To-Do List, with Dinner Recommendation

My to-do list this morning looked something like this:

1)  Leave house at 8 AM.  Bike to work and enjoy cool(er) morning air and less sweaty bike ride.

2)  Survive epic 9 AM meeting with boss.  Convince him of project’s worthiness.

3)  Try to keep chin up if #2 doesn’t work.

4)  Tell sweet blog readers about amazing roasted tomato and black bean soup from Saturday’s evening in the kitchen.

Happily, I can tell you now that #1 and #2 did get done, and things are feeling a whole lot rosier about my work situation today.  I know it sounds like I’m being all secretive, and I am, but I’ll just say that after weeks of anxiety, I think some progress was made today.  I’m feeling more optimistic about the next few months.  And if nothing else, the rest of this week is going to be a breeze compared to the last two days.  Matt's coming to visit me on Friday, and if I play my cards right, we’ll visit the farmers’ market on Saturday and then he’ll cook me dinner.  It’s pretty nice having him around.

So that’s the plan for this weekend.  Tonight, however, I am totally fried.  That roasted tomato and black bean soup deserves more love and affection than I can give it right now.  I’m so tired that if Matt were here, I’d probably ignore him in favor of watching Glee episodes on Netflix because I just need to relax and zone out for an evening.  It’s just been two of those days, you know?  In lieu of a new soup recipe, how about I offer you a dinner recommendation?  This one’s really good, I promise.

First, get a batch of Daine’s Mom’s Slow-Cooked Green Beans going.  If you haven’t tried that recipe yet, now is your chance!  The recipe is vegan, totally delicious, and totally good for you.  And I highly recommend Daine’s suggestion to add toasted sesame seeds to the final dish.  There’s some sort of combinatorial magic between the sesame seeds, almonds, and the soy sauce-glazed green beans—it’s addictive.  If you can, make a double batch of the green beans.  It’s the kind of dish that makes you sad when it’s all gone.

While the beans are slow-cooking their way to awesomeness, make a batch of rice.  Top it with crumbled feta cheese and slices of juicy tomato.  If you live in the South like me, you might be able to find local tomatoes at the farmers’ market or in your own backyard garden.  Mine came from the First Friday farmers’ market, and they were amazing—now I remember why I miss having easy access to a farmers’ market.  The tomatoes alone would be worth the drive or bike ride.

Finally, for dessert, eat something fruity.  It’s best if you have some leftover apple-pear crumble on hand, but you could more than make do with some sugared strawberries spooned over a slice of lemon cake.  You just want something that speaks of the harvest, whether it’s the last of the winter apples or spring’s berries.

See you tomorrow, friends, with a can of black beans and some tiny tomatoes.