Quotable Quote

Everyone knows there are foods that are sexy to eat. What they don't talk about so much is foods that are sexy to make.

- Julie Powell

Recipe: Grated Beet Salad

Yesterday, I had already used the food processor to grate some carrots for tossing into our main dish, and we had a few beets left over, so we had an extremely simple salad as an accompaniment to our meal that ended up being the most profoundly satisfying thing.

Grated Beet Salad

Take 4 beets, and peel, trim, and grate them, either manually or in a food processor. Stir them in a bowl with the juice from half a large lemon and 1-2 tablespoons of very high quality extra virgin olive oil. Optional: stir in some of your favorite green herb, minced, like parsley or basil or cilantro. I think chopped pistachios would also be great in this salad. Voilà!

~

Here's more nutritional information about The Amazing Beet!

Beets are superfoods and contain nutrient compounds that prevent heart disease, birth defects, and cancer. Betacyanin, which gives beets their deep ruby color, is a cancer-fighting agent. The fiber in beets is also healthy for your colon. Eating them grated or julienned is a wonderful way to get the maximum amount of active nutrients -- nutrient activity is diminished after heating.

The betaine found in beets (and also spinach) is anti-inflammatory (chronic inflammation is something to avoid, as it has been linked to heart disease, osteoporosis, cognitive decline, Alzheimer's, and type-2 diabetes). In fact, the choline found in egg yolks and soybeans works well together with the betaine found in beets, spinach, and whole wheat products to reduce inflammation -- so try a poached egg atop some wilted beet greens!

The B-vitamin folate is especially important for women to consume during pregnancy to prevent fetal neural tube defects. Just one cup of boiled beets provides 34% of the recommended daily intake of folate! (Raw beets may provide more.)

The only individuals who need worry about eating too many beets are people with kidney or gallbladder problems (beets have oxalates, which can form crystals in people with not entirely functioning kidneys or gallbladders).

% DV that 1 Cup (Boiled) Beets provides of:
folate 34%
manganese 27.5%
potassium 14.8%
dietary fiber 13.6%
vitamin C 10.2%
magnesium 9.8%
iron 7.4%
copper 6.5%
phosphorus 6.5%

Quotable Quote

You must be careful with your indulgences. The more you eat of something you love, the less of a luxury it becomes.

- Mary Roach

Recipe: Spicy Yam Latkes

Happy Hanukkah! I love yams and Jewish holidays, so voila, yam latkes. These taste pretty good eaten with cranberry chutney.

Spicy Yam Latkes

1 lb. yams, peeled and coarsely grated
1/4 cup amaranth flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour, or soaked and rinsed quinoa
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed

1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin seed
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 medium eggs, beaten
about 1/2 cup yogurt
Oil for frying

In a medium-sized bowl mix the flours, brown sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt and pepper. Mix in the eggs and as much yogurt as needed to make a stiff batter. Mix in the yams; the batter should be moist. If it seems stiff, add a bit more yogurt.

Fill a frying pan about 1/4" up the sides with oil and heat over medium high heat. When the oil is hot, drop tablespoonfuls of batter in it and flatten them with the back of the spoon or a spatula. Fry the latkes over medium-high heat several minutes on each side until golden. Drain on paper towels.

What my grandparents think of this site

Recently, my grandparents checked out this blog. They were completely unimpressed: "Making yogurt at home?" It is hard for them to imagine that these are not things people here do instinctively and on a daily basis.

So I have been trying to think about what to post that might actually impress them. It's difficult, because their whole life experience with food preparation is going back much further along the steps it takes for something to make it to the table.

For instance, they buy wheat from a wheat farmer, take it to someone who specializes in milling and grinding wheat, get it ground in different ways so they have some for making chapati and some for making batura. At home they keep lots of other grains like raggi (millet) and chawal (rice).

Growing up, I would often hear them express their disbelief that we could even live here in America, with the food being so bad. Even the carrots tasted bland to them. (It's true that every aspect and element of food in India is sooooo good... even the onions are better. The cucumbers are heaven. If you've been to Italy, think about any salad tomatoes you had there, and how you felt upon eating a tomato when you got back here.)

Nowadays, you get readymade pasta in India, but for a long time, it was difficult to come by, and my uncle had us bring him a pasta maker, and he even makes homemade pasta.

Nani (my grandmother) makes a sweet dish of reduced milk and dates that takes three days to finish. She makes floral-flavored syrups to mix with soda -- my favorites are jasmine and sandalwood.

Sometimes I feel pangs of regret for what we're losing in living our fast-paced, readymade lives. I don't like to think negatively, so I try always to think of what we've gained -- advancements in gender equality, for instance. And right now in America, people are realizing the importance of fresh, delicious produce, sitting down and eating together in community, getting your nutrition from real food instead of industrialized food, and there's even been a resurgence in gardening, canning, making homemade preserves, etc.

But I think when it comes to food, we've got nothing on the Old World.

Recipe: Gingerbread (Cake)

Gingerbread (Cake)

Oil spray (I have grapeseed)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used apple-apricot sauce)
6 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 cup whole wheat flour or other whole grain flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup ground almonds / almond flour
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray baking pans (I used 4 mini-loaf pans, one regular size loaf pan, and a mini cake pan; I think it's a total of 12 Cups capacity) with oil spray. Whisk maple syrup, molasses, applesauce, oil and egg in large bowl to blend. Add the flours, ground ginger, and sugar and stir until well blended. Add the baking soda and salt and stir again. Whisk in 1/2 cup boiling water.

