Summer Treats!

If you're a muffin fan, these muffins are a "must make!" These Banana Blueberry muffins from La Dolce Vegan are incredible. Moist, fluffy, sweet, fairly healthy....and a great way to use up overripe bananas! :) I think the molasses gives them their darker flavor. I even used whole wheat pastry flour and applesauce instead of the oil, for an extra healthy - oomph! Four stars!



Meanwhile, the other two overripe bananas went into the making of this Banana Cake, also from La Dolce Vegan. I added some chocolate chips to the batter, too - yum! I didn't have any confectioners sugar on hand for the frosting (that's a first!), so I whipped up some of Isa's (VCTOTW) chocolate ganache and sprinkled the whole thing with chopped walnuts. My coworkers enjoyed this treat before the holiday weekend, but there was still some left to take home - oh rats! :)

Here's what the inside looked like.... very moist and fluffy and just superb! I love, love bananas. They were my favorite as a toddler and I still can't get enough. Four stars for the cake - but I'm not the biggest chocolate fan, so only three for the ganache.







One night this week, my husband surprised me with having dinner on the table (now that I'm working full time and he's got the summer off - how strange it feels!). He made this fairly complicated sandwich - I was so proud! It was the recent Vegetarian Times cover recipe: Mediterranean Pressed Picnic Sandwich. How luscious.... Fresh ciabatta bread, spread with homemade pesto on one side and jarred tapenade on the other. In between sit slices of grilled red pepper, zucchini and portobella mushroom (we did the shroom in lieu of summer squash). This was all drizzled with balsamic vinegar before being pressed for a while. It was really, really good, but even better the next day, after the flavors melded even more! Yay for male cooks and grills! Four stars, for sure! The bean salad in the background is also from that issue: Picnic Caviar. I made that one and it was really excellent! A nice kick of spice and love the cilantro. Four stars for that one, too.

So I leave you this week with some shots of my gorgeous lily, just blooming now for us. It opened up overnight, after a heavy storm. I've been watching the bees in my veggie garden, and hope to have some pics of vegetables very soon! Have a great week!