Global Palate

Last night, my boyfriend and I went out on the town. After some afternoon thrift-shopping, we decided it was high time we fueled our tummies. We usually feast on Indian cuisine, but we wanted a break from curry, since we’d been eating the following dish for most of the week.

Root Vegetable Curry

Serves 8-12

Ingredients

2-3 Tbs. oil

1 Tbs. brown or black mustard seeds

1 Tbs. cumin seeds

1 Tbs. coriander seeds

1 Tbs. cardamom seeds

3 cardamom pods, crushed

2-3 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. cracked black pepper

2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and cut into ½-inch matchsticks

5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 large onion, diced

1 Tbs. turmeric

1 Tbs. fenugreek powder

1 14-oz can coconut milk (optional)

1 tsp. salt

4 carrots, coined

2 parsnips, coined

2 potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 head cauliflower, florets separated into bite-size pieces

1 medium butternut squash, cut into bite-size pieces

1 large rutabaga, cut into bite-size pieces

3 cups cooked garbanzo beans, or 2 15-oz. cans

½ cup raisins

Cashews, to serve

Mango chutney, to serve

Chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat oil until it begins to smoke, then add all the seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and black pepper. Cover the pot, and allow the spices to pop and simmer for a couple minutes.
2. Add ginger, garlic, and onion to the pot, stirring well to completely coat them in the whole spices. Sauté for about 2 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
3. Next, add turmeric, fenugreek powder and leaves, again stirring well and cooking for another minute before coconut milk (if using) and salt. Allow the mixture to boil down and thicken a bit. Add chopped vegetables, chickpeas, raisins, and enough water or veggie broth to cover everything. Stir very well to combine, making sure that EVERYTHING is coated with the curry mixture. Bring to a boil, then cover and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes or an hour, or until all veggies are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt to accentuate the spices, stir, and serve garnished with cashews, cilantro, and a dollop of mango chutney.

Delicious served alongside brown basmati rice or, as pictured here, whole wheat couscous.

So, instead of curry, we enjoyed a Lebanese feast! I’ve blogged about Sanaa’s 8^th Street Gourmet once before. Seriously, people, this is food AT ITS VERY BEST! Wow, I was blown away by last night’s buffet!

From top left, clockwise: green olive tapenade; swiss-chard barley pilaf; stewed cauliflower and potatoes; muhammara; tossed greens with walnuts, butternut squash, and tamarind dressing & topped with hummus; and eggplant monazalat, which is similar to moussaka, but has a creamy tahini sauce and pine nuts on top.

Recently, I made my own version of muhammara, and I was very pleasantly surprised to taste how similar mine was to Sanaa’s–almost spot on!

Muhammara

Most people don’t have access to pomegranate molasses, but just plain ol’ pomegranate arils work fine!

Ingredients

3 roasted red peppers (from a jar or roasted yourself)

2 cups roasted walnuts

1 average-sized pomegranate, arils removed and reserved*

3-4 garlic cloves

Salt & pepper, to taste

*Pomegranates can seem intimidating, but here’s a good tutorial.

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until chunky, not too smooth. Serve chilled.

Diet Diversity

Firstly, before we dive into today’s topic, I must mention how sad I was yesterday when I realized I was too busy to participate in this week’s What I Ate Wednesday. It’s my last week of classes for the semester, so I’m rather busy wrapping everything up.

This week, I also started conducting a Food Journaling Challenge, courtesy of Leanne. I’ve been using her template and, instead of counting calories, listing my eats meal by meal, snack by snack, then paying attention to how I feel overall. Alongside this experiment, I’m also aiming to “eat the rainbow,” so to speak, or in other words, to eat as diversely as possible everyday instead of getting stuck in ruts, as I sometimes tend to do. The most recent rut is, obviously, squash, and so, while I’m consuming plenty of orange, I’ve been neglecting my greens a bit, a neglect easily remedied by the following two recipes.

Green Julius

As a little girl, my mum and I frequented Orange Julius. While their smoothies aren’t terribly unhealthy, compared to, say, Dairy Queen, they are much, much too liberal with sugar, and besides, they’re not really vegan-friendly. So, now that oranges are coming into season, I decided to recreate the classic Julius, with a twist!

