Not too bad, Lindsay...

A little healthy eating never killed anyone...except that one person.  Yes, that person was me.

I've been trying to lose some winter weight lately.  I've got a Caribbean vacation coming up (sadly, not the super cool kind with Raz) and spring clothing is just around the corner.  That, and someone's asshole Wii fit told me I need to lose 10 pounds.   The three C's are strictly off limits:  Candy, cakes and cookies (you know, unless my boss brings in chocolate from her trip to Paris).  Just trying to cut out too many extra carbs and added sugar is really restrictive.  I'm really in need of some method to make eating just vegetables for two meals a day tasty and possible.

Enter this fabulous recipe for Japanese Restaurant-style ginger-carrot dressing.  Not exactly like old Taipei-Tokyo's back in Monroeville, but a great substitute.  Can't be that bad for you, either.

Ugh my camera has the resolution and focus of a potato.

Speaking of slimming down, look at my li'l lady who has been just a tad slimmer since she's been hanging around outside a bit:

Balloon: I'm super sexy!

New round of cookbooks from LINCC

I have been getting so bored with cooking lately.  Nothing was inspiring me to try new things or explore.  I started eating take-out and microwave dishes more just to avoid planning and cooking.  Meat was getting in there a little more than I like it to.  I knew this had to change.

Then I got a brilliant idea:  I work at a library.  Libraries have cookbooks!  So I placed a dozen holds on popular vegetarian cookbooks, and I have received a few so far.  Some had so many holds, I'll be lucky to see them by August.  One I was very disappointed with.  I won't mention it (unless you really want to know); the recipes were too frustrating.  It was pretty pretentious.  

Enter The Veganomicon. It's several years old now, so I'm thinking of maybe getting a copy cheap from Powell's.  It's exactly what I like.  Foods I have heard of.  Tasty no-nonsense recipes.  Not just vegan food, because I was a very unsuccessful vegan, but rather variety. It's a thick 250-recipe volume, and it gives you so many options for recipes that you are bound to find one you love.  Especially one you can add cheese to.  

So far I have made two things from it, and both were flavorful and easy to prepare.  

Tonight's dinner:  Scallion flatbread from page 222.  Very good, but maybe not a great, nutritious dinner.  We've been busy today, so I'm not going to count it out as being terrible for you.  They are very fun to make and pretty quick. 

They're cooked on the stove top almost like a pancake, but with little balls of dough rolled out very thinly beforehand and tossed into the pan where they sizzle and brown.  I'd love to try branching out with other types of flatbread, too.  These would be great if company came over.  I recommend using low-sodium soy sauce because the sauce is pretty salty but in general they were great!

Your library is almost certain to have a copy, and used volumes are sold on Amazon for around 16 dollars.  I say give it a try.

Midnight snack...

What the hell is it?

It's a Jicama, or a "Mexican Turnip".  This one is peeled, normally they look like this.  I doubt you have to actually peel them, but the sticker on mine suggested it.  Don't grab your vegetable peeler, though.  If you can get it started (say, near the stem?) the peel comes of by itself quite easily.  Alternatively, I have seen them in vegetable trays but this isn't very common.

What do I do with it?

My favorite way to eat them is raw with dip.  There are recipes, but I have been trying to incorporate more fresh, raw fruits and vegetables in my diet, and I feel very good.  Nutritional value?  Mostly carbs, fiber and water.  They are chock full of inulin(a kind of fiber), and are extremely filling.  Essentially they are a tasty vehicle for getting your favorite dressing from the bottle to your mouth, while sneaking 6 grams of fiber inside of you with you barely noticing.

How's it taste?

Crisp. Starchy. Wet.  If you like raw carrots or cut up sweet potatoes, you'll like this.  Its really crispy and satisfyingly fun to eat.

Slow-baked beans: Whoa!

A friend recently sent me a recipe that was published in the New York Times.  Because he reads my blog, and wishes he had more time to cook, I decided to make this dish just for him.  ...Also it sounded amazing. Raj, a med student at Yale, has a mother who is an amazing cook and a maker of epic pies.  After eating all that tasty food, I trust his culinary suggestions.  And as I sit here writing and burning my mouth on molten beans, I'm here to tell you that it was totally worth it.

