liamsaunt

I had planned to make roasted rack of lamb and asparagus risotto for Easter dinner, but the forecast was unexpectedly warm--87 degrees--so the racks of lamb went into the freezer and I made schwarma instead. Lamb from the cookbook Jerusalem: chicken from the current edition of Food and Wine pita (an old recipe from Fine Cooking magazine) salad there was also rice pilaf and baba ganoush--also from Jerusalem, plus a couple of sauces for the meats.

Thanks! Come back soon, but maybe not this weekend. :-) The city is jammed with people for the marathon. I left work early yesterday and it took me an extra 20 minutes to walk to the train because of all the people checking in for the race and milling around in general. Early dinner tonight. My niece turned her nose up at our menu and so made some sushi on her own from the leftover tuna I bought for her poke bowl last night. Adults had Vietnamese flavored chicken salad

Last night, a tuna poke bowl for my niece (onions omitted) Warm lobster rolls for the adults

@shain, lovely photos, especially the beets! I could eat that whole plate. Tonight, beluga lentil tacos.

After last night's decadent scallop sandwich, it was time to delve into this week's TB12 Purple Carrot box. Pasta "alfredo." The pasta was made from chickpeas and the sauce is vegan: made with cauliflower, shallots, garlic, lemon, macadamia nuts, cashews, almond milk, and nutritional yeast. This was my first experience cooking with any kind of gluten free pasta. It was not bad, but I would certainly not choose it if I was given the option to have regular pasta. Served with an arugula-raddichio salad.

Scallop sandwich with rosemary fries

Today's salad: arugula, red onion, feta, tomatoes, artichokes, chickpeas, and Israeli couscous with a red wine vinaigrette. I should have added some roasted peppers and olives

antipasto plate

Thanks! I am hoping that it might cut down on food waste in my kitchen, and introduce some different plant based ideas to our diet. I'll still have Monday and the weekends to cook whatever I like. Last night, pasta norma

Purple Carrot #3: crispy turnip cakes with za'atar yogurt and kumquat quinoa tabouli. That's for for box #1, so it's back to my own ideas for dinner for the next few days.

Purple Carrot #2: ramen bowl with gingered amaranth greens, roasted broccoli, and watermelon radish. I de-veganized it with an egg. It was pretty good but I like my usual recipe more.

I've been bringing salads to work for lunch recently. This one had pears, apples, almonds, turkey and Gorgonzola dolce Yesterday I brought tuna with olive oil, capers, pepperoncini and almonds and today I have roast salmon with plums, feta and almonds in a berry vinaigrette

Roasted salmon and vegetables over white lentil risotto with cashew gremolata The salmon was my addition to a Purple Carrot meal. My husband signed us up to get three Purple Carrot meals a week. They are based on a vegan, gluten free, low soy and who knows what else diet that New England Patriot Tom Brady follows. To say I was skeptical is an understatement. However, this first meal was actually really good! I ended up saving my salmon for lunch today and just ate the lentils and vegetables. I doubt we will keep the subscription for very long, but for now I guess I won't mind experimenting with whatever comes in the box. I have the capacity to recycle all of the packaging, which is a plus.

Last night, haddock veracruzana style

I did not know you were from Westerly. I lived there as a young person. Went to elementary school before we moved away. The town library is so nice, and the adjacent park (Wilcox?) with the skating pond was lovely. And of course the town owned beaches were a great asset. I was furious when we moved out of there! It's such a cute town. Nice price on the squid--it is much more here in MA. Tonight we had Thai style fish cakes made with the last of the pollock from this week's fish share and a cucumber salad and rice

Reuben made with pollock

My sister and her kids eat meatless on Fridays during Lent, so I made a spinach and artichoke strata and a roasted tomato salad Mushrooms too, but I forgot to take a picture of those.

