Tuesday poem: A Make As You Go Salad

Photo by Heather Barnes on Unsplash A poem that is also a zero-waste recipe. A Make As You Go Salad He left me the pit of a mango. I chop off the edges and roughly dice them. Here's a tangerine I was saving from breakfast. The pits sit on the cutting board while I separate...

Tamarind candy

My family is slightly addicted to the the chili tamarind candy that comes in various stores in various packages and from various places in the world (Mexico, Asia, mostly). They range from simply sweet to intolerably spicy, but the ingredients are simple: tamarind, sugar, and optional spices like chili powder, paprika, salt, etc. I thought...

Mindful eating rituals

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay Food rituals help you savor and enjoy food, even when irrelevant! For example, take a regular chocolate bar. You might be tempted to eat the whole thing. But if you break it in half with the wrapper on. Unwrap that one half, eat. Then unwrap the other half, and...

Using up fruit pits – plum ginger juice

A neighbor was kind enough to share a TON of plums from a fallen branch in his yard. I have an entire crisper drawer full! However, these plums are extremely sour and not ready to eat, nor do they seem to ripen on the counter. So of course, I have to make plum pickle with...

Mixed Drinks

Image by Photo Mix from Pixabay When I was newly married, we would buy Kern's mango and guava nectars on a weekly basis, diluting the same cup of thick smoothie-like juice until our thirst was quenched. Eventually, we read the nutrition facts and found that they had large quantities of added sugar. Since then, we've...

Vegan shepherd’s pie – Indian-spiced

My daughter loves pot pie but it takes some extra planning. Enter shepherd's pie which is just as delicious but does not require the making of dough and a crust. I was not sure how my family would respond to this, but only one child rejected it, saying it was not flavorful enough (easily remedied...

Book: Masala Lab

Masala Lab by Krish Ashok (subtitled The Science of Indian Cooking) is a treasure trove of scientific and cooking information and inspiration. The book is lighthearted enough for a layperson to read, but includes scientific descriptions such as how a pressure cooker works, how to help onions brown faster (a great tip I've used already!...

A Mediterranean meal

Image by Samir Biscevic from Pixabay Sometimes the easy way out is the way to go, pushing on the "Easy button," for a quick weeknight meal, for example. It's hard for me: the environmentalist in me rebels at buying packaging, the DIYer resists not making everything from scratch (or as much as possible), and the...

Bounty of beets

Winter is a great time for beets (or as my Indian relatives call it: "beet root"). I bought a big bag of beets from a farm, cooked some, then some were blanched to freeze (boil 2 min and then immerse in cold water, then freeze in containers). What to do with the rest? Some were...

Sooji Poha dosa

Photo by amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash A last-minute meal: sooji poha dosa. This is made with leftover bits together: poha (flattened rice) along with sooji (also known as rava or semolina). I added ragi (red millet) flour and whole wheat flour, and spiced it up with greens and other veggies: https://www.zaykakatadka.com/recipe/sooji-poha-veggie-discs/ I also added onion,...