Today’s recipe is a celebration of all that is in season and taking center stage at my farmer’s market – the aforementioned asparagus, garlic, spring onions, and spinach.  I roast chickpeas and asparagus (my favorite way to cook it), and then add it to a pan of spinach sautéed with garlic and onions, and dotted with the tart and tangy flavors of lemon juice and capers.  I like to serve it over my easy breakfast polenta.  However, it would be a mouthwatering spring meal over any grain, like farro, brown rice, or barley.

To spin dry my spinach for the recipe, I used the salad spinner I recently received from the folks at OXO.  As part of their Blogger Outreach Program,  OXO sent me one of their salad spinners for review and additionally one to offer to a reader (U.S. only) in a giveaway.  Although I already had a salad spinner, mine didn’t get a ton of use.  For one thing, it has these large, unfortunate air holes at the bottom of the unit.  I don’t know who thought that would be a good idea for the design, but it means that my countertops get an impromptu cleaning every time that I use it.  (Perhaps I should be glad for this bonus feature?)  So I generally just line a kitchen towel on the countertop, rinse all of my leafy greens and vegetables, and then pat them dry with another towel.  This actually works out okay since I’m rarely just using leafy greens, and so I’d need a towel for other vegetables and fruits anyway.

The OXO salad spinner has a pump at the top that can be hidden into the unit during storage, and it even has a brake, which is my favorite feature.  It makes me feel like I’m operating one of those Silly Silo style-rides at amusement parks, in which park goers stick to the walls.  It’s BPA-free and top-rack dishwasher safe, which is useful when it requires more than a rinse.  Most importantly, it dries greens nicely.  The only possible negative is that it’s ten inches across in diameter.  If you have limited kitchen space, that may be problematic.  If cupboard storage isn’t an issue, it means that one can pack a lot of produce into the center bowl.

To enter the OXO salad spinner giveaway, simply leave a comment below telling me about your favorite, must-have kitchen gadget.  Make sure to enter an email address into the appropriate field (if you don’t have a blog), so that I can contact you if you’re the big winner.  The contest is open to U.S. residents only and will be chosen randomly.  The contest will end May 31, 2012 at midnight, CST.

Roasted asparagus & chickpeas with sautéed spinach

Serves 2

• 1 heaping cup asparagus, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• ½ tsp + ½ tsp + 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup spring onions, chopped (Any variety onions or shallots will work here)
• 2 cups spinach, chopped
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp capers
• Salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Put asparagus on one baking sheet and toss with ½ tsp extra virgin olive oil.  Toss chickpeas, nutritional yeast, and ½ tsp extra virgin olive oil on second baking sheet.  Put both baking sheets in the oven and roast chickpeas and asparagus for 20 minutes, stopping once to shake the pans so that they roast evenly.

While the asparagus and chickpeas are roasting, heat a pan to a medium heat.  Add 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil to pan and sauté the onions and garlic 5-8 minutes, until fragrant and translucent.  Add spinach to pan and sauté for one to two minutes more, until the spinach has wilted but before it becomes gummy and overcooked.  Add lemon juice to deglaze the pan.  Add capers and combine.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Once the asparagus and chickpeas have finished roasting, add them to the pan with the spinach mixture.  Fully combine and salt to taste.  Serve the Roasted Asparagus & Chickpeas with Sautéed Spinach on creamy polenta, farro, rice, or barley.

Disclaimer:  I received two salad spinners free of charge from OXO, one for myself and one to give away.  I didn’t receive any payment otherwise, and the opinions above are totally my own. 

“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.” –Julia Cameron

People, I have fallen hard for pottery. I suppose this shouldn’t be a huge surprise given the collection of bowls, plates, and sauce dishes gracing my cupboards. In The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron says that when searching for a creative home, one should pay attention to the sideline where she’s sitting. My sidelines involved gallery windows, peeking in at the works of electric, raku, and soda kilns. After years of turning the idea in my mind, I signed up for a pottery class in January and have since felt like I’m fifteen all over again. I’m thinking about it as I fall asleep at night. I’m stalking it on the internet. I want to know every little thing about it. Finding a new art is like falling in love again. I can’t get enough.

When I took my first class earlier in the year, I thought wheel throwing was where the magic happened. After all, if we’ve learned anything from Ghost it’s that wheel throwing is the sexy poster child for pottery. Being able to make casserole dishes and garlic keepers may not be what most people file under the “hot” column. However, when Demi and Patrick got together on the wheel, clay was foreplay.