Roast salmon banh mi

It's a tough job but someone has to do it ;-) In all seriousness we called our share and paid for the second pound of scallops. We certainly ate them! Sand dabs stuffed with scallops and mushrooms with some spinach and baby potatoes

Everyone's dinners look great as always! Last night I made flatbread with seared scallops and arugula. My fish share accidentally gave me too much fish, and I ended up with 2 pounds of scallops instead of the one pound I ordered, plus 2 pounds of sand dabs, and two pounds of Faroe Island salmon! I gave half of the salmon and dabs to my sister, and she took a few of the scallops, but we still have more scallops to eat. I am thinking of stuffing the sand dabs with scallops for dinner tonight.

Cinnamon Bay is in the midst of a major renovation. The tents will now be larger "eco-tents" and the cabins are being expanded too. Details on exactly how that is going to work are fuzzy--they cannot change the footprint as per National Park rules, so it sounds like they will be going up--with a lofted bedroom and possibly even a private bath. Prices will rise accordingly of course. My husband flat out refuses to camp, or even to glamp, so we won't ever be staying there. I agree that Cinnamon is a gorgeous beach. We did not visit this time because the North swell was up, but I'll be there a lot this summer. I've been out to Reef Bay but not this time. My husband is dealing with a pulled tendon in his ankle which would have made hiking down there impossible. Fatty Cue is long gone. It was actually called Fatty Crab. I ate there around four times, but it never caught on with the locals. My island friends thought it was funny that the restaurant was called Fatty Crab but they never served any crab there :-) Skinny Legs is still going strong. I am not a big fan--I don't eat red meat so my options there are pretty limited--but will probably go there this summer anyway. I've been trying to track down a copy of Grandma Raised the Roof for quite a while with no luck. I know the story though. Her house is still there! Last meal....we headed back to Caneel Bay to take the ferry to the airport. We did not have a lot of time, so opted for some more sushi. A repeat of the delicious yellowtail koi A repeat of the tuna island salad Tuna tataki and tuna-crab wontons and then it was time to go... I'll pick this report back up again when I return this summer. There will be a lot less fine dining and a lot more casual food and villa cooking, so you will get to see some new places. Thanks for looking.

@Thanks for the Crepes you are correct, that is a parrotfish. It was me who advised liuzhou not to eat it. Ciguatera is no joke. We were originally scheduled for another fine dining experience last night, but I just could not do another elaborate meal, so we cancelled. We drove across the island, stopping for a few scenic photos along the way. Caneel Bay--where I am heading in a hour to take the ferry to the airport :-( Beautiful Maho and Francis Bays. I have a villa rented above Francis Bay for this summer's visit and eventually ended up back at Shipwreck Landing Conch fritters Blackened shrimp quesadilla Grouper sandwich We headed back to our condo to watch the sunset and then went to dinner at the Beach Bar Tuna Down Now Mahi tacos I will have one more meal to share with you, but it will have to wait until I am home and enjoying the blizzard that is approaching. I think we might be coming in on one of the last flights in to Boston before the storm starts. At least I have two more weeks of this island in just four months to look forward to while I am raking my roof!

Yesterday I was hoping to go to one of my favorite restaurants on the island for lunch. They have traditional West Indian food as well as regular stuff. I wanted a bowl of kalalloo soup, but it turns out that they were closed because they had held a full moon party the night before. I really hope they will be open when I come back this summer. They always close for a few months in the slow season. Anyway, we ended up back at Aqua Bistro. Calamari Grouper tacos That night we visited the Terrace for dinner. Cocktails On the left is a Mexican cousin (Nuestra Soledad mescal, St. Germain, locally made ginger beer, and lime) and on the right is a Ramble on Rose (frozen Pinot Project Pinot Grigio rose, Grey Goose orange vodka, St. Germain and strawberries, topped with Montes sparkling angel) We shared a roasted baby heirloom tomato tart with chèvre and locally grown greens and an app special that night of tuna tartare My entree was a rare seared tuna with Parisian gnocchi, asparagus, wild mushrooms, and lavender scented port reduction and husband had the butter-poached lobster with roasted corn and grape tomatoes, tuxedo orzo, truffle, and lobster-herb hollandaise We then sampled the camembert beignets with stone fruit compote, spiced nuts and local wildflower honey Today is our last full day on the island, which my mind is sad about, but my stomach says is a good thing. I think I am converting to veganism when I get home :-) Finally, some snorkeling shots from yesterday