This recipe, vegan in its entirety, is exactly the thing I would expect someone who is intellectual and also vegetarian to eat.  Indeed, what an intellectual dish.  Nourishing, healthy, simple and delicious.  Not to mention economical.

Often times, I use recipes as guidelines and create my own version. However, I wanted to make this one exactly as written.  Safeway, as it seems, wanted to thwart me.  They were out of kale (!), so I decided to substitute fresh spinach.  I also had an early relative casserole dish which wasn't up to the capacity of the recipe, so in the end, I made 3/4 of the actual recipe, leaving a bucket of half-soaked lima beans on my counter.

I upped the temperature to 300 degrees.  Apartment ovens are not famously accurate, and I'm sure mine runs a bit cool.  Also I don't believe ANYTHING can cook at 225 degrees.  That's only 55 degrees hotter than a sauna, and people can survive in that.  

The beans turn creamy, the herbs are delicious, and everything melds together so nicely.  Definitely worth the three hours. Make it on a weekend or ahead of time and heat it up later.

Bean casserole doesn't photograph particularly beautifully...

The Recipe:  Slow-Baked Beans with Kale

Eat Like an Egyptian

While watching TV late at night I came across an episode of No Reservations where Anthony Bourdain was in Egypt.  I have to say that when I was a young child, studying ancient cultures was a hobby of mine.  Religion, myths and legends, fashion and food and drink of the ancient Greeks, Chinese, Romans and Egyptians continue to fascinate me today.  That is why when I saw Tony Bourdain eating Ful Medames, Egypt's ancient national dish, I decided that I need to find a recipe and make it for myself.

Recipes for this food vary greatly, but mostly involve simmering fava beans (also called 'broad beans'), onions, garlic, tomatoes, and various herbs and spices together in a pan.  While fava beans are a staple in the Middle East as well as Ethiopia and Greece, they are nearly impossible to find here.  I found canned fava beans at Whole Foods...but you know how I feel about canned beans.  Well, maybe you don't.  They're like cheating.  They're like telling your blind grandmother you have a royal flush in poker when you don't.  She won't know the difference, but its still wrong.  Also they don't taste as good (except for in chili where you're using 5 kinds of beans anyway, I don't expect you to cook all those beans yourself).

But I digress.  In Egypt, everyone, rich or poor eats Ful Medames (according to Wikipedia and Tony Bourdain and the recipe book), and there it is mostly a hearty breakfast dish served with a hard-boiled egg and pita.  But I'm from America, and I like to eat Lucky Charms for breakfast.  That's okay, Ful Medames makes a great dinner, too.

Links used in this post:
The recipe I used. This book seems excellent and I want to peruse it more!
Nutrition Data for Fava Beans
Wikipedia article for ful medames.

November comfort foods...

Last night's acorn squash was a complete improvisation -- er, I mean success.  I was certainly inspired by this:

Pioneer Woman Cooks - Sweet-Roasted Rosemary Acorn Squash
and this:  Uggh, Martha.

But in the end I mixed butter(nobody will be upset if you sub vegan margarine or olive oil) and brown sugar, used a bit of dried rosemary (I'm too lazy to go downstairs and grab the rosemary growing by the pool), salt, pepper and 1 shallot chopped coarsely.  The last time I roasted acorn squash, I only used brown sugar and butter and it was certainly delicious.  This time, however I wanted a little more flavor, and I was pleased with the results.
Note about roasting squash: A lot of recipes will have the acorn squash just cut in half so that a delicious pool of brown sugar and butter forms in the middle...that's what I did last time, and its great for dipping, but we found the process of eating it just too messy.  Its really up to you.

As a side, my own favorite quinoa with walnuts and onions.

Speaking of quinoa, this morning I made something different for breakfast:  Quinoa Porridge.  Its very good, but I never add any extras until the end of my cooking.  Heat can destroy vanilla especially.  I have heard that adding sugar affects the way grains cook(no idea if its true), so just to be safe I left that out until the end, too.  Besides, it's always better to sweeten something after you've tasted it.  Its really hearty, and great topped with thawed frozen berries.  One recipe equals about one serving, or two small ones.

Yes, I made the bowl, too.

Hey I think both of these are gluten-free, too...

This salad is amazing...and cheap.