I should let you know, now that I’ve mentioned it, the first rule of pottery (a la Fight Club). The first rule of pottery is never mention Ghost. No cracks about Whoopie Goldberg should be uttered. No melodies – chained or otherwise – should be hummed. Apparently some potters even have little signs posted in their studios warning that any mentions of the 1990 classic are verboten. This is, of course, quite difficult. It’s like singing Mandy the first time you meet a girl named Mandy, asking a tall person how the weather is up there, or making a Mr. Clean joke to a bald guy. Yes, they’ve heard that joke a thousand times before. Stale, sure, but somehow the jokes can be downright irresistible.

I don’t always have the best luck fighting these urges, and so fortuitously while wheel throwing has been challenging and interesting, that’s not where I’ve found the spark. It’s come as a surprise to me that hand building is where my creativity comes to life. There’s nothing quite like getting into a zone and seeing what happens next. After rolling slabs of clay, I can fold, meld, slip and score. I see what the clay wants to do, how it wants to be molded and moved. Working with it is part art and part architecture. Building walls and a base, smoothing the sides and giving definition has an order to it while still being a fluid kind of meditation.

After the clay has dried, pottery becomes parenting. You do what you can and then you have to let go. Despite your best laid plans, there may be cracks in the kiln. The glaze may be totally different than you’d envisioned. Sometimes everything comes together in a cosmically wonderful way and sometimes it’s hideous. To a certain degree, you don’t know what you’re going to get.  It’s a surprise every time.

You’ll be seeing me more regularly again for the next few weeks since I’ll be back in the kitchen dirtying dishes instead of making them while I wait for my next pottery session to begin. I’ll be thinking about you, Pottery… Oh, and just one more teensy little thing…

There’s a small bar with 50’s diner-style chairs and several tables for group dining.   The menu options of salads, soups, sandwiches, juices, and smoothies are clearly labeled vegetarian, vegan, raw, soy-free, and wheat-free.  As an added bonus, any salad can be a wrap or vice versa.  Patrons order at the counter and then meals are brought to the tables.

Their soups are always vegan, and when I was there broccoli cheddar was the offering of the day.  The cup of soup was a light starter to the meal, with large chunks of broccoli.   The soup was thinner than I’d typically expect with a strong flavor of nutritional yeast.  Luckily, I’m a big fan of nutritional yeast, and so that wasn’t a negative.  I think adding some pureed potato or cauliflower would give the soup a pleasant added oomph and body.

Raw pasta - $7.50

For the entrée I had their raw pasta made with spiralized zucchini in a tomato sauce topped with a pesto of basil, mixed raw nuts, nutritional yeast, garlic and olive oil.  The zucchini-based pasta is served on a large bed of spinach.  Finding a dish like this in the middle of Iowa is such a boon.  Surprising as it may sound, I rarely order salads at non-vegetarian restaurants.  It seems that in meat-centric restaurants, they count on flesh or animal-based cheese to be the highlight of the salads.  The actual vegetables can be on the meager side with iceberg or romaine lettuce, a few shreds of carrot, and maybe a couple of cucumber slices.  This raw meal was the opposite of that.  The flavors were fresh and vibrant, and twirling zucchini around my fork gave the meal body.  I liked how the spinach wilted in the sauce as I ate it, breaking it down, and soaking it in flavor.

Roasted Sweet Potato & Wild Rice –$8.50

My husband ordered the Roasted Sweet Potato & Wild Rice salad and had them make it as a wrap.  Large, roasted chunks of sweet potatoes and wild rice were tossed in spices and served with spinach in a tortilla.  My husband was surprised that the roasted sweet potatoes and rice were served cold since they are cooked ingredients, but enjoyed it otherwise.  (They mention in the menu that all wraps can be toasted upon request, and that would probably warm those cold ingredients.)  Although it wasn’t mentioned in the menu, they added hummus to the wrap, which he liked a lot and felt it unified the wrap in terms of flavor.

I’m sure we’ll be back to Fresh Café & Market on a future trip to Des Moines.  In the middle of Iowa, it’s exciting to find this kind of truly healthy fare.  True to its name, the vegetables popped.  That said, if you’re in a rush, be aware that everything is made to order, and there can be a bit of a wait.

