Sip, sup and siesta like a Spaniard for 7 days on the ultimate food adventure!

Share your best travel recipe to go on a culinary assignment to Spain.

Wouldn't this be an amazing adventure?!?! I came across this contest on Twitter today. All you foodies get on it and enter! I'm excited about anyone winning this contest, and you should be too, because the winners have to blog daily about their adventure, so everyone will be able to be part of the adventure.
Here are some details from the website:

We’re looking for three culinary explorers to embark on food-fuelled assignments to uncover the local recipes, techniques and attitudes that make Spain a seriously celebrated food destination.

This is your opportunity to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to learn from the producers, chefs and home cooks that are so passionately dedicated to Spanish cuisine. You could be scoffing churros and preparing patatas bravas in Madrid, cooking fideuàs and indulging in crema Catalana in Catalunya or perfecting a tortilla Espanola and gulping gazpacho in Andalucia - all right alongside the locals.

What the judges are looking for

We are looking for three culinary anthropologists to explore the history, traditions and social habits that define Spain's cuisine.
The three winning foodies will discover the techniques, the ingredients and the influences that make food from the Iberian Peninsula truly mouth-watering and unique - through visiting the sources and cooking alongside the local people.
Does this sound like your type of gig? Then it is up to you to convince our judging panel through your recipe, story and essay that you have the spirit of adventure and passion for food to be chosen for this opportunity. We will be looking for:

• a unique, drool-worthy, tried-and-tested recipe (with accompanying photos of the dish, cooked by you)
• a great story behind your recipe
• strong eye for detail
• a compelling reason why we should send you to Spain

What you'll be doing

Each food explorer will keep a daily blog on World Nomads documenting their culinary experiences in Spain featuring stories, photos and recipes from the road.
You could be preparing pisto in Madrid, trying the world famous jamon serrano in Andalucia or whipping up the perfect allioli to go with lunch under the shade of an olive tree in Catalunya.
While on assignment, all of the winners’ experiences will be filmed by an accompanying cameraman. That means if you win, you must be comfortable having every bite captured on film.

What are you waiting for? Go enter! Oh, you can do that here by the way.

Update: What I Brought for Thanksgiving Dinner

Do you remember way back in this post, when I told you what I was thinking of making to bring a long to my in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner? I ended up making the Pumpkin Pie Brownies.



They were good enough, but I had to substitute some items to make it gluten free as my mil has celiac disease, and I think it could have been much tastier made as it was meant to be made.

I also took along Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Grapefuit (125 Best Vegan Recipes). The first time I made this I wasn't sure I liked the taste combo, but after a couple bites, I was hooked and it is one of my favorites to make now.

In order to make this, you need to start by making a batch of Pickled Pink Onion Relish (125 Best Vegan Recipes). It is super simple to make and I add the leftovers to salads, veggie dogs and wraps for about a week afterwards.




Pickled Pink Onion Relish (125 Best Vegan Recipes)

makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients
6 c water
1 tsp salt
1 red onion, cut in half from stem to root then crosswise and thinly sliced
1/2 c seasoned rice vinegar

Directions
1. In a pot over high heat, bring water and salt to a boil. Add onion and return to a boil. Drain and immediately transfer to a nonreactive container. Add vinegar and toss to coat evenly.

Let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until chilled and deep pink.



Quinoa Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit (125 Best Vegan Recipes)

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 c water
1 tsp salt
1 c quinoa, washed, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp granulated natural cane sugar or other dry sweetener
1/2 tsp salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 red grapefruit, peeled, sectioned and each section cut into thirds
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
1/3 c Pickled Pink Onion Relish (see recipe above)

Directions

1. In a pot, bring water and salt to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa, stirring to prevent lumps from forming, and return to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes or until tender and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until it reaches room temperature. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together mint, lime juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk in oil. Add grapefruit pieces, avocado and onion relish and toss lightly to coat. Spoon over quinoa, letting dressing drizzle down through the salad. Serve immediately.

Pies to make this weekend for Canadian Thanksgiving

I am hoping to make and take some dishes to Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws. They still don’t know I am eating vegan, so the trick is to bring enough food with me that maybe they won’t notice I’m not eating any of theirs? I haven’t figured out any other dishes yet, but I have the following two pies in mind:

Pumpkin Pie Brownies (This one is by Isa Chandra Moskowitz – loooove her!)

Nutritious Vegan Apple Pie

Home-made Individual Pizzas

These can be a little messy to eat, but they are one of my favorite yum-factor meals. This is also one of those things you can make at the end of the week when you have lots of odds and ends veggies. The pizza in the picture below was made without vegan cheese (and tasted just fine), but I think I enjoy it just a touch more with the vegan cheese on the top. The pizza below has a crazy assortment of veggies. Let's see if i can remember them all. There are pineapple, mushrooms, green onion, garlic, jalapeno peppers, red bell peppers, mushrooms, black olives,an assortment of beans, parsley, and kale. There might be a couple more.

To make the pizza, you just cut up an assortment of veggies, grab a pita and spread some tomato sauce on it. Layer up your pizza with whatever you want. With this pizza, I drizzled a little more tomato sauce on the top because I didn't have the vegan cheese, but normally I would sprinkle some vegan cheese on the top. This is a very casual meal for me, so I don't really bother to remember a set temperature on the oven or cooking time, but this time I put it in at about 285 degrees and left it in for about 20 minutes.

Goin' On a Blog Hunt...

...caught a good one. FatFree Vegan Kitchen has some great recipes and some great pictures for all those visual people out there like me. She only posts a couple times a month, but her posts look like they are probably worth the wait. My mouth is watering for more than a couple of the recipes I just looked at.