Pour the batter halfway up the sides of the baking pans.

Bake until the gingerbread begins to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 35 minutes.

Transfer to rack and cool in pans, 30 minutes.

Invert onto platter(s) and cool at least 15 minutes.

Recipe: Avgolemono

Avgolemono is a Greek egg-lemon-rice soup, a comfort food, which we had last night alongside a simple bread stuffing with apples, dried cranberries, celery, leeks, carrots and herbs, with cranberry chutney (which I always find myself craving a second round of shortly after Thanksgiving). Since the oven was hot, I also popped in some gingerbread.

Avgolemono might be an acquired taste, be forewarned.

Avgolemono for 4
1 quart vegetable stock
1 Cup uncooked brown basmati rice (that's what I used, because it's what I have, but any brown or white rice would do)
1/3 Cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 egg
a celery heart, including the leafy parts, chopped; or chopped fresh parsley, to taste; or dill, torn into bits, to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Put the rice and stock into a soup pot. Bring to boil over high heat, then turn heat to low, cover, and let simmer until the rice is tender, about 15 minutes. While the rice is cooking, chop the celery heart or parsley or tear the dill into bits and divide it among four bowls. Beat the egg and lemon juice together in a small bowl. When the rice is done, turn off the heat, whisk a big ladleful of hot -- not boiling -- stock into the egg and lemon juice. Stir the egg-lemon-juice-stock mixture into the rice-stock mixture in the soup pot and continue stirring, for up to three minutes.* Season with salt and pepper to taste and ladle the soup into the bowls over the celery/parsley.

*If you are serving this to a small child or pregnant woman and concerned about properly pasteurizing the eggs, use a thermometer and make sure the egg mixture remains at 160 degrees Fahrenheit for three minutes, or use store-bought pasteurized eggs.

Recipe: Winter Tricolor Salad

Just had this two nights in a row -- first with three big men, then with a petite New Yorker woman, and it was a hit with all of them.

Winter Tricolor Salad for 4

Dressing

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons stone ground mustard

2 teaspoons honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 cups watercress, shredded

2 cups radicchio, shredded

1 head Belgian endive, thinly sliced

1 fennel bulb, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 large green apple, cored and julienned

1/2 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries

Optional: grated aged Parmigiano cheese

Whisk dressing ingredients. Toss watercress, radicchio, endive, fennel, apple, and dried fruit with dressing in a large bowl to combine. Serve immediately. (Can top with some grated Parmigiano if you like cheese.)

Food Poem Fridays: Jenni Pahl's HUNGER

Hunger

By Jenni Pahl

The woman behind the counter at Krispy Kreme calls me sweetie.

Arms tattooed with bruises, her face is a mask.

She puts an extra donut in the bag

and touches my hand when I pay with a pile of quarters.

Outside, spastic balloons dance down Main Street.

The sky fills with the absence of birds.

Even the pigeons have stopped their begging.

I think if I put my ear to the ground I would hear a rumbling

as if the earth were aware of my hunger.

Recipe: Ruby & Golden Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Pistachio Dressing

Ruby & Golden Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Pistachio Dressing for 8

3 large red beets
2 large golden beets
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
4 oz soft mild goat cheese
3 tablespoons shelled pistachios, finely chopped
1 oz mâche, trimmed (4 cups)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Separately wrap red and golden beets in foil and roast in oven, 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Unwrap and allow to cool.

Whisk together shallot, lemon juice, chopped pistachios, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, then add oil in a stream, whisking. Allow to sit at room temperature while the beets are roasting.

When beets are cool enough to handle, slip off and discard skins. Dice red and golden beets into 1/4" dice and put in separate bowls. Add almost half of the dressing to each bowl and toss to coat (saving at least a tablespoon of dressing). Place a 2 to 2 1/2" cookie cutter in the center of 1 of 8 salad plates. Put 1/8 of the red beets into the cutter and press down with your fingertips or a spoon. Crumble 2 teaspoons goat cheese on top, then 1/8 of the golden beets, packing down. Gently lift cutter up and away from stack. Make 7 more servings in same manner.

Strain the remaining dressing and toss the mâche with just the strained olive oil/lemon juice (just enough to coat) and gently mound on top of beets.

Food Poem Fridays: Iroquois Prayer THE THANKSGIVINGS

The Thanksgivings

Translated from a traditional Iroquois prayer by Harriet Maxwell Converse

We who are here present thank the Great Spirit that we are here to praise Him.

We thank Him that He has created men and women, and ordered that these beings shall always be living to multiply the earth.

We thank Him for making the earth and giving these beings its products to live on.

We thank Him for the water that comes out of the earth and runs for our lands.

We thank Him for all the animals on the earth.

We thank Him for certain timbers that grow and have fluids coming from them for us all.

We thank Him for the branches of the trees that grow shadows for our shelter.

We thank Him for the beings that come from the west, the thunder and lightning that water the earth.

We thank Him for the light which we call our oldest brother, the sun that works for our good.

We thank Him for all the fruits that grow on the trees and vines.

We thank Him for his goodness in making the forests, and thank all its trees.

We thank Him for the darkness that gives us rest, and for the kind Being of the darkness that gives us light, the moon.

We thank Him for the bright spots in the skies that give us signs, the stars.