Fresh Café & Market is located at 1721 Twenty Fifth Street Suite 110, West Des Moines, Iowa.  Their hours are Monday-Thursday 11-7, Friday 11-5, and Saturday 11-3.

I got hooked on Kristy’s blog a month or two ago, and I’ve made it a point to visit often to check out her tantalizing recipes, stellar photos, and best of all, the stories that make the food come to life.  This was my first time making something from her blog, and we definitely did not go away disappointed.  In her pre-vegan life, Kristy worked as a fromagier, and so it seemed only natural to sample one of her plant-based cheeses.  This tofu chèvre has a delightful sticky smooth texture and a mild flavor that pairs well with more pungent tastes.   A little tanginess from lemon juice, nuttiness from tahini, and salty umami from miso combined with tofu makes for a healthy and satisfying spread.  It would also be easy to modify it with the addition of fresh herbs like dill, thyme, rosemary, or cracked pepper.

The recipe is surprisingly easy to come together.  It just takes a bit of planning, as there are several steps involved.  I gave firm tofu a substantial press via my old school method.  (I wasn’t able to use my Tofu Xpress since one of its tabs broke off.  At least it was doing what it loved most – pressing tofu – when it met its untimely demise.  Rest in peace, TX.)  After pressing, the tofu was combined with the other ingredients in a food processor, rolled into a log, and then refrigerated for several hours.  Then it was baked for twenty minutes, left to cool, and then demolished with a little wooden knife for spreading.  Kristy says that the chèvre will keep for three days.  Not in my kitchen.

If you have greater self control than I do, I recommend trying one of the other tofu chèvre recipe possibilities on Kristy’s blog.  If you don’t, well, there’s everything good about sliding it onto some crispy bread and downing it with a bowl of soup or a hearty salad.   Patience be damned.

Oh, and one more thing!  I was jazzed to learn that I was chosen to be featured as Sol Cuisine’s Blogger of the Month.  Here’s a link to their post about it if you’re interested in checking it out!

For that reason, collards and lentils play a consistent part in my weekly meals.  I love making a batch of slowly cooked, garlicky greens and topping them with brown lentils in coarse mustard.  On days when soup fits the bill, it’s this Double Lentil Mushroom and Barley Soup that calls my name.  This is my current favorite soup, and I make it regularly.  Sometimes I make it with less mushrooms, sometimes with more.  Sometimes I make it with farro or brown rice instead of barley or leeks instead of onions.   Sometimes I make it with garlic, and sometimes I make it with even more garlic.   Any way it’s modified, it always turns out beautifully.  This is the kind of soup that I’d want if I was starting to feel a bit under the weather, because with all of that garlic and collard green goodness, surely I’d snap out of it by the time my bowl ran dry.

Initially I always made this soup with brown lentils alone, and then one day my husband stepped in to make it.  After the soup was ready he called me in from the kitchen.  “We were out of brown lentils, and so I used red,” he said.  I anticipated that it wouldn’t turn out that way since red lentils just kind of disintegrate, but as it happened, it was quite a discovery.  The red lentils made for a creamier soup that is more dense.  By adding a mixture of brown and red lentils, we get the toothsome quality provided by the brown lentils along with a fuller viscosity thanks to the red lentils.

Lately I’ve been making this soup by dry sautéing the mushrooms to start.  Then I’m able to sauté the garlic and onions in the mushroom liquid.  I’ve read varying opinions on how to best do this.  Some people claim that the mushrooms should be stirred constantly.  Some people vote for a low or medium-low heat.  My preferred method is adding sliced mushrooms to a large, dry soup pot on a medium to medium-high heat and not overcrowding them or moving them too much.  My experience has been that if I leave them alone, they get all hot and bothered within a few minutes, and I’m able to use that mushroom liquid for sautéing instead of oil.  By the time the liquid has burnt off, I add a couple of tablespoons of extra dry vermouth to deglaze the pan, and that does the trick for the remaining sautéing until I add water or broth to the pot.  If you would prefer going the regular route and using oil instead, feel free to sauté the onions and garlic in a teaspoon or so of oil, and then add mushrooms and continue as followed in the directions.

