Apparently THE health story this week was salt and that the FDA is considering putting limits on the salt allowed in processed foods. I tend to have NBC on the TV while I’m getting ready for work. Occasionally, if I’m late, I’ll catch some of the Today Show. Whoever is in charge of their health reporting is not that bright. In my last rant about them, I pointed out that they took that “pregnant women need to eat more fish” study at face value even though it was funded by the seafood industry. Now, on this salt story, I didn’t hear them once suggest that you buy fewer processed foods. I wonder why that is? Is it maybe because it would piss off their advertisers? Hmmm, I wonder? Anyway, this U.S. News and World Report story makes “cooking from scratch” the first suggestion on how to cut salt out of your diet. Well, duh. See, now how hard was that? But it gets even better. Apparently this is a non issue anyway. Check out Junk Food Science’s detailed analysis of the issue.
Category: food
Pistachio Rose Water Cookies
I have an unnatural obsession with rose flavored food. So when I saw this recipe in Veganomicon, I knew it was only a matter of time before I got all up into it. I mean, that bottle of rosewater in my fridge isn’t going to use itself, now is it? So since we’re having a cookie exchange with the vegan lunch group this weekend, I thought I’d bake up a mess of them. And they did not disappoint! Although my oven did. After having it all properly pre-heated according to my handy oven thermometer, after I put in the cookies it decided to shoot up 75 degrees. Grrrr. So about 10 of them are a little overdone. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep & eat them. Damnit! Oh, and the dough is really stiff. I can’t even tell you how happy I was to watch my Kitchen Aid mixer cranking away at it. Ha! Better you than me!
Fennel Gratin
Since fennel is in season and reasonably priced, I thought I’d try something that takes a lot of it. Fennel Gratin out of Vegan Italiano it is! The capers and lemon juice gave it a nice sharp flavor. I wonder what the nutritional value of fennel is? Google says, it’s high in vitamin C, fiber and potassium among other things. Yay!
Just out of the oven
Dressed in fennel leaves and olives
On my plate…ignore the big black hair….
Lazy Indian food
Remember how I said I haven’t been to the store? Well, I lied. Sunday evening I went to the Taj Mahal market just before I gorged on Ethiopian food. I bought some odds and ends, beans and spices, plus some ready-to-eat box food. They have quite a few varieties that are vegan, so I usually stock up on them when I go by there.
They came in handy because tonight I needed food. And still haven’t bought real groceries. So I pulled down a ravi dosa mix I already had on hand, a box of sambar (spicy soup) and a box of dal palak (beans & spinach). I know dal isn’t what you normally put inside dosa, but it ate up fine, so there.
Cooking the dosa
Sambar heating up. Really other than making a bunch of dirty dishes, this was stupid easy.
Dosa ready for eatin’, one not yet wrapped so you can see the dal inside.
The dosa mix was literally “just add water.” I couldn’t believe how easily and quickly they cooked up. Next time maybe I’ll make a proper batch of Indian potatoes to stuff inside. Or a sambar. Or even coconut chutney which is the only thing I missed this evening.
Oh yeah, and everyone wave to the dust on my camera sensor. “hi dust!”
Everyone loves cube food
I have many pieces and parts of food around but no planned meals. I know a lot of people roll that way every day, but it’s very unlike me. I plan out what I’m going to eat for a week, go to the store and get ingredients, and repeat in a week. But Thanksgiving threw things off. I haven’t quite recovered from braving the DeKalb Farmer’s Market pre-holiday crowds. Noobs.
So time to improvise. Here’s what I came up with:
Seitan O’ Greatness Hash
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 medium yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 cm cubes (yeah, I used metric, sue me)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup Seitan O’ Greatness, cut into 1 cm cubes
Salt & pepper to taste
Heat up oil over medium high heat in a saute pan. Add onions and fry for a minute or so. Add potatoes and turn heat down to medium. Cook stirring from time to time until potatoes are almost done. Add garlic, bell pepper, seitan, salt and pepper and continue cooking until potatoes are done. Note, I didn’t need any pepper because I used the higher amount when making the Seitan O’ Greatness. Also, the seitan is totally optional. Makes 2 big portions. I ate mine with a big pile of green beans.
Anyway, that’s about as close to a recipe as you’re going to get out of me. Well, unless I veganize the chocolate doughnut recipe that came with my pan for the Holiday Bake Off at Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe.