Chèvre-Honey-Walnut Sandwiches

This is a recipe in which I take great pride. I didn't read about it, I didn't see it be done, I just came up with it. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it hasn't been done... it probably has. Like most other things I believe I created only to be told by some insufferable know-it-all that it has been done before.
Nevertheless, whether it was I or anybody else who made them, these sandwiches are delicious. 

Ingredients to make six half sandwiches:

Cinnamon Raisin Bread, sliced (toasted, if you prefer) - 6 slices
(If you don't have Cinnamon Raisin, any other bread will do. Just not sourdough!)
Goat Cheese, crumbled - 3 tablespoons or soft goat cheese - 1/4 cup
Honey - 2 tablespoons
Walnuts, chopped, 2 tablespoons.

Making the spread: Mix the goat cheese, honey, and walnuts together in a small bowl. The honey will hold the nuts and cheese together. It also does a fantastic job of complementing the saltiness of Goat cheese with its deep sweetness. Do not use goat cheese packed in brine for this recipe.
The walnuts add a new texture and flavor dimension to the spread.

Spread this between slices of Cinnamon Raisin Bread and cut diagonally.
If you used soft goat cheese, you could even cut it in strips.

Goes very very well with black coffee or tea.

Makkai ki Roti & Sarason ka Saag

I did not grow up eating much corn. In fact, our only corn consumption at home was limited to bhutta, which is what we call roasted ears of corn we buy from street vendors who roast them over red hot charcoal. That, and pop corn. 

No... Makkai ki Roti, which are essentially roti's made from makkai (corn/maize) is something I began eating only once I moved to the United States. What with the US being the largest producer of corn in the world and all that, I suppose it was inevitable. But the truth is, I wouldn't really have tried making Makkai ki Roti, if I hadn't first fallen in love with Sarason ka saag! 

So really, thats the recipe I really do want to share with you. 

Sarason ka Saag: 

Ingredients: 

Mustard Greens - 1 bunch

Spinach - 1 comparably sized bunch 

3 cloves of garlic 

A small onion copped fine

A one inch piece of ginger - shredded 

3 green chillies (or more) I've actually used 6 :) 

Lime juice - approx. 3 tbsps 

Cumin - 1 tsp (because I add cumin in almost everything)

How I went about it... 

1. I cleaned the mustard greens and spinach and set them aside. 

2. In a large pot, I added about a tablespoon of oil and added the cumin, ginger, garlic, green chillies, and chopped onion and sauteed them till the onion was translucent. 

3. I then lowered the heat and squeezed some lime juice into the pot before adding the clean leaves in. 

4. I covered and cooked the leaves until they were limp, the lime juice keeps them green. 

5. I blended the whole mixture until it looks the way it does in the picture and added some salt. 

6. I personally love serving it up with slivers of fresh ginger... mmmmm... it really is delicious...! 

 

The nuances of Sarason ka Saag in my opinion come from the texture and the complexity of flavor despite the simplicity of the ingredients that go into it. Unlike spinach puree... the mustard greens add a slightly more fibrous texture to this dish making it a perfect balance between the silky smoothness of blended spinach and the coarseness of mustard greens when eaten alone. Besides, the spinach goes a long way in dulling the bitterness of the mustard! The onion adds some piquancy, the green chillies pack some heat and the lime juice brings them all together... oh so well...! 

Makkai ki Roti: 

1/2 cup of coarse corn mean (the kind we use for polenta)

1 cup of fine corn meal

2 green chillies chopped very fine 

1 tsp of cumin (lightly crushed) 

1 tsp salt 

Mix these ingredients adding only enough water to make a stiff dough. 

These taste best when consumed minutes after they're made. 

Dum ki Lauki

The bottle gourd is high on my list of favorite vegetables.
However, when I tell people how I like to eat it, they usually look at me like I'm a total nutcase.
I like my bottle gourd boiled. No salt. Nothing. Just boil it and give it to me and I will eat it. Whats more I will be grateful and happy.

Now try that with my husband. I guarantee he will have ordered a pizza so fast your head will swim.

And so I conjure up ways to introduce this harmless, almost tasteless gourd into his diet. For you see, the health benefits of it are many.

According to Ayurveda this particular gourd (aka opo squash or calabash) helps to:
1. Alkalize the body
2. Cool our bodies in the summer months
3. Detoxify (high fibre and liver cleanser)
4. Acts as a diuretic

And while I do suppose the best way to get these benefits out of it would be to eat it the way I do, or possibly make juice out of it ... let us for now focus on getting the good stuff into the picky eater.

