What a beautiful holiday weekend it is going to be. I have had quite the busy week: my husband and I moved into our new apartment in NYC, and we are still unpacking clothes and shoes into little piles and stacks on the floor and into our one telephone booth-sized closet. I’m scratching my head at my new kitchen – the counter is already squished tight with my blender and Super Angel Juicer. Yet amidst the chaos, all I can think about is my blog and making sure you all have a few inspiring vegan spring holiday menu ideas. My menu ideas and my move-in weekend…
Move-In Weekend. Right now, I’m sitting on the floor on a not so cushy makeshift pillow/chair as I type on my Mac – which is perched on a white container store bin. But I’m excited to be swimming in sunlight from one of our many blue-sky-filled windows.
The pro’s of this place can easily outweigh the classic NYC apartment con’s. I love the sunlight, brick-speckled views and turquoise stone features on the building across the street, the new neighbor birds that sing to me all day and night from our fire-escape, the skylight in our bathroom, the sweet tiny kitchen alcove for a kitchen table (quite a luxury for me), the exposed brick in our bedroom and breathtaking view we have from our bedroom window. Plus, each window has a little white perch for my kitty cat to sit on. She has finally come out of hiding and rolling in a sunbeam right now. These little treasures make me forget about the shoe-box-sized bathroom sink and lack-of-dishwasher.
The Reward: A Good Spring Day.. After all the huffing and puffing up the stairs, lugging bags of stuff. Bruises and backaches. A good day feels almost magical: Stepping outside, my husband’s hand in mine, strolling crowded cobblestone streets in springtime, a cool breeze, a million white tree buds in bloom leaving wavy shadows on the twisty streets of downtown, that’s my idea of a good day.
And even though I won’t be able to fully unpack my kitchen supplies for another few days – I do plan on making a few goodies for a casual Easter evening supper. And I know many of you are having festive vegan (or vegan-friendly) spring holiday dinners, champagne brunches or light garden-side lunches this weekend, so here are a few spring-filled recipe ideas to inspire you…
Vegan Recipes for a Spring-Filled Easter Weekend
Brunch:
Sunny Mushroom Tempeh Bagel, open-faced
Plum and Pluot (or seasonal spring fruit) Parfait
Vegan Tofu Veggie Quiche with herbed crust
Simple Easy Almond-Buttered Toast, a la Jean Georges
Saffron Scented Tofu Scramble with some easy herbed potato hash browns on the side
Paradise Found Fruit Salad
Garden-side Lunch:
Purple Power Antioxidant Fruit Salad
Bulls eye Spiral Wraps with Roasted Red Peppers
Spring Green Fruit Salad
Easy Lemon Two-Bean Salad
Fennel Arugula Citrus Salad
Easy Mango Cream Crusty, open-faced
Avocado Beet Pea Shoot Salad
Vegan Cole Slaw
Crunchy Cool Jicama Salad
Picnic Perfect Chicken-less Salad Sandwich
Spring Supper:
Spicy Sweet Fiddlehead Fern and Chickpea Pasta
Lemon Peppered California Pasta Salad
Zen Green Tofu Salad
Any Salad from my recent Spring Salad Series
Snacks:
Sunny Asparagus Tapenade
Radishes with “Butter”
Sunshine Bruschetta
Sips:
Premium Red Fruity Sangria
Fruity Fizz White Sangria
Half-Frozen Mint Lemon Water
Dessert:
Easter Pastel Swirl Lamb or Layer Cake
Ginger Poppy seed Thyme Tea Cookies
Fresh Fruit Tart with creamy vanilla custard
Zesty Lemon No-Bake Bars
Your apartment looks so cute from the outside. You should post some pics from the inside, I'd love to see how you set up your new kitchen. Happy Easter!
Wow what great selections! That tempeh mushroom bagel is making my tummy roar.
I too just moved and am facing the issue of HOW to cook in this strange space. Glad to know I'm not alone. 🙂
Good luck with getting settled and congrats on your new place. Thanks for taking the time out to write!