We give Him thanks for our supporters, who had charge of our harvests.

We give thanks that the voice of the Great Spirit can still be heard through the words of Ga-ne-o-di-o.

We thank the Great Spirit that we have the privilege of this pleasant occasion.

We give thanks for the persons who can sing the Great Spirit's music, and hope they will be privileged to continue in his faith.

We thank the Great Spirit for all the persons who perform the ceremonies on this occasion.

Recipe: Cranberry Chutney

Thanksgiving is when the foodie side of my family gets together (about 8 families) and makes a massive Indo-fied autumnal meal with something for everyone (read: lots of vegetarians and pescatarians). I'll try to take lots of pictures this year and post as many recipes as I can. Cranberry chutney (my mother's adaptation) is perhaps the most enduring part of the tradition, so I'll start with that.

Cranberry Chutney
16 oz. fresh cranberries, rinsed
2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest

1" piece ginger, peeled and minced

1-2 teaspoons red chilli powder (depending on how spicy yours is -- mine is very hot)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir well. Cook over medium heat until cranberries pop open (about 10 minutes). Skim and discard the surface foam. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate, covered. The chutney can keep for a while (in theory, but, at least with us, it's always finished in a few days).

Recipe by Miz Hummus: Antioxidant Powerhouse Salad with Citrus-Ginger Dressing

From Miz Hummus (another guest blogger!), here is a tasty way to eat a rainbow of super free radical-fighting veggies!

Antioxidant Powerhouse Salad with Citrus-Ginger Dressing for 5

Salad:

5 handfuls baby spinach (about 2 Cups)

3 beets, peeled and grated

3 large or 5 small carrots, peeled and grated

10 radishes, trimmed and grated

10 mushrooms, sliced

1 avocado, diced

2 handfuls cherry tomatoes, halved

Can add: raisins or dried cranberries, sprouts

Dressing:

2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger

1/4 Cup lemon juice

pinch salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/3 cup olive oil

Whisk dressing ingredients.  Toss salad ingredients, and plate salad.  Serve dressing on the side for people to pour over the amount they want themselves.

Recipe: Warm, Crunchy Broccoli Salad

I love broccoli, but it's not really used in Indian cooking, so when I'm making Indian food for dinner and I have some in the fridge, I'm not always sure what to do with it.  Yesterday, we had a salad with a ginger-y dressing, dal with spinach, brown rice with saffron, tomato-cilantro-chaat masala raita, and diced yams with ginger and dried cherries, and I served this warm broccoli salad alongside.  This is not exactly an Indian recipe, but the flavors complemented the other dishes.

Warm, Crunchy Broccoli Salad for 4 as a side dish

3 small heads of broccoli, florets chopped into bite-sized pieces and stems peeled and chopped, and steamed until al dente

2 cloves garlic, minced

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 tbsp. almond butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider

freshly ground black pepper

salt

(I like to steam broccoli with a small amount of water in a covered microwavable dish.  It's quick and you lose fewer nutrients compared with blanching.)

In a saute pan, warm olive oil on medium heat and add garlic, and allow to warm until garlic is softened and olive oil is permeated with the garlic.  Put into a large bowl.  Put the apple cider into the saute pan and let it boil on high heat until it's reduced to a more syrupy consistency.  In the large bowl, combine the warm garlic and olive oil mixture, reduced cider, lemon juice, almond butter, and salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, and toss with the still warm broccoli.

Recipe: Diced Yams with Ginger and Dried Cherries

It is officially fall, and yams abound.  I like everything to be spicy if it's going to be sweet, and sour to boot if I can help it.  So here is a quick and easy recipe for yams with sweet heat.

Diced Yams with Ginger and Dried Cherries for 4 as a side dish

2 shallots, peeled and minced

1/2" piece ginger, peeled and minced

1/4 Cup dried cherries

4 medium to large sized yams, peeled and diced

2 tbsp. olive oil

salt to taste

splash of Applejack or apple cider

Heat olive oil in saute pan on medium high heat.  When hot, add shallots and ginger, and saute until fragrant.  Add dried cherries and saute until cherries have softened.  Add diced yams and salt to taste and toss to combine with shallot-ginger-cherry mixture.  Add a splash of Applejack or apple cider, cover, turn heat down to low, and let yams steam cook until tender, about 5-10 minutes (depending on the size of your dice).

Food Poem Fridays: Dale Ritterbusch's GREEN TEA

Green Tea
by Dale Ritterbusch

There is this tea
I have sometimes,
Pan Long Ying Hao,
so tightly curled
it looks like tiny roots
gnarled, a greenish-gray.
When it steeps, it opens
the way you woke this morning,
stretching, your hands behind
your head, back arched,
toes pointing, a smile steeped
in ceremony, a celebration,
the reaching of your arms.

Recipe: Pumpkin Pancakes

Every fall we make pumpkin pancakes! They're yummy, spiced, taste wonderful with maple syrup and/or some diced apples softened in a pan with cinnamon and brown sugar, or made into little "sandwiches" with maple-tinged cream slathered between. Mmmm...

Pumpkin Pancakes for 4

One.

4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Two.
1 1/2 cups whole grain pancake mix of your choice (I like Pamela's) -OR-
1 cup whole wheat or buckwheat flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or almond flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

Three.
1 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Grapeseed, canola, or olive oil spray
Maple syrup

Whisk eggs vigorously in large bowl until fluffy. Whisk in the milk, pumpkin, butter, and vanilla to blend well. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture, whisking just until smooth (will be thick).

