Awesome steam

Put these things in a steamer:

brussel sprouts
chopped carrots
brazil nuts
LOTS of garlic cloves, split and peeled
basil
rosemary
fresh cilantro


Steam 10-15 minutes.


Add a touch of sea salt at the end when you've put it in your serving bowl.


MMMMM.


As a point of reference, I used two whole heads of garlic for this. Plus a little extra I had laying around. Garlic is awesome. Eat it like candy. Good for killing parasites.

(and vampires).

1st Oriental Wokery

I put all these things in a wok. I purchased them at 1st Oriental Supermarket across the street.

INGREDIENTS:

garlic

ginger

sesame/olive oil

dash of sesame chili oil

lotus root

long beans (or string beans)

thai eggplant

roasted peanuts

basil (I used dried though I'd recommend fresh)

black pepper

liquid aminos

And, for the optional peanut sauce:

natural peanut butter

liquid aminos

ground ginger

olive oil

sesame chili oil

DIRECTIONS:

Do it all up in wok. Cook it and stuff. You know how it goes.

Peanut sauce gets mixed up, put it on after you remove the dish from heat.

There are no measurements because I don't use any!

What I've Been Eating for Like 5 Days

I've been reluctant to post this recipe and I'm unsure why, but tonight was the last straw. I've made this everyday for almost a week (once at 2am while I was drunk) and it's awesome so here goes.There are about a million ways to make this, all delicious. This particular incarnation contains soba noodles, tofu, scallions, mushrooms, bell pepper, and spinach, seasoned with garlic, soy sauce, and spicy sesame oil. (IMPORTANT: The best spicy sesame oil is the homemade kind. Take a bottle of sesame oil and pour it over a bottle of red pepper flakes. We keep ours in a bowl-like container so we can make use of both the oil and the flakes.)

Heat up your wok over high heat. I'm a medium to medium-low cook, so this took me some time to get used to. Oil that shit up really well, and throw the tofu in. Immediately add a shitton of garlic. Like when you're sure you have enough, add even more. You can't have too much. Beyond that, it's just a matter of timing everything so the veggies are all properly cooked and done at the same time. I added the peppers shortly after getting the tofu going, and the mushrooms a bit later. When that stuff is almost cooked, add a generous amount of soy sauce. Finally, add the scallions, spinach, some spicy sesame oil, and a bit or a lot of the red pepper flakes from the oil depending on your desired level of heat. Toss until the greens are just wilted.

This makes an awesome meal in and of itself, but I usually serve with brown rice or some other sort of starchy side. In this case, I tossed the pre-cooked soba noodles right into the pan and stir fried until they were warm (they were leftover). Delish.

Semi-Homemade: MY version

Falafel over cabbage with tahini. Delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

Cabbage

scallions

garlic

ginger

olive oil

hot sauce

paprika

chili powder

liquid aminos, soy sauce, or salt

And get some...

tahini

falafel

PROCEDURE:

Chop up the cabbage, scallions, garlic, ginger, and cook em all up in a fry pan with the spices and sauces... It's delicious, I swear.

And then I walked to my local falafel dealer and got 6 falafel balls for 2.14$, and a 3$ can of delicious tahini at my local grocer. Serve over aforementioned cabbage.

MM. 

SEMI-HOMEMADE. The right way.

Simplicity Part 2

Today was not a great day for me. I'm usually off on Mondays and end up just kind of restlessly puttering around the house, doing chores, waiting for the imminent start of my work week on Tuesday. Plus, I found out that the tattoo I got last week isn't really healing properly and will likely need to be touched up almost immediately from my tattoo artists who was kind of a dick to me about it. Fuck that. I followed all the directions he gave me to heal it, which were essentially, put absolutely nothing on it and let it get all scabby and painful and gross. This is my seventh or so tattoo and I've always been of the A+D school but I tried to give this healing method a try. I would not fucking recommend it. Then I went to the co-op and bought 3 things, one of which magically disappeared from my hand without me having the slightest clue where the fuck it went between the store and my house. I got home, turned around, retraced my steps back to the co-op, found the stupid bag of rolls I had forgotten, and walked back home only to find that Xavi had taken it upon himself to turn the apartment into his own little garbage playground by toppling the kitchen trash can.

