Banana Bread

My roommate had some super overripe bananas so I thought it was time to make banana bread. I had previously tried one from smitten kitchen and another one I am not quite sure about, maybe this one? But since they were 6, oh yes SIX, whole overripe bananas in my kitchen, it was time for a new recipe: Banana Sour Cream Bread. I made no modifications to this recipe. All I have to say is it made COPIUS amounts of batter and THREE loaves of 9x5 bread. Next time, I might try to make a crumble topping, add some nutmeg and ground cloves and possible reduce the amount of sugar. I used natural cane sugar instead of regular white sugar. Not sure there makes a huge difference. I am going to be eating banana bread for a long long time I guess! Banana bread is cooling now :)

indian cooking

I thought I would try my hand at Indian cooking since I am in fact Indian. I made Rajma and Aloo Gobi. Typically I am not the biggest fan of Aloo Gobi since to me, it is the most boring of the Indian dishes. But this time, I followed a recipe off of Smitten Kitchen, that involved baking the potatoes and cauliflower instead of pan-frying them and the result was most delicious! I like it better because the potatoes and cauliflower were crispy and and less soggy than with pan frying. These were the ingredients I used:

1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp mango powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F.

Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 3 tablespoons oil, cumin seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 25 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, and ginger in remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in roasted vegetables. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add the garam masala and mango powder last. (Add lemon juice? (optional)).

Garnish with fresh cilantro.

I also made rajma, another "meat and potatoes" Indian dish, but I love rajma! How can anyone dislike anything with beans? This might have turned out too spicy. I also took a recipe from Smitten Kitchen and modified the amount of spices. I might reduce the amount of cumin next time.

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp mango powder

1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes and their juice
~30 oz dark red kidney beans
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat for one minute. Add ginger, garlic, onion and cook until onions become translucent. Add the tomatoes, salt and remaining spices and cook for an additional 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the kidney beans plus one additional cup of water. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Add garam masala and mango powder at the last minute. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice if desired. Garnish with cilantro.

I have a lot leftover! Thank goodness for leftovers! As a kid I never liked leftovers, but now I love love them! Probably because it saves me time as I write my thesis.

Zester

I am loving my new microplane zester! I have to say it is officially the best thing ever. Can't wait to make more recipes that call for lemon, lime or orange zest!

Oven Roasted Potatoes!

Okay, maybe it is a boring thing to post about oven-roasted potatoes, but I made some and they were good! And I finished the last of my Boston Organics potatoes. The recipe called for a lot of spices, I did not have the basil or the dill weed so I left them out and did everything else the same, it was still good! I actually wonder if it would be too busy with the basil and the dill weed! So now I am down to one small head of broccoli, which I will use to make the Double Broccoli Quinoa again since I have a fair amount of pesto left, 2 carrots (which will be come Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple and Red Lentil Soup, hope it's good!), mushrooms (thai green curry?), beets (side-dish?), and watermelon radishes (south indian sambar?). Hope I can finish all this food before it goes bad!

Double Broccoli Quinoa

Today I made the Double Broccoli Quinoa from 101 Cookbooks with the broccoli I got from Boston Organics. I was surprised at how delicious it was! It was SO GOOD! Luckily I have sauce leftover and some broccoli left over, so I will just steam some broccoli and make some more quinoa and voila! at least a few more meals... I will be making this recipe again for sure!

sopa de lentejas

I made my lentil soup again with carrots and potatoes, this time it turned out better than last time. I did add an extra 3/4 cup of lentils which makes the carrots and potatoes sparser, but I am not so happy about that! I think it is better because it is spicier (more cayenne) and the potatoes are starchier, which I like. I do have to say the carrots that I get from Boston Organics are pretty phenomenal. I still have a lot of produce left: 4 potatoes, 2 carrots, 2 heads of broccoli, 2 watermelon radishes, 4 beets, 1 box of mushrooms. I wonder if I can finish it all!

new shipment of boston organics today

Today I got a new shipment of boston organics. It's my first shipment after switching to the half fruit/half veggie box. Today I got:

1 lbs of Fuji Apples (3 of them)
1.5 lbs of bananas (5 of them)
3 Bosc pears
2 Temple oranges
3 Satsuma Mandarins
1 grapefruit
2 watermelon radishes
1 box of white mushrooms
1.5 lbs of potatoes (7 of them)
1 lbs carrots (4 of them)
2 heads of broccoli
1 lbs beets

Unsure what to do with this stuff! Kind of wish I got collard greens again to make the fab tofu recipe :)

Last of the Boston Organics!

