Moratoriums

This month--and perhaps next--I'm issuing a moratorium on eating out and driving more than oh, 15-20 minutes, which basically means staying within biking distance. Why am I doing this? The main reason is b/c I have been eating out way too much and have been feeling like meh for the past few months. Plus everything here is so eating-out-centric, that I think I'm just rebelling against the idea of eating out 5 or 6 times a week. This just isn't normal. But this was pretty much my May and June.

So now I'm going the other extreme and not eating out. Actually, I already have to break this twice, b/c of work-related stuff, but for the most part, I plan to spend more time cooking with friends and cooking at home.

How has it been so far? I'm loving it. What have I made these past seven days? Let's see. . .
-Sunday, I had gwind over for brunch. I made mango gazpacho and buckwheat crepes stuffed w/ gruyere cheese and spinach. Yum.
-Monday, in addition to leftovers from Sunday, I steamed yellow beets and made a shaved fennel, radish, beet, orange and toasted walnut salad w/ a lime/honey vinaigrette. This is a recipe I stole from our lovely Canadian friends who are now far, far away. . . but I digress. It is a delectable summer salad.
-Tuesday, I went over to another friend's house and made samosas, after which, I thought I died and went to heaven. :)
-Wednesday (the 4th of July!), I made a saffron-laced pasta salad w/ toasted pine nuts, currants, and almond slivers for a picnic.
-Thursday, in addition to enjoying leftovers of the saffron pasta salad (for both lunch and dinner), I made my favorite summer dish-- a savory watermelon salad with ricotta salata, pine nuts, and chiffonaded basil, dressed with a lime vinaigrette. I also made a ground peanut cucumber salad, which came out ok. Nothing out of this world, but cold cucumber anything is refreshing in the summer.
-Friday, I made a corn salad w/ toasted mustard seeds, and cornmeal shortcakes w/ tomatoes and mozzarella.
-Today, I had people over for a temaki party.

Normally, I don't cook daily like this-- but the salads entailed very little cooking (mostly chopping, making vinaigrettes, etc.), and I must have felt kitchen-deprived, b/c I did go out of control this week. However, I sat down to a lovely healthful meal full of vibrant beautiful colors every day of this past week. Thus, the first week, I thoroughly enjoyed my week "at home".

I loved that I could take advantage of the bounty of seasonal veggies that I got at the farmer's market.

Next week, I don't expect to cook as much, but I imagine I'll do some more similar salads. Perhaps make lavender melon soup w/ the melon I just bought today. . ..