In case you hadn't noticed...

I haven't updated this blog for quite some time. I'm no longer food blogging, but please make yourselves comfortable, and feel free to read and cook whatever you see here. Enjoy! And if you like what you read, come visit my site Flindermouse, where I post my poems. They won't feed your belly, but maybe some other part of you will get fed.

I'm a Struggler and I'll Never Give Up*

My husband attended a conference last week. As you might have deduced from last week's lack of blog post, things kind of fall apart around here when that happens. As I lay in bed exhausted each night, I thought to myself, "What would happen if I were a single mom? Or if I worked full time, and not just this measly part-time job?" My exhausted self answered, "Well, for one thing, you wouldn't be doing the blog. And you'd either be eating crap every night or have to find the wherewithal to become much more organized." Honestly, I don't know if I could do it, though I know people do do it. Maybe I'd rise to the occasion if I were forced to.

I want to be honest about such things, because nothing is more discouraging than reading someone's blog and imagining that their life is so much happier, healthier, more productive, etc. than your own. The sad truth is that we live in a society that doesn't value happiness, healthiness, or productivity (real productivity) very much, and so if we want these things in our lives, it's a struggle. I will leave it for you to come to your own conclusions about why this is the case.

That said, I truly enjoy cooking, and it makes me happy to feed my family. So I will keep on struggling. Here's an easy recipe for a coconut-cashew sauce I concocted last week. (This sauce was wonderful, but the rest of the week was something of a bust, foodwise.) I served it on Asian rice noodles, and threw some cilantro, and assorted lightly steamed/raw vegetables on top. I also threw some tofu under the broiler for about 15 minutes, and had that with the sauce as well. The sauce is pure white, which along with the white rice noodles, creates a snowy background against which your brightly colored vegetables can shine. Appropriate for the month of March, I think. (At least if you live further north than I do.)

I didn't take any pictures. Sorry. Photography also fell by the wayside last week. Instead I included pictures of the Brussels sprouts and Brussels sprouts greens I rescued (with permission!) from an abandoned plot at my community garden last week. I felt sorry the plot's owner hadn't been able to keep it going. But I totally understood.

Snowy White Coconut Cashew Sauce

1½ cups raw cashews
1 can coconut milk
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½-inch piece of ginger, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Puree all ingredients except for salt and sesame oil in a blender until smooth. Pour into a bowl and stir in salt and sesame oil. Serve with cooked rice noodles, steamed/raw vegetables, and broiled tofu. Add a dash of soy sauce if you wish, and a squeeze of Sri Racha if you like it spicy.

*Did you catch the song reference in the post title? Check out the great Barrington Levy.

Mixed-Vegetable Curry, American-Style

This week I thought I'd let you all in on a little secret – the secret of instant vegetable curry. My in-laws all make this curry, and sometimes I do too, when I need to get food on the table quickly and with minimal effort. It's better tasting, healthier, and much cheaper than takeout. The secret? A bag of frozen mixed vegetables. No chopping required! You see, I understand. Sometimes you don't have any fresh vegetables in the house. Or you just don't have time to chop, sad as that is. Or maybe you're just afraid of what you might do if you were to find yourself holding a knife in your hand. No need to tempt fate. Simply stock a couple bags of mixed frozen vegetables in your freezer, and you're good to go in these types of situations.

I should mention that this curry is most definitely an Indian-American concoction, as for the most part frozen vegetables don't exist in India. This is because most people in India don't have refrigerators. Those who do have refrigerators often don't have a freezer, or if they do, the freezer is about the size of a glove compartment. At any rate, with black-outs being a common and regular occurrence across much of the country, I'm not sure you'd want to trust your fridge or freezer for saving much of anything for very long.

You might wonder, how do people live without a fridge? Well, the answer is simple. Dry goods like rice and lentils need no refrigeration. Milk comes every day and is boiled, and used in coffee or tea, or made into yogurt. You go to the market every day or so and get what vegetables you need, and prepare the exact amount to be eaten, so that there are no leftovers. That way, nothing spoils. If you do this enough, you get very, very good at estimating how much food to prepare. Also, if you are Indian, wasting food is something you just do. Not. Do. Period. This cultural imperative is a strong motivator. (America is diametrically opposed to this ethic: Here, wasting is something you just do do.)

I think having a refrigerator may actually contribute to food wasting, because of our tendency to put leftovers in a container which over the course of a week gets shuffled to the back of the fridge and then forgotten about until a month or so later, when we finally get around to throwing out everything that's gone bad. So, kill your refrigerator! They use too much electricity anyway.