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 ripe banana (fresh or frozen), cut into chunks

½ large orange, peeled

½ cup non-dairy yoghurt (vanilla or plain)*

½ cup milk alternative of choice or water

Couple handfuls raw spinach

*If using plain, I recommend adding 1 tsp. vanilla extract to the smoothie.

Directions

Simply blend all ingredients and serve!

This smoothie will brighten your day!

This was a delicious smoothie . . . but honestly, now that the first snow has fallen here, it’s really not the season for cold drinks. Warm soup sounds more appetizing, don’t you think?

Get-Your-Greens-&-Grains Soup

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 cup dry white beans or lentils, cooked

1 cup dry whole grain of choice, cooked*

2 tsp. olive oil

1 large leek, chopped

3 celery stalks, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups chopped asparagus

1 head broccoli, florets separated and cut into bite-sized pieces

½ head green cabbage, chopped

3 cups chopped spinach, kale, or other greens of choice

½ cup chopped parsley

1 vegan bouillon cube

1 tsp. Bragg Sprinkle Seasoning

Salt & pepper, to taste

Extra parsley, to garnish

*I used whole wheat couscous, but barley would also be delicious. Pretty much anything should work. Or, if you prefer, omit the grain and substitute with crackers or crusty bread for dipping.

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large pot and sauté leek, celery, and garlic for 3-4 minutes, or until translucent and tender. Toss in all other veggies (asparagus through parsley), enough water to just cover everything, and the bouillon cube. Bring to a boil, reduce to low, and allow to simmer until the asparagus and broccoli are tender, about 20-30 minutes.
2. Using a powerful hand blender or a food processor, blend the cooked veggies into a very smooth purée. Add extra water or veggie broth if you prefer a thinner consistency. Then, if using a processor, return the soup to the pot.
3. Finally, stir in cooked beans, grains, seasoning, and salt & pepper, to taste. Serve hot, garnished with chopped parsley.

Weirdly enough, this didn't really look green when I photographed it . . .

Kitchen Additions

I’m sort of in love with this book.

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Yeah, The Flavor Bible is pretty smashing. It’s essentially a guide to pairing flavours—one need only search for the ingredient they’re considering, and they’ll be provided with a substantial list of complementary foods and spices. It’s quite genius, actually.

So, last weekend, I had a bag of red radishes in the crisper. I’m not a huge radish fan. Don’t get me wrong, I’d eat braised daikon every day if I could, but raw red radishes are slightly too hot for my taste. What I didn’t realize until recently was that, just as you can braise a daikon radish, you can roast normal red radishes in the oven. After consulting The Flavor Bible, I compiled a simple, but succulent side dish.

Sesame-Roasted Radishes, Carrots, and Mushrooms

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 cups raw radishes, halved

2 large carrots, cut into ¼-inch thick coins

1 cup portabella or shiitake mushrooms

1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil

2 tsp. soy sauce, tamari, or shoyu

2 garlic cloves, minced

Pepper, to taste

2 scallions, chopped, to serve

1 Tbs. toasted sesame seeds, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Combine veggies in a bowl, and sprinkle with oil, soy sauce (or alternative), minced garlic, and pepper to taste. Stir well, coating everything, before transferring mixture to a baking sheet.
2. Roast for 40 minutes, or until veggies are quite tender. Serve hot, garnished with chopped scallions and sesame seeds.

Served with a simple millet-lentil mixture.

Gorgeous colours!

Another evening of trying to clean out the crisper resulting in another interesting combination.

Roasted Pepper-Pineapple-Pear Tomato-Pistachio Melange

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup diced pineapple

1 large green bellpepper, chopped

1 cup pear tomatoes

1 Tbs. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Salt & pepper, to taste

Roasted, salted pistachios, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Combine pineapple and veggies in a bowl, and sprinkle with oil, minced garlic, and pepper. Stir well, coating everything, before transferring mixture to a baking sheet.
2. Roast for 40 minutes, or until pineapple is slightly caramelized and veggies are quite tender. Serve hot, garnished with pistachios.

Served with millet & lentils again.

A little bit of sweet, a little bit of salty, a little bit of savoury.

