Summery Strawberry Salad + Peanut Butter Coconut Ice Cream

Alright, so maybe these two recipes don't exactly combine to make the perfect meal, but peanut butter and strawberries do go together, right?!

No matter, I guess, because each of these dishes is delicious in its own right.

First, there's the refreshing Summery Strawberry Salad, which is the ultimate meal after a long, hot day in the summer sun. Then, there's the Peanut Butter Coconut ice cream, whose delectable sweetness makes it the perfect end (or beginning) to almost any day!

Holy Michael Phelps, It's Been a Long Time!

It's official: my nearly 3-month-long hiatus from Veggie Terrain (coupled with a recent 4-day "complete blog shutdown") has finally ended!

But as much as I've truly missed blogging, I'm proud to say that I accomplished a lot during my absence. During the past few months, I graduated from law school, completed an undeniably hellish Bar-prep program, and ultimately sat for the Bar Exam, itself. And although I won't know whether I passed until the 2nd week of October (talk about traumatic), I'm trying to be as positive as possible, and to take comfort in the fact that I've never worked so hard at anything in my life...

So, with that little bit of Bar Exam talk out of the way, let's get to the new - and hopefully improved - Veggie Terrain!

Just a Quickie... No, Not that Kind!

Don't be alarmed! Veggie Terrain isn't turning into some kind of weird book-fetishist website or something - I just wanted to let everyone see exactly what's been preventing me from posting during the last two months...

Pictured, above, is the ridiculous stack of Bar-prep materials that I've been having a torrid affair with since Barbri and PMBR effectively kidnapped me back in May. (Sorry, CH!)

Fortunately, at this point, it's safe to say that there's an end in site. The Bar Exam is fast approaching (yikes!), and I'm finally beginning to think about what life will be like when I no longer have to spend 10/+ hours a day studying.

What's the Deal with Organics?

This is one of the first posts that I began writing back when I initially started Veggie Terrain. At that time, I was just beginning to fully appreciate the importance of "organics," but was also aware of many of the questions and much of the confusion surrounding organic food. As a result, I began writing this comprehensive article, which I'm finally posting - just in time for summer's abundance of fresh, organic fruit and produce!

image borrowed from bbc.co.uk

There's been a lot of talk about buying organic over the past few months. People seem to be going crazy for Whole Foods, and there's lots of whispering about people incorporating "organics" into their "green lifestyles."

But what exactly does "organic" mean, and what are the benefits of going organic? Furthermore, when is it important to spend the extra money on organic produce, and when is it okay to skip organics all together?

Well, if you've been wondering about any of these issues, you're in luck! Read on to find the answers to these, and many more questions, below.

Edamame + Black Bean Summer Salad

As much as I hate to do it, I'm planning to start posting shorter blog entries during the next couple of months. Tomorrow is the official start of my Bar Exam prep classes, which means that things are about to get a little crazy around here.

Vegetarian Myths, Debunked

Imagine my surprise this evening, when an email with the following subject line appeared in my inbox:

"Meatless Like Me."

"Hmm..." I thought. "Could this be from someone who reads my blog? Or maybe it's from a family member or friend who decided to become a vegetarian. How weird."

Well, I was wrong.

It wasn't from anyone who I knew, nor was it from one of you fantastic bloggers. Instead, it was an article from www.slate.com, which is an on-line mostly politically-based "magazine," and is honestly one of the last places that I'd expected to read about vegetarianism.

Thus, I began reading the article, fully expecting to encounter a tirade against vegetarianism - "Humans are meant to eat meat! Vegetarians have such a superiority complex! It's impossible to get enough protein if you're eating like that!" Etc.

Crunchy Blue Corn Chickpea Tacos + Homemade Taco Seasoning

Feel like having something healthy?
Flavorful?
Simple?
Spicy?
Just plain pretty?

Well, get ready to say "Hello, Delicious!" because these Chickpea Tacos are INSANELY fantastic! They're one of the few meals that I could probably eat every single day and never get sick of (see also: Spicoli Burgers and Black Beans + Rice w/ Sweet Potato Cubes)!

Veggie Terrain Update

Don't worry - I'm still here. I've just been working "behind the scenes" of Veggie Terrain a little bit more...

Basically, I've started adding a few additional features to my blog, in an attempt to make it more user-friendly, and to add a bit of spice, if you will. In light of that, I figured I'd go ahead and publish a quick post about what I've added recently.

So, the following 3 things are new:

1. The "printer-friendly" versions of Veggie Terrain recipes. I've started adding these because I thought they'd be nice for those of you who want to quickly/easily print my recipes. Sometimes I hate having to highlight everything or cut + paste everything that I want to print, so this is my way of helping to reduce that necessity for you!
1. Note: Apparently I haven't been able to perfect these yet - they'll be fixed asap!
1. Consider the print-friendly links fixed! Yay!
   
2. The recommendation links. I've been working on adding links to other recipes on my site that you might like, based upon whichever recipe you happen to be viewing. In other words, what that means is that certain recipes will now: lead you to similar recipes; suggest different things that you might like; or assist you with additional ways to utilize the specific recipe, itself. Hopefully you'll find these things useful!
   
3. The "Twitter" updater. This is just a fun little sidebar that lets you know what I'm doing at the moment - as if you're actually interested - whenever I get around to updating it. The question that it poses is: "Whatcha doing JD?" While I do admit that it's really more of a social-networking application, I decided to add it here since I don't do the whole MySpace/Friendster thing.

That's all for right now, but I plan to post another entry soon.

And it'll have food, I promise!

Brighten Your Day Salad + Vegan Poppy Seed Dressing

You know how sometimes when you're feeling down, just seeing something that's bright and sunny can make you feel a little bit better? Well, as silly as it might sound, that's exactly what creating this salad did for me...

Last night, my mom called to tell me that she had finally decided to put our cat, Natasha, to sleep. We've had Natasha (or "Tashie," as we liked to call her) ever since she was a kitten and I was about 8 or 9 years old. She was a Seal Point Siamese cat, with blue eyes, beautiful white fur, and the typical black legs/ears/face that're associated with Siamese cats.

Tashie was a sweet and affectionate, yet calm and sophisticated pet. She was the kind of cat who could even make sworn "non-cat people" want to pet her, and was the envy of my friends when I was growing up.

Spicoli Burgers, Potato Squashers, & Thyme Roasted Tomatoes

Sorry for the gap in posting! Lately, the days seem to be running together... Mondays quickly give way to Fridays, while Saturday AMs covertly turn into Sunday PMs in the blink of an eye. I suppose it doesn't help that my schedule is jam-packed with a disproportionate amount of law school annoyances, but really - where has the time gone?!

Between classes, work, and weekend-long Bar review courses, I'm practically ready to invoke the insanity defense, myself. Not only do I have a major (mock) trial to prepare for my final Trial Advocacy class, but I'm also attempting to plan my graduation festivities, which is turning out to be a bit harder than expected. On top of that, people are failing the Bar and dropping dead left and right in my practice Bar Exam questions, which isn't exactly a morale booster...