Dum ki Lauki 

I discovered this recipe in India Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant and modified it to a point where it might seem more appropriate to call it "inspired by" as opposed to "adapted from". The original recipe calls for Garam masala and dry ginger powder (soonth). It also does not include the dry mango powder (amchoor). The proportions of the spices added are different too.

I have used:
1. A 10 inch long bottle gourd cut into bite sized pieces
2. Coriander leaves (Cilantro) - Chopped fine
3. Green Chillies - 2

Spices:
1. Cumin - 1 tbsp
2. Fenugreek Seeds - 6 little grains
3. Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
4. Grated Ginger - 1 tsp
5. Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp 
6. Turmeric - 1 tsp
7. Paprika - 1 tsp
8. Dry mango powder - 1 tsp 

How I went about it:

I took my trusty ol' frying pan (kadai) and added cumin seeds to 1 tbsp of hot oil. Followed this up with the grated ginger and asafoetida.
Fifteen seconds after the ginger and asafoetida, I added the gourd and stirred them around.

Then came the spices.

With everyone in the pot, I covered the whole thing with as tight-fitting a lid I could find and turned the heat on as low as possible. It was ready in about 30 minutes at which point I added the chopped coriander leaves and tossed them around once again. 

Grilled Asparagus with S & P

This is one of the simplest and most delicious things you could do with Asparagus.

The first time I made it was when I was a grad-student doing quick-improv cooking. However, I soon learned that this is in fact one of the most popular ways of serving up asparagus!

All you need is Asparagus, salt, pepper, and oil (Olive oil or Sesame seed oil work best)

How it's done...
1. Adjust your oven rack close to the broiler and turn it on low (LO).
2. Wash and trim the asparagus and arrange them, non-overlapping, on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil.
3. Drizzle oil over the asparagus and hand toss if you'd like (just so long as you re-arrange them to not overlap)
4. Broil for approximately five minutes on low, and then crank up the heat to high (HI) and give it a few minutes.
5. Get it out of the oven, and sprinkle salt and pepper. Grated Parmesan cheese would also be fantastic! 

I eat these straight out of the oven... by itself... But on looking over other recipes, I find that these would taste wonderful on a bed of polenta. It also makes an excellent side-dish.

This is what I am nibbling on... Grilled Asparagus topped with coarse grain salt and freshly ground black pepper.

:)

Classic Bundt Cake

Cleaning out the house had me gone completely mental so I was thrilled at the prospect of a night out with the girls... giggling, overeating, talking about things that mattered and other things that really didn't.

In fact, I was so delighted that I decided to bake a cake for us to have for dessert.

We would all go to Big Star and eat, after which I would invite them home for some bundt cake with sliced strawberries and chocolate sauce. I had imagined much gushing and praise. Not over the cake so much, but more over the herculean task of cleaning out six years of ... well... crap.
A woman would get it. A woman would appreciate me and the sheer perseverance it took... over weeks....
Okay, so I really wanted to be appreciated... but I made the cake out of love... and excitement.... and anticipation.


You can see something coming, can't you?
Well, I didn't!

I pull the cake out of the oven at around 2pm and log into my email to announce dessert - when I realize our girl's night out now includes the most undesirable element of all - BOYS! THREE WHOLE BOYS!
So dismayed!

I slice the cake into smaller bits, because now we have more mouths to feed.
That too boy mouths! The hungriest kind.

My woebegoneness aside, this cake really is delicious. It is almost exactly the same as featured in The Family Baking Book, except I've decreased the amount of sugar and butter.

Rue Rebecca and Cheddar Rolls

Rebecca is part of maintainence staff in our apartment building (well, at least she is for one more day).
More importantly, Rebecca is a wonderful woman.

In a world of increasingly distant and distracted "hellos" and "good mornings", Rebecca was the one person in my life who said it like she meant it. She looks you straight in the eye, and smiles, and says - "Good morning, how are you?" rolling her R's as she does it.

On mornings when I look particularly disheveled as I trudge down to the lobby to bring up the Times, Rebecca asks, "Whats wrong? Are you okay?" I mumble ... "tired" ... "was writing"..."too cold"... "drank too much coffee yesterday, couldn't sleep"... And yet, strangely enough whatever the cause for my exhaustion, once I had told her I felt better. The fact that she cared enough to asked me, made it all better.