As you can see from the above photos, I’ve also been sort of obsessed with millet and lentils as of late. It’s a great combination, and so quick, too, when you need to make a last-minute meal. When I’m pressed for time, I enjoy making pilafs because you can add pretty much whatever mix-ins you want.

Pistachio-Parsley Pilaf

Can you tell that I like alliteration? And pistachios?

Serves 1

Ingredients

¼ dry green lentils

¼ vegan vegetable bouillon

¼ dry millet or couscous

1 clove garlic, minced

1 scallion, chopped

2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Handful of roasted, salted pistachios

Chopped dried apricots

Squeeze of lemon juice

Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

Put lentils, bouillon, and ¾ cup water in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium-low heat. Simultaneously, combine millet and ¾ cup water in a second saucepan, bring to a boil, and reduce to medium-low heat. When the water in both saucepans is nearly absorbed, transfer lentils into the saucepan with the millet, stirring to combine, and finish cooking. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining ingredients. Serve hot or chilled.

I've been having a lot of fun with my camera lately.

I also added a dash of an amazing all-purpose seasoning from Bragg: Organic Sprinkle Seasoning, with 24 different herbs and spices!

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Finally, two pieces of news!

Firstly, my giveaway will end this coming Thursday. I will announce the 2 winners on Friday.

Secondly, I bought a yoghurt maker this weekend! Specifically, the Aroma AYM-606 8-Cup Digital Yogurt Maker.

One of the best features, in my opinion, is the fact that this machine is BPA free!

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I decided it was time to invest in one, considering a) how difficult it is to obtain soy yoghurt (i.e., this yoghurt in particular) where I live, b) how much my gut benefits from probiotics, and c) how much I miss having waffles on Sunday mornings. It should arrive this week, along with some cultures I ordered, too. Wow, was it HARD to find vegan yoghurt starter! Most brands use milk powder as their base. The only two non-dairy options I discovered were Yolife and GI ProHealth—I bought the latter because the former received some not-so-good reviews on Amazon. So excited to make my first batch this week!

What I Ate Wednesday–First Edition!

I’ve decided to jump on the WIAW bandwagon at last—it’s an easy way to keep posting regularly despite my busy schedule and connect with other foodie bloggers, thanks to Jenn at Peas & Crayons. So, here we go!

Breakfast

Ahhhh, my favourite meal of the day! I’m always rather devastated when I arrive at the bottom of my bowl of oats and breakfast is over for another day. Am I weird? Just a wee bit, most definitely.

As you may have noticed, I tend to cram my breakfasts with nutrition and variety. I try to concoct something that will “stick to the ribs,” as the old saying goes, and few things do that better than oatmeal.

Overnight oats topped with 1/2 peach, 1 dried fig, goji berries, roasted peanuts & cashews, and chia seeds. Fabulous, and stuck with me for 5 whole hours!

Lunch

My schedule allows me to come home for lunch everyday, and I like something fresh and veggie-tastic—hence, usually salads with a grain or crackers on the side, followed by fruit and a little sweet treat.

Spinach salad topped with celery, cucumber, chickpeas, craisins, sunflower seeds, and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, accompanied by couscous, a serving of dried dates, and some super dark chocolate.

Today’s chocolate was a brand I’ve never had before, The Tea Room, and the flavour was Yerba Maté & Cacao Nibs, two superfoods! It was quite enjoyable indeed.

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Afternoon Snack

This honestly depends on my mood and whether or not I’m in class, but I try to stick with a combination of protein, complex carbohydrate, and healthy fat. Today, I was really craving a Trio Bar from Mrs. May’s Naturals, specifically the Blueberry variety.

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Dinner

Dinners usually consist of beans, grains or pasta, and cooked vegetables, whether in stews, curries, casseroles, or just all jumbled up together. Sandwiches sometimes make an appearance, too.

Tonight's meal featured a pocket pita stuffed with chickpea, apple, beet salad--recipe to come soon! I topped the pitas with alfalfa sprouts I grew here at home (HUGE money saver), and I had some extra beets and apple slices on the side.

Night-Night Snack <–That’s what I called it when I was little! And obviously I still do!

In order to prevent waking up too early with a HANGRY tummy, I like to eat something right before I go to bed—something soothing and sleep-inducing, so no garlicky hummus for this hummus fiend. Tonight, I’m craving granola, but we’ve none on hand at the moment, so I’m thinking some peanut butter and celery will have to do. Or perhaps some more of those horribly addictive dried figs. We shall see!