Today I cooked with the last of the Boston Organics, making sweet chili lime tofu again, this time with broccoli instead of collard greens. I think it is generally better with collard greens but the broccoli made me feel super healthy! I guess I still have the lettuce left, so maybe I will eat a few more salads with the lettuce. Lettuce is definitely going on my no-list, I am bored of salads!

This weekend I will try to make a red lentil, sweet potato, carrot and apple soup recipe I found on all recipes.

Spicy White Bean and Turnip Soup

I had a lot of food in my fridge still, but I made spicy white bean and turnip soup to use my turnips, the last carrot, the last onion, and the last potato. It turned out quite good and it certainly is spicy. Though I did use cayenne instead of hot paprika and I used 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes instead of half a tsp. It made a lot, I may freeze some of it.

Tomorrow I may make the sweet chili lime tofu over broccoli with rice and then I will finish the last of my vegetables from Boston Organics.

Cooking has been really fun and I think I lost some weight, woohoo!

an interesting salad recipe

I tried this today:

Romaine Lettuce
1 Avocado mashed up with a tbsp of olive oil, splash of lemon juice, some garlic powder and salt
and sunflower seeds

That was my salad, I mixed it up so that the avocado mixture was coating my lettuce like a dressing. I also added red pepper on top, but perhaps it didn't quite go with the rest of the salad. Perhaps it should have been roasted to go with the rest of the salad.

Hearty Lentil Soup!

Today I made lentil soup from some of the vegetables I got. I used 3 potatoes, 2 carrots, 2 onions from the shipment! I suspect this soup is going to last me for a while. I didn't really follow a recipe. I used the following spices: garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, black pepper, salt and fresh cilantro (added at the end). It is a bit spicy in the back of your throat, but not overpoweringly so. In addition to the lentils (about 2 cups) and the ingredients mentioned above, I used 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes and their juice, so the soup is colorful and healthy.

I still have 1 onion, 1 carrot and 3 turnips that will go into a spicy white bean and turnip soup (will be made on a date yet to be decided). My roommate and I finished the last of the sweet chili lime tofu with collard greens and wheat noodles today. She loved the dish and so did I! I think lime zest makes everything delicious!

So what to do with green bell pepper, the broccoli and the romaine lettuce? Perhaps I should tell them that I don't want lettuce because I am not a huge fan of salads in the winter time. It is hard to make the substantial enough. I was thinking I could make a dinner salad of romaine lettuce, avocado, roast red peppers and maybe my own dressing involving garlic, mint, cilantro, lime juice and olive oil? I have no idea if those things taste good together.

I can't believe I have almost finished all the fruit in my shipment. But mostly eating my own food for the last week makes me feel really healthy and thinner in fact. Sometimes I feel like my own food isn't fatty enough, because I often find myself craving fatty food. But maybe they will go away after a while! Anyway, that's all for now folks! :)

So far made sweet chili lime tofu with collard greens and whole wheat linguine from the stuff I got from Boston Organics. Next time I will use soba noodles instead, I'm not sure I liked the taste of the whole wheat linguine. But the sweet chili time tofu was fab. I got the recipe from here.

I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow, what should I make tomorrow evening? A salad with my romaine lettuce? Perhaps I should put that on my no list since I am not sure I like salads.

Boston Organics

Got my first shipment of food today from Boston Organics, in the $29 dollar 2/3 vegetable, 1/3 fruit shipment, which turned out to be:

3 carrots ( = 1 lb)
3 turnips ( = 1 lb)
3 red onions ( = 1 lb)
4 potatoes ( = 1.5 lb)
1 bunch of collard greens
1 head of romaine lettuce
1 green bell pepper
1 bunch of broccoli
3 Macintosh apples ( = 1 lb)
4 bananas ( = 1.5 lb)
2 oranges
2 pears

Anyway, excited to cook with it!

prismatic scarf

prismatic scarf
Originally uploaded by mangokiwi.

I love this scarf! I made it for my sister out of manos del uruguay silk blend. Too bad I gave it to my sister :), I should have kept it for myself! :)