Dinner time rolled around, and I was determined to cook something simple, quick and, most importantly, comforting. I had grabbed a couple sweet potatoes at the co-op on kind of a whim earlier, and lately I've been trying to eat based on which produce is going to kick it first so as not to waste anything. The result hit the spot:Obviously lighting is not my forte, I leave that shit to my photog sister. You get the point. The recipe is as follows.

Ingredients: spinach, canned chickpeas, garlic (I used pre-minced, for convenience sake), a sweet potato, freshly ground black pepper, liquid aminos, butter

Sweet Potato: Here I used about a pounder, but it was long and skinny so I cut it in half and stuck the other half in the fridge after cooking. Poked a bunch of holes in it with a sharp knife, put on a baking pan in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or so. I didn't really time it, just poked it with a fork to ensure tenderness through and through. Cut down the middle, and put the teeniest amount of butter you can manage on either side.

Spinach and Chickpeas: I always cook this over very low heat because I do not like overcooked greens. I used a cast-iron skillet with a bit of cooking spray on medium-low or something. We have a gas stove for the first time and I'm still figuring that shit out. I put a TON of garlic in this, mainly because I'm of the belief that you can really never have too much garlic. Seriously, like 2 heaping spoonfuls. I would say I used about have a pound of spinach but I'm not even sure. Get that going, sprinkle a little liquid aminos on there, and then pepper the shit out of it. Once it's nearly done (almost all leaves are getting wilty) throw in about 1/3 a can of chickpeas. They're already cooked so you just need to heat them. Finally, once you have the spinach/chickpea mixture in a serving bowl or on your plate, top with a teeny tiny pat of butter. You could even throw this on top of the sweet potato instead of serving side by side if you wanted to get fancy.

Typically, I NEVER use butter in a recipe, for a host of reasons: it's caloric content, the fact that I've been blessed with genes that ensure that cholesterol plasters itself all over my arteries, the dubious practices of the dairy industry. Here I used less than a teaspoon of organic locally produced butter, helping quell my guilt. You could absolutely omit it here and still have an awesome meal, but I think the butter is what took this meal from delicious to comforting for me. Still not "comfort food" by many people's standards, but it certainly turned my day around!

OMGWTFlentils?

DELICIOUS!

Let me preface by saying that I LOVE the fact that when I go out "grocery shopping" I'm running around to a bunch of crazy local markets instead of going into a Wal-mart or "grocery store." (As we all know, grocery stores really don't carry a helluva lot of food... "food," mainly... food-like substance.

 

SO I've been getting all my stuff fresh. I've been hella sick but I must say eating healthfully makes my body hurt so much less. All the salt and shit and sugar in conventionall food... NO WAY! Makes my body get all out of whack!

Disclaimer: I know that some people can get away with eating whatever they want and still be perfectly "healthy." Fine, but that doesn't quite work for everyone.

Also, listen to NPR's DNA FILES if you want to learn about how environment (which includes diet) impacts the genome. Really interesting stuff. Seriously.

I endorse public radio.

As for the recipe...

Made this up today...

(All ingredients assumed fresh... went shopping in the Italian market and Whole Foods bulk section...)

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cup lentils (I used one cup french lentils, one half cup green lentils)

scallions, about 5 large ones

ginger

garlic

basil, cilantro

ground black pepper

Olive oil, of course. (I also used a touch of sesame-chili oil for flavor)

TO SERVE:

liquid aminos or salt

avocado

hot sauce

(maybe some more chopped cilantro too)

DO IT LIKE THIS:

Chop up ginger, scallions, and garlic, and saute in a big pot for a couple minutes in some olive oil--until aromatic. Add lentils, and 4 1/2 cups water, along with chopped basil, cilantro, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, boil for a few minutes, then cover and bring down to a simmer for another 25-30 minutes, or until the lentils have reached the consistency for which you strive.

