Bacon Cupcakes Take Over Our Kitchen

Green Salad

Mixed greens, red peppers, flowers and arugula from the garden, and blood orange dressing (five whole small blood oranges, one red onion, red wine and balsamic vinegars, olive oil, salt, and a tiny squirt of mustard, all in the food processor).

Brown Rice

Lentil Salad

3 quarts French Lentils, simmered in 4 quarts water until tender with bay leaves, dried thyme and a couple of onion halves. Lightly caramelized minced onions with a ton of garlic, and roasted carrots added at the last minute. Mustardy dressing (equal parts mustard, red wine vinegar, and olive oil), toasted walnuts, and feta on the side. Next time, either boil the carrots, or start roasting them earlier, and get a soft goat cheese if possible.

Asparagus and Mushrooms

2 ways: steamed asparagus mixed with sauteed mushrooms, and roasted in candied bacon fat. The second preparation was less amazing than I had expected. The first, thanks to Ida, was perfect.

Beets

Scrubbed, chopped, tossed with salt and olive oil, and cooked at about 425 for about an hour and half. This is not my favorite beet preparation, but it is very easy and very good, and complemented the rest of the meal.

Lemon Garlic Tofu

Slices of tofu marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, a lot of garlic, some garden herbs, and a little soy sauce and maple syrup, then baked, swimming in the extra marinade so that they wouldn't dry out. Started at a very high temperature, then down to about 300 degrees once they were browned. These puffed up in a kind of funny way, so I was a bit worried about them when they came out of the oven, but they were great.

Grilled Mahi Mahi

Salt, pepper, lemon, olive oil, and Megan Williams's grilling magic. I don't know exactly what her algorithm for the fish was, but it was very tasty. Some of it was a little overcooked, but this was my fault for insisting on "American done."

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

with cream and butter ganache, and maple bacon. I thought that this would be a cute way to make a meaty dessert, and expected them to be no better or worse than unbebaconed cupcakes, but they were amazing. These may be my new dinner party dish: plain vegan cupcakes from the vegan cupcake book with chocolate chips melted into butter and cream, topped with bacon bits made from baked maple coated bacon. Wow. I am not, in general, and oh-my-god-bacon person, but: Wow.

(Note - Tuesday Morning - this would probably have been a better sauce for the fish than the thin aioli that I made with the hand blender, and it uses whole eggs!)