Rainy days and Wednesdays

If you can go visit them in Raphine, Virginia I highly recommend it.

Something about back to back rainy days has really gotten my cravings riled up. Especially for fast food and sugar. I would love to be writing this right now with a beautiful Coca-Cola classic poured ever so gently into a clear glass full of ice while chomping down on a $1 breakfast burrito from McDonalds. Just thinking about the ketchup on the hash browns makes me weep.

Usually I do a fruit/spinach smoothie with almond milk every morning but today I was really craving something savory and southern like..... cheese grits! Which is damn near impossible if you can't eat cheese or butter.

But!  I have come up with a semi-satisfactory solution: Salsa grits.

As one of my favorite books of the last couple of years, The Help, says, "A grit is just a vehicle for whatever you rather be eating." Here is how I turn my vehicle into a savory alsa fiesta. I take some Wade's Mill Grits.....

Wait.
Stop for a very important grit lesson.

You must have good grits! Jim Dandy is a great, cheap substitute if you can't get some local milled grits. Wade's Mill is from ole Virginny and are delicious! Kroger store brand isn't half bad either....you never ever ever want to use microwave grits or Quaker grits. Those make me shudder. Grits should have some grit to them. Not mushy or soupy. You want a little texture. O.k. back to our recipe.

Wade's Mill Grits + nutritional yeast (source of B12 and a little cheesy taste) + scallions + salsa + Earth Balance non dairy "butter" = pretty tasty.   (The following statement is pretty blasphemous so hold onto your seats: Earth Balance almost tastes better than butter. Yes, I said it. I buy soy free so I don't eat too much soy.)

I know there are a ton of recipes out there for a vegan "cheeze" sauce, but I haven't gotten around to trying them yet. But I think I just might and add it into salsa grits. I'm also thinking of new ways to make a vegan McDonald's style breakfast burrito. I'm loathe to eat fake meat so we will just leave out the sausage. I'll get back to you on this one.