This napa cabbage salad is so amazing I just had to share it with the world immediately.  I couldn't believe how these ingredients combined to create such a fantastic, cheap, gourmet-tasting dish...and its vegan so all of your friends can enjoy.  Its not gluten-free but nothing is perfect.  Maybe if you found a crunchy replacement for the ramen?

Some changes I made:  Instead of balsamic vinegar I used red wine vinegar and a dash of rice wine vinegar.  I cut the sugar in the dressing down to about 4 tbs. For me, it was enough. I added a quick squirt of agave nectar, but I love experimenting with that stuff, just for flavor.  I added more soy sauce than it suggests, and I used the reduced-salt kind from Yamasa.  I also added a touch of black pepper to the dressing.

A lot of people in the recipe page comments section said that the napa cabbage was yucky but I disagree so I used it.  Some people said they used regular green cabbage.  I suspect that once the dressing is on, both will taste similar so if you only have access to one over the other, don't let that stop you.

For dessert:  Gas-X would be nice.

Cheeseless Nacho Cheese - How'd I do that?

While shopping in the Whole Foods Bulk aisle, I made an astonishing purchase:  Nutritional Yeast.  Wait, what?

Nutritional Yeast is inactivated yeast fortified with B vitamins that is rich in protein. Its sold in flakes or powder.  If you're a vegan and you're not eating this, you probably should be. It has a nutty, cheesy aroma and if someone just told you it was cheese sauce mix, you'd probably believe them.  Its shockingly flavorful, and its used in a lot of cheese additions.

I know you've had vegan cheese before, probably to your disappointment. This recipe, with some changes, is amazing as nacho cheese.  It fooled even me, and I made it.  I replaced 2/3 of the water with almond milk, rather than soy as many people had suggested, and added the tumeric.  Soy margarine was used this time but could probably be replaced with either oil or butter.

The result of this recipe will have you baffled.  Its so damn close to cheesy sauce you might not even miss it.

Lemon Sorbet

Lately I have been experimenting with a Donvier ice cream maker I bought at Goodwill last winter.  Its the kind where you freeze the cylinder overnight and then add your ingredients and turn the paddle.  Its a little difficult to get to know at first, and your freezer must be on the coldest setting possible.   Not doing so has resulted in one ice cream disaster (last Halloween), and one coconut sorbet disaster (last week, we still ate it, it was good but chunky.)

This time it worked!

Behold my latest summer dessert:  lemon sorbet.  Its an excellent treat for a summer evening.  No fat, filled with fruit juice and quite an excellent taste.   This recipe has half the sugar of the previous coconut one, which I found much too sweet.  So if you find yourself with an ice cream maker, or if you want to make sorbet with a blender or food processor, I highly recommend this one!

Don't like lemon?  Here's my Coconut-lime sorbet(vegan):

1 can Coconut Milk
Zest of 1 lime
1 tsp lime juice
1/2 - 1 Cup sugar
1 Cup water

Add the sugar to the water and bring to a boil.  Simmer until the water is reduced by half.  Remove from heat add the coconut milk. Put the lime zest in a tea ball and let it sit in the mixture that you have just created. Chill in the refrigerator.  Remove the teaball.  For extra lime-y flavor and tang add a little of the lime juice.  Pour into your sorbet-creation device.

recipe for lemon sorbet
no ice cream maker? no problem.

Black Rice Pudding - Say Whaaaat?

I really love rice pudding, but I can no longer have dairy, especially milk.  My favorite recipe called for lots of it, so I stopped making it a few months ago.

A few days ago while shopping at Whole Foods in the bulk section I noticed some unusual black rice.  Its called "Forbidden Rice", supposedly because it was forbidden for anyone except the Emperor to eat (according to Wikipedia, anyway).  I had to have some, and besides, it was on sale.  But the main problem:  what does one make with black rice?  Originally I was looking for a savory recipe to serve with salmon, but when I saw one for black rice pudding I couldn't say no.

Uncooked black rice.  Soak 1 hour in water before you cook it!

The recipe for black rice pudding calls for very few ingredients, using coconut milk instead of dairy. With just the rice, coconut milk, sugar, salt and water, you can whip up an easy and delicious pudding for yourself in about 2 hours.  

Topped with some coconut milk-yum!

