What Ever Shall I Feed My Mother?

The challenge of cooking for my little family unit with our multiple food allergies is compounded when extended family comes to visit. My mom has been a vegetarian for at least 20 years and my father-in-law is diabetic.
My father-in-law is an occasional visitor, although I regularly cook for him; then my husband stocks his freezer full of low-glycemic-index meals during biweekly visits. My mom, on the other hand, comes over about once a week for some grandma time. I like to feed her well since it takes her at least an 1-1/2 hours to get here by public transportation. She was scheduled to come over today and all I had prepared was hummus (click for recipe) and babaganoush (click for recipe.) She loves them, but must be sick of eating the same thing every time she comes over.
I looked in the refrigerator for inspiration. I found scallions, celery, mushrooms, thyme and green.

Now, my father-in-law lives near a gourmet grocer in the Manhattan and my hubby is always finding me interesting ingredients. Recently, he found Argan oil. It has a very exotic taste and I thought this was just the thing to give my ingredients a boost.

If you don't have access to such exotic ingredients, 2 parts of toasted sesame seed oil to 1 part of extra virgin olive oil makes a nice substitute. I started by sauteing the scallions,

then added the rest of the veggies.

I little bit of water, then cover and cook until celery is soft.

Cool and toss with al dente cooked spirals, (rice pasta, of course) chopped olives and the Argan oil or subsitute mentioned above.

Note to self: don't wear a pink shirt when photographing white plateware.

Find the written recipe here. Addendum June 1, 2011. After having this for leftovers, I found that I wasn’t as satisfied with the taste and texture and therefore, removed the recipe.

Eat well and be well,

Krista