I Heart Carrots

At this time of year when I go to a grocery store I have a hard time resisting the beautiful, colorful bunches of heirloom carrots. They elevate any table's status and can turn a healthy weekday dinner into a fancy meal. I tried a new recipe this week from the February 2014 Food & Wine and it is definitely going into my regular rotation. The combination of flavors is perfection and went splendidly well with the cornmeal crusted tilapia we had planned. We also *just happened* to have a SIMI Sauvignon Blanc chilled in the fridge that rounded out our dinner nicely. We love this wine because its so easy to pair with food: super crisp and light due to 100% stainless steel fermentation but it also has depth from the small amounts of Viognier and Semillon in the blend.

Maple-Glazed Carrots
1 1/2 pounds trimmed baby carrots, preferably heirloom

2 cups chicken stock

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1 anchovy fillet, drained and chopped

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 tablespoons chopped dill

© Con Poulos from Food & Wine

In a deep skillet, combine the carrots and chicken stock and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over moderate heat until the stock is reduced to 2/3 cup, about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is sticky and the carrots are tender and well-coated, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the anchovy until dissolved. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the butter one cube at a time. Stir in the dill and season with salt.

Italian Layer Cake

This last weekend was one of my favorites of the year: Couchella!

We love watching live music and for 3 whole days we stream Coachella Music Festival and watch from the comfort of our couch. We saw lots of great bands and got excited for the actual festival we plan on going this year, San Francisco's Outside Lands.

On Sundays I do a lot of cooking to get ready for the week ahead, a wonderful habit that's stuck from my Whole30. This week I decided that I wanted to make a paleo lasagna, but for the sake of not calling everything "paleo" and not lying to you that this is like your grandmother's "lasagna," I've named it Italian Layer Cake. This was a wonderful sunday night supper, my term for meals that take a little longer to prepare and best reserved for weekend cooking.

Italian Layer Cake

14 oz can of  diced tomatoes
1 cup macadamia ricotta (recipe follows)
1/2 pound of ground beef
1 bunch of swiss chard, destemmed
1/2 onion, diced
3 gloves garlic, minced
coconut oil
1 cup chopped basil

First make a batch of Macadamia Ricotta from Nom Nom Paleo:

Photo by Henry Fong

Puree 2 cups of macadamias, 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp lemon juice and half a cup of water together in a food processor. Add water if needed to achieve desired consistency.

Saute the onion for about 5 minutes in medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the ground beef and cook until heated through. Add the tomatoes and mix everything together. 

Mix the ricotta with the basil. 

Place 1/3 of the meat mixture on the bottom layer of a 9x9 pan. Add a few sheets of chard and layer the ricotta. Repeat two more times until you've used up everything. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 40 minutes.

Pair with a big and easy red for dinner perfection! I recommend the Alexander Valley Redemption Zinfandel or Coppola's Diamond Collection Red Blend.

Whole30 Wrap Up

I've lagged on writing this post because I don't actually feel like I've wrapped up anything. In fact, the whole30 went by so quickly that I think of it as more of a jumpstart. We've been keeping it paleo since with few changes. The main thing I wanted back was wine and some kind of bread for breakfast. I made my own paleo bread this week and it was really wonderful not to eat eggs for a change!

One of the greatest changes was an even more careful approach to our food sources. We rejoined our lapsed CSA from Eatwell Farm and also discovered the meat box from Avedano's, a local butcher committed to sustainable and responsibly sourced grass-fed meat:

Our first attack at the meat box consisted of grilling perfect steaks using their dry rub:

Alongside a reinvented Caesar Salad with farm lettuce and radishes, walnut/almond garlic "croutons" and Caveman Bistro's perfect (and eggless) Caesar dressing:

And this very welcome addition to the dinner table (if you are judging the merlot, please watch this excellent video made by the Gundlach Bundschu crew in its defense):

Whole 30 Week 3 Roundup

It takes some time to transition your kitchen and your schedule to accommodate these new habits but there are some great things happening. I love only having to eat 3 meals a day and not worry about snacking in between. At home we are enjoying cooking and eating paleo and we both feel pretty awesome too.  At this point we have nailed down the process of having whole30 foods available and ready to cook. We had a great week filled with unbelievable meals. I have even become the source of lunch envy around the office! Here's what's been on my whole30 plate:

One of my new go-to recipes is Nom Nom Paleo's Kalua Pig. This is one of the easiest things I've ever made, requiring only 4 ingredients. I was doubtful it could be good or work but it really does! We like it over the Asian Slaw from Well Fed 2.

 Baked garlic plantains with spicy ground beef picadillo.

This was another stellar packed lunch. The most amazing thing about this dish was that I baked and mashed a yam and roasted brussels in the morning before work--that's whole30 dedication right there! The meal was completed with a lavender duck leg from Canyon Market. I love going there for local meat and I'm lucky to have it as an excellent resource for prepared food.

And the star of the week was a Cioppino by Giada De Larentiis. Loaded with mussels, clams, shrimp and salmon simmered in a tomato fish broth, this was surprisingly easy to make but with incredible depth of flavor.

Whole 30 Week 2 Roundup

While some things I have totally forgotten exist as part of the human diet, there are other things that have become harder to continue to avoid. I suspect this is different for everyone based on your greatest pleasure. Mine is wine. As the dust collects on our recent wine club shipments, I longingly look at the wine rack and try to get over it. It's totally normal to want a glass of wine after a long day, or because it's friday, or just because. RIGHT?

When I'm not staring down the Gloria Ferrer Brut Rose, I continue to focus on making healthy and delicious food. And doing dishes. The grill is an awesome asset for an easy weeknight meal. And we've had GLORIOUS weather all winter which I am endlessly grateful for! These are 2 of my favorites, garlic mushrooms and bbq chicken thighs. After lots of disappointing chicken breasts we've figured out that thighs are the best, not to mention a lot cheaper!

Just when I thought I couldn't look at eggs anymore, Well Fed's Egg Foo Yong saved breakfast. These lovely fritters were filled with steamed cabbage, chicken, and scallions, served with a dollop of spicy secret sauce. Perhaps a little too much flavor for breakfast for most but it was an awesome break for me.

And finally the star of the week was a reinvented childhood favorite: Beef Stroganoff. I posted the traditional recipe a long time ago but am ready to permanently replace it with this healthier version! This meal was inspired by a recipe in one of my favorite vegan cookbooks: Isa Does It (Yes I read vegan cookbooks too). Visit the Paleo Beef Strogonoff post for the recipe! 

More Seafood

I mentioned in my last post that we went to a seafood market. While the oysters deserved their own post, the bounty did not stop there! We also made Thai Red Curry Mussels, recipe courtesy of Bobby Flay (although we did not make it on the grill).

And then there was this gorgeous Ahi fillet I got to take for lunch!

Without being able to use soy sauce, I kept the seasoning simple with lime juice and citrus salt, and a black sesame seed crust. Then I grilled the steak for 2 minutes on each side.

And this is what a Whole30 packed lunch looks like!

If you're feeling bored of your grocery store routine or just too tired for what the sous chef calls "a full shopping experience," I recommend taking the day off and going to a new market, specialty or otherwise. While the key to Whole30 is planning, I sometimes get overwhelmed with all the cooking ahead and decide to focus only on the next 24 hours. Remember the important things - don't let the plan stress you out and enjoy your food!

Whole30 Week One Roundup

I purposefully chose to start at a busy time at work and thankfully my wish to breeze through week 1 came true! The most pleasant surprise was how the Whole30 plan kept my energy leveled through the day, no snacking or grazing through some very long days.

It's hard to plan and cook as much as I want to when I'm getting home late so I stuck to a few go-to dinners like the thai-inspired Larb Salad. An easy one-pot meal, this always delivers fresh flavors and is a friendly "pantry" recipe, meaning you can play with using a different kind of meat or alternate veggies. 

Turkey Larb Salad
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 onion, diced
1 inch knob of ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch kale, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
1 lime
handful of basil
dash of salt
2 tbsp coconut aminos (if not on Whole30 or off soy, soy sauce works)
hot sauce to taste

In a deep skillet, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion and cook over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and ginger and cook on low for another 2 minutes. Add the turkey, salt and saute until cooked through. Add the kale and cover or simply allow the heat from the pan steam it gently. When the kale has reduced, season the pan with juice of the lime, coconut aminos/soy sauce and hot sauce. Adjust flavors as needed. Serve in a bowl topped with basil leaves.

The big star this week was the West African Chicken Stew from Well Fed 2, the sequel to the original book of the same name and equal deliciousness. Remember what I said about Melissa Joulwan always knocking my socks off? Just when I needed something seductively delicious, Mel delivered (well Joe did but you know what I mean). This dish was a flavorful blend of ginger, spices, tomato, and is finished with sunflower seed butter. It also made the house smell amazing! You can check out some great pictures (I was so hungry I forgot to document this!) and the full recipe on The Healthy Foodie site.

Whole30

This week I decided to start my Whole30, a plan created by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig in which you commit to eating only the most nutrient dense foods for 30 days: protein, vegetables, fruit and healthy fats. The idea is to clear the body of all inflammation and test for intolerances at the end. If you are interested in learning more, go straight to the source on the Whole30 page. Everyone's reasons are different, I just felt like I needed a dramatic investment in my health. All those happy hours add up!

I started on a Sunday because I love taking a day to relax and cook and prepare for the week ahead. The key to success on this plan is preparation (and lots of dishes). Here's what I made on Day 1:

Sweet Potato Hash
For breakfast I made a batch of Nom Nom Paleo's Sweet Potato Hash with enough leftovers for the next day or two. These came out really well and were a fair match for the fluffy pancakes Joe was eating. I topped them with an egg and a small side of organic bacon. My understanding is bacon is accepted in Whole30 IF it does not have weird ingredients or sugar and IF it is not your main source of protein. I'm not planning on making it a Whole30 staple but I happened to get started when this was waiting to be cooked!

Super Boost Tomato Soup

This is a great way to add some power foods to any meal, as a side or as a base by adding some shrimp or protein of choice to the soup.
2 tbsp olive oil
1 28oz can diced tomato
1/2 of an onion (about 1 1/2 cups)
3 - 4 cloves garlic
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1- 2 cups spinach
1/2 cup of nutritional yeast
1 cup fresh basil
dash of salt and black pepper

In a soup pot, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add in the onion and cook over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add in the minced garlic and oregano and cook on low for another 4-5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Now add in the tomatoes, salt, pepper, spinach and nutritional yeast.  Bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Finish by adding the basil. You can leave it as a chunky soup or blend it up with an immersion blender as I like to do. Test for salt and seasoning. I divide these in portions so I can grab and go on my way to work!

Photo Credit: theclothesmakethegirl.com

Bora Bora Fireballs

Well Fed was the book that made me realize I could get through a Whole30. Melissa Joulwan creates some magical combinations using all Whole30 approved ingredients. This recipe is one of my favorites! On the side I stir fried zucchini, asparagus, and carrots in a lemon, garlic, cumin marinade.

So far so good!

Winter Soup Swap

As a native of a tropical country, I am often intimidated by the diversity of root vegetables and squashes that take over the markets in the winter. After living in Vermont and California I have practiced with several of these veggies and have grown to love the bounty of the winter as much as the bounty of summer. Today I experimented with Parsnips, an often overlooked winter root that can be turned into several delicious dishes.

Having been invited to a soup swap, I decided to make Curried Parsnip Soup. For those wondering, the soup swap is the brilliant idea of a dear friend who lives alone and got tired of eating her same pot of soup. The plan is for 4 of us friends to each bring 3 jars of a soup we make, and come home with 3 different jars of a soup each other person has cooked up. Make sense? I love the idea because I too get sick of my gigantic pot of soup, and I also enjoy putting that extra love in my cooking, knowing that not one, but three other households will partake! Without further delay here is my recipe for the Soup Swap:

Curried Parsnip Soup
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 lb Parsnips, peeled and roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves
1Tbsp curry powder
4 cups of water or your choice of broth (homemade beef stock would work well here)
Garnish with bacon, chives if desired

Melt oil over medium heat. Saute parsnips, onion and garlic for about 10 minutes. Mix in curry and saute for another 2 minutes. Gradually add water or broth. Increase heat to medium high, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Use an immersion blender to puree or transfer to a blender. Add any garnishes before serving.

Tegliata di biete (Swiss Chard Torte)

I wanted to share my contribution to christmas dinner. It is a lovely way to add greens to the table with a holiday feel! I would make this more often but it ends up being quite a production and is pretty time-consuming. However, well-worth it and an all-round crowd pleaser, even for those who don't normally like bitter greens.

4 lbs young Swiss chard
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup for cooking chard plus more for greasing and topping the pan
2/3 cup onion chopped fine
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (Buy the real thing. Parmigiano reggiano. Grate your own. Do not use pre-grated Parmesan or else this will not taste very good.)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup seedless raisins
Freshly ground black pepper
9" or 10" springform baking pan
2/3 heaping cup of unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted

1. If using mature chard, cut off the broad stalks and set aside [good sauteed with garlic and olive oil for a side dish!]. Cut the leaves into 1/4 inch shreds. Soak and wash the chard.
2. Boil water in a pot, using enough water and pot volume to accomodate the chard. Cook until tender, approx. 15 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.
3. When cool enough to handle, squeeze the moisture from the chard.
4. Chop the chard very fine.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Choose a sautee pan that can accomodate the chard. Put in 1/4 cup olive oil and the chopped onion. Cook at medium until the onion turns a light nut-brown.
7. Add the chopped chard, turning heat to high. Cook, turning the chard over frequently, until it becomes difficult to keep the chard from sticking to the pan (if using non-stick, you'll have to eyeball it to sense when the chard has properly heated through and become coated with the oil/onion mixture). When done, transfer entire contents to a bowl and let cool.
8. When chard has cooled to room temperature, add the grated Parmesan, the beaten eggs, and the pine nuts. Drain the raisins, squeeze them dry in your hand, and add them to the bowl. Add a few grindings of pepper. Mix thoroughly, taste and correct for pepper and salt (the Parmesan is salty, so a small pinch of salt is probably all that's necessary).
9. Smear the bottom and sides of the springform pan with olive oil. Use a little more than half the bread crumbs, spreading a thin layer evenly over the pan. Add the chard mixture, leveling it off, but not pressing it hard. Top with the remaining bread crumbs, and drizzle the top with olive oil (higher quality, the better here).
10. Put pan in preheated oven, bake for 40 minutes.
11. Remove pan, running knife edge along side of pan to release the torte. After 5 minutes rest, use a spatula to loose the torte from the pan bottom and slide it, without turning it over, onto a serving plate. Serve at room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

Apple Cider and Switchback

Wow. I did not realize I had abandoned my writing for a whole month! It’s been crazy and I hope I haven’t lost your attention. I started nutrition school which has been a wonderful addition to my life and I am overly-enthusiastic about my decision to go and all of the information I have learned in a little over a month. I plan on continuing to post recipes but with more nutritional info attached. I also got back from a 10-day vacation and to no surprise, the rest of the world had not stopped while I was gone.

My recent trip to Vermont put me in the official Fall mood. The air was a crisp and invigorating 40 degrees and the changing leaves were different shades of green, yellow, orange and red. We fully experienced the beauty and bounty of the Fall: tangerine butternut squash soup, The Red Onion (turkey-apple sandwich), VT cheddar cheese, and plenty of Magic Hat. The Fall mood has travelled back to San Francisco with me where the weather is not as obvious but instead rather odd. One too many rainstorms and muggy days later, my kitchen has seen nothing short of Vermont Fall inspired recipes. This one was delicious yet interesting, and if you decided to make it I would be curious to know what you thought. It’s adapted from Moosewood classics. I opted to use Flax meal instead of bread crumbs to add some Omega-3s.

Apple Onion Cheddar Gratin
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon unbleached white flour
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cloves
4 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples, such as Mutsu
1 cup chopped onions
2 cups grated Cabot Cheddar
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup Flax Meal

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly oil an 11-inch x 7-inch baking dish. In a small pot, scald milk, bringing it almost but not quite to a boil. In another small pot, melt butter and whisk in the flour. Slowly add scalded milk, whisking continuously until sauce starts to thicken. Add the nutmeg, salt and cloves and stir for about a minute, until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.

Spread apples and onions evenly in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle on grated cheese and pour sauce over top. Scatter on walnuts and flax meal

Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, until top is golden and crisp. Serves 4-6.

Day 36 - Bountiful

Here is another recipe made from the bounty of a Bay Area Farmers Market. It was pretty easy to make and turned out much like a risotto, such that the Italian in me could not resist topping it with some parmesan cheese. Barley is a little more nutritious than arborio rice and gives the dish more of a woodsy flavor.

