Vegan Day Three- Oops, I Cheated

So, I made an Orzo salad last night for the birthday picnic I am attending tonight. An ingredient in the salad is Ricotta Salata, and who am I to deny my friends a better pasta salad, so I chose to add it in. I ran over to the incredible Cowgirl Creamery at the Ferry Building and picked up some Ricotta Salata. But when I was there I got a bit distracted. I am going river rafting and camping this weekend so I thought it would be in my best interest to get some yummy cheese for said trip. I asked the very helpful guy behind the counter what a good camping cheese would be. I needed something that was hard and not goopy, and something that could withstand some changes in temperature, bounce around a bit, etc. He helped me choose two cheeses, which will be unveiled after the trip! But OF COURSE I had to taste them. So, whoops. No more vegan. But if you are going to cheat, I truly believe an amazing piece of cheese from the Cowgirl Creamery is worth it.

I told John when I got back to the office that I cheated on our diet and... he did too! He had a yogurt for lunch. I pretended to yell at him but secretly I might feel better than we both did. It was just a bite after all!

I stuck to my guns for dinner though and made Pesto pasta with roasted cauliflower. This was the gorgeous purple cauliflower that I got in my organic delivery. I roasted it Monday night with some olive oil and a squeeze of a lime (I absolutely love cauliflower with citrus). So I tossed it in a pan to reheat it, added some frozen spinach pesto from a month ago or so, and then added the Spinach and Chive and Whole Wheat linguine I cooked.
It was delicious and totally satisfying. John loved the flavors and the extra body the cauliflower added. We also had a green bean and tomato salad. I blanched the green beans the night before (such an industrious girl I am!) and added those with some lovely heirloom tomatoes I bought at the Ferry building. I made a vinaigrette of dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, and two teaspoons of sugar. All you have to do is let it sit for awhile. This is really one of those salads that are better off if you dress it way before eating. At least 15 minutes I would say.


The dinner was quite tasty and filling. I didn't even finish my pasta, too much! I have no idea if the nutritional value of this meal was anywhere close to what we need, protein and whole grains wise. There were walnuts in the pesto and one of the linguines was whole wheat. But I have read over and over again that Americans actually get WAY more protein than necessary. So I'm not too concerned. Plus for lunch I had a whole wheat tortilla wrap with tomatoes, cucumber, tofu, tofurkey, ginger, and hummus, so I am pretty sure I am set. All those veggies along with an apple and a peach, I was a pretty vitamin filled girl yesterday! And John was a happy boy as well. It was the perfect warm meal to eat after a nice but windy run at Crissy Field.