Thanksgiving and Some Union Square Carrots

Overeating on holidays just doesn't appeal to me. My Thanksgiving plate was nice and light, pictured above with salads and vegetables, some sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce on lentil "un-stuffing". To make the not so real stuffing, I sauteed onions and celery like I would for any stuffing, added bell seasoning (dried crushed herbs that are designed for poultry) but mixed them with brown lentils instead of dried or cubed bread or bread crumbs. I did make regular stuffing as well and had a taste but the two tasted so alike that the texture of lentils was better than the texture of the actual stuffing which I am just not a huge fan of. So, it was easy to keep my plate light although perhaps not so easy when it came to dessert...anyway, it was a wonderful family day with a long bike ride and a day at the beach infiltrated with a lot of cooking.

Now that our Thanksgiving is behind us, we can get back to enjoying light but satisfying fall meals. As fall turns into winter, some broth and soups will be our comfort food keeping us warm and cozy. I am making tonight's broth from celery root, maitake mushrooms and Asian greens (tot soi, special spinach varieties and mustard greens).

Tonight, we are also making some dips for these juicy delicious carrots. But, was it worth getting drenched at Union Square? I guess it was but I am hoping while I dry off and enjoy a cup of tea, Luke will oversee making some ginger peanut sauce and maybe some black sesame sauce as well.