The resulting pudding is purplish-black in color.  Its very chewy, filling and slightly sweet.  High in saturated fat, but also high in minerals including iron, this pudding can be eaten for dessert or even breakfast.  I can tell that this recipe would also be great with other kinds of rice, like brown or even white or sticky rice.  Next time I might add a touch more sugar because I think puddings should be a tad sweeter than this was.

Ugh I haven't finished any knitting projects recently.  I really need to get going with them, I have a few started already that I'm looking forward to finishing but its so very hard to knit when its not cold out...

Zakka Cooking: The Perfect Snack for a Spring Evening

It seems like in every stage of my life there's something new to love about Japan.  I'm currently becoming smitten with Zakka, a.k.a. Japanese-style crafting.  I found a few blogs dedicated to Zakka crafts, including the one in which I found this awesome recipe for Japanese Cucumber Salad.  Simple, awesome and delicious, and sometimes expensive in Japanese restaurants.  Try it!

cilantro

cilantro
Originally uploaded by destroysodexho

Spring is almost here, time for a new hat! This is a pattern I discovered after finding a partially unwound skein of Wool-ease Thick and Quick in colorway "cilantro" on sale at Michael's for 1/2 price. I needed something to make with just one skein, and this hat did nicely.

The pattern is "Cordova" by Jen Lacroix. Easily the most fun knit I've had the pleasure of completing in a long time, the lace rows go fast and the resulting hat is light and fun to wear. While knitting it I considered that the pattern, doubled, would work extremely well in a worsted-weight cotton blend (I've got an extra skein of cotton-ease). That would be a fantastic springtime and early summer hat.

Zach has returned from APhA!  I didn't cook the whole time he was gone, except for whipping up a batch of Cilantro Pesto before my bunch of fresh cilantro went bad.  Cilantro pesto has easily been my favorite for years.  As you may guess, its a little bit different from basil pesto.  I think its better, but then I really don't like basil.  It is still good on pasta of all sorts but I'd also consider it tasty enough to use as a dip for veggies, especially carrots.  Its great on top of fish, as cilantro naturally chelates mercury from your body.  The classic "cilantro" flavor disappears in the mix, so this recipe may even be suitable for cilantro haters.  Its also vegan, depending on what you're eating it on top of.

Cilantro Pesto
Pine nuts (raw)
Cold-pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt (I used the Pink stuff)
Fresh Cilantro
Whole Garlic Cloves (start with one, go from there)

I never measure when I'm making this, sorry.  I just put it in my food processor until its chunky and I've used up most or all of my ingredients.  Too Liquid?  Add more nuts?  Too bland?  Add more salt or garlic.  Its really up to you!

I'm halfway through "Fugitives and Refugees".  Great read.

Food we ate: Roasted Broccoli and Mushroom Couscous

Zach has been scouring the Food Network website for quick, healthy recipes (that he wants me to make, hah).  To make dinner just as I enjoyed it tonight, begin with this recipe:  Roasted Broccoli with Garlic.  For the record, I found I needed more oil and that 450 degrees was too hot.  400 did well, but my small apartment oven may not be very accurate.  If you're anything like me, you'll want to pop some extra whole garlic cloves onto the tray to roast alongside the broccoli.  The broccoli comes out crispy and browned, very tasty!


The couscous is a recipe I've been toying around with.  Many of the ingredients can be substituted, making this a very easy thing to make without much on hand.


Mushroom Couscous
3 Medium white button mushrooms, diced
1 Shallot, diced
garlic powder
pine nuts or almonds
1c water or vegetable broth
1c whole grain couscous
salt
pepper
olive oil


An onion is a good substitution for the shallot.  Please feel free to use fresh garlic if you haven't run out.


Pour a bit of oil into the bottom of a medium saucepan.  Saute the mushrooms and shallot together until the shallot is clear.  Add the nuts near the end and stir constantly until they are toasted.  (Remember that nuts can burn quickly!)  Add the water or broth straight to the pan and bring to a boil.  This should be quick because the pan is already pretty hot.  When the water is boiling, turn off the stove (if you have an electric stove you may want to consider removing the pan from the burner) and add the couscous.  Cover the pan and wait for the couscous to absorb the water.


You're done!  Enjoy and share your experience with me.