For a year now, Rebecca has meant so much to me, and yet my interaction with her was always limited to warm smiles and three word sentences. That is until last week, when I saw someone else where Rebecca ought to be.
I panicked. "Where is Rebecca?" I asked our door staff. "Rebecca is leaving us. This is G.., she is replacing her."

My heart sank, "Oh."
"Well, is she still here? When is her last day?" I asked.

"Next Wednesday, I think"

To cut a long story short, in the interest of getting to the parts that matter, I found Rebecca and asked her home for a cup of coffee before she left.

Anticipating her visit today, I spent yesterday mulling over recipes to find the perfect cake to bake her. Yet, this morning, although I looked forward to her visit... I couldn't bring myself to bake a cake. It felt too sad for cake.
So when she did get here, all I could offer her was almonds, amaretto cookies, and cream crackers. I did however open up a treasured tin of coffee from Cafe Du Monde. This seemed as good an occasion as any.

And for the first time in a year of knowing her, we talked; and with ease, like we have had a hundred conversations before. We talked about our lives, families, and plans for the future.

Simba took a particular liking to her, and attempted climbing on her shoulders to catch a quick nap.  She told me the most wonderful story about her mother's cat Minino, who has found personal body guards in her mothers dogs! The two dogs apparently adore the little kitty to bits. So much, that they don't allow anyone to pet the cat. They bark and pounce if you so much as advance towards their precious keep.

You can't help but love her stories and especially for the way she tells them. The affection and pain evident in her eyes as she recounts the experiences of her life.

Gosh... I'll miss her so much, and its some respite that I did manage to tell her all that - about how much her smile and greetings meant to me, how much I would miss her, how delighted I was that she now had new opportunities to explore new things.

And happy as I am that she's moving on to what I pray will be nicer places and more fulfilling labors, I cannot help but rue the resignation of Rebecca.

After she left, I sat for a minutes and looked at our empty coffee cups. In a way I do understand that her leaving is what made it possible for me to get to know her. Else, we would have lived our lives, feeling our quiet affection towards each other, but never saying more than hello, and asking each other (albeit with genuine concern) "How are you?"

Later, I felt this unexplainable desire to knead something... so I baked these cheddar rolls. Some sort of self-soothing mechanism for me apparently.

Cheddar Rolls: Makes 8

(This recipe has been adapted from here)

Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 2 cups
Instant yeast - 2 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Butter (melted) - 2 tbsp
Cheddar cheese(shredded) - 1/2 cup 
Water (warm) - 1 cup

What to do with it: 
1. Combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar in a bowl and mix with your hands. 
2. Add cheese and mix again. 
3. Add water and butter and knead till the dough comes together. 
4. Turn the dough onto a cold surface (like a marble slab or the kitchen counter) and knead with your hands for about 5 minutes. 
5. Divide them into eight rolls and set them aside to rise. This might take up to one hour.
6. Bake in an over preheated to 375 degrees F for about 20-25 minutes.

Moru kootan

You will need: 

White pumpkin - sliced, bite sized pieces- approximately 2 cups 

Grated fresh coconut - 1/4 cup  

Curd - 1 cup or Yogurt diluted with water 1:1 

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies (Serrano/Thai) - 4 (discard seeds if you don't want it hot) 

Dry Red Chillies - 2 

Black mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Cumin - 1 tsp. 

Fenugreek seeds - 4 (itty bitty sized seeds)

Coconut oil.  

Salt. 

Begin: 

Place the pumpkin in a sauce pan and adding water 

to just about submerge all the pieces. 

Add the turmeric and bring to a boil. 

Continue to cook till the pumpkin is tender. 

Once its cooked, add salt. 

Curry paste: 

Add coconut, cumin, green chillies, and curry leaves 

(after setting aside 3 - 4 leaves for the tadka) 

into your food processor and process till all 

ingredients are well blended. Add a little curd 

or diluted yogurt to the processor to speed 

things up if necessary, especially if the mix is too dry. 

The finale: 

Once the pumpkin is cooked, add the curry paste 

and curd/yogurt to the sauce pan and bring it to a 

boil. Once it does, turn off the heat.  

Add the tadka of mustard, curry leaves, fenugreek 

seeds, and dry red chillies spluttered in coconut oil, 

preferably. 

That's it! 

Peach Porridge Hot

Peach Porridge Hot
(tastes as good as)
Peach Porridge Cold.
Peach Porridge in the Pot, Nine Days Old
(is something I wouldn't recommend.)
Some like it Hot.
Some like it Cold.
Some like it in the Pot, Nine Days Old
(Can't imagine why!)

