Leek-Potato-Barley Soup, Heirloom Quinoa with Tomatilla Salsa, Spinach

Tonight a friend is coming over for dinner. We feel bad that he is so busy that he doesn't eat well. I have offered to drop meals off for him, but he hasn't taken me up on my offer. For tonight, he asked for a meal with lots of vegetables.

Around 1p, I started the slow cooker going with (maybe 6-8?) Russian Fingerling potatoes cut into large chunks, medium diced leek (washed carefully - leeks often collect dirt), a small yellow bell pepper that I had diced into medium-small pieces, a half cup of hulled barley, a cube of vegetable bouillon, fresh herbs from my garden (maybe a tablespoon or a little more of rosemary and a teaspoon or so of oregano which, surprisingly, still exists above ground in my garden though it's been cold recently), about a teaspoon of grated ginger, 2 1/2 cups water, and a little salt and freshly ground pink peppercorns. The soup cooked till almost 8p (my friend said he would have enjoyed the barley more cooked, but my wife and I loved the soup and enjoyed the barley, cooked but still a bit firm).

I made a saute of spinach with onions. I also prepared a brownish-red heirloom quinoa (Ancient Harvest brand "Inca Red") simply, just by putting it in a pan with twice as much water, bringing to a boil, reducing the heat and simmering for a minute or two, then turning the heat off and covering the pan for about 15 minutes. I topped the quinoa with some tasty tomatilla salsa that we had purchased from Whole Foods, and also served some tofu with cilantro pesto (it's interesting that I didn't used to like cilantro at all but recently my taste buds have changed their minds! I think the thing that precipitated this may have been some of this tasty tofu that I sampled last year).

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Yesterday I was planning a meal, but my Mom and Dad had a get-together at their home and invited us to eat with them. We had some of the best okra that my Mom has ever made, as well as other good Indian dishes. On Saturday, we had one of our best vegetarian society potlucks with around 30 people in attendance (including one person who just moved here and immediately recognized me as having interviewed him at a human-computer interaction conference in Minneapolis in April 2002!) and very good and ample food. I made a rice and tempeh dish for that event.

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Though I'm not a big fan of winter, one thing that I enjoy about the cold weather is the abundant citrus that we get from warmer climes at this time. Yesterday, I was delighted to see Page orange (actually a tangelo) availability, and had a big glass of its freshly squeezed juice with breakfast today. The more tart Minneola tangelo is my reigning favorite citrus, but maybe I should switch to Page; it is so sweet, that it seems like somebody has mixed sugar in to its juice! Of course, I also like the Pixie tangerine, which should become available in another month or so. I love the color of the Blood orange (and Ciao Bella brand Blood orange sorbetto is divine!), but its more acidic and slightly bitter juice keeps it from being a favorite taster for me.