Indian Food

I had some fresh turmeric left over after buying it for my coconut reintroduction recipe (I will post that when coconut week is over). Don't think that I even know what turmeric is really, but when asking what/where it was at the co-op, someone highly recommended I get the fresh kind, and she was super-excited the co-op carried it because apparently it's hard to find. It's expensive ($12.99/lb), but I literally bought less than a pinky finger's worth.

I decided to make these amazing Indian dishes to use up the turmeric and because I miss Indian food! I haven't been able to eat at Indian restaurants because I haven't reintroduced butter and therefore I haven't reintroduced ghee.

In related news, I have fallen in love with Madur Jaffrey. Her book World Vegetarian is our kitchen's bible.

The recipes below went well together. We used brown rice instead of basmati and it was fine (but you have to change the water amount to 4 cups and cooking time to 40 min.) We also added chick peas for protein.  Enjoy!

SAAG ALOO (potatoes with spiced spinach)

source: http://www.theperfectpantry.com/2009/11/turmeric-recipe-saag-aloopotatoes-with-spiced-spinach.html

this recipe serves 4; can be doubled.

12 oz Yukon Gold or other new potatoes

9 oz fresh baby spinach leaves

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, cut in half and finely sliced

1 jalapeño pepper, minced (for a less spicy dish, remove seeds and ribs before chopping)

2 tsp mashed garlic*

2 tsp mashed ginger*

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground red chile pepper or red pepper flakes (mild or hot, to taste)

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

7 oz canned chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp sugar or sugar substitute

1 tsp salt, or to taste

boil potatoes and cook for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are tender.

Drain, then soak in a bowl of cold water for up to 30 minutes to stop the cooking action.

WHILE THE POTATOES ARE COOLING, blanch the spinach in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain. Transfer to a food processor and blend to a puree. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the olive oil.

add the onion and stir for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low, and continue cooking 2-3 minutes more, until the onions are browned.

Add the jalapeño, garlic and ginger, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Then add the coriander, cumin, chile powder and turmeric, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, and the sugar, and increase heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have reached a paste-like consistency.

Add the potatoes, spinach and salt, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the whole mixture is well combined. Serve hot.

 

Madhur Jaffrey's Turmeric Rice

source: http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Turmeric-Rice-recipe-2779.aspxhttp://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Turmeric-Rice-recipe-2779.aspx

INGREDIENTS 2 cups basmati rice 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 3 whole cloves 1 bay leaf 4 cardamom pods 1-inch stick cinnamon 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons finely sliced chives or the green part of green onions

DIRECTIONS Put the rice in a bowl and wash well in several changes of water. Drain and leave in a strainer set over a bowl. Put the oil in a heavy saucepan and set over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, put in the cloves, bay leaf, cardamom pods, and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the garlic. As soon as the garlic turns medium brown, put in the rice, turmeric, and salt. Stir gently for a minute. Now put in 2 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil. Cover tightly, turn the heat down very, very low, and cook for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with chives before serving.

CORN II

Good news, corn is ok. I ate corn chips twice this week and I was fine.

Since this post is boring, my next post will be entirely about awesome Indian food, which is way more exciting. AND I am introducing coconut in even more interesting ways, so stay tuned!

Migraine News

I found this collection about migraine patients in the New York Times. I especially like the piece by Aviva Goldfarb because hers is about an alternative cure AND she's a chef.

EGG YOLK II

This week I introduced 1 egg yolk. Last time I introduced egg yolks, I ate 3 eggs, and then got a stomach ache. So I haven't eaten egg yolks since then. The idea this week is just to test if I can have a bit of egg in a sauce or baked good, etc.

To reintroduce egg yolks I, of course, made cookies!








 Flourless peanut butter cookies

makes about two dozen cookies

1 cup peanut butter (I used half almond butter)

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons honey

1 egg

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

raisins and oats to your liking
 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Grease a baking sheet with oil and set aside. 
3. Mix all ingredients. 
4. Place walnut-sized balls on baking sheet, and flatten a bit with a fork.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly browned.  

One egg yolk proved no problem, so I am very grateful that I can eat latkes for Chanukah!

Who says I'm not eating well?!

Two food highlights from this week:

Breaded tempeh with buckwheat noodles and rainbow chard

Soak the tempeh strips in tamari for about 45 minutes. Then roll them around in barley flour, salt, and pepper. Lightly fry in canola oil until they start browning.

Eat with sauteed onions and garlic, steamed rainbow chard, and buckwheat noodles. Save the tamari marinade in case you want to use it as sauce while eating.

Pumpkin pasta with tofu and cheddar

Yea, I know, this sounds weird, but I actually found a pumpkin pasta recipe on Rachael Ray's site, so it's legit.

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. Add 1/4 cup pumpkin and 1/4 cup soy milk. Add 1/4 cup tofu and mush all together to make a sauce. Add cinnamon to taste (and nutmeg if you're into that). Mix with rice noodles (or wheat noodles if you're into that), and top with (raw) cheddar.

Mmmmmm. All I can say is I'm SO happy to have some sort of cheese back in my life.

REFINED SUGAR II

Oh, why am I cursed to never eat refined sugar?! It's not that I want to put that substance in my body, but it's just too hard to avoid altogether. If I can't have ANY refined sugar, I can't have any sauces at restaurants, or really anything (like ketchup) that just enhances your food (read: fries).

It was getting annoying to always have to ask waiters/waitresses "is there any refined sugar in that sauce/dressing/marinade?" The answer was usually yes, even if the rest of the restaurant was gluten-free-vegan-saving-the-world. So this week I decided to reintroduce just a small amount of refined sugar, assuming that being able to tolerate a small amount of sugar would  re-open the tempting and convenient world of sauces/dressings/marinades.

Day 1: I ate a yummy dinner of sushi and miso soup (both of which have small amounts of refined sugar).
Day 2: I wrote in my food log, "almost-headachey all day."
Day 5: I added one teaspoon of refined sugar to my oatmeal in the morning. About 9 hours later I felt a "small pressure behind my eyes and on my temples" which lasted until I went to sleep.(Days 3, 4, and 6 were normal and I felt fine.)

In conclusion, a subtle amount of refined sugar leaves me with subtle headaches. I'm going to continue to avoid refined sugar, mostly because I don't want to screw up the results of anything else I reintroduce. In a couple of months I will try refined sugar again. People keep telling me that after staying away from a substance, you can eventually become tolerant of it again. Here's hoping.

PS- If you own a restaurant, would you just make it a policy to only use unrefined sugar? It's just better for everyone. Ok, thanks, you're nice.