Spray a large (preferably nonstick) skillet or crepe pan with oil spray; heat over medium heat. Ladle batter into skillet (about 1/3 cup per pancake). Cook until bubbles form on surface of pancakes and bottoms are brown, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter, spraying oil between batches as needed.

Serve with syrup (and/or diced apple cooked until soft in a pan with a little cinnamon and brown sugar).

A Dozen Adults in the Mountains for a Weekend

It's beginning to become a tradition for us to go up into the mountains for one weekend each fall with our friends, mostly courtesy of a very generous pediatric infectious diseases physician who has now let us use his mountain hang suite twice. (We dream of buying a second home near the beach sometime, just to return the favor to him.)

So, what does one serve to a dozen adults over a weekend in the mountains? Below is this year's menu.

FRIDAY SUPPING

Spanish Olive Mix

Cocktail Samosas & Mango Chutney

Baby Spinach Salad with Dried Cherries & Shallot Vinaigrette

Mozzarella & Fresh Tomato Pizza with Whole-Wheat Crust

Portobello Pesto Pizza with Whole-Wheat Crust

Red Seedless Grapes

Local Empire & McIntosh Apples

Hudson Valley Camembert

Coach Farm Herb Goat Cheese

Manchego, Six-Month-Aged

New York State Cheddar, Extra-Sharp

7-Grain Crackers

(Friday, everyone arrived from the city at different times, so it was good to have some items that could be kept out for snacking over a long period and re-heated for the late arrivals.)

SATURDAY BRUNCHING

Multi-Grain Pumpkin Pancakes & Maple Syrup

Broccoli Frittata with Herb Goat Cheese

Clementines

Bananas

Orange Juice, Coffee & Black Tea

SATURDAY NIGHT

This year we went out to a local organic bistro that had live music, then came home to make some S’mores. (Last year we made tilapia in a white wine sauce, roasted wild mushrooms, and an autumn salad.)

SUNDAY BRUNCHING

Banana Bread

Blueberry Muffins

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

Yogurt & Banana Nut Granola with Pomegranate Seeds

Toast (there was butter, peanut butter, and local strawberry-raspberry preserves)

Clementines

Bananas

Orange Juice, Coffee & Black Tea

SNACKS

Roasted Salted Cashews & Pistachios

Grape Tomatoes

Chili-Lime & Blue Corn Chips with Chipotle Salsa

Veggie Burgers (there was multi-grain bread, mango chutney, and baby spinach)

Local Apples

Celery

Creamy Peanut Butter & Local Strawberry Raspberry Preserves

We also served garnacha tintorera, prosecco, and riesling. Nearly everything was organic! : )

Food Poem Fridays: William Makepeace Thackeray's BALLAD OF BOUILLABAISSE

The Ballad of Bouillabaisse

By William Makepeace Thackeray

A Street there is in Paris famous,

For which no rhyme our language yields,

Rue Neuve de petits Champs its name is -

The New Street of the Little Fields;

And there's an inn, not rich and splendid,

But still in comfortable case -

The which in youth I oft attended,

To eat a bowl of Bouillabaisse.

This Bouillabaisse a noble dish is -

A sort of soup, or broth, or brew,

Or hotchpotch of all sorts of fishes,

That Greenwich never could outdo;

Green herbs, red peppers, muscles, saffern, Soles, onions, garlic, roach, and dace;

All these you eat at Terre's tavern,

In that one dish of Bouillabaisse.

Indeed, a rich and savory stew 't is;

And true philosophers, methinks,

Who love all sorts of natural beauties,

Should love good victuals and good drinks.

And Cordelier or Benedictine Might gladly, sure, his lot embrace,

Nor find a fast-day too afflicting,

Which served him up a Bouillabaisse.

I wonder if the house still there is?

Yes, here the lamp is as before;

The smiling, red-cheeked ecaillere is

Still opening oysters at the door.

Is Terre still alive and able?

I recollect his droll grimace;

He'd come and smile before your table,

And hoped you like your Bouillabaisse.

We enter; nothing's changed or older.

"How's Monsieur Terre, waiter, pray?"

The waiter stares and shrugs his shoulders ; -

"Monsieur is dead this many a day."

"It is the lot of saint and sinner. So honest Terre's run his race!"

"What will Monsieur require for dinner?"

"Say, do you still cook Bouillabaisse?"

"Oh, oui, Monsieur," 's the waiter's answer;

"Quel vin Monsieur desire-t-il ?"

"Tell me a good one."

"That I can, sir; The Chambertin with yellow seal."

"So Terre's gone," I say, and sink in

My old accustomed corner-place;

"He's done with feasting and wine drinking, With Burgundy and Bouillabaisse."

My old accustomed corner here is -

The table still is in the nook;

Ah! vanished many a busy year is,

This well-known chair since last I took.

When first I saw ye, Cari luoghi,

I'd scarce a beard upon my face,

And now a grizzled, grim old fogy,

I sit and wait for Bouillabaisse.

Where are you, old companions trusty

Of early days, here met to dine?

Come, waiter! quick, a flagon crusty

I'll pledge them in the good old wine.

The kind old voices and old faces

My memory can quick retrace;

Around the board they take their places,

And share the wine and Bouillabaisse.