This rhyme has been adopted, almost verbatim (shameless!) from the original version I learned as a child. I do these things sometimes. I mean no harm and take no credit.

I do take credit for the recipe however!

Peach Porridge Hot:
1 cup oatmeal (I've used rolled oats cooked in water)
1 cup peeled, sliced peaches (I've used tinned peaches)

Cook the oatmeal.
Add sliced peaches.
Stir in a tablespoon or two of cream.
Sweeten with honey or brown sugar.
This one here is brown sugar.


Peach Porridge also tastes delicious cold. On a hot day, you can refrigerate this and eat it like cold pudding. The only alternation the recipe I would suggest is to sweeten the oatmeal whilst cooking it.

Of rain and cups of hot tea

Today dawned wet and cold. When I sat up in bed, I realized the cat was not in his usual spot on the comforter. I moved to look around the bed when I felt something soft against my calves. The something soft was purring.

You see what I mean? Today morning was wet and cold. The kind of morning that makes a cat burrow under a down-comforter instead of lying on top of it. But we were up, there was no going back to bed now. The cat was arching his back and starting his series of post-nap stretches.

For a little while after we had woken up, we sat and watched the rain. I sipped my coffee and the cat ate his breakfast, which was followed by his ritualistic face-washing session.

Having grown up in Bombay (now Mumbai) I have always loved the rain. Cold though it may be, I love these wet Chicago days, so reminiscent of the full-blown monsoon back home. Through a reaction almost as instinctive and ritualistic as the cat's post-meal face-washing, I find myself trying to recreate memories that seem almost inextricably entwined with the rains. Memories of home. Like, walking in the rain on Marine Drive with my dearest friends, eating piping hot bhajjias and fire-roasted ears of corn from street vendors, drinking hot coffee at Churchgate station before boarding the train back home, on which we would all promptly fall asleep cold and wet, yet giddily happy.

Monsoon always conquers the city of Mumbai. The rain drops don't just wash the city, they scrub it clean. Their sound, as they lash onto our streets and buildings, mute the noise of the loudest engines. Construction work stops, cars move slower, and strangers stand together under awnings, staring at the rain with mixed feelings of relief and resentment. Relief for the respite from the heat, and resentment for breaking the rhythm of their stride. There are others too, who carry on unfettered. With umbrellas and improvisations (like newspapers?!) to shield them from the rain.
Yes, the monsoon always conquers the city of Mumbai.
Forcing her to slow down. Take a break. Flush her lungs.

And through this all, the entire city seems united in the belief that there could be no greater joy than a piping hot cup of chai or coffee.

So here goes - a recipe for authentic Indian Chai masala (Chai-Spice) 

1 tbsp Green Cardamom (crush them to remove the seeds inside the pod)
1 tbsp Ground Ginger Powder 
1 tsp Black Pepper Corns
1 tsp All Spice (whole)
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
1 tsp Cloves


Grind these spices together in a spice mill/ coffee grinder to a fine powder and store in an airtight container for up to six months. You could even store it in the refriderator or freezer, just so long as you take as much as you need from the airtight container with a dry spoon and return it to the fridge promptly.

You only need a pinch for each cup of tea, so this prepared mix should last a while.

Paneer

Paneer is curd cheese. Very popular in India, especially amongst vegetarians for its high protein content.
It's fat levels are pretty high too... after all, it is Cheese we're talking about here!
One of life's greatest indulgences, to be enjoyed in moderation. (Although my definition of moderation depends on how good the cheese is, if you get my meaning)

Making Paneer at home is easy as pie.
You can do it while reading a good book.
Not a fascinatingly good book of course.
Definitely not the kind of book that would make you oblivious to your hair being on fire.
We are talking about boiling milk here, a task if entered into lightly and without enough attention will warrant lots of unpleasant mopping.
Not to forget all the crying... over spilled milk.

Alright, I'll stop... but hear me out on the science of Paneer cheese making before you get started.

The Brief Chemistry of Paneer

 

When you get down to brass-tacks, cheese is nothing but milk fats and milk protein.

The process of cheese-making involves coagulating (or curdling) milk to separate the curds from the whey, a process which requires the presence of an acid. The source and introduction of the acid is one of the many factors which determines which cheese we make. After all, milk is milk. Sure, it could come from different animals, and there would be a variation in their specific taste. But the milk of a single cow, can yield a diverse variety of cheese. Each one distinctly different tasting from the next.

I love milk, but I revere cheese.