Baked Barley with Shitake Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions
Yield 6 servings (serving size: 1 2/3 cup)

2 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 cups chopped onion (about 3 medium)
1 teaspoon sugar
6 cups sliced shitake mushroom caps (or other mushroom blend, about 8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups uncooked pearl barley
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups vegetable broth
Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sugar; cover and cook 25 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms; cook 10 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Add barley; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in soy sauce, salt, pepper, and thyme. Transfer to a deep baking dish. Preheat oven to 350°.

Bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Pour broth over barley mixture; cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until barley is tender. Let stand 10 minutes. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Day 29 - Fresh

A visit to the Ferry Building Farmer's Market is a dangerous thing for people like me. Meaning, those of us eagerly lured by the fresh fruit samples and willing to pay that extra dollar for the perfect jar of local raw honey and fresh farm cheese. The vendors offer produce and flowers from small regional farmers and ranchers, many of whom are certified organic. Other products include regional artisan specialties such as breads, cheeses and jams. Started as a one-time event in 1992, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market's popularity led to the opening of a year-round market in May 1993. On Saturdays, 10 - 15,000 faithful shoppers attend the market!

And yes, I ate some oysters while I was there and brought home some local raw honey, fresh goat cheese, heirlooms, green beans, shitake mushrooms, peaches, basil, more veggies and even swordfish. I thought a lot while at the market about what I would be making with all of these beautiful ingredients and one of the things I came up with is an adaptation of a recipe by Giada de Laurentiis.

Swordfish with Citrus Pesto
For the citrus pesto:
1 bunch fresh basil, stemmed (about 3 cups)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 clove garlic
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 orange, zested and juiced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup parmesan

4 (6-ounce) swordfish steaks (I only used two and I had plenty of pesto leftover for pasta the next day)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Blend the basil, pine nuts, garlic, zests, juices, salt, and pepper in a food processor until the mixture is finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Mix parmesan into blended mix.

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the swordfish fillets with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the swordfish about 3 to 4 minutes on each side for a 1-inch thick fillet.

Transfer the grilled swordfish to serving plates, top with the citrus pesto, and serve.

Day 27 - Nourished

Happy Friday! I can't believe how fast the time is passing and that I am almost on Day 30… I guess time flies when you are having fun. I’m looking forward to a mellow yoga-filled and hopefully sun-kissed weekend. Last night’s dinner of salmon and quinoa was delightful and was enjoyed on a fully set dinner table, complete with chargers and candles, all in anticipation of real food. Some of you may know what quinoa is, may have eaten it before, but still aren’t quite sure how to cook it. Unlike wheat or rice, quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free (whoopee) and considered easy to digest. It is also incredibly easy to make, easier than rice if you ask me. Conveniently, I have placed my favorite recipe for “dressed-up” quinoa that I often eat on its own over arugula for a warm arugula salad. This is adapted from a recipe in Moosewood Restaurant New Classics.

Curried Quinoa 1 cup quinoa
1 ½ tbs Oil
½ cup diced onions
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp coriander
½ tsp salt
1 ¾ cups of water
½ cup fresh or frozen green peas
Fresh cilantro for garnish

Rinse the quinoa in cold water, as you would rice. In a heavy saucepan, warm the oil and sauté the onions on medium-high heat for 5 min. Add the quinoa and cook for a minute, stir-frying constantly. Stir in the turmeric, coriander and salt and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 min. Stir in the peas, cover and cook for 4 or 5 minutes until the peas are tender and the water has been absorbed. Add the cilantro and fluff with a fork before serving.

Day 16 - Adjustments

One of the main goals of this program is to incorporate more fresh food into ones diet. This is something that I already do naturally but since there is always room for improvement, I am going to try and make some changes. First, I will try to shop less but more often, I am usually racing against the shelf life of my produce to cook it. Also, I will be integrating more sustainable fish and organic white meat into my diet. I eat mostly vegetarian but have found that a lot of these meals tend to be on the heavier side and end up making me feel sluggish, and with being light-headed during yoga, I’m thinking the extra protein might be a good thing. So if I cannot continue to lead a meat-free life I will do my best to be responsible about where it comes from.

