Spicy Black Eyed Pea spread, Lentil Pate with sunflowerseeds,Shitake Mushroom Goulash with noodles, Roasted vegetables with couscous..PHOTOS & Prep

Portobello Mushrooms air dried for 4 days

Fresh Shitake Mushrooms also air dried for 4 days

Zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, parsley, cabbage and tomatoes, air drying after being plunged washed

Summer is here....at long last!!!
Higher than normal temperatures, ( triple digits in the San Fernando Valley ..20 mins north of  here) and an ocean marinelayer (thick low cloud) keeping my place cool, and shaded.

The menu for Monday is a wonderfully varied one of both vegetarian and vegan dishes

Vegan coconut "cream" of tomato soup finished with fresh tomato and basil leaves

Balsamic glazed pesto-lentil stuffed Portobello Mushrooms  with cheese ( to be baked at client's home)

Vegan  SPICY black eyed pea-chipotle spread that is served with garlic roasted potatoes & a tomato & cucumber salad

Vegan Shitake Mushroom "Goulash" with green cabbage, paprika and potato, served with pasta

Vegan Lentil & Sunflower seed pate with  tortilla  chips

Vegan chickpea & roasted vegetables ( eggplant, beefsteak tomatoes, zucchini & mushrooms) with whole wheat couscous


The breads/desserts :
My now famous wholewheat sourdough banana-walnut waffles

Chocolate and dried tart cherry sourdough breads

Banana-walnut Cake

The cooked black eyed peas

The cooked brown lentils

The great thing about lentils and black eyed peas is that they do not require pre-soaking before cooking and cook very fast..generally within 30 mins from boiling.
I usually cook all my dried pulses with bay leaves, and I DO salt them before cooking, as for most of my dishes, that  I require them to hold their shape.
However for these 2 dishes I salted them afterwards, so their skins would be tender...as they are both being processed.

The black eyed pea is a chunky and very spicy spread that goes wonderfully with roasted garlic potatoes and teams up fresh parsley and chipotle really well.

The lentil and sunflower pate has to  be baked again once the cooked lentils have been processed with  onions, garlic, chopped carrot ( you may add any amount of veggies to this dish as it is a great vehicle and is a coarse pate, great for spreading or even sandwiches), I am serving this one with tortilla chips so that it can be sliced and nibbled on.

This is the only prep I have done so far, more photos to follow tomorrow.