Cheese is an art. Cheese is a delicacy we dedicate stores to, put on marble pedestals and celebrate. Well, some of us do anyway.

Getting back to the point, of all the wondrous ways to make cheese in the world, Paneer is made by Heat-Acid Precipitation. 

So we start with adding heat. When the proteins in milk are heated, especially whey protein, it gets denatured. Which means it’s complex protein structure, sort of unfolds itself leaving it exposed to anything that might be in its environment. This is when we add the acid (in my case the acidic yogurt) which causes the milk to curdle, or rather causes the whey proteins to coagulate. An added advantage of making Paneer is that this process of heat-acid precipitation, causes the casein protein to filter out with the whey. Casein is a large component of cow’s milk which means the cheese yield is greater than in cheese made by other methods. More importantly, casein is rich in essential amino acids, calcium, and phosphorus.

Here is my primary reference.

Alright then, let's roll up our sleeves. This is how we do it.

Take about half a gallon of WHOLE milk and a cup of fresh yogurt.
Okay fine!!! If you don't have fresh yogurt use the juice of half a lemon or lime or even 2 tbps of white vinegar.

I have fresh yogurt, so that's how I'm going to do it.

Oh yeah, about the can being shy of half a gallon, I think the husband, being unaware that this milk was destined for greater things used it for a cup of coffee or two.




Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan...

Add yogurt...

Let the whole merry mixture toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble...

... you will notice the curd separate from the whey.

When the whey turns clearer, turn off the heat and let it stay for about a minute. 

There is no great purpose for doing this, except that it's really very hot. 

You could use these minutes to set up a cheesecloth in a strainer. Make some arrangement for collecting the whey too. It too has great potential, let's not let it drain away. 

Strain and hang over sink. Let gravity work the whey out of it's system and help the Paneer really come together.

In case you're wondering... that's a small ball of Paneer hanging from a hook hung on the cabinet above my kitchen sink. 

And what do our labors yield...

About that much... of deliciousness. 

Why is it yellow? I added half a tsp of turmeric right after adding the yogurt to the milk. 

You don't have to do this... I just like my paneer yellow. 

Wrap in cling-foil and refrigerate till you're ready to use it. If it's going to be longer than 4 days - refrigerate it for a day, slice it into bite sized pieces, then freeze it. 

Date Cake

I like being by myself.

It could be a habit I developed early, with being an only child to working parents. 
I always came home to animals. Cats mostly.

Truth be told, I feel most closest to being my self, when I'm at home with no one but my cat for company. That doesn't mean I'm averse to company. Quite the contrary really, both me and the cat love guests. We love the laughter that comes with them, and the smells. We love breaking bread with them and listening to their tales. Oh, we love guests! But we also love just being by ourselves.

When the husband goes away on work, which happens ever week, the cat and I have a routine.
It usually starts with picking up after the excitement of the weekend. The clutter of all the activities we undertook and abandoned.
Afterward, the cat naps and I watch an episode of Murder, She Wrote.

This past month however, the husband was around a lot. The cat got used to having him around. I got used to having him around.

So when Susheel left for the week on Monday morning, Simba and I looked at each other... unsettled.
We had our territory back to us. We could reclaim our silence.
We tried to get back into routine and we failed.
Simba slept on the ironing board while I sat on the couch with freshly washed, unfolded laundry piled in a basket next to me.

Simba's ears twitched. I was decidedly out-of-sorts. So I did the one thing I've learned to do in an emotional crisis... bake.

The clanging of pots woke Simba and he came to investigate.  For someone who doesn't care for cake, he loves to be around when I bake.

I shifted bottles in the kitchen cupboards and found nine dates in their little #6 plastic box.

"Date Cake"... It was decided.

I considered what would pair well with dates and decided on walnuts. Also, cardamom! 

Dry Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 tsp each of baking powder and baking soda, the powdered contents of 6 cardamom pods. Sift, mix and set aside.

Wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1/2 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of apple sauce (because it had been sitting on the pantry shelf since before the dates), 1/2 cup of oil.

Blend till well combined: 

Add flour in installments and mix well. Once well combined, add a cup full of chopped dates and walnuts.

Spoon into prepared muffin pan... or new mini bundt cake pan you were dying to debut!
I didn't ration them out right, but you can be more prudent.

Bake in a 350 degree Fahrenheit over for approximately 25 mins.

The house is filled with lovely smells and warmth... Simba's decided to sleep on the couch again and I'm going to make me some tea to go with these cakes. Then, my napping cat and I can help J B Fletcher solve her next case.

