Woo-eeeee is it hot outside!? And it's not even July yet! I don't know if this is an indication of global warming or what, but I remember thinking 83 degrees was almost too hot for a pool day when I was a kid. Maybe that was how hot our summers were 10 years ago, or maybe I was a sissy (very likely), but either way this is just crazy. I have literally started dreaming of rain and have been waking up disappointed when I open my bedroom doors to the bright sun. My disappointment, however, is NO WHERE CLOSE to the emotions that stir up after one of my meat eating dreams! I have had SO MANY! Maybe once a night, I wake up panicking after I dream of eating a cheeseburger or something. I don't know if this is my body craving meat or some deep fear that I will get drunk, eat some, and start back at square one, but I am always pretty excited when I realize it's a dream. Yep, my subconscious clearly fears cheap ground beef.

Regardless, I am still holding strong!! I went to MadMex with my brother yesterday and just sat there like a good little girl DYING as he ate 14 wings in front of me. I won't lie, they smelled absolutely amazing. No vegetables smell like that, ever. I think my brother could legit feel my tension as I leaned over, snatched his celery, and ferociously rubbed it through the sauce and blue cheese. Not the same, won't ever be the same, but whatevs.

It's worth the mention though that MadMex has hella vegetarian options! Anything on their menu with a little baby cactus next to it means fair game for people like me, and they even do vegan substitutions if you want to take it that far. Wednesday (yes, I cruised MadMex twice this week, SUMMER BABY!) I had some of the happy hippy quesadilla and it was delicious, spicy but delicious. It just gave me an excuse to suck down my big ass marg a little faster :) Now that I am aware of it, I think it's awesome how many restaurants not only have vegetarian options, but numerous ones that are clearly indicated too! As a condition to going back for my second Bikram class (ended up going 3 times during our introductory week, so pretty proud!), I wanted to go to Coca Cafe in Lawrenceville for breakfast, and I LOVED all the options there! I immediately knew that I was going to get the goat cheese and fresh berry french toast which was absolutely amazing and, with the amount of maple syrup I put on it, probably evened out the 800+ calories burned in Bikram the night before. I was too busy dying over my food and drinking way to much coffee to snap a picture but I promise it looked exactly like this. I tried their soy sausage which I will admit is no where close to the real thing, but it was cool that it was available none the less.

http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/wjLgM9Ybe5shoUPRrGMmsQ?select=ZFEY7SGVln4mmEX_jEdeGA#VPl1KiY2onQHhJlIYy1Jag

WAIT on the topic of breakfast meats, I feel like I need to make a disclosure here. In my first post, I raved about my love for bacon. Really, it's the best thing ever and I will never debate that with anyone. I guess I gushed a little too much because I gave people the impression that I am a bacon-eating vegetarian (I now have a pack of bacon in my fridge, it is testin me). This isn't so bad, to be honest I was a bacon eating vegetarian for a couple weeks months ago and it was great, but nah no bacon for me anymore! Unless it's local of course, which the farm I support does sell at its booth on Wednesdays, but unfortunately for 8 dollars a pound. Perhaps I should get a job before splurgin on something like that.

I may have walked away from their booth without their bacon, but I did pick up my farm share this week! So many different things than last week so I get to try out more recipes! In my bag this week were the craziest looking summer squashes, zucchini, red cabbage (meeeeeeh I have still have half of the white cabbage from last week, even after whippin up some Pittsburgh Haluski), broccoli, and the biggest bushel of basil I have ever seen! Lucky for me, this completed the list of ingredients I needed to make this pasta dish I have been wanting to try forever! I found the recipe in Plenty: Vibrant Vegetable Recipes From London's Ottolenghi, which is the neatest cookbook (with absolutely stunning pictures) that I found on Anthropologie's website! Huge trick to saving money and finding neat reads: Go to their website, House and Home, Books, and request all the books they are selling from the library! Just not all at once, I did that out of excitement and ended up carrying 11 books home one afternoon. But ya, anyways this book and especially this pasta were delicious! After watching my brother devour his 7-chickens-worth dinner, we hiked back and prepared this beauty.

Pasta and Fried Zucchini Pasta

2/3 c sunflower oil
3 medium zucchinis

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3/4 c frozen edamame
2 c shredded basil leaves
1/4 c shredded parsley
1/3 c olive oil
salt and pepper
PASTA
lemon zest approx 1 lemon
1 1/2 tbsp capers
7 oz torn mozzarella

Heat sunflower/ olive oil whatever you got over medium high heat in medium saucepan. Fry zucchini slices in small batches, being careful not to overcrowd. Cook 3 minutes or until golden brown, just flipping once. Once cooked, place into bowl and pour the vinegar on top. Stir around

Cook your edamame however yours cooks!

Combine half of the basil, all of the parsley, and the olive oil in a food processor, adding some salt and pepper. Blitz to a smooth sauce.

Cook your pasta to al dente, you shouldn't need directions on that!

Pour zucchini over pasta (including the juices), add the edamame, basil sauce, lemon zest, capers, and moz. Stir together, sprinkle some salt and pepper and add in the rest of the shredded basil!

So easy, so delicious!

But yes, despite this heat, I have been having an AMAZING week! I went to the movies in the park, kayaking on the river (15 dollars an hour with kayakpittsburgh, unless you are a VO member or can persuade the dude who's working that you are :) ), hiked through Schenley Park at dusk where apparently all the lightening bugs hang out, and basically spent as much time as I could enjoying my city. I have a family reunion Saturday at my grandparent's so will be heading home for the weekend. With my parents, and especially seeing my grandparents, this will be the biggest challenge for me yet! Honestly, Look at what my grandma had waiting for me last time I stopped by. Can you tell an italian grandmother that you have stopped eating meat? We will see!!

Last meal at Grandma's, oh lord