Avocado's Number

ב"ה

There's nothing like the holidays to make one come up with new recipes. I was supposed to go to a friend for supper last night (but the heat kept me home) and I wanted to make something to bring with me to eat, so, because it was יום טוב (Yom Tov -- holiday days) and I could cook, I decided I was going to make a salad that would be an entire meal in one. I also decided to try to put in all the colors of the vegetation rainbow.

I boiled up 1/2 cup dry whole spelt orzo. While I was doing that, I also sauteed up an onion and some frozen shiitake mushrooms. In the meantime, while the food was cooking, I started cutting up the "rainbow" -- for red: Apple (one whole, chopped), tomato (1/3 to 1/2 container of grape tomatoes cut into four), and dried cranberries (cranberries with apple juice and sunflower or safflower oil -- 2 Tablespoons) -- for orange/yellow: carrot (one-two coarsely grated) -- green: cucumber/Kirby (three Kirbies or one small cucumber diced) -- blue/purple: dried blueberries (see the comments on the dried cranberries -- 1 Tablespoon).

After the orzo and onions/mushrooms were cooked, I cooled them (in a room with a fan -- that helps it cool faster) and added them to the "rainbow". I also added 1 Tablespoon organic extra virgin olive oil and 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. It came out so good that the first time I made it, I ate just about all of it in one sitting. The most recent time I made it (ok, this was tonight and it was only the second time) I also added 1/4 of a 10 ounce package of frozen broccoli florets. I love the way broccoli tastes in salads.

I also made a buckwheat pasta and sauce dish for Yom Tov. I opened a small can (not the really small can, but not the really larige can) of whole tomatoes. I sauteed up an onion and some mushrooms as above. I also added quartered, sliced zucchini and eggplant (the long skinny type). When the veggies were done, I added the can of tomatoes and then I added my favorite spices -- turmeric, coriander, cumin, paprika, chili powder, and garam masala (and sometimes brown mustard seed) -- 1/2 teaspoon of all except the cumin and chili (which I used 1/4 teapoon of each). I cooked 1/2 package of buckwheat soba noodles. When that was done, I added the pasta to the sauce and served. It was delicious.

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Israel and it's Place in the World
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Strong Biblical Women
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Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

A Little Q and L

ב"ה

Lately I have become convinced that the major problem with with the American diet is that people let too many other people cook for them. Instead of starting off with fresh ingredients or ingredients like unprocessed grains and beans, most Americans either order out or "cook" by warming up frozen meals or mixes. But there are always ingredients in these foods that can cause health issues, whether it's unhealthy saturated or trans fat or mono-sodium glutamate or some chemical that didn't exist in the 6 days of creation.

I have been reading a few things about diet. One of them was a link that keeps popping up on my Facebook page and the other was a Rodale Press (Prevention Magazine) book I just bought called "Diabetes without Drugs" and I decided that I'm going to make some changes in my diet by eating less processed food. I can still eat "Food for Life" sprouted corn tortillas since they are made only from organic sprouted corn, water, sea salt and lime. But the veggie burgers I've been eating have a problem -- they have canola oil which is one of the things that I am trying to phase out of my diet. So I made some burgers for myself last week with organic oatmeal, frozen mixed vegetables, some sauteed veggies (like onions and garlic), some water and a bit of whole rye flour to hold it all together -- then I sauteed/fried them in olive oil (which I sprayed from an oil spray bottle that one of my best friends bought me for a birthday present a number of years ago). After that, I wrapped them in aluminum foil and put them in the freezer. I put them between two of the sprouted corn tortillas in my sandwich machine for about 30 minutes.

