the ridiculously often summer dinner party

It all started here, in the ground. With the microbes. I went to pick the ingredients, early enough in the evening so I could still figure out the dinner menu. I love this part. San the 50 mosquito bites I got on the one part of my leg where I didn't use bug spray.

I unloaded my bags and beheld my bounty.

These suckers are dangerous. Have the (almond) milk out and poured.

prep!

Finally my guests started arriving and here was the anti pasta: fresh picked cherry and pear tomatoes with walnut pesto. We also had steamed broccoli, which was also picked from the garden a few hours before. After this we had Mexican stuffed peppers, on top of a small bed of brown rice. (I realize that recipe needs to go up) and following the peppers we had pan-seared halibut with a tomatillo guacamole.

Step one: cover the stove and surrounding surfaces with foil.
Heat olive oil in a pan and generously sprinkle salt and pepper on either side of the halibut steaks.
When waves start to appear in the oil, it's ready. Throw the steaks down (be careful - wear oven mitts to protect yourself and look away! or wear goggles) Move them a bit, so they don't stick. Keep on one side for 2 minutes, then flip for another 2. When they're close to done, roll the sides in the oil very briefly.

Here's the guacamole recipe:
Mashed avocados
Tomatillos - diced (regular tomatoes were used in this picture. .which was actually taken the night before, for our practice and enjoyment)
Some shallots - diced
Lime juice

For dessert, I served a blackberry banana ice cream and "sun candies"

Blackberry banana vegan and sugarless ice cream:
6 frozen bananas
1/2 can of whole coconut milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
handful of frozen blackberries
3 tsp of maple syrup

blend in food processor, then transfer to the already frozen ice cream maker bowl, and follow ice cream maker instructions. Then let it harden for a short while in the freezer.

The "sun candies" recipe came from the Anti-Inflammatory Diet book, but I tweaked it:
1 1/2 cups ground sunflower seeds (I used my coffee grinder)
2 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp almond butter
mix these ingredients, then form into balls and roll to coat them in a coconut/cocoa powder mixture.

still reading? this is a long one.
now. . . guess how many dishes are left to clean. . and no dishwasher.