There's Jack has made a wondrous marriage;

There's laughing Tom is laughing yet;

There's brave Augustus drives his carriage;

There's poor old Fred in the Gazette;

On James' head the grass is growing:

Good Lord! the world has wagged apace

Since here we sat the Claret flowing,

And drank, and ate the Bouillabaisse.

Ah me! how quick the days are flitting!

I mind me of a time that's gone,

When here I'd sit, as now I'm sitting,

In this same place--but not alone.

A fair young form was nestled near me,

A dear, dear face looked fondly up,

And sweetly spoke and smiled to cheer me.

- There's no one now to share my cup.

I drink it as the Fates ordain it.

Come, fill it, and have done with rhymes;

Fill up the lonely glass, and drain it

In memory of dear old times.

Welcome the wine, whate'er the seal is;

And sit you down and say your grace

With thankful heart, whate'er the meal is.

Here comes the smoking Bouillabaisse!

Recipe: Sweet and Spicy Trout with Yellow Bell Pepper Dice and Brussels Sprouts

The other day, we had some left over brown rice, some fresh trout filets, a few bell peppers, and some brussels sprouts in the fridge, hence this Chinese-influenced, sweet-and-spicy meal-in-a-bowl. 

Sweet and Spicy Trout with Yellow Bell Pepper Dice and Brussels Sprouts for 2

1/2 Cup cooked brown rice, flecked with black sesame seeds

About 20 brussels sprouts, chopped (I cut each into eighths, lengthwise)

1 yellow bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely diced

two 1/4 pound trout filets

1" piece ginger, peeled and minced

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 Tbsp. nama shoyu

2 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

1 tsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. black bean sauce

4 Tbsp. Peanut oil

Dash hot chilli sesame oil

For the brussels sprouts:

In a wok, heat 2 Tbsp. peanut oil over medium high heat.  Add half the ginger and half the garlic and saute until fragrant but do not let the ginger or garlic brown.  

Add the brussels sprouts, half the shoyu, half the rice wine vinegar, and the brown sugar, and toss.  

Continue sauteeing until the brussels sprouts are cooked and the liquids are completely reduced, about 10 minutes.

Simultaneously, for the fish and bell peppers: 

In a pan, heat the other 2 Tbsp. peanut oil over medium high heat. Add the yellow bell peppers and saute until they soften.  

Add the remaining ginger, garlic, shoyu, and rice wine vinegar, and the black bean sauce, and cook, stirring, until the mixture begins to caramelize and the liquid has reduced by about half.

Place the fish filets atop the bell peppers, dash a bit of sesame chilli oil onto them, lower the heat to medium, and cover to let the filets steam cook atop the bell peppers. (Mine took about 5 minutes, then I removed the fish skin.)

Put half of the brown rice into each of two bowls, top the rice with the sauteed brussels sprouts, top the brussels sprouts with a fish filet, and top each fish filet with the caramelized, diced bell peppers.

Recipe: Tuna Steak with Japanese Vegetables

I have recently been reading about Harumi Kurihara, the "Martha Stewart of Japan." She makes a dish of bite-sized steak with chopped vegetables that is just as do-able with tuna steak (not very unlike the trout with diced, caramelized yellow bell pepper and shredded brussels sprouts that I made the other day, if I do say so myself -- I'll post that recipe next).


Fish-and-vegetables are the basic ingredients of many of the meals I make. They make a light, nourishing meal, with endless possibilities for variation.

Tuna Bites with Japanese Vegetables for 4
About 2 lbs tuna steaks (3/4" thick if possible)
Olive or peanut oil for cooking
2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
¼ Cup finely chopped watercress
¼ Cup scallions, chopped
¼ cup ribbed and finely chopped celery
Small handful shredded shiso leaves (or a mix of fresh basil and mint leaves, shredded)
Dashi shoyu sauce, to taste (a half-and-half mixture of fish stock and soy sauce)
Grated daikon or radish


Cut the tuna steaks into bite-sizes pieces. Heat the oil in a ridged griddle pan or frying pan and quickly cook the cubes, browning on all sides. (I added a bit of hot chilli sesame oil for the sesame flavor and the heat.)


Mix the chopped vegetables, except the daikon/radish, together. When the tuna is cooked to your liking, place it on a serving dish with the chopped vegetables on top. Make the dashi shoyu sauce and pour it on. Top each serving with grated daikon/radish.

Food Poem Fridays: Robert Frost's BLUEBERRIES

Blueberries

By Robert Frost

Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb,

Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum

In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!

And all ripe together, not some of them green

And some of them ripe!

You ought to have seen!

In Awe of Raw (Guest post by Miz Capsicum)

Miz Capsicum has been a friend of mine for more than a decade, and is a singer-songwriter who has been eating a vegan and half-raw diet for about two and a half years. As I have received multiple requests for posts on eating raw, I asked Miz Capsicum to guest blog about her experience.

Also, recently, I had caught a cold, and was supposed to meet up with Miz Capsicum and our mutual friend, and canceled our get together both because I wasn't feeling well and because I was concerned about infecting them with my cold virus. I was really struck when Miz Capsicum was so unconcerned about possibly catching my cold -- recently, her partner had had one, and she hadn't caught it even from him. So I have been wondering, does Miz Capsicum's diet hold the secret to better immune system functioning?