Double Lentil & Mushroom Barley Soup

Serves 4-6

• 14 white button or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small red onion, chopped small
• 2 Tbsp extra dry vermouth
• 6 cups vegetable broth or 6 cups water + 1 vegetable bouillon cube
• ¾ cup brown lentils, rinsed and sorted
• ½ cup red lentils, rinsed and sorted
• 1/3 cup barley, rinsed
• 2 cups collard greens, rib removed, chopped small
• 1 tsp herbs de Provence
• ¼ tsp smoked salt (Yakima applewood smoked salt is my favorite)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat large soup pot on a medium heat.  Add mushrooms to dry soup pot, spread evenly across bottom.  Warm mushrooms until they release their liquid, stirring only occasionally.  Once they have released enough liquid to sauté, lower the heat and add garlic and onions to sauté in mushroom liquid.  Once the liquid dries off and the onions and garlic start to stick, add extra dry vermouth to deglaze the pan.  Continue cooking until the garlic and onions are translucent and fragrant.  Add vegetable broth (or water and bouillon cube, if using), brown and red lentils, and barley to pot.  Bring heat to medium high until boiling.  Lower to simmer and add collard greens.  Cover with lid and cook for 40 minutes.  Add herbs de Provence, smoked salt, and salt and pepper to taste.  This will make a hearty and stew-like soup, but if you prefer it more liquidy, add water or broth as necessary.   Serve with roasted garlic and crusty bread or marinated olives.

The first thing I noticed about the cookbook is that the pictures are beautiful, and every recipe gets a photo.  I know this kind of thing shouldn’t matter.  It should be about the quality of recipes themselves.  However, when I’m looking through a cookbook, many times it’s the quality and quantity of photos that gets me going and puts a fire under me to cook.  (It sounds painful, but luckily I have a high threshold when it comes to cooking desire ferocity.)  Cookbooks that don’t have photos or that have generic introductions to the recipes themselves often languish in my cookbook cupboard.  I like to hear stories.  I want the authors to set the scene and tell me about the recipe itself or their experience creating it.  (That must be why I enjoy blogs so much.)  Luckily, this cookbook offers plenty of both where those things are concerned.

On to the recipes!  The first thing I made was the Lentil Pecan Pate.  I was going to a girls’ night that included about twenty other women, and so I made the full batch.  The recipe was easy to make and was actually better a day or two after I made it since it gave everything time to set up and for the flavors to meld.  In addition to the tastes of lentils, pecans, and fresh thyme, what really stood out to me was the fresh lemon juice that gave a tangy, fresh zip to the pate.  (It can also be made with white wine instead.)  I brought along carrots, celery, cucumber slices, and crackers for spreading.  The pate was a hit and people seemed to really enjoy it.  However, I had a lot left over.  My husband and I were eating it for a few days afterwards and still couldn’t finish it.  Since pate is eaten as a thin layer of spread, people don’t get through it quite as quickly as, say, salsa or guacamole.  Next time, I’ll make a half amount of the recipe, but I’ll definitely be making it again.  It would fit in perfectly at a winter holiday meal.  Plus, it’s nice that it can be made ahead of time when life is busy.

Next I made the Southwest Black Bean and Corn Mini Burgers with Smoky Paprika Cheese.  To make the burgers, vegetables are sautéed on the side, and then a mixture of black beans, rolled oats, breadcrumbs, and seasonings are processed in a food processer.  When I was making the bean mixture, I worried that it would be too dry and the burgers wouldn’t hold together.  However, when I added it to the vegetables and formed patties, they stayed together with no problem.  The burgers never got completely firm and dense; however, the flavor was very good.  I just love vegan Worcestershire sauce, which is included in the burgers, and I rarely have an excuse to use it.  The cashew cheese, which is made in a high-speed blender with smoked paprika pulls the dish together and makes it something special.  The recipe also calls for fresh thyme in the cashew cheese, which I will omit next time.  I felt it stood out in a way that didn’t fit with the other Southwestern flavors.  I’d also like to try baking the burgers next time instead of frying to cut down on oil and perhaps to firm the burgers more.

In my copy of the cookbook, above the recipe for Creamy Pistachio Pesto over Brown Rice is my handwritten note that reads, “Perfect!  David loved it!”  So if you plan on making this for someone named David, you should be safe.  This dish is gluten free, and as the name implies, involves making a pistachio pesto and combining it with brown rice.  What makes this pesto unique is the inclusion of light miso paste.  The miso provides a rich warmth that balances the nuttiness of the pistachios and brightness of the lemon juice.  The rice is topped with cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives.  I’ve actually made this twice, because we enjoyed it so much.  The second time I added roasted chickpeas to the dish, and it made it a complete meal.  This one will definitely go in the regular rotation, especially as summer edges closer and basil is more widely available.  (For now, I have two sad little naked basil plants in my kitchen window.  Hurry up, guys.  Mama needs basil.)