So tonight, I decided to make something simple but different -- I took 1/4 cup each of red quinoa and red lentils. I carefully washed the quinoa (to remove the bitter natural substance that acts as a natural pesticide), put it with the lentils and 1 1/2 cups or so of filtered water. I added my favorite spices -- 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, coriander, ginger, garam masala, and 1/4 teaspoon cumin, paprika, fenugreek, and cinnamon. Meanwhile, I slivered up an onion and sauteed it in olive oil, also slivered up a few cloves garlic (which I let sit for 1/2 hour because that's supposed to release the good stuff in garlic). After the onion was soft and a bit caramelized, I added 1/2 cup sliced, frozen shiitake mushrooms and sauteed for a few minutes. After the garlic sat for 30 minutes, I added the garlic (I had turned off the onions and mushrooms to keep them from burning, so I turned the flame back on then added the garlic) and cooked for a bit, until all the veggies were cooked through. By then the quinoa/lentil mixture was done, so I added the veggies. It turned out delicious! I hope you all like it.

I would just like to add that I did a variation of this recipes where I used 1/4 cup each of red quinoa, wild rice, red lentils and black (French) lentils. I also added sliced zucchini and skinny eggplant to the veggies. Other than that, this was pretty much the same as before.

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Israel and it's Place in the World
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Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
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Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

The Rice is Wild!

See merchandise with this design at

http://www.printfection.com/compugraphd/Other/_s_357110

B"H

I thought it would be nice to tell you all how it is that I go through the process of coming up with a new recipe (well, at least the sort of recipe I get by getting ideas from other recipes).

Today, I had a bit of extra time with nothing much to do and no one to compete with for the kitchen, so I decided I was going to try two recipes from last month's issue of Prevention.

One was a recipe listed in an article in the August 2010 issue where they collected "no-cook" recipes from readers. For me this was not exactly "no-cook" since it called for onions and I have a reaction to raw onions (I can't even touch raw onions, so I wear plastic gloves when I peel and chop onions) so I sauteed the onion in a bit of olive oil (I have an oil spray). I used some of the onions for the other recipe, too, but I'll talk about that later. This was a recipe for Chilled Cucumber-Avocado Soup. It called for 2 unpeeled cucumbers, 2 avocados, a cup of vegetable broth (I used filtered water), 2/3 cup each yogurt and milk (I used 1 1/3 cups almond "milk"), a couple of tablespoons chopped onion (that's where I used the sauteed onions), a tablespoon lemon juice (I just used the juice of one nice sized lemon), chopped mint (I used fresh basil), a teaspoon of vinegar -- I used white wine vinegar. I skipped the "pinch of cayenne". I pureed the whole business in a food processor (it didn't puree smoothly -- there are still some lumps, but it's good).

The second recipe I made was Spanish Style Rice Salad. But, since I'm not a huge fan of rice, I used 1 cup wild rice (which I love and use often) -- cooked about 45 minutes in 2 to 2 1/2 cups filtered water. I also used half the olive oil, basil instead of oregano, used a mix of white wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar, used 1 container of orange cherry tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, 1 small can (drained) sliced black olives instead of 1/4 cup pimiento stuffed olives, sliced, used 1/2 the olive oil (1/8 cup instead of 1/4 cup), and didn't add garlic (I would have sauteed that also, with the onions, if I had had some in the house). I cooked the wild rice, let it cool, added the cooled chopped onion, quartered the tomatoes, chopped up the cucumber, dumped in the can of black olives, chopped up the basil, added the oil and the vinegar, and mixed it all together until the ingredients were mixed well. I put it in a container to put in the refrigerator.

I liked the way both of these recipes came out and I think I'll try them again.

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Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
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Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Why be Vegetarian?
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington

Smoothie Operator

ב"ה

A few weeks back, my Mom and I went to "the city" (in our neck of the woods, that means New York City, a place where both of us have lived at some point in our lives) and after taking care of what we were there for, we walked from the West 60s to Penn Station to take the train home. It's been a few years since the two of us went together and my Mom has slowed down a bit, so it was harder for her to do the walk than the last time.

We stopped at a wonderful health food store on 8th Avenue, but we didn't sit while there, so my Mom wanted to stop some place we could sit. So we stopped at a Starbucks. Because I'm vegan (and diabetic, so I can't have sugar or sweetened soy milk), they made me a smoothie with bananas and strawberries. It was delicious.

