In which I fall in love with savory oatmeal, salvage a pot of giant beans, and still have apples coming out of my ears.  Also, we went to California (where my sweet mama fed us this and this), then took an 8 p.m. flight home with three children.  We are fearless.  We are foolish.  Note to self: children never sleep on planes when you want them to.  At least we had good snacks.

In The Kitchen

Menu 1: I cooked up a pot of white beans using a bag of Greek gigantes (yes, they are giant) I found in the back of my cupboard.  And I cooked and cooked and cooked that pot.  Hopefully your beans haven’t been sitting around as long as mine, which took hours to become tender.  But they were good in the end!  We had a simple dinner of white beans with roasted delicata squash and an oregano-olive oil drizzle.  Menu 2: I pureed the leftover beans into a spread using some of the bean cooking liquid and some of the oregano oil.  We served it on baguette rounds alongside a big pot of vegetable-and-bean soup and a green salad with pears and hazelnuts.  This was an easy way to feed ten on a weeknight.  Watch for recipes for the white bean puree and the soup this week!

Menu 3: I caramelized a pot of onions and have been using them all week.  A cup went into quinoa cakes tonight along with simmered kale, and I made a parsley salsa verde to serve with them.  I seriously need help figuring out how to make a vegan version of those quinoa cakes.  Anyone?Menu 4: Ok, this isn’t much of a menu, but if you are at all intrigued, please make this savory oatmeal with curry, greens, and caramelized onions.  It’s everything you’re imagining and more.  Make it as a 10-minute dinner if you don’t have time in the morning.  Even babies love it.Preserving

While I was making caramelized onions anyway, I used my biggest pot and froze some to make caramelized onion hummus later.  (Although, let’s be honest, they might all just go into oatmeal now.)

On My Plate

I still have a fridge-full of apples that escaped the applesauce binge.  Our fruit CSA is giving us a huge weekly box of apples.  I have this apple-lemon-honey jam in my sights.  Any other apple novelties I should know about?  What about recommendations for healthyish apple baked goods?And finally, I am obsessed with savory oatmeal, and not just the one above.  Today’s had blue cheese, black pepper, and an olive-oil poached egg.  There’s also a version in the works with peanut butter, soy sauce, and spicy sesame oil.  Do you have any recommendations for me in this vein?

Once again, thanks for cooking along!

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