~

About my diet: I am 99% vegan but occasionally eat bread and desserts which may contain any number of non-vegan substances that I pretend not to notice. And sometimes I put butter on that bread too. : ) As well as being vegan, at least 40% of what I eat in a day is raw, with no more than one or two meals with cooked foods in them per day. (I would like to include more organics, but conventionally grown foods are much easier to come by in my neighborhood, and much less expensive, so unfortunately I don't get as many organics as I'd like.)

Prior to becoming vegan, my diet looked more like Miz Masala's: vegetarian with fish here and there, plus eggs, and unlike Miz Masala, I also handled cheese and milk.

I used to have acid reflux all the time, and terrible indigestion. I was losing my voice and canceling shows. But I have experienced a huge improvement in the past two and a half years. I'm still working on making my diet more consistent and managing my impulsive eating urges (I have a sweet tooth), and on continuing to help my body's natural detoxification systems re-balance and function as they ought (I still have one major persistent symptom: acne) through a gradually lighter diet and colonics.

Miz Masala asked me if I felt that eating more raw foods and staying vegan enhanced my immune system, and the simple answer is, Yes: increasing the amount of raw food in my diet has benefited my immune system. How and why it works as it has been taught to me operates on a set of principles that are at some variance with the assumptions underlying Western medicine. One of the views I've adopted as my own as I've learned more about healing the body through nutrition is that the cause of illness is the presence of toxins in the body. Toxins increase via the consumption of poisonous substances, but also through indigestion and improper elimination, a much more common circumstance than we think.

The cleaner, more alkaline, and less toxic the body, the smoother its intricate and beautifully designed systems can function. Raw foods, when eaten in the proper dietetic combinations, serve to alkalinize, cleanse, and facilitate proper digestion and elimination.

As for my own health, I'm so grateful that I've been learning more about healing through food. It's a lifestyle and a commitment to your own health in the short and long run. I find that I really enjoy learning about food and health and watching my body heal.

Thai lettuce wraps from the popular all-raw restaurant Pure Food & Wine in New York City. (I have tried them, and they're delicious.)

~

What is the raw diet? The raw food movement prescribes a diet of unprocessed, preferably organic, plant foods that have not been heated above 116 degrees F. The theory underlying this diet is that cooking destroys the enzymes in plant foods that assist in the absorption of nutrients and elimination of toxins and diminishes the nutritional value and "life force" of food (which sounds very similar to me to the "prana shakti" concept in Hinduism). People are considered to be on raw diets if 75% or more of what they eat is living (raw). Raw "cooking techniques" to make dishes of varying textures and easier digestibility include sprouting seeds, grains, and beans; juicing, chopping, and julienning fruits and vegetables; soaking raw (not roasted) nuts and dried fruit; making "milks," "creams," and "ice creams" from nuts and young coconut; and blending, dehydrating, culturing, fermenting, and pickling raw foods.

Recipe: Yellow Moong Dal

At request...

Yellow Moong Dal

1 Cup dry yellow moong dal

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp olive oil

1 green chilli, stemmed and chopped (or 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder)

1 tsp. ground turmeric

1/2" piece ginger, peeled and minced

1 chopped tomato

Salt to taste

1/2 Cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak dal in 2 Cups water overnight (or for several hours during the day).  In a pot over high heat, roast cumin seeds until fragrant, being careful not to let them burn.  Turn heat down to medium high and add oil, a stemmed and chopped green chilli (or 1/2 tsp. red chilli powder), ground turmeric, and ginger.  Add the dal and the water it's been soaking in, the chopped tomato, and salt to taste, and stir.  You can add more water at this point if you like your dal to be more soup-y.  If you are using a pressure cooker, follow its instructions for pressure cooking at this point.  If you're using a regular pot, turn heat back to high, bring to boil, then turn heat down to medium, cover, and let simmer until dal is cooked (~20 minutes).  The dal should be so mushy that each lentil is no longer distinct.  When it's cooked, turn off heat and stir in chopped cilantro.  Serve hot with rice if it's soup-y or chapatis if it's thick, or drink like soup.

Variations: 

- add a clove of minced garlic at the same time as the ginger.

- add 1/4 of a chopped onion, and saute it in the oil until at least translucent or at most browned before adding anything else to the oil.  

- add popped mustard seeds.

- add a pinch of asafoetida (also known as hing).

- add chopped greens like mustard greens or spinach at the same time as the tomato (if you add greens, you won't need the cilantro). 

Food Poem Fridays: William Carlos Williams's THIS IS JUST TO SAY

This is Just to Say

by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums

that were in 

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet 

and so cold

Recipe: Gajar ka Halwa (Indian Carrot Pudding)

Tomorrow is Diwali, so on Sunday we gathered together with about 5 or 6 other families and, as most communities do during holiday celebrations, made and ate lots of treats.

Carrot seera or gajar ka halwa is an Indian sweet dish usually made with clarified butter, milk, and lots of white sugar. I love it, but wanted to make a less sweet, non-dairy version that let more of the natural carrot flavor come through. After all, why start with the brilliant idea of taking the antioxidant powerhouse carrot, which has pretty sweet juice to begin with, turn it into a glorious deep orange pudding even the most vegetable-resistant kid will ask for second helpings of, but then heap it with harmful fats and white sugar? So here's a version I successfully made yesterday, with no dairy and no white sugar. The almond milk and almond butter also add to the flavor profile.

