inspiring dinners! (an excuse for delicious food photos!)

paul's been surprising me with lunches and dinners more often lately and it's been super awesome to get to eat together and also try new things!
the other night, i was craving baked potato styles and we had some sweet potatoes so he steamed them and mashed them and topped them with an avocado/cashew sour cream and coconut bacon and a mary's crackers chipotle tomato pretzel stick! (don't they look like savoury cupcakes?) nutritional yeast (obviously) and steamed veg on the side. YUM!

and a craving for poutine turned into... (his super yum mushroom gravy with steamed potatoes, green onion, daiya, and peas!)

and farmers market-inspired dishes like multi-coloured carrots and beets, zucchini, broccoli (all steamed) with mashed potatoes!

 and more farmers market-inspired eats (with more mushroom gravy!) swoon!
 
and, well, who can resist a great potluck/dinner party?
this is my plate from janna and phil's bbq in the summer... some whole foods deli salads and homemade slaw and quinoa salad!
 
 and from a dinner with hayz and hanh - veg burger and raw chili and salad!
 

picnic and a movie!

on tuesday, i went to see labyrinth for the first time (surprising, i know!) in stanley park and a bunch of us gathered for a picnic beforehand.
tony found blackberries, janna brought daiya cheese wedges (jack + jalapeno garlic havarti) with mary's crackers and a potato salad, dali brought sesame crackers and hummus, mel and mig brought zucchini brownies (babycakes-inspired), lisa brought her gluten-free brownies, phil brought gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, kip brought a $37 "whole paycheque" salad and i brought a matthew kenny "potato" salad-inspired salad.

i was craving potato salad (which made it incredibly amazing that janna made one!) and i was wanting to try another recipe from everyday raw, so i checked out page 84's "potato salad". though, in my attempt to not go grocery shopping to make sure my fridge was empty of produce before leaving the next day for a few days, i adjusted things a fair bit!

my salad is in the bottom left corner of the picnic spread ^_^

i got that massive avocado (organic!) for $2 at whole paycheque. amazing right? extra amazing is it was perfectly ripe. so i used it for this recipe!

movie picnic salad:

1 mashed big avocado
1.75 cucumbers, diced (i saved 1/4 of one for my smoothie later)
1 diced red pepper
2 sliced and halved radishes
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
a couple bunches of basil and oregano, finely sliced

mixed with a blend of:

2 tablespoons tahini
1/4 teaspoon (or more?) cumin
1 tablespoon (or more?) apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons (or more?) fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon braggs
1/4 teaspoon maple syrup
pinch sea salt
pinch chili powder

i definitely have to try matthew kenney's actual version of potato salad sometime, with jicama and green olives and celery. but this one worked for me. maybe if i did this particular version again, i would add garlic to add a bit more dimension. but really, avocado and cumin and cucumber make everything amazing!!!