Curry Made Eas(ier)

In my last post, I discussed my former frustrations with cooking Indian cuisine, but after this evening’s step-by-step tutorial from my boyfriend’s stepfather and much thanks to the help of my boyfriend’s mother, I’m feeling quite a bit more confident! I still have many a lesson to learn, of course, and that will only come with practice, practice, practice. In the meantime, I’m here to share some of the tips I learned tonight.

Basic Vegetable Curry

This is a very versatile curry—you can add whatever vegetables you have in the fridge! Instead of beans, you could add tofu for a vegan twist on traditional paneer.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

2-3 Tbs. oil

1 Tbs. brown or black mustard seeds

1 Tbs. cumin seeds

1 Tbs. coriander seeds

1 Tbs. cardamom seeds

3 cardamom pods, crushed

2-3 cinnamon sticks

1 tsp. cracked black pepper

2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and cut into ½-inch matchsticks

5 cloves of garlic, minced*

1 large onion, diced

1 Tbs. turmeric

1 Tbs. fenugreek powder

1 Tbs. crushed fenugreek leaves (optional)

2 large tomatoes, diced, or a 14.5-oz can

1 14-oz can coconut milk (optional)

1 tsp. salt

3 small zucchinis, coined and halved

2 bellpeppers, chopped

2 cups coarsely chopped mushrooms

3 cups cooked garbanzo beans, or 2 15-oz. cans

Chopped fresh cilantro, to serve

*Or, as my boyfriend’s mother said, you can use as much garlic as you want because there’s really no such thing as too much garlic!

Directions

1. In a large pot, heat oil until it begins to smoke, then add all the seeds, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and black pepper. Cover the pot, and allow the spices to pop and simmer for a couple minutes.

2. Add ginger, garlic, and onion to the pot, stirring well to completely coat them in the whole spices. Sauté for about 2 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

3. Next, add turmeric, fenugreek powder and leaves, again stirring well and cooking for another minute before adding tomatoes, coconut milk (if using), and salt. Allow the mixture to boil down and thicken a bit.

4. Add chopped vegetables, beans, and about 1.5 cups water to the pot. Stir very well to combine, making sure that EVERYTHING is coated with the curry mixture.

5. Bring to a boil, then cover and allow to simmer for about 20-30 minutes, or until liquid has boiled down to desired consistency, whether you prefer wet or dry curries. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt to accentuate the spices, stir, and serve garnished with fresh cilantro.

And the final product was definitely a SUCCESS! I look forward to my next Indian adventure!

I’m Gonna Chow Down My Vegetables

The other day, I discussed my passion for fruit. Well, I’m equally passionate about veggies, so much so that I really aim to get a serving with every meal and snack, including breakfast! I very, very rarely eat savoury breakfasts, and some people would definitely find it odd, if not altogether gross, to eat fruits and veggies together in a bowl of oatmeal, but with the help of complementary spices, it is not only possible; it is also delicious. Take my Carrot Cake Oats, for example—it’s seriously almost like dessert for breakfast. Lately, I’ve been adding chopped apple to the original recipe, and I’ve really come to prefer the addition, hence the new name, Carrot-Apple Spice Oats.

But carrots aren’t the only veggie that works well with oats. Zucchini is wonderfully versatile, too, especially now that it’s in season. Last week, I decided to make Zucchini Bread Oats (which I’ve yet to feature on this blog), but a sudden desire for autumnal flavours encouraged me to also add an element of pumpkin.

Zucchini-Pumpkin Bread Oats

Serves 1

Nighttime Ingredients

½ cup rolled oats or oat bran

½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice

½ cup milk alternative

¼ – ½ pumpkin purée

¼ – ½ cup grated zucchini

Directions

In a bowl, sift together oats and spice. Add milk alternative, then stir in pumpkin and zucchini until everything is thoroughly combined. Store in refrigerator overnight.

Morning Toppings Ideas

Chia seeds or ground flaxseed

Raisins

Walnuts and/or pecans

Sweetener of choice, to taste (optional)

Splash of extra milk alternative as needed