This all occurred to me while I was shopping at Bi-Rite on Friday. I was stimulated by their fresh produce, fabulous cheese and grass-fed, massaged, happy cows. I realized that going to the market is a blissful, almost meditative experience that inspires me to make beautiful food at home. I am hoping to be able to thrive through this experience more often.

During this particular trip, I was inspired by the summer corn and avocados. Avocados are technically a no-no for my dosha because of their heavy properties but it's still a better indulgence than cheese. About 75% of an avocado's calories come from fat, most of which is monounsaturated fat. Avocados also have 60% more potassium than bananas, are rich in B vitamins, as well as vitamin E and vitamin K, and they have the highest fiber content of any fruit. I was never a fan until moving to California; now they are one of my favorite foods.

Avocado Salad
3 avocados, cubed
1 head of raddichio, sliced into ribbons
2 corn cobs, boil first then slice off the kernels
1 lime, juiced
1 poblano pepper, diced

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl and serve with corn chips or tortillas. It tastes incredibly fresh!

Day 12 - Thirsty

The language is harsh and I don't feel quite this angry, but on a day nationally known as Thirsty Thursday, I would certainly love to go to Happy Hour. But guess what, I'm going to a Vinyasa class instead. That's right. I'm going to breathe in, sweat it out, and get my yoga on. And possibly reward myself with a glass of wine later. Possibly.

Last night I made a vegetarian curry from my favorite cookbook, New Vegetarian Cooking by Rose Elliot. It was a gift from my meat-loving sister and brother-in-law during one of my vegetarian phases, they made a great choice as carnivores! Her recipes are so easy to make and although it is not an ayurvedic cookbook it is usually in line with my food plan. If you are a vegetarian and/or you love to cook I've probably given you this book or a recipe from it. Making curry felt a little like chemistry, mixing all the colorful powders and such, I was just waiting for an explosion to occur (it didn't). The recipe may seem complex with the long list of ingredients, but you can always buy spices at the bulk section of your grocery store and save about a million dollars in the long run. Also, I ended up dirtying very few dishes, a BIG factor I consider since the extent of my having a dishwasher is Joe's Goodwill.

Keralan Curry
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions, chopped
4 carrots, sliced
1 baking potato, cut into 1 cm cubes
1 small cauliflower, divided into small florets
250g green beans, trimmed and halved
1 green chilli, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons each of ground coriander, cumin, turmeric
400g can of coconut milk

For the curry paste:
1 beefsteak tomato, skinned and chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
3 knobs of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
6 cloves
6 cardamom pods

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes. Then stir in the carrots, cover the pan, turn the heat low and cook for 10 minutes. Add the potato, cover and cook gently for another 10 minutes, before adding cauliflower, beans and chilli. Stir, cover and cook gently until all the vegetables are nearly tender, then stir in the coriander, cumin and turmeric and cook for a minute or two longer.

While the vegetables are cooking, make the curry paste. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz to a puree.

Add the curry paste to the vegetables, stirring well, cook for 5-10 minutes, then pour in the coconut milk and salt to taste (approximately 1 tablespoon) and cook for a further minute or two until the coconut milk is hit. Serve immediately with rice.

Day 7 - Dancing

Last night we stopped by our friend Heaven's birthday party and then went to The Mighty to check out Bonobo's new set up with a live band. It was fire hazard crowded and sauna hot but it rocked my world. Especially the surprise appearance of Bajka, I had no idea she would be there. Joe and I danced and sweat for a good chunk of the night and it felt so good! I drank water for most of the night and was really proud of it, not to mention nicely hydrated and hangover free this morning. When we got home Joe wanted a midnight snack of cheese and crackers and I had also made Brigadeiros earlier that day thanks again to Mercado do Brasil. It reminded me of my teenage days when me and my girlfriends in brasil would come home late at night and raid the refrigerator and make brigadeiros, trying to keep it down and not wake up the parents. I have never met anyone that loves chocolate as much as my friend Tassi and I did at that time.

In case you are wondering, brigadeiro is a very simple brasilian desert made from condensed milk, chocolate powder and butter. Just mix one can of condensed milk, 3 heaping tablespoons of chocolate and one tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan. Keep mixing over medium heat for about 10 min. Pour it out into a buttered plate and let it cool. Roll into balls and coat with sugar or chocolate sprinkles. Heaven.