You don't want to add any salt until the end, because it toughens up the lentils. In other words, don't get any crazy ideas like cooking them up in broth or anything like that. Yeah, it's been done, yeah, it's fine... But to be honest, I don't think the lentils need the broth anyhow...

But you'll want to salt them up a bit, I'm sure of it. I added the final seasonings to taste, by the bowl. For me, this was a few squirts of liquid aminos, dash of hot sauce, and half an avocado, chopped.

SUPERB!

ZUCCHINI in a wok

Yes, I took a picture of this with my cell.

Let me preface this by saying that today I went to the Italian market and spent only ten dollars to purchase the following vegetables: two small bunches romaine, a large bunch of spinach, head of cabbage, three green peppers, a pound of tomatoes, two bunches of scallions, 5 heads of garlic, 4 banana peppers, 1 pound of broccoli, two avocados... 

I deduced it would be worth noting.

But I wish I had picked up some cilantro, too. If you add cilantro to the following recipe at the end, I guarantee it will be totally delicious.

So I had a motherlarge zucchini from the garden, and prepared it as such. I didn't work from a recipe, so the amounts of each ingredient are all... well... not really present. Season to taste!

Another side note, I never cook with table salt or any kind of sugar. That is, not even any of my seasonings or sauces contain either of these things. I find them rather overused and flavor consuming, not to mention my body goes "what the fuck?" every time I insert more than a negligible amount of straight sugar or salt into it...

Anyway...

INGREDIENTS (appr amount I used):

olive oil or sesame oil (1 tbsp)

fresh garlic (4-5 cloves)

fresh ginger (I guess a piece about the size of your thumb)

scallions (1 bunch, that is, about 5 large ones)

zucchini (1 HUGE zucchini. The equivalent of 2-3 normal sized ones)

liquid aminos (you can use soy sauce if that's what you like. I personally prefer liquid aminos)

black pepper 

paprika

SERVED OVER: This stuff I kept raw, mixed together in a bowl, and served my zucchini atop.

tomato

green pepper

spinach

dash sesame chili oil

dash black pepper

dash liquid aminos

I'd also recommend adding cilantro, chick peas, hummus, tahini, and/or falafel. I, however, had none of these, and so ate it without them. (It was still delicious.) I probably also would have just put the whole thing in a pita or wrap if I a.) had pitas/wraps b.) was not sensitive to wheat/gluten/starch/whatever the fuck it is. But I recommend the pita idea for you.

ACCOMPANIED BY: Mint iced tea. 

Step one: insert peppermint tea bag into room temperature tap water in a cup. Step two: swish it around a bit. Step three: Drink that shit. Add ice if you want. Best. Drink. Ever.  I suppose some people would like it even better with a bit of honey. I carry unsweetened peppermint tea around in my water bottle all day. Also, peppermint tea is great for stomach pains! Er, at least the kind I've been having. I get quite nauseous at times when my stomach is empty, probably due to some ulcers leftover from ibuprofen or something. For a while, I was taking antacids for this. And then I discovered that peppermint tea works just as well! I usually carry a tea bag with me in my purse. That way, if I end up thirsty, I can grab some water and throw it in for some delicious and sugarless refreshment.

DIRECTIONS:

Hear oil. Saute garlic, ginger, and scallions until aromatic and slightly browned. Add cubed zucchini. You may want to cut some of the tougher seeds out, if you're using a big one. I only had to cut out the innards of a few slices. It usually ends up soft enough upon cooking that the seeds are not bothersome.

Add enough black pepper and paprika to coat the zucchini. Squirt on liquid aminos or soy sauce. If you haven't cooked with liquid aminos before, add to taste. If you season with too much, you may end up with zucchini that's way too salty. I don't think you want that.

Cover and cook until desired tenderness is reach.

I recommend removing the cover every few minutes to stir, and simply to smell it. That ginger and garlic is delicious...

Uncover and cook off some of the excess liquid. Then serve over a bowl of greens and veggies, as mentioned above.

This was pretty delicious. In my humble opinion.