A New Month

It’s another gorgeous day here in NYC. Hope your Sunday is off to a good start. I’m planning to do my PT stretches and then find a reason to go outside. Can you believe it’s May already? Personally, I’m excited, as it means we’re going to keep getting warmer weather. I’m also looking forward to a summer that includes only one class and quite a bit of travel. I’ve also been working on a little list of May goals.

I’m surprised not to be feeling the two glasses of wine I had at dinner last night, but I know better than to look that horse in the mouth. Spending an evening catching up with friends over a meal was the perfect way to celebrate the end of April  and the beginning of May. I was also really happy with how the food turned out.

To start with, there was edamame and homemade spring roll/egg roll-type things that were filled with cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, snow peas, soy sauce and a little sesame oil.

For anyone with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity who has asked me about gluten-free cooking, these rolls were the only thing we served that didn’t happen to be gluten-free (we used wheat-free tamari in place of “regular” soy sauce), but they could have been made without gluten if you made your own wrappers out of rice flour or found wheat-free ones in the store. Chris and I had fun making these. Once they’re wrapped, all you do is brush with a little olive oil and bake—perfect for people (like me) with frying phobias related to oil splatters past. 

For the main dishes, there was a green papaya salad and a tofu curry with coconut-scented brown rice. I don’t know why I don’t make curry more often. It’s so easy and coconut milk makes anything taste good. Roasted kabocha (brushed with a tiny bit of coconut oil before cooking) was also included because I am addicted and wanted to spread the love.

Dessert was homemade mango and banana sorbets. It’s almost embarrassing how simple they were to make—freeze, puree and re-freeze, then take out to a thaw for a bit before scooping into glasses and serving. We’re finally getting to that time of year that calls for cooling foods and cold desserts!

I just heard Chris wake up in the other room. That means coffee is going to happen soon. Enjoy your first day of this new month!

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