Day 5 - Unwind

TGIF! I went to yoga last night and it was fantastic, I love Lauren's classes! As I had suspected, practice is a little easier now than it was on Monday. There was something though, and it's not the first time it happens. Sometimes when we start moving through sun salutations I get really lightheaded. Lauren later told me that it could be the detox, blood pressure issues or in her case, she had problems with iron deficiency. This really scares me because I've always had a low iron issue and it seems every time I go veg my body tells me to eat meat! I'm not a full-on vegetarian as most of you know, it's just not in Brazilian blood to give up red meat forever, but I probably only eat it once or twice a month. Now I'll have to get a blood test to make sure I'm doing ok. Blegh.

I love Fridays. Everyone starts to relax and gear up for the weekend and I am just one day away from sleeping in. This week has been one of tremendous mental and physical effort and I have not had a moment to lay on my couch and appreciate my lovely apartment, my patient boyfriend, relax (meditating is not relaxing, in case you were wondering) and finally catch up on True Blood. I am planning on some yoga this afternoon and then an evening at home with wine, fog and comfy brazilian food. I am going to do my best to adapt my strogonoff recipe to fit my ayurvedic restrictions, but I am going to eat meat! The recipe is as brazilian as it gets, meaning a lot of it is just a guessing game but this is the basic outline of how I make it.

Brazlian Beef Strogonoff
1 lbs beef (filet mignon or tri tip)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
salt to taste
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 to 3/4 tsp dry oregano
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
dry white wine
heavy cream or Brazilian creme de leite (I'm going to attempt using yogurt and skim milk)
3-4 tbsp ketchup (I am going to sub with tomato starter sauce)
3 tbsp yellow mustard

Cut up meat into 1-inch pieces. Put into a bowl and mix with garlic, half of the onion, salt, nutmeg, oregano. Let it marinate for 1 hour. Sauté mushrooms and onions in a large saucepan with a little white wine and set pan aside. Fry meat briefly in batches in separate frying pan and transfer to pan with onion and mushrooms. When ready to eat, add catsup and mustard and cream and let cook for one minute. This last part is all about your palate as far as quantities and final taste.

Serve over white rice and with matchstick potato chips (in Brazil, they're called batata palha and sold in bags and thanks to Mercado do Brasil I have some at home).

Day 3 - Experiment

First I want to address the name change, as a crazy brazilian, "mixed" is the word I was looking for all along but sometimes these things don't occur to me as they would a native. So there you have it. Things are going really well and I feel an inner-calmness with my "one day at a time" approach. I have fullfilled the programs daily requirements now for three days. I went to yoga this morning and did my full ten minutes of meditation for the day since Joe and I have tickets for Harry Potter at Kabuki tonight, seats reserved and bar access included. I have not once tried to kid myself that wine would be out of the picture for these 40 days but I was planning on cutting back on week-day consumption. However, this is a special occasion (can't you just hear the Potter music in your head, because I can) and I am ruling it ok to have a glass in the one city theatre that has a liquor license, I mean how could you not??

I have been very careful to follow my food plan as set forth by Megan but I am also trying to experiment with the ayurvedic principle of the six tastes. This means that all meals should include qualities from each of these: bitter (greens of many kinds, turmeric, coffee), astringent (beans, cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage, cilantro), sweet (milk, butter, wheat, ghee, rice, honey, raw sugar), salty (sea salt, seaweed), sour (limes and lemons, yogurt, pomegranate seeds) and pungent (garlic, ginger, mustard, chilli peppers). Yesterday I tried a recipe with the leftover rice that was in the fridge staring at me, and LOVED it. Just for copyrights’ sake it is from a book by Amadea Morningstar.

Rice Yoghurt
Pour about ½ tablespoon of oil in a sauce pan and add ½ teaspoon of cumin seeds and ½ teaspoon of mustard seeds. When these start to pop, add two cups of leftover rice (or fresh if you will), ½ cup yoghurt, 1/3 cup of skim or soy milk, ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. Let it all come to a boil and serve hot. Definitely garnish with cilantro and I topped it with some fresh mini bell peppers. You can also take it from here and make it your own. If your dosha does not have an aversion to spicy food or nuts you can add a jalapeno pepper and top with almonds as suggested by the original recipe.