Gajar ka Halwa (for 12)

18 big juicy organic carrots, trimmed, peeled, washed, and grated

Grapeseed (or other mild-tasting and good-for-you) oil spray

4 tablespoons almond butter

Several pinches saffron

1/4 Cup cardamom pods, pounded using a mortar and pestle until the black seeds are exposed

9 whole cloves

4 Cups almond milk (unsweetened)

1.5 Cups brown sugar (taste test to decide whether to use more or less, depending on how sweet the carrots naturally are already and the sweetness you prefer)

Optional: add golden raisins at the same time that you add the brown sugar

Garnish: slivered almonds

Spray the bottom and halfway up the sides of a big, heavy-bottomed soup pot with the grapeseed oil spray. Turn the stove on to medium heat and briefly fry the saffron until its color begins seeping into the oil. Add the almond butter and let it warm for a few seconds. Add the carrots, pounded cardamom pods, and cloves, and fold and stir until all the carrots are coated with almond butter and the fragrant spices. Add the almond milk and the brown sugar and stir until mixed thoroughly. Let the mixture simmer on medium heat, half uncovered, stirring every now and then, until the milk is reduced and the mixture is so thick that no liquid drips off a spoonful. Serve hot or at room temperature garnished with slivered almonds.

It took me about 2 hours to make it yesterday, but the nice thing is you don't have to do anything during this simmering phase except for check on it and stir it every now and then, so yesterday, I let the carrot seera simmer while I made other dishes. And if you divide this recipe by thirds, as it would make sense to do if you're just making it for a group of four or so, it will be done much more quickly.

Recipe by Miz Paprika: Savory Sun-Dried Tomato Muffins

This is a Guest Blog Post by Miz Paprika! Enjoy : )

Hi all! Miz Masala asked me to share with you one of my new favorite recipes: savory muffins.

This is adapted from 101cookbooks.com, the incredible and beautiful website maintained by Heidi Swanson, author of “Super Natural Cooking.”

Savory muffins are great because they are 1) high protein and low carb and 2) incredibly portable, so I often take them with me for lunch or as a snack for the airplane when I’m traveling. Like most muffins, these take only one bowl to make and are incredibly easy to alter to fit your tastes. This recipe includes sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and basil, so they taste a bit like a very wholesome pizza, but you could easily do scallions and cheddar cheese, ham and gruyere, spinach-feta, or rosemary, garlic, and parmesan. Once you have this basic recipe, it’s very easy to experiment.

Savory Sun-Dried Tomato Muffins

1 cup cottage cheese (I use farmer’s cheese because it blends better, and I like the texture, but if you have some available and want to try this, make sure you add a little bit of milk to compensate for the dry texture of farmer’s cheese vs. cottage cheese)
¾ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup flour (any kind will do, but I prefer to use all-purpose white flour or whole wheat pastry flour to cut the rough texture of the almond flour)

1 cup almonds, finely ground (you can use almond flour, if you have it available - I know Whole Foods sells it)

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes (in oil) finely chopped
¼ cup fresh basil (finely chopped)
¼ cup water
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 °F. If you bake with any frequency at all (or even if you are an infrequent baker and want to try baking more), I highly highly recommend purchasing some silicone muffin pans. They changed my life : ). The muffins just slide out when they’re done and you don’t have to grease the pan or mess with those annoying paper cups. If you don’t have a silicone muffin pan yet, line a regular muffin pan with paper cups or grease the pan - just be careful to get it all the way up the sides and around any corners so the muffins don’t stick.

Combine all of the ingredients except ¼ cup of the parmesan in a bowl and mix all together by hand. Pour into your muffin pan and top each muffin with a sprinkling of the parmesan cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. I have never made it this long, but they should keep for a week.

Makes 9-12 muffins depending on the size of your pan.

Food Poem Fridays: Sylvia Plath's MUSHROOMS

Mushrooms
By Sylvia Plath

Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly
Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.
Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.
Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,
Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,
Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We
Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking
Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!
We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,
Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:
We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.

Recipe: Gobi Masala

I hosted my book club Sunday night and thematically served an all vegetarian, Indian-with-a-hint-of-Anglo meal (we read "The Indian Clerk," historical fiction but very much based on reality - the story of the Cambridge don and mathematician G. H. Hardy's encounter with the genius-but-unschooled mathematician and upper caste vegetarian Srinivasa Ramanujan, brought to Trinity College from South India and treated as an exotic specimen of "Hindoo calculator" by Hardy and his colleagues).

The menu: hariyali tikki sandwiches; chhole (chickpea curry) served with imli chutney and brown basmati with browned onions and peas; avial (yogurt curry); gobi masala (cauliflower) with chapatis; chopped raw mushrooms, mild radishes, and baby japanese turnips tossed with chaat masala and lemon and lime juice; red onion salad; and butternut squash raita. One of the book club members brought lemon almond whole grain tea bread and we had that with Concord grapes for dessert.

Gobi Masala for 8 (served alongside other dishes)
One head cauliflower, washed, trimmed and broken into bite-sized florets
One bunch collards, washed, ribbed, and shredded (I've used other mild greens, too)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tbsp. ground coriander seed
salt to taste

1" piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 tsp. red chilli powder

two small tomatoes, chopped
1/4 Cup hot water

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a wok or shallow sauce pan (make sure it's large enough that you can easily toss the quantity of vegetables). Saute the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add the turmeric and ground coriander seed and saute until fragrant. Add the vegetables, salt, fresh ginger, and red chilli powder and toss to combine. Saute until every piece of cauliflower is coated with the mixture of onions, ginger, and spices. Toss in the chopped tomatoes, combine well, add the hot water, cover and let steam for about 10 minutes or until the vegetables are well cooked, checking every now and then to stir/toss. Finish by removing the lid and allowing some of the excess water to evaporate, stirring.