In the interest of “science,” I tried out one of the heavier items and landed on Beer Battered Tempeh Fish.  (A recipe for tartar sauce is also included, but I didn’t make that.)  I have to say, this one was my least favorite.  Some of it was that I’m not the biggest tempeh fan ever.  The pungent, fermented quality of tempeh has to be masked with spices for me to really get into it.  For this recipe the tempeh briefly marinates in a mixture of malt vinegar and agave nectar before getting dipped into the beer batter.  I’m a malt vinegar fiend, and I hoped that the tempeh would pick up a lot of that flavor, but it really didn’t.  It just tasted like plain tempeh in beer batter.  The recipe made at least double the amount of batter that was necessary, and so if you’re making it, I’d recommend reducing the amount by at least half.  The dish wasn’t bad per say, but I doubt I’ll make it again.  For the once or twice a year that I crave something beer battered, I’ll stick with the Beer Battered Tofu from Vegan Brunch.

Spork-Fed has a lot of indulgent, comfort food recipes.  It’s not unusual to see non-dairy butter, vegan cream cheese, vegan mayonnaise, agave syrup, or vegan cheese in the ingredient lists.  For that reason, it probably won’t be one I use all the time, but when I’m looking for something on the guilty-pleasure side I have earmarked the recipes for French Onion Soup with a Cheesy Crouton Topping and Nachos with a Melty Cashew Cheese, Lemon Herb Sour Cream and Guacamole.

Have you made any of the recipes from Spork-Fed?  What did you think?

I received a review copy of Spork-Fed at no cost from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions about this book in general and specific recipes are completely my own.

(This is one of the videos from last fall.  It seems that people either really get it or they absolutely don’t.)

Well, I had reason to look for that paper the other day when Susan Voisin over at Fat Free Vegan posted her recipe for vegan crab cakes.  As I scanned the ingredient list, which includes canned jackfruit, tofu, nutritional yeast, and turmeric, I instantly thought, “Great, I have all of those things on hand.”  People, if your kitchen staples include canned jackfruit, tofu, nutritional yeast, and turmeric… You just might be a vegan.

I love vegan crab cakes.  Any excuse to use Old Bay Seasoning is a winner with me.  I like to think of those crisp little cakes as an Old Bay Seasoning delivery service.  There’s something about that bite of celery seed that comes to life in the mouth in the most satisfying way.  I’ve actually had get togethers centered around vegan crab cakes, in which guests had to figure out which cookbook author created the recipe for which cake.  That being said, while I’ve made crab cakes with zucchini, tempeh, tofu, and now jackfruit, I’ve never made them with the body of a crab…  And you know what that means.  I just might be a vegan.

Susan gives two options with the crab cakes of either using tofu or white beans.  I went with the tofu, because like I said, that’s what I had on hand.  The cakes are baked instead of fried, and have a delightful crisp crunch.  I omitted the arame, because I’m not into that flavor of the sea.  While I was making my last cake, I only had about ¼ cup of the burger mixture left, and so I made one small cake.  I actually enjoyed that cake the most, since it was pleasantly appetizer sized.  It was just a few bites, and was a bit firmer than the rest of the cakes.

For two people this makes quite a lot, and so we were eating them for a few days.  However, they reheated well, and the flavor actually improved as time passed and the flavors melded.  We definitely enjoyed them and will be making them again.  They would be an excellent choice for a dinner party appetizer or even just a casual game night.  Since the cakes bake for 40 minutes, you could slip them into the oven when guests arrive.  By the time everyone is settled in and has a drink, it would be time to serve the appetizers.

This man scooping up the last remnants of chocolate banana soft serve from the Vitamix thinks he might be vegan. How can he know for sure?

In case you’re wondering if there are any more ways to figure out if or if not you’re vegan, here are a few:

If your neighbor stops by and wants to borrow a cup of flour, and you offer up teff, rice, vital wheat gluten, all-purpose, whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, and besan, you just might be a vegan.

If your cat’s favorite treats are mushrooms, squash, asparagus, nutritional yeast, and coconut milk ice cream, you just might be a vegan.

If you have plenty to eat at potlucks because people are kind of afraid of the food you bring (even if it’s just fresh fruit or chips and salsa), you just might be a vegan.

