The Healthy Food exploration continues

Yesterday while we were BBQing dinner, I made a packet with beets and onions (with thyme) and threw it on the BBQ for 1 hour while we ate.

Then I followed another recipe from the Sizzle It Cookbook (nothing like a new cookbook to get me going!) called Chilled Beet Soup with Cucumber & Scallion (p. 38).

The recipe is interesting, it tasted good, but it could take some tweaking up. I'll experiment with different spices and see what would work... I'm thinking roasted mustard seeds... Also, next time, I will BBQ the beets and onions longer, 1h and 1/2. Or make the fire hotter.

My husband didn't care for it. That's really sad cause there's a lot of it, so I'll be eating a lot of soup in the next few days hehehe. I'll try freezing some and see if THAT works.

So that's my experiment of the day!

Be good n stuff!

Tried a new recipe!

I was working this morning, and after a quick coffee, I ran home to finish up putting the bedroom and office together for painting tomorrow. After a few hours of it, I was really tired. You see, this morning, my alarm clock decided to adjust to spring time, and woke me up at 5 instead of 6. I spent all day trying to catch up.

Anyway, I was tired at the end of the day and not in a cooking mood. Yesterday I had bought the ingredients to try a new recipe out of one of my new cookbook "Veganomicon" and I ended up not trying it. Too much work! Tonight I didn't feel like doing it either, but I realized that I sure wouldn't have time to do it tomorrow.

So, I gathered every ounce of energy I had and tried the Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca. The recipe is a little labor intensive but it was so worth it! It's also not a difficult recipe, there's a bit of chopping to do, but it's an easy recipe to make!


It was spicy, but delicious spicy, not "hot and taste like nothing but fire" spicy. The sweetness of the mango balanced the spiciness of the hot sauce and chili. The coriander and cinnamon gave it a very rich taste. Really, it was a delicious meal. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, if it warms up well, it'll be a new winner in my house. We both loved it!

It's really pleasing to see vegan fare that is creative and tasty and healthy. Woah..

Those who don't like spicy food, hum.. you can cut down I guess, but know that "as is" it's a very spicy dish. It's so good though! Never be afraid of walking new paths, they will lead you to new wonders, discoveries and unforeseen pleasures!

Be good n stuff!!!

Cookbooks!

I know, I know, the last thing I need is more cookbooks. Well, I just bought 3, and I'm all happy and excited about them!!

Japanese Cooking:

Monday I was working in Sebastopol, and I had some time to kill, so I stopped by Copperfield. It a book store downtown (if there is such a thing as "downtown Sebastopol"). I was browsing and looking longingly at cookbooks, and trying very hard to be good, but then I saw it! Let's Cook Japanese Food! (by Amy Kaneko) on special, $9.99. Of course, now that I bought it, Amazon has it at $8.99, oh well...

I just got it this last monday, but already I did Yaki Onigiri (grilled Rice Balls) out of it. I broiled them, and they were fantastic! It's authentic looking Japanese foods, but mainly it's accessible Japanese food! Things that I can make myself, here at home, without owning an Asian food store!

The autor, Amy Kaneko, married into a Japanese family and learned to cook from her in-laws and her husband. It looks like a book that I will be using a lot more than my other Japanese cookbook. Finally, real food!

I'm very happy with this book, the more I look into it, the more I find new possibilities, recipes to try, recipes that will be easy to adapt to my own lifestyle. A good buy I think. :o)

Vegan Fare:

Let me say right out that I am not a vegan or vegetarian, or any of those. I love meat, and I have no intention to stop eating it. This being said, I'm always open to explore new horizons, and I've been nosing in vegetarian/vegan cooking lately with good results.

My first step into Vegan cooking came from fatfreevegan.com after a friend suggested it to me. I found all sorts of stuff in there! I also started buying the magazine Vegetarian Times, and really enjoys the stuff I find in there.

When it came to cookbooks though, all I really found was Indian food (great but I have PLENTY of that), and vegetarian versions of "meat meals". Since I eat meat when I want meat, that is not what I was looking for.

The same friend who suggested fatfreevegan.com (thanks Patty!), suggested that I look into Vegan with a Vengeance (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz). After nosing around and reading a lot of reviews, I finally broke down and ordered it from Amazon.com.

That book is exactly what I was looking for, real recipes for real foods made with real ingredients. It's accessible, not even overly pricey ingredients, and recipes that are super creative and delicious looking. I started putting sticky arrows on the pages of the recipes I want to try and had to stop because I ran out of arrows! Of course I got it yesterday, I didn't have time to try anything yet, but I think you're going to hear a lot about this book from me!

To add best to better, the commentary from the author (and her cat!) are witty, interesting and charming. I'm just in love with this book.

While researching this book, I came accross a lot of comments about another vegan cookbook called Veganomicon (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero). Since the reviews were so good, I bought it as well. This book is as unpretentious as Vengan with a Vegeance, but is more of a "everybody cookbook" in the sense that it seems to go into more details, explanations, and a greater diversity of recipes.

Since I've been so absorbed into Vegan with a Vengeance, I haven't nosed too much in Veganomicon, but it looks like a great "everything Vegan" book to have. I'm looking forward to exploring this one as well. I shall report once I've started cooking!

So there you have it, add these 3 cookbook to my extensive Weight Watchers, Moosewood, Ethnic fare, and everything in between collection of cookbooks, and you have well over 150 books to play with! I'm enjoying myself and discover new foods almost everyday!

Be good n stuff!