Please welcome our newest family member…BEN! My mom was going on a walk in the country with our dog Buddy today and suddenly a couple mutts came running towards her. She thinks they might have come from this farmer that has sooo many dogs kept outside and chained on very very tight collars, it’s very sad to see them crying for help every time we pass by. She tried to stop them from following her by yelling and screaming them off, but this little guy stayed with her and followed her for a long time, so by the time she was down the hill she decided to take him home. We brought him to the vet to check if he has a microchip which is what dogs get inserted in them to be able to recognize them but he didn’t have one. The vet said he must be around 1 year old. He needs all the vaccines etc. we brought him home and gave him a nice bath, he was filthy and full of fleece. He did not like the bath at all and tried desperately to get away, but never tried to bite us. He is sooo cute and adorable, very friendly and considering he is in a new home and new everything he seems pretty calm. Buddy on the other hand is a bit jealous, but he seems to like him a bit and they will get along fine eventually. I decided to call him Ben. Ben & Buddy Bewick…easy to say 🙂

So if all this adventure hadn’t happened we were supposed to have people over for dinner but we had to cancel and made a simple dinner for us instead. A sort of brown rice salad with a sun-dried tomato pesto.

• For the rice dish:

All I did is mixed up some cooked brown rice, some gomasio (sesame and salt) and blanched broccoli!

• For the dressing:

Mix 1 piece grated ginger, 1 tbls tamari (or soy sauce), 1 tbls rice vinegar, 2 tbls olive oil, salt and pepper

• For the sun-dried tomato pesto:

Soak about 10 sun-dried tomatoes for 4 hours to get rid of the salt. Drain and let dry a bit on a kitchen towel (30 min or so). Mix the tomatoes with 2 tbls pine nuts, half of 1 garlic clove, 1 tbls olive oil, 1 tbls water and blend everything with a hand blender and create a smooth texture.

Dress and mix the rice and broccoli and serve with some pesto on top.