So it got me to start making my own -- I take 2-3 bananas, a bag of frozen strawberries, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of unsweetened almond milk, sometimes I add 1/4 to 1/2 bag frozen mixed berries or frozen mango, and then I add stevia to taste (or your sweetener of choice, or no sweetener if you think it's sweet enough without it) and whir it together in a blender. (If it's too thick, I add some filtered water to help it whir better.)

This is a good start -- if there's anything else you'd like to put in (other fruit, some nuts, etc.), experiment. With the summer heat (we've had temps in the high 80s to the high 90s), this is very refreshing. It's also very filling.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
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Don't miss my latest Veg*n Themed "lens" -- If you love animals Don't eat them!

Strong Biblical Women
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Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
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Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

I love kale!

ב"ה

Our town has a farmer's market in the summer (ok, part of spring, all of summer and part of  autumn) on Fridays. This year's market was inaugurated this past Friday (I had been waiting, a tad impatiently, for them since I noticed signs that said "Farmer's Market June through November" and it was already June) and I got to see the people I see year in and year out at the only Organic booth there.

Because it's the beginning of the season, there were "slim pickins" . But the woman who runs the booth, who's known me for a few years, knows that I love purple food. So she steered me over to the Purple Kale.

Kale, BTW, happens to be one of my favorite veggies. It shows up regularly on Nutrition Action Magazine's list of the best fruits and vegetables (like this article about the 5 most overrated and underrated foods from May 2010).

But, unlike spinach and some other veggies, I can't get frozen organic kale. So what's a lazy-ish kale lover to do?

I'll tell you what I do: I take the kale (1-2 bunches at a time), wash it in a mixing bowl with 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar mixed in with cold water. I rinse each kale leaf in the vinegar wash then rinse it in running water. I turn on the food processor before I put in the kale, then a toss in the kale leaf by leaf (after pulling the greens off the stems and ripping the leaves to make them smaller and easier to get into the food processor chute).

I then put the chopped up kale into zip bags (snack size) and zip them up and put them in the freezer. They keep there for months. I can then take kale from the bags and saute it (as I did today -- I took that sauteed kale and tossed it into my salad) or toss it into soup. I also like to put some kale on my sandwich machine sandwiches (see my blog entry of Sunday, March 7, 2010 called Marshall's and Soup )

Kale is high in calcium and iron. Like most greens, it's also high in beta carotene.

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Jewish Sandwich

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Don't miss my latest Veg*n Themed "lens" -- If you love animals Don't eat them!

Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan

Beans and Peanut Butter Sauce

B"H

Monday afternoon, a few hours before I was scheduled to go over to my cousins for the Pesah Seder (the traditional/ritual meal of Passover evening) I decided I needed one more "dish" to bring with me (since I am a vegan on a very strict diet, I generally bring my own food wherever I go). I decided to make something with beans, but what should I do with the beans? (unlike most Ashkenazic Jews (Jews whose families originated in Northern and Eastern Europe), I am permitted to eat beans, rice, corn, peanuts, etc. (called "kitniyot") on Pesah).

I looked around and saw a jar of peanut butter and decided to make a peanut butter sauce.

I started with 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) each of pinto, black, garbanzo, adzuki and kidney beans. I soaked them (well, the first time I did the "quick soak" -- boil them up and then turn off the flame and let them sit for at least an hour), then added 1/4 cup wild rice and 2 tablespoons black lentils. I added my favorite spices-- a teaspoon of each -- turmeric, paprika, coriander, cumin -- and a squeeze of spicy brown mustard and cooked it for 45 minutes (and a bit more until all the water was absorbed). While the beans were cooking, I sauteed a red onion (I sliced it into thin strips) and some frozen shiitake mushrooms. Then I added 1/4 cup of natural (no added sugar or fat, etc) peanut butter, 1/2 cup unsweetened almond "milk", a bit of stevia (for sweetness) and 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar and stirred it together until it's all blended.

