A Multitude of Breakfasts, Lemon Chickpea Lentil Soup, and Risotto

J and I had the buckwheat groats for breakfast, and they were excellent. J ate them with sliced banana and strawberries, and I just had strawberries (I can't eat bananas raw, only in baked goods). The groats are so much better than cereal. I think we'll be making a lot of this in the future. 

On Sunday morning I realized I only had a tablespoon or so of dark chocolate peanut butter left. Bianca of Vegan Crunk had a recent post about oats in a jar, so I knew exactly what to do.

Here's the almost empty jar.

I cooked half a cup of oatmeal, and added it to the peanut butter jar with a drizzle of sugar-free syrup.  

It might not look like much (sorry for yet another blurry picture), but it was a mac-daddy of a breakfast. Yum. I can't wait until we use almost all of the white chocolate peanut butter ...

 I made a big pot of Lemon Chickpea Lentil Soup from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan. After months of crazy cooking adventures, a soup like this seems like the easiest thing in the world. Just throw everything in a pot, let it simmer, and then blend it to creamy consistency. I made it on Sunday morning, and we took some of it to the park for lunch. It has a taste reminiscent of warm hummus, and was great with tortilla chips.

For dinner, I made the Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms, Leeks, and Peas from The Kind Diet. Or to be slightly more accurate, I used a mixture of button and baby bella mushrooms, not oyster mushrooms. I'd never tasted risotto before, much less made it. It reminded me of that cliche about watching paint dry. That's how I felt, patiently pouring ladle after ladle of heated water into the pan, stirring constantly, waiting for the water to absorb before adding more. Yawn. Halfway through, I picked up a book and starting reading while stirring (the book is Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally. I'm enjoying it, despite the fact that the authors, both vegetarians, decided to start eating seafood because they felt a balanced vegetarian diet wasn't possible within the parameters of their 100-mile diet).

The drudgery was worth it in the end. The risotto was creamy and wonderful, with a tart sweetness from the added mirin. Here it is, with some chilpotle mashed yams. I love the contrast of colors.

I have another comp day tomorrow (yay!), so expect more food pictures very soon.