I'm assuming you didn't listen to me and you still have your refrigerator/freezer. So you can stockpile a few bags of frozen vegetables and make this curry when you need something fast. I guess that's just how life is in America sometimes.

This recipe follows my formula for Universal Curry, which I wrote about back in April of last year. As I wrote back then, you can sub in any number of vegetables, and get tasty results.

Mixed Vegetable Curry
2 teaspoons brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon urad dal (black gram)*
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida powder*
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
2 pounds frozen mixed vegetables
salt
4 tablespoons dried, flaked coconut (unsweetened)
cayenne pepper to taste**
wedges of lemon or lime (optional)

Heat oil on medium high heat, along with mustard seeds and urad dal, in a large skillet or saute pan. When the urad dal is light brown and the mustard seeds begin to sputter and pop and turn grey, lower the heat and add the asafoetida and turmeric (if using). Mix quickly with mustard seeds and urad dal, then quickly add the mixed vegetables and stir to distribute oil and seasoning. Add salt. Cook uncovered on medium heat until the vegetables reach the desired tenderness. Make sure to stir and scrape the bottom of the pan occasionally to avoid sticking. Add the coconut and cook for a couple minutes more. Add more salt to taste if needed. Separate the portion of vegetables you will feed your children, then add desired amount of chili powder to the vegetables remaining in the pan and cook a minute longer. Serve with wedges of lemon or lime. This is optional, but sometimes a little zing of lemon or lime juice helps to brighten the flavors. This dish goes well with dal or sambar, and rice. It also would be nice with chapathis, or pongal, for something simple.

(You can try adding other spices depending on the vegetable. For carrots, I usually add some powdered cumin and coriander as I add the asafoetida. Also consider leaving out the coconut depending on the vegetable. For example, coconut works well with carrots, but I don't like it with eggplant as much.)

* Just get yourself on over to an Indian grocery (or DeKalb Farmer’s Market if near Decatur) and buy some urad dal and some asafoetida. Then you can make this any time you want with all those vegetables you get from your CSA that you don’t know how to use. (Turnip curry, anyone?)

**If you are cooking for people who don’t mind a bit of spiciness, you may add the cayenne powder at the same time as you add the asafoetida.

My Latest Pet: Umeboshi Vinegar (on Roasted Cabbage)

I am the first one to admit I have a problem. A condiment problem, that is. A problem that is only exacerbated by the fact that I live just a few miles away from Dekalb Farmer's Market, which is not really a farmer's market but is actually a giant warehouse filled with foods from around the world, in which at least a quarter of the merchandise appears to be condiments.

My latest discovery is umeboshi vinegar. Small, sour, Japanese plums (ume) are salted with red shiso leaves.  This produces a savory, salty, sour, fruity, red-colored juice, which is not truly a vinegar, but is darn tasty on just about everything. The salted, shiso-seasoned plums are dried, and are then called umeboshi. One use for umeboshi is as the filling inside of onigiri, which are rice balls wrapped in nori (seaweed). So guess what's next on my shopping list? Yes, the actual umeboshi. I'm hoping my kids will love onigiri, since they love sushi. I'm thinking the onigiri are going to go in their lunchboxes, since they've been complaining so much about being tired of sandwiches. "Tired of sandwiches? OK, how about a dried plum inside a rice ball, wrapped inside a sheet of seaweed? Mwa ha ha." (Meanwhile, some kid in Japan is telling his mother how sick he is of rice balls.) But anyway, that's a project for another week.

Back to this week, and the umeboshi vinegar. I had three very small cabbages which I cut into wedges and roasted with sliced onions. Roasting works wonders on cabbage just like it does with brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli. The cabbage becomes sweet and smoky. It's great on its own, but add a few splashes of umeboshi vinegar, and well... You've taken it to the next level.

The really great thing about umeboshi vinegar is that is doesn't have that same acidic bite of other vinegars. While still sour, it's much more mellow and subtle. It really doesn't overwhelm the food at all. So, what can I say? I'm not going into rehab anytime soon.

Roasted Cabbage and Onions with Umeboshi Vinegar
3 baby cabbages, or one medium cabbage, sliced into inch-thick wedges
1 small onion, sliced
a few glugs of olive oil
salt
pepper
umeboshi vinegar (to splash on individual servings)

Preheat the oven to 375°. Place the cabbage wedges and sliced onions on a large rimmed baking sheet, and pour a few glugs of olive oil on top. Mix the oil with the cabbage and onions with your hands, then make sure the vegetables are evenly spaced on the baking sheet. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top, and place in the oven for approximately 30 minutes, or until the cabbage is soft and browned on the edges. Pass the umeboshi vinegar at the table, to splash liberally on each serving.