liamsaunt

Vegetarian Singapore style noodles with roasted broccoli and peppers

I had a lot of corn to use up, so I blended some of it in a vitamix with salt and pepper and a splash of milk, then strained it. Then I just cooked some sliced shallots in butter until soft, added in the corn liquid until it was warm, then stirred in some corn kernels, a handful of Parmesan and a handful of shredded basil. Season to taste. Pretty simple.

I made a batch of Ottolenghi's hummus from the Jerusalem cookbook, and topped it with grilled zucchini, summer squash, eggplant, peppers, and red onions. Plus some added feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives. I also made some flatbread to soak up all the juices and extra hummus. Everyone liked it.

Grilled lemon chicken over corn fricassee with sliced tomato from the farm near my house

My freezer was filled with a whole boatload of zucchini from my CSA that I blanched and stored before a recent trip. I had to get rid of it to clear some space. So yesterday I roasted it and then pureed it with some cilantro, lime, and butter and made it into a base for some broiled swordfish with curry butter and curried rice. Everyone liked it. Of course, I still have a fridge full of fresh zucchini and summer squash from this week's CSA to use up...

Sandwich with roasted zucchini and summer squash, fresh mozzarella, sweet tomato and pepper relish on one side of the bread, spicy ground up Calabrian chili peppers on the other side, red onion and arugula.

Ours does not let you choose what you get, but it is delivered to your doorstep, rather than being picked up. They also offer specialty add on shares throughout the year. At this time of year, we also subscribe to their corn and fruit share, and their tomato share. The standard box comes weekly, and their specialty shares come on the weeks you choose (though you must choose and pay for a set number of weeks). This week was just a standard box week. We got two eggplants, two cucumbers, one tomato (I was hoping for more), two heads of lettuce, three yellow summer squash, two regular green zucchini, one massive green zucchini that is going to be annoying to deal with, two sweet onions, and four ears of corn. We opted to subscribe year round and prepay for our CSA for four years, which got us a 20% discount off the standard price.

Well pizza of all types is one of his five core food groups, so I am sure he will be exploring that style while there! He has been driving to his destination, and should get to his apartment by tonight. I would not be surprised if pizza is his dinner. 🙂 Last night we had a green coconut vegetable curry using up some of the CSA bounty: zucchini, eggplant, peppers, cilantro, and onions. I aded some cashews for crunch, and served it with lemongrass rice. Last night

Nephew is moving to Chicago for grad school this week, so I have been letting him pick the dinners in the lead up to his departure. Steak tacos (he grilled chicken for myself and my sister) Burgers another night. He grilled beef ones, and I made shawarma flavored veggie burgers for my sister and me, pictured here. The flavor was good but the texture needs some help. I'll keep working on it. Paneer and cauliflower curries And fish and chips

There were a few days that were very dusty. One day in particular was so dusty that you could see it rolling over the hilltops. We all had itchy eyes and sore throats from it, so spent most of that day indoors reading. That’s the nice thing about going back to the same place regularly…if you miss some days due to weather or whatever it is no big deal. The dust really does help with suppression of tropical weather too. There was a tropical wave coming that had potential to develop into a depression by the time it got to us, but the dust and winds broke it up before it arrived. It rained a bit most late nights which I think helped to clear the air as well.

Last installment. None of us were hungry when we woke up, so we spent the day at Cinnamon Bay swimming. Such a pretty beach Wd ended up going for a late lunch/early dinner at Skinny Legs. They basically serve burgers. Setting Drinks. A margarita and a painkiller. Cheeseburger in paradise? Some people think so. They offer veggie burgers too a slice of key lime pie to share. It was frozen and tart, just the way I like it. We then went to Hawksnest beach to eke out the rest of the sun from the day. There was a little sargassum on the beach but the water was clear. And that concludes this visit to St. John. See you on the dinner thread.

Wednesday afternoon we went over to the Lime Out floating taco bar for linner. It’s only reachable by boat. You could easily swim to it from shore, but they only serve people who arrive via boat because they have cocktails, and swimming plus cocktails is usually not a good idea. Years ago there was a boat like this at a different beach that only served drinks, no food, and you had to swim to it. They did have a few issues over there with over served people getting into trouble in the water. That boat was destroyed in the hurricanes and not rebuilt. Lime Out floating taco bar You sit on floating lily pads, and the servers come out in that floating platform to push your food and drinks to you. We went later in the afternoon so it was not busy. Earlier in the day it’s always jammed up here. A couple of the tacos we ordered. Korean tuna, and two rum pork rib Another Korean tuna, a grouper seveche, and a jerked tuna with pineapple radish salsa We ended the day with a swim at Maho beach. That guy with the cooler at the water line is collecting water samples for the National Park. They issue beach water quality reports regularly. Yesterday we headed out with no set plans around noon time. By some small miracle, there was a parking spot at Trunk Bay. We could not let the opportunity pass us by, so we ended up spending the day here. There were a lot of other people, but the end of the beach we like is never crowded. We called an audible and made a last minute reservation for dinner at Extra Virgin Bistro. It’s a three course prix fixe. I am still full today haha. Here’s the menu Drinks. I tried the coco loco mocktail (just ok). Sister had a limin’, husband had a martini, and nephew had a up in smoke First course. Sister and I had the ricotta Nephew was excited that he could have the calamari. I think the chef made him a double portion, because this was huge niece and husband chose the pork belly Second course. Nephew had the sausage gnocchi Niece had the spinach salad with goat cheese and popcorn snd the rest of us had the wild mushroom pappardelle i could have stopped here, but it was time for the third course. Three of us had the tuna niece chose the short rib and nephew had the filet and then niece and nephew wanted dessert! Niece had the apple crisp and nephew had the passionfruit bread puddong Today is our last full day, and I don’t know what we are doing for food, but probably not much after that huge meal!

