Riverfront Dinners...Get Off My Rock!

dinner on the Severn River

Finally, I am starting to think, maybe, cautiously just maybe, spring has sprung.  So, we ate dinner by the water without threats by that nasty security guard who hounds us in the summer.  It was a summer like day last week and I had to supplement with Whole Foods prepared foods (a general no no) for some short cuts because it was a very crazy day...

Susannah and the spread

The kids liked the red beans and rice and the black quinoa slaw (I would like the slaw without the quinoa better, not my favorite mix of textures...but it got them to eat a lot of vegetables.) I have found it is more difficult to get the kids to eat as many vegetables here...I blame the culture a little. Susannah is self conscious that her food is not like everyone else's and she has given up on sea weed packs as a snack because some kids told her it smells bad.  In New York, all was more acceptable and all of our foods were considered mainstream there.

seining on the Rhode River

carrots for Lizzie's school independent learning day

The asparagus with pine nuts and the roasted carrots with salt and pepper were native american foods created for a school project.  We made enough to keep some for dinner and they were pretty tasty yet simple.  I had some greens left from New York's Union Square farmer's market so it was nice to have that variety.  Some of the specialty kales and Asian mustard greens are not available here.

These colorful carrots are exciting and tasty, they were very sweet, maybe too sweet for me but the kids liked them, cut lengthwise, simply roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

my salad of fresh greens, roasted vegetables and spicy kim chi

And, well, just for full disclosure, most of the idyllic picnic was spent arguing about who could sit on the special  rock where I eat lunch alone in the summer.  There were a few punches, some not so nice words, but nothing too serious.  I stayed safely on a chair, Perry on the cart and the other three duked it out for rock real estate.  And there were about 20 nice flat rocks to choose from...hmm.