Recipe: Chhole (Chickpea Curry)

I hosted my book club last night and thematically served an all vegetarian, Indian-with-a-hint-of-Anglo meal (we read "The Indian Clerk," historical fiction but very much based on reality - the story of the Cambridge don and mathematician G. H. Hardy's encounter with the genius-but-unschooled mathematician and upper caste vegetarian Srinivasa Ramanujan, brought to Trinity College from South India and treated as an exotic specimen of "Hindoo calculator" by Hardy and his colleagues).

The menu: hariyali tikki sandwiches; chhole (chickpea curry) served with imli chutney and brown basmati with browned onions and peas; avial (yogurt curry); gobi masala (cauliflower) with chapatis; chopped raw mushrooms, mild radishes, and baby japanese turnips tossed with chaat masala and lemon and lime juice; red onion salad; and butternut squash raita. One of the book club members brought lemon almond whole grain tea bread and we had that with Concord grapes for dessert.

The cinnamon stick swells up with the curry and imparts a woody spiciness to the whole dish.

Chhole for 8 (served alongside other dishes)

1 1/2 Cups chickpeas, soaked overnight (or ~2 Cups cooked chickpeas)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 yellow onions, chopped finely

3 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick (about the length of your forefinger)

1" piece ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tsp. red chilli powder (optional)

1-2 tbsp. garam masala (to taste)

4 huge or 6 normal-sized tomatoes, skins removed, chopped

If using uncooked chickpeas: about 2 Cups boiling hot water

Leaves from half a bunch of cilantro, washed, drained, and chopped

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot or pressure cooker pot until hot. Add the chopped onions, cloves, and cinnamon stick and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant (don't let the ginger-garlic brown; don't worry if the onion browns a little). Add the chickpeas, salt, black pepper, red chilli powder (optional), and garam masala and stir to combine thoroughly, until each chickpea is coated with the mixture of oil, onions, ginger-garlic, and spices and the chickpeas are heated through. Then add the tomatoes, stir, add additional salt if necessary, and turn the heat up and bring to boil (at this point, add the boiling water if using uncooked chickpeas), stirring.

If you're using uncooked chickpeas and a pressure cooker, follow the instructions to pressure cook the chickpea curry at this point. If you're using uncooked chickpeas and a regular pot, cover and reduce to medium low heat and simmer until the chickpeas are cooked, ~2 hours. If you're using cooked chickpeas and either a pressure cooker or a regular pot, do not pressure cook, just simmer covered until the tomatoes have broken down into a thick curry (~15 minutes).

Then, at the end, if there is extra liquid, remove the cover and boil until the liquid is reduced, depending on how watery versus thick you want it to be.

Stir in the chopped cilantro after removing from heat but while still hot, just before serving.

Food Poem Fridays: Mary Oliver's AUGUST

August

By Mary Oliver

When the blackberries hang

swollen in the woods, in the brambles

nobody owns, I spend

all day among the high

branches, reaching

my ripped arms, thinking

of nothing, cramming

the black honey of summer

into my mouth; all day my body

accepts what it is.  In the dark

creek that runs by there is

this thick paw of my life darting among

the black bells, the leaves; there is

this happy tongue.

Quotable Quote

Cooking is like love.  It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.  

~Harriet van Horne

Food Poem Fridays: Mary Oliver's RICE

Rice

By Mary Oliver

It grew in the black mud.

It grew under the tiger's orange paws.

Its stems thicker than candles, and as straight.

Its leaves like the feathers of egrets,

                                                but green.

The grains cresting, wanting to burst.

Oh, blood of the tiger.

I don't want you to just sit at the table.

I don't want you just to eat, and be content.

I want you to walk into the fields

Where the water is shining, and the rice has risen.

I want you to stand there,

     far from the white tablecloth.

I want you to fill your hands with mud,

     like a blessing.

Quotable Quote

It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato.  

~Lewis Grizzard

Recipe: Egg Curry

Egg curry is simple, tasty, and can be eaten for breakfast or dinner.

Egg Curry for 2

Half a red onion, finely chopped

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 clove minced garlic

3/4" minced ginger

1 tbsp. ground cilantro seeds

1/2 tsp. hot red chilli powder

1 tsp. turmeric

4-6 small tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped

2 oz. coconut milk

salt

4 hard boiled eggs, sliced

Brown rice peas pulao for 2

optional: curry leaves or fresh cilantro (but not both)

In a saucepan, over medium heat, simultaneously roast the cumin seed on one side of the pan while letting some of the water evaporate from the red onion on the other side. When the onion is a bit dry and the cumin seed is fragrant, add the olive oil, garlic, ginger, ground cilantro seed, hot red chilli powder, and turmeric and stir-fry until the garlic and ginger soften. (If you're adding curry leaves, add them at this point.) Add the tomatoes, salt to taste, stir, and turn the heat up until the mixture boils, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and let simmer, checking and stirring every now and then, until a bit of the oil separates from the tomato curry and the curry is thick. Stir in the coconut milk (and if you're adding fresh cilantro, stir that in, too).

Divide brown rice peas pulao between two bowls, top with two sliced eggs each, and top each with the tomato coconut curry.