Monday we had a pretty relaxing day. The weather was raining off and on, so we decided not to snorkel. We visited Hawksnest Bay This mongoose wanted to know if we had any snacks it could steal. They are clever little dudes and will get into your zipped beach bags looking for food. We did not have any, so it left disappointed Panorama of the beach We skipped eating out in favor of pool time at the villa. Nephew made watermelon margaritas for those who wanted one And then grilled sausages, peppers, onions, chicken thighs and garlic bread for dinner. We brought the meats from home. Yesterday we went back to Caneel Bay to do some snorkeling. This lobster was hiding French angelfish, adult phase French angelfish, intermediate phase grouper Stoplight parrotfish We went to town for dinner at Morgan’s Mango. Drinks We shared a couple of appetizers. Tuna tartare and snapper seveche Three of us had the catch of the day, which was corvina Niece opted for coconut crusted grouper Amd husband had a lobster. He had them take it out of the shell in the kitchen because of my nephew’s allergy. I think he missed gnawing on the shell a bit but didn’t say anything. We shared a massive piece of key lime pie for dessert It’s extremely hot today, so we are relaxing at the villa this morning before boating over to a floating taco bar for an early dinner later on.

Saturday was a pretty mellow day. We just spent the day swimming at Francis beach, and then went back to the villa to grill burgers and veggie burgers that I brought from home. I remembered to take a picture of the beach this time. Sunday was another fairly lazy day. My husband lost his snorkel mask on our boat day (the strap snapped when he jumped off the boat. The water was 60’ deep so there was no swimming after it) and we have not gone in to town to replace it yet, so we have just been swimming. Sundays in the summer are the worst day to get parking at the beach because that’s the day many locals have off from work, and the water is actually warm enough that they will swim in it. We ended up driving all the way to the east end to a rocky but calm beach called Haulover. Even here, at the farthest point of the island, there were about 15 other people on the beach. This is one of those spots you would typically have to yourself. After swimming my nephew lobbied very hard for an early dinner at Johnny Lime, which is barbecue. The setting The menu Drinks. Husband’s lita mezcalita, a special passionfruit gin fizz that my sister chose, and my nephew’s danger. Niece and I just had water. Husband got brisket with mac and cheese and a salad with local greens I had a blackened catfish sandwich with slaw and yucca fries. I am not sure when they switched from mahi to catfish on the menu, or why, but it ended up being very tasty. nephew had brisket with rice and beans and yuca fries Niece had a pulled pork sandwich that I did not get a picture of, and sister was sulky because she didn’t want anything on the menu. She didn’t end up ordering anything but a side of the chickpea fritters. After linner we went to Trunk Bay for a late swim And then back to the villa to shower. I had a visitor in my outdoor shower though, so my husband and I ended up going for a pool swim instead and called it getting cleaned up 😂

Yesterday we were all wiped from the boat day, so we spent the day at the villa relaxing. I processed my underwater photos so thought I would share a few. There were a lot of jellies in the water. We all wear long sleeved rash guards and long swim pants when snorkeling in case of stuff like this. I would rather deal with lots of big jellies like the ones we saw than the invisible and incredibly painful sea lice stings. I am fairly certain that all of these jellyfish were moon jellies, which only have a mild sting, but others in my party are adamant that there were multiple types around. Anyway, here are some jellyfish. Their bodies ranged in size from just a few inches to over dinner plate. The tentacles stretched for a few feet. blue tang Black durgeon. We only see these in the BVIs Spanish hogfish One of many caves that you could swim inside at Norman Island. It was creepy and dark in there, though we saw some fish that were not present elsewhere. I think you would have needed a dive light to fully explore it. We did not come prepared for that. We went to La Tapa for dinner Drinks i got a cauliflower bisque to start. After I tasted it I realized I ordered this last time I was here too 😂 Everyone else shared a few orders of tuna tartare, but the photo came out blurry. Husband and I had tuna with polenta cake and mango sauce, the usual sister had hers with wild rice and coconut sauce Niece and nephew had ribeyes with a Greek salad on top and a three potato mash We shared a flan for dessert Except for my niece, who got a bread pudding with saffron ice cream and raspberry sauce No dinner reservations for the next few nights.