well! it’s just been all james all week here at eff&music. gahhhh is it time for spring food festivals yet??? oh yeah, they’ve already started. i’ve just been too busy to go to any 
boo! anyway, i just can’t wait for a little warm weather so i can spend some time outside. *sigh* the winter blahs have got me down, y’all. can’t take it!
in other news, like i told ya last week, i gave up meat for lent, right? so it hasn’t been bad so far… even though last night i had to pass on lamb chops à la megan even though they looked super delicious… anyway, i think over the years it’s gotten so much easier to go veg for me… i guess it helps that i adore veggies now (i think i used to kinda hate them), and i’ve discovered so many fun kinds that i love! so, for your reading pleasure, my top five fun veggies:
leafy greens
kale
ok so maybe not a top five, maybe five categories. sautee any kind of leafy green & it tends to be a favorite with me… pretty much any kind will do. except maybe collard greens. i mean, i’ll eat them, but they’re not my fave. i’ve always been smitten with spinach, love that stuff, especially with mucho garlic. mmmm! swiss chard is something i’ve tried all too recently, but it’s pretty similar to spinach… last night for the first time (i think?) i had kale. and that shit was de-lish! kale is a type of cabbage that’s hugely nutritious and one of the more flavorful things i’ve ever put in my mouth. find out more about it (& how to prepare it) here. lotsa vitamins & antioxidants in these big ol’ green leaves, folks. try some. i mean, i’ll just about sautee anything that’s green. ever had sauteed arugula? it’s a lot more delicate than spinach but if you treat it right it’s delicious too.
brussels sprouts
brussels sprouts
i know, i know. the bane of your existence as a child, right? well, this girl never even got to try an effing brussels sprout till maybe a couple years ago. and i loved them! well, maybe love is the wrong word… but i really, really like them! and the first time i had them from was the cafeteria at work. so they could only get better from there, right? i’ve made them at home as part of a roasted root vegetable dish, and they are just amazing if you flavor them right. i like to think of them as little baby cabbages (which, technically, they truly are, even though they grow on stalks instead of directly from the earth). in aspen a few weeks ago we ate at this tapas place and one of the things we ordered were these little beauties prepared with shaved parmesan cheese and truffle oil. first of all, what doesn’t taste good with truffle oil, and second, omfg these were a.ma.zing. i’d love to duplicate that recipe. in fact, i might just try. we ordered a second helping of those and they were just the best ever.
root veggies
parsnips
speaking of which!! i’ve been havin’ mad fun with roasted vegetables lately, and it’s given me a lot of room to play with stuff i’ve never really noticed before. let’s take parsnips for example. just hearing the word parsnip makes me think of witches. i dunno why. but i first played with these white carrots (?) back around thanksgiving– my dad found this recipe for ‘smashed potatoes, parsnips, and rutabagas’ and we had that instead of just mashed potatoes. before we even get into this, lemme say… they were super delicious. since then i’ve used them in my roasted veggies and they’re so good! not quite as sweet as a carrot but they’re really good and have a lot of herby-flavor to them. also, rutabagas! my grandmother makes these a lot and i never quite understood what they were… but they can be kinda yummy. just hell to peel. be careful with these. what other yummy root veggies are there? sweet potatoes are a favorite, and really good for you too (as long as you don’t load them up with tons of brown sugar and butter, like we all enjoy).
rutabaga
asparagus
spargel!
definitely one of my favorite vegetables. i love all forms, shapes, colors, sizes of these yummy things. in german, they’re called spargel, and i think that makes me love them more. you know me and my fun little german words 
they even have their own festival over there. i tell ya, never was i a happier girl than when i saw the first sign for spargelfest. not that i went! but it made me happy. did you know there’s white asparagus too? to me they pretty much taste the same, maybe a bit more delicate, but they’re definitely a specialty in europe. we’re lucky enough to have asparagus as an option pretty much any restaurant we go to here, and you can find them in almost any store. get you some today! i’m just jealous that they don’t make my pee smell. everyone else. not me.
mushrooms
pretty chanterelles
do these things count? mushrooms are a favorite, favorite, favorite! i could eat sauteed mushrooms with butter & onions & garlic as a meal, every day, for always. mmm mmm good! any kind of mushroom is alright with me, and thank god for portabella burgers when i can’t have any cow. plus, what would a good juicy steak be without sauteed mushrooms on top? yeah. that’s what’s up. i always like to get the exotic variety pack at the store that has baby portabella, shitake, oyster, & chanterelle sliced up for your yummy enjoyment. ahhhh the flavor. and they’re a great addition to any gourmet grilled cheese sandwich.
well my little effs, i hope this inspired the vegetarian side of your brain go eat some goodness. brain food, yo! for more info on these and a ton of other yummy things, visit simply in season to see just what makes each of these things healthy and how to prepare them. love it! have a great weekend
peace,
james
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