We've saved some for you Susheel.
We're happy, but we still miss you.

Kasha with Root Vegetables

The first time I had Kasha was at Polina's house less than a year ago.
I had dropped in around lunchtime and she thrust a bowl into my hand filled with something that looked like barley mixed with vegetables to me.
Now see... I'm a good guest, and besides it was my darling Polina who had given it to me... so I ate.

I ate, and I was in love. Here was a meal-in-a-bowl, which tasted so simple and left me feeling so content.
"What is this??" I asked Polina.
"It's kasha," she said, "you know Kasha? Buckwheat? Anisha, do you like it? Do you want more?"

I had read about buckwheat on vegan recipe websites... I think I'd also seen it in a bulk foods bin at Whole Foods... but I had no idea that Buckwheat and I were meant to be.

Since then Kasha is a weekly staple, especially when the husband is traveling. It also sneaks into several other foods... but those are other recipes for other days.

Here is what we ate today: Kasha with Root Vegetables!

This is very easy to make. The only thing is, you will need three seperate pots to make this.
One to cook the buckwheat.
One to stir-fry the onion, garlic, and bell pepper.
One to cook the vegetables in.
If you figure a way to save on the dishes... kudos to you! Tell me about it... I have a small sink and would love to know.

You will need: Assorted root veggies... I've used a turnip, a sweet potato (garnet yam), a beet, sliced carrots, and an onion. Slice these veggies into bite sized pieces and set aside.
Also, a few cloves of garlic and a bell pepper (because it's imperative we eat something green everyday!)
Seasoning: Cayenne pepper and Salt. Another good option is freshly ground black pepper. 

\

Oh and you will also need a can of diced tomatoes in tomato juice. Alternatively, you can use fresh tomatoes.

Steps:

Buckwheat:

1. Wash the buckwheat in a few changes of water.
2. Add double the amount of water to buckwheat (1 cup of buckwheat: 2 cups of water) and bring to boil in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Stir occasionally.
3. When cooked, the grains will have doubled in quantity.
4. Check if fully cooked by tasting... if its soft and chewy, its ready! Takes about 10 minutes on medium heat.

Veggies:

In a wok/ frying pan:
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a wok and saute sliced garlic and chopped onions till they are slightly browned.
Add the green pepper and stir fry for 2 minutes.




In a sauce pan:

Using very little water cook the veggies in the following order - carrots and beets, turnip, sweet potato.
This is simply because the carrots and beets take longest to cook... then the turnip, and the fastest is the sweet potato.

The last step:

Mix everything up... the cooked buckwheat, the onion-pepper stir fry, the cooked root vegetables, and finally... the can of tomatoes. Do this in the biggest of the three pots.

Bring it all to one final boil and add cayanne pepper and salt to taste.

If you're still easing into healthy food, or you have a husband who looks mildly distraught at the absolute lack of fat in this delicacy, add some light cheese to the top. This one here is Munster.

Spaghetti with Asparagus & Shiitake

Today America saved daylight.
And while all mechanical clocks willingly jumped an hour forward, my body clock was left behind....

I lingered in bed feeling very '7:00 AM' while it really was eight o'clock. For me, the start of Daylight Savings Time is almost always accompanied with a sense of urgency; and no matter how many times I've lived through it, I still feel like someone robbed me of an hour of my life.

I skipped breakfast in hopes of eating lunch at noon (as indicated by the long and short arm of the reset mechanical clock and not the now untimely cries of my hungry belly). The emotional distress of the stolen hour also called for special food with enhanced comforting properties.

To be perfectly honest, I did not plan this dish. I find that when I have pasta on hand, dishes seem to make themselves.

Ingredients: Shallots (or red onions), sliced Shiitake mushrooms, Asparagus spears trimmed and cut into inch long pieces, Spaghetti (although penne would work too), grated Parmesan, red pepper flakes, garlic.

Steps:
1. Boil water for pasta. When water boils, add pasta and cook al dente.
2. Pour a tbsp of olive oil in a warm skillet and cook shallots till translucent. Add Asparagus and stir for approx 4 mins. Set aside
3. Cook mushrooms in a separate skillet.
4. Mix cooked pasta with shallots-asparagus, mushrooms, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.
5.Add Parmesan cheese just before serving.

If you absolutely have to have meat, then you can stir-fry a sliced sausage and add it into the mix.
Like I did for the carnivore husband.

 For the Vegetarian

For the Non-Vegetarian:

America saved daylight today.

Lunch was at noon. 


As usual.






*