Lightning-Fast Bean Salad and Liebster Award

Tonight's dinner was leftover roast from Sunday, a few garlic-cooked mushrooms and this bean salad that I made in, literally, about three minutes.

Ingredients:

• one can of beans (I used cannelli beans, but a four-bean mix would work as well)
• juice from 1/4 lemon (I squeeze the whole lemon and store the leftover juice in a container to use later)
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• handful of chopped parsley
• half a handful of finely diced red onion
• five grinds each of salt and pepper, more to taste if necessary

Drain and rinse the beans. Mix all the ingredients together, and adjust with extra of whatever extra is needed. That's it! This is a great side dish to roasted vegetables, as it's a bit wet and nicely acidic. 

In other news, I've been nominated for my first blog award by the lovely Ms K over at one of my favourite blogs, In the Mood for Noodles. Behold:

It is called the “Liebster” is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can also mean ‘favorite’. The idea behind this award is to bring attention to bloggers who have less than 200 followers and show your support during Vegan Mofo! 

The rules of winning this award are as follows:
1. Show your thanks to those who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!


I most definitely have less than 200 followers, and am very honoured that my humble, very new, blog has been recognised. 

So, here in return are some of the blogs I've been enjoying during Vegan MoFo. I picked all "International" blogs, as the Internationals aren't eligible for most of the awesome prizes up for offer at Vegan MoFo Headquarters, so I thought I'd share some extra love around... I hope all the blogs I picked haven't gotten nominated for the Liebster yet, but if they have, then they probably deserve this award and more! In no particular order:

1. Totally Veg (Austria) - The design of this blog is so lovely - I am particularly enamored with the banner, it's beautiful. Also, the pictures are great and the blogger, C, even takes the time to blog in two languages!

2. Elite Food (Finland) - I must admit being a bit of a Finnophile (is that a word?!) and all the food in this blog looks so yummy and comforting, just check out those carrot crepes with broccoli and mushroom filling!

3. Vegan on the Prowl (India) - I feel like I'm learning so much from reading this blog - one thing I have yet to fully grasp is how to combine spices in Indian food - it is so complex! Not to say this blog is always about Indian food - it is quite diverse - and the writing is very entertaining.

4. An Auckland Vegan (New Zealand) - Moira's pictures are all so fun to look at - and I have loved reading about her recent trip to Thailand...all of the photos of street food and awesome veg food she found in restaurants just make me want to reach through my screen and grab it!

5. The Modern Housewife Series Vol. I (Scotland) - Having recently had a few months off of work, I can relate to performing many housewife-like activities, so I am having fun reading about the housewifery these "three modern housewives" get up to - plus everything they cook and craft looks delicious!