Waits show, Neal (Hsauce) went and enjoyed it as well!

Vegan Invasion! (Ashley Nicole) said...

How sweet is Ken!!!! That's a spectacular surprise! I heard the show was amazing from some friends that went, glad you had a great time!

That strawberry milkshake is calling my name. Too bad I've sworn off sweets (yeah, we ate my entire birthday cake in 48 hours)!!

That seriously looks like the best potato salad ever!! We have a little george forman grill that I got for free, but I always forget that I have it. I think I put it away because it wasn't cooking food evenly (the outside would have burnt grill marks and the inside would be cold). So a grill pan sounds like a better choice in my opinion (and I have been wanting one, too).

Leigh said...

Thank you for the feedback! So that's two for the grill pan. But I have to ask, can you do pannini style sandwiches on a grill pan? Is it possible?

laura said...

i got one of those two burner grill pans, but it doesn't work on my electric stove. yeah, the top of my stove is half burnt up now. yay! i also have a tiny george foreman that came free inside my microwave. i use it regularly for patties and fake meat sticks but haven't tried a panini in it. i've seen presses kind of like this around. maybe you could get the same effect by using a grill pan and then using a cast iron pan as a weight on top of the sammich?

Leigh said...

Aaah, I bet I could just put my cast iron pan on top for the panini effect. Good one.

jessy said...

awwwwwwwwwwwww! your spouse is so awesome! Tom Waits tickets - hells yeah! :)

your 4th food looks scrumptious! and the potato salad is my fav! yummah!

Glue&Glitter said...

Aw, how sweet is that?? I'm glad you got to go...you were so bummed about missing it!

That food looks so awesome. Next time I'm there, I definitely need to look into the fake meat part of the freezer!

eatspaylove said...

Yippee! I'm so glad you got to see The Tom. We saw him last time he was in town - what a fabulous show!! Great little vid - the sound is quite good even if the picture is washed out. My god that man is funny.

michelle said...

lisa luzzi!
grill pan all the way. your blog is so fun. where the hell have i been? sending big love to you from PDX.

Leigh said...

Michelle! Hi! *waves*

Thanks for all the grill suggestions, folks. It looks like we need us a grill pan.

trina said...

mmm. citrus spareribs and tom waits!

Dark Faerie said...

I love me some tater salad! YUM!
I am really keen on a grill pan as well....it's great for making these:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2007/05/barbecued-seitan-ribz.html

Liz² said...

:O
perfect summer plate AND a tom waits concert? now THAT is how to live!