crappy pictures today because work is gross and who wants to look at food there. BUT one of my coworkers and i have started trading off making dinner for the other person, and yesterday was round one (my night).

MUSHROOM BARLEY SOUP

olive oil

a big bag of mushrooms, button is fine, crimini are better (big bag= half the size of your head sort of), sliced

half a head of garlic, minced

1 large red onion

4 bay leaves

1 or 2 big pinches of chili flakes

1/4 c balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. pearl barley

1/3 c. nutritional yeast

tons of black pepper

a very big handful of fresh dill, chopped, VERY BIG (why doesn’t dill taste stronger?)

8 cups broth ( i used onion)

2 cups water

Sautee all the mushrooms until they release liquid and brown a bit. Throw in the onion and sautee it a bit. Stir in barley until coated in oil, then add hot broth and water. Bring to a boil. Add bay leaf, garlic, chili flakes, balsamic and then simmer soup until barley is cooked. Add nutritional yeast, dill and black pepper. Eat.

ASPARAGUS, EGGPLANT AND CHERRY TOMATO GRILLED CHEESE

(not pictured because i ate it)

1/2 a bunch of young aspargus

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 stripey thin eggplant, cut in half lengthwise then scored across into diamonds

baby spinach

nice bread

daiya pepperjack cheese (it would be totally fine without also, i was trying to cook for a non-vegan though and wanted to be like HEY LOOK WE HAVE CHEESE TOO, COOL HUH?)

On a sheet pan roast all the veg with a bit of oil, black pepper and salt in a 375 oven. Take out asparagus and tomatoes after 15-20 minutes. The tomatoes should be all shrivelly and darkened. Continue to cook the eggplant for another 20.

Lay your vegetables out on a piece of bread and don’t be skimpy. Top with a good sprinkle of daiya and a small handful of greens. top with another piece and grill. we have a panini press at work so i did that but you could do this like a regular grilled cheese in a pan on the stove too.

Cut the cooked egpplant into strips.