If hummus is a delightfully appropriate food choice for dinner, lunch, snacks, and breakfast, you just might be a vegan.

For people who have www.cadryskitchen.com on their blog roll, that should be unaffected by the move, because I have the same web address.

If you’re a WordPress subscriber, the automatic posts that you currently receive will no longer be sent out since I’m not at WordPress.com.  So to stay in the loop on all of the happenings and whatnot, sign up to the RSS feed in your preferred blog reader or sign up to receive emails of the posts.

Thanks for reading!  This is a work in progress, and I’ll be making more tweaks and improvements over the next few weeks.  Thanks for your patience!  I’m glad to have you along for the ride!

Generally, taquitos are made by warming soft corn tortillas in a dry, warm skillet until they’re pliable.  (If you try to roll a cold corn tortilla, it will break.)  Then they’re rolled with filling and fried in oil, seam side down.  Once a seal has been created, the taquitos are turned to brown on all sides.  The fried version is a delicious indulgence, but I try to limit the amount of fried foods I eat.  Plus, if a person incorrectly gauges how sealed the taquitos are and turns them too soon, one can end up with a pan full of fried filling.

In lieu of warming them in a dry skillet, I microwave the corn tortillas before filling them.  It saves time since I don’t have to warm the tortillas one at a time, but if you’re anti-microwave, feel free to do the pan method.  After that the tortillas are filled and then baked for fifteen minutes.  This baked version simplifies things to the point that make taquitos a doable and healthy weeknight dinner.

Baked Chipotle Black Bean & Sweet Potato Taquitos
Makes 10-12 taquitos

• 1 sweet potato, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil, divided + extra for brushing tortillas (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup red onion, chopped small
• 1 ½ cups black beans (1 15 oz can), drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp coriander
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp chipotle chile pepper
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• ¼ cup water + 2 Tbsp to combine (optional)
• Salt, to taste
• 10-12 corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 420 degrees. Put sweet potato pieces on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet. Toss with one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and spread them evenly across the sheet, being careful not to overcrowd. Roast potatoes for 20 minutes, tossing once for even cooking.

While the potatoes cook, heat skillet to a medium heat and add one teaspoon extra virgin olive oil to the heated pan. Rotate pan to spread the oil and add minced garlic and onions. Sauté onions and garlic until fragrant and translucent, about 3 minutes. Add black beans, cumin, chili powder, oregano, coriander, paprika, chipotle chile pepper, lime juice, and ¼ cup water to the pan. With a spatula, fully combine the beans and spices. Turn the heat off of the pan until the sweet potatoes are ready.

Once the sweet potatoes are ready, add them to the black bean mixture. If necessary, add 2 Tablespoons of water to fully combine seasonings.

Put the corn tortillas on a plate and cover them with a damp cloth napkin. Microwave the corn tortillas for 1 ½ minutes, until they are warm and pliable. (If they aren’t pliable enough, microwave for 30 seconds more.) While you fill each tortilla, keep the remaining plateful covered with the damp cloth napkin to keep them warm and pliable. Spoon two heaping tablespoons full of the black bean mixture onto the center of each tortilla and roll it into a tube. Place each rolled taquito on the parchment paper-covered baking sheet that you used for the sweet potatoes. Place the taquitos seam side down, and lean each of the taquitos against each other to keep them in place on the sheet.

Once all of the taquitos have been filled, brush them with a light drizzling of extra virgin olive oil, if desired, for optimum browning. Place the taquitos back in the 420 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Have you missed my other Spicy Black Bean recipes?  Check out Spicy Black Bean Tacos, Mango Pineapple Salsa on Black Bean-Stuffed Potatoes, and Black Bean Taco Pizza.

During the training we were taught to do a few simple magic tricks involving a magic wand, including one vital one that gave us the power to remove our fluffy costumed paws.  (Yes, the tricks were really high tech.)  That way we could use face paint on the kids and make balloon animals. I learned how to twist balloons into the shapes of giraffes, bunnies, swords, and flowers.  Then on Fridays I’d drive to Culver City to find out who I was going to be for the weekend.  Sometimes I was a Power Ranger.  Sometimes I was Barbie or Cinderella.  Other times I was Scooby Doo, Hello Kitty, or even just a generic dinosaur.  (Of course, they never advertised their characters as those specific names for copyright reasons.  I was a fashion doll or a mystery-sleuthing hound.  You know the drill.)  The costumes varied from being quite realistic and well made to a little flimsy around the edges.

