MoFo Day 1: Undistracted eating is not easy

Happy Labor Day and Happy first day of Vegan MoFo! As I mentioned in the previous post, my plan for MoFo this month is to sit down and have a real meal, even if by myself, every day. That means setting the table, then sitting and eating the entire meal without distractions. I must admit, it took more willpower than I was expecting NOT to start writing this post while eating. But I soldiered through and ate while composing it in my head, but not on my computer.

Over the years, I've subscribed to a few CSAs. When I lived in Nevada, Great Basin Basket was fantastic. They had a huge variety of produce (from watermelons to pine nuts) due to the micro-climates in the area. When I first moved back to Michigan in 2011, I subscribed to the (now defunct) Royal Oak Community Farm. Last year, I heard about City Commons and vowed to sign up for the 2014 program. I love that the produce is all grown in Detroit, but even more importantly, they have a bi-weekly share. That's perfect for me because, let's face it, being dressed before 1pm on Saturday EVERY WEEK isn't feasible. They also have multiple pick-up locations and times, and it's the least expensive of any I've joined. I'll definitely be joining again next year and I'd recommend it to anyone who lives near by.

This week's share was a bonanza! There was chard, kale, arugula, parsley, basil, pickling cucumbers, pears, cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes and mild peppers:

I vowed not to waste any of that beautiful produce, so I immediately got to work creatively using what few things I had on hand to make a ton of meals. I had some tempeh and an onion, so I made a variation of Basic Scrambled Tempeh from Vegan Brunch. Unlike almost all of Isa's (the author, foundress of The PPK and Vegan MoFo) recipes, I didn't like this one as written. I'd made notes in my cookbook to halve the tempeh, double the chard, and add soy sauce and water at the end. That worked out perfectly since I only had 8 oz of tempeh and a huge bunch of chard. I didn't have a red pepper, so I added some of the mild peppers from my basket and cherry tomatoes. 

not pictured: soy sauce

With some Avalon toast, this made the perfect Labor Day breakfast.