When the beans were ready, I added the sauce and mixed well.

I think the peanut butter sauce added a certain je ne sais quoi to the bean dish. I actually shared it with some friends and they both liked it, too.

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Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
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About the Jewish Calendar
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Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
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Marshall's and Soup

ב"ה

I love being thinner. Granted, it takes a LOT of hard work (mostly in the cooking area), but I love going shopping for clothing now. Of course, I would like it a lot more if I had more money to spend, but I digress.....

So I went to a local strip mall because I needed a new sandwich machine (the one I got as a gift has "given up the ghost" after daily use for the past few months -- I discovered "Food for Life" sprouted corn tortillas and I've been making sandwiches using two tortillas -- one on the bottom and one on the top -- and Dr. Prager veggie burgers -- I like Tex-Mex and Bombay flavors -- I add any or all of the following: my own vinaigrette [balsamic vinegar, spicy brown mustard and stevia to taste]; frozen shiitake mushrooms; shredded carrots; vegan cheddar cheese; kale*; a slice of tofurky "lunch meat style" vegan "meat" and I top with the second tortilla and cook in the sandwich machine for 20 minutes -- yum!) -- there's a Target there and that's where the original machine came from -- and on my way over to the Target, I got "waylaid" by the Marshall's (I've been wanting to check it out since I got to size 12 and now that I'm even wearing some size 10s and even the occasional 8 -- OMG, in High School I wore a 14-16! -- so this was the day....)

So I found myself at the "clearance" rack (I've always said if I were even at a singles event and a guy would come over to me and ask me my "sign", I'd answer "clearance -- 70% off"), pulling all sorts of things off to try on. I ended up with 10 items (coincidentally the max they allow in the "fitting room") of various sizes ranging from 8 to 12. Most of the tops were too short (they did fit but were impractical), the two pairs of size 10 jeans fit, but the legs were made for someone about 6 inches taller than Julia Child (who was 6 feet tall), so, despite the fact that I loved them and they were $3 and $5, I decided that hemming jeans wasn't on my schedule (and since they were flare legged, cuffs were out of the question). I ended up with an Anne Klein size 10 black skirt (I'm DESPERATE for skirts, particularly black skirts -- ladies, do you agree that you can never have too many black skirts???) that cost $5 (no tax in our state).

I got out of the "fitting room" and started telling the woman there (a bit on the chubby side) that I needed new clothes because I had lost some weight and now was wearing a size I didn't even fit into in High School (please don't ask how many years ago that was -- suffice to say it was a long time ago). So she asked me how I did it. I told her about regulating my adrenals (and with it, my blood sugar) with nutrient supplements and then I told her that soups are good -- particularly if you make your own without salt (or with only a bit of salt). I told her my "quickie" soup recipe.....

I take 1/8 cup each (two tablespoons or a coffee measure) of three different kinds of lentils (black, green/brown and red), sometimes also split peas, add water and spices (I like spicy brown mustard, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, etc.) cook for a while, then add two bags mixed vegetables (different styles are nice -- I just did one today with plain carrots, corn and string beans and another called "California mix" with cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, etc.) and sometimes I add a package of either frozen chopped spinach or frozen butternut squash. It makes a great soup and it's a minimum of work (no chopping veggies, no soaking beans)....

Try it yourself with different kinds of mixed veggies or quick cooking legumes and your own spice mix. And got easy on the salt.

* I buy fresh (organic) kale and I rinse each leaf in a mixture of vinegar and cold water, then rinse in running water, then I shred the kale in the food processor, put the shredded kale in snack baggies (zip bags) and put them in the freezer so I can add kale to soup, sauteed veggies, and my sandwiches.

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Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):

Jewish Wedding Customs
Going to a Wedding Single
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Ruth and Naomi
Strong Biblical Women 5: Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Strong Biblical Women 6: Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Strong Biblical Women 7: Miriam
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?
Eat a Healthy Breakfast
My experience on Jeopardy
Project:Runway and how it got me excited about designing again
Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Check out my Stress Release Mix list