At first I really enjoyed it.  I was greeted like a princess rock star.

“Oh, my god.  Barbie is here.  Barbie!  At my birthday!”

I regaled the girls with stories about Ken and our dream house.  I painted hearts and flowers on their cheeks, made some balloon daisies, and gave my best queen-like wave goodbye.

Then after a few weeks, it somehow took an unfortunate turn.  The problems began when I started going to parties for children over seven.  I don’t know what it is about seven, but at that point suspicion came to life.  It’s not the full-blown affirmation that happens around ten.  It’s this nagging and overpowering sense that they might be getting duped.  If seven year olds had their own kiddy version of Cheaters, it would mostly involve finding out the real truth behind the Tooth Fairy.

“Betsy, we have this video footage of your mom grasping underneath your pillow while you slept.  Do you want to see it?”

It was at that age that I spent a good chunk of my time deflecting the question, “Are you real?”  Was I really Barbie?  My North Hollywood dream apartment and dream Chevy Cavalier would have pointed largely to no.  But what do you do?  The parents have shelled out money for their little one’s party all bent on the idea that this celebrity sighting would be a highlight of the day.

But I should get back to the subject at hand, and that is Easter.  On this Easter in question all of those years ago, I was to attend a small gathering dressed, of course, as the Easter Bunny.  When I picked up the costume, I was impressed.  It had a real lifelike look to it, much better than your average mall-variety bunny.  It eased my worries a little, as just a week before I’d had a particularly bad run-in with a ten year old who wouldn’t let it go that I couldn’t possibly be an actual dinosaur at his party.  “You’re extinct!” he screamed at me.  I only wish I was kidding.   So this bunny gig boded well.  It seemed like it would bring on better days.

I drove to East Los Angeles and popped on my bunny head.  (We were told to do all of this from outside of viewing distance from the home in case the kids were watching out the windows.)  I knocked on the door and was greeted by a mom who was surrounded by a group of seven to ten year olds and one baby.  The mother put the baby into my furry arms, left me with the children, and went outside presumably to mingle over fruit salad and mimosas.  I started into my shtick, but the kids weren’t having any of it.  (Although the baby seemed positively delighted.)

I should mention that playing Barbie or a princess was the easy part.  The hard part was when parents would leave you to play games and watch after their sugar-loaded kids while dressed as a fluffy bunny.  You know who doesn’t garner respect?  A grown adult dressed as a fluffy bunny.  I felt as if all of the tools I’d gained in adulthood in keeping order with children were now stripped from me.  (If parents really want their 18-year-olds to consider higher education outside of theatre school, they should show them a variation of those 16 and Pregnant-style precautionary shows.  It would pretty much be me wearing a headband to catch all of the sweat that pours into your eyes while wearing an enormous costumed head but that you don’t have access to with your hands.  I’d be sneaking up on a house, slipping on my rabbit head and saying,  “I didn’t plan on my twenties looking like this…”)

I showed the kids my magic wand.  I offered to make balloon animals.  But all they wanted to do was have that epic, existential conversation…  Was I real?  At this point it all seemed to be very surreal being dressed as the Easter Bunny, pondering the questions of our times.  Who was I to break the truth to these kids, once and for all?  After a considerable amount of debate, the kids gave up on me and ran outside.  I worried what that might do to my tip that I couldn’t keep the kids entertained.  I decided the only thing left to do was continue on with it for the amusement of the baby.  I removed my paws and started working on a few tricks for her, and then the kids had a change of heart and came back just in time to see me handless.

“See!  You aren’t real!”

“No,” I sputtered.  “It’s all part of the magic.  See, but you missed it…”  Happy Easter, kids.

It was completely fruitless.  I’d sealed my bunny fate as a fraud.

I did a few more parties after that, but I started looking for other things.  If I’d wanted to spend that much time pondering my own existence, I would have gone into philosophy.

Easter Basket Salad

• Pineapple, sliced & also shaped into a bunny
• Strawberries, sliced
• Kale, shredded with the shred blade in a food processor
• For bunny features: thyme leaves for eyes, red bell pepper for nose and mouth, strawberry top for hat, strawberry slice for necklace, and a chickpea tail

Assemble in a bowl and top with your favorite dressing.  I topped it with creamy cashew dressing, but a raspberry vinaigrette would also be lovely.