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.
Tag: food
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!”
It’s not dessert, but it might as well be
Okay, so the second recipe I tried from Veganomicon wasn’t a dessert, but it was indeed sweet like candy. The Sweet Potato-Pear Tzimmes end up glazed in a candy like coating from the mirin, maple syrup and juice from the pears. If you’re looking for a Thanksgiving size, definitely try this.
Tonight I made an old stand-by, Winter Squash Risotto from Great Vegetarian Cooking Under Pressure. If you haven’t tried pressure cooked risotto, you need to. Stirring is for suckers plus this only cooks for 5 minutes. Squash, sweet potatoes…can you tell I’m eating in the season?
