Crazy ranting | Cheribundi™! | Lentil-spinach soup | Test recipe

I’ve never felt particularly comfortable suggesting to others what they should eat. I’m strong in my opinions about what I eat, and what I believe constitutes a healthy and cruelty-free diet, but so is everyone else. If someone asks for my opinion or guidance, I’m there, but I don’t like trying to convert others to my way of thinking. Everyone has a different opinion about what foods make for a “healthy” diet. Some think a healthy diet consists of raw foods, and some think all food should be cooked. Some think a diet should contains lots of meat and dairy, and some abstain from all animal products. Some think fat and sugar in “moderation” is fine and others try to eliminate as much fat and sugar as possible. Some eat only white flour, some only whole wheat flour, and some eat no flour at all. I know people who think their SAD diet filled with Twinkies and burgers is healthy, and others who think brown rice and veggies is all that’s necessary for good health. Some believe no animals should be eaten, and some think animals exist for our gustatory pleasure. One big thing all these different eaters have in common is, based on what they are used to eating, they all have an opinion on what tastes good. Our taste buds are trained by what we eat. If you eat a lot of salt, less salty food tastes bland. Eat lots of sugar, and unsweetened foods taste boring. Eat lots of butter ... you get the picture.

I recently read a review that suggested vegan baked goods are all pretty much inferior to baked goods made with dairy. Maybe for someone used to traditional baked-goods, that’s true. (And, in fact, I often adjust my cooking if I am preparing food for people used to a meat-and-dairy-based diet.) But the point I want to make is, when you change your diet, your preferences tend to change, too. The thing is, I don’t really care if my chocolate chip cookie tastes like it’s made with a pound of butter. I don’t want it to taste that way because it won’t taste good to me; it will taste greasy. If food is too salty or sweet, I find it unpleasant to eat. My tastes have changed as a result of changing my diet, and I’m not trying to replicate animal tastes or flavors from the past; I’m not trying to make my bean burger taste like a cow. High-fat, high-salt food doesn’t really give me comfort, and I sometimes find myself less appreciative than others of restaurants or cookbooks that specialize in vegan comfort food. I love great-tasting food, but my idea of what tastes good doesn’t depend on replicating the flavors of a meat-and-dairy-based diet. When I first became a vegetarian, these kinds of foods were considered transitional — foods to bridge the gap between an animal-based and plant-based diet, or foods to serve omni friends. Lately, it’s starting to feel like these foods are a kind of new vegan diet — one that is the same as an omnivorous diet, only cruelty-free. The race is on to create new vegan cheeses and meat analogs that more closely replicate animal foods, often with long and scary ingredient lists.

The more people who find their way from a meat-based diet to a plant-based diet, the better, and if this is the root of the current emphasis on comfort foods, then I’m all in favor. I just hope we’re not losing sight of the connection between diet and health, the pleasure of eating simple foods, and learning to taste and appreciate the real flavors of the foods we eat.

Speaking of simple foods, my husband had oral surgery this week, and needed to eat soft foods for a few days. I made a simple lentil and rice soup that was both easy and delicious. (This soup would be even better if the cumin seeds were whole and toasted, but my husband couldn't have seeds.) If you use brown rice, it will need to cook about 15 minutes longer. The soup has no added fat.



Soft and simple lentil and rice soup with spinach

• 1 cup dried red lentils, washed and drained
• 1 cup short grain white rice, washed and drained
• 8 cups water
• 1 cup tomato purée
• 2 cups vegetable broth (low sodium)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• 2 cups (approx.) frozen spinach
  
• juice of 1 lemon

Place everything but the lemon juice, salt and spinach in a 5 quart soup pot. Bring to a boil then turn down heat to simmer. Simmer covered for 25-30 minutes until rice is tender and lentils are cooked. Add spinach, salt and lemon juice, and heat gently until spinach is defrosted and cooked. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Add more broth if soup is too thick.

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Cheribundi™!
When the makers of Cheribundi™ cherry juice asked if I'd be interested in sampling their juice, of course I said yes. I love tart cherries, and each eight-ounce bottle of Tru Cherry™ contains 50 cherries — two servings of fruit. The Cheribundi™ Web site says: "Our proprietary juicing process, which was developed with Cornell University, bottles all of the good nutrients of tart cherries rather than boil them away. The phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals in cheribundi™ will keep you feeling great and living life to the fullest." The cherry juice is not from concentrate.



The juice comes in three flavors, one of which contains whey. I received the two without whey, Tru Cherry™ which is lightly sweetened with apple juice concentrate, and Skinny Cherry™ which is sweetened with stevia, and is lower in calories. I sampled the Tru Cherry™ for breakfast this morning, and it tastes just like cherries! It really does. It's perfectly, deliciously tart. I can't wait to try the second flavor.

Full disclosure: This product was sent to me as a free sample with no requirement that I blog about it or make positive statements about it. All statements in this post are my honest opinion.

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Recipe testing



I tested a recipe for Clem Chowdah for the amazingly creative and productive team of Celene Steen and Joni Marie Newman. Yum!

Katrina Kaif in Rajneeti

Standing tall at 5’8”, a lovely peaches n cream complexion, and an hour-glass figure, the beautiful and elegant Katrina Kaif stands apart and is not one to go unnoticed. Not surprisingly the modeling world rolled down the red carpet for her, movie offers are pouring in, and she is linked with one of the hottest and most controversial Khans of Bollywood.

Roots
Katrina Kaif, a name now familiar to Indian movie-goers, was born on 16 July 1984 in Hong Kong. Her parents are both British citizens, while her father is a Kashmiri who later acquired British citizenship. She lived in Hawaii before moving to UK and is now setting up a hoame and career in India.

Katrina has been Salman Khan’s long term girlfriend. Despite several speculations about the couple’s break-up, all seems well.

On the Runway
Kaif’s first taste of modeling happened in Hawaii when she was 14 and was part of a jewelry campaign. Thereafter, she continued modeling in London. In India, there was no dearth of offers and she appeared in ads for Veet, Lakme, LG, Samsung to name a few. She was also the face of Lakme India Fashion Week 2005. She took the number one spot in FHM India's 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll and also won the Best Female Style Icon at the IIFA Awards.

Katrina was chosen to represent Barbie in India.

On to the Big Screen
Kaif, while in London, was spotted by Kaizad Gustad and was cast in his 2003 release Boom, which sank without a trace. Movie offers initially trickled in owing largely to her unfamiliarity with Indian languages. The very next year, in 2004, she played the part of Princess Malliswari in the Telugu movie Malliswari. She had another Telugu film, Allari Pidugu in 2005, along with two Hindi movies, Ram Gopal Verma’s Sarkar and as one of Salman Khan’s love interests in David Dhawan’s Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. Both movies did well at the box office. She won the Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award for Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. She co-starred with Akshay Kumar in Humko Deewana Kar Gaya, in 2006. Besides this she was a part of a Malayalam movie Balram Vs Taradas.

Five releases marked 2007. Her movie Namaste London with Akshay Kumar, was one of the year’s top hits, for which she did her own dubbing. The other three movies were Apne with the Deols, David Dhawan’s Partner with Salman Khan and Govinda and Welcome, all of which performed well at the box office. She also put in a special appearance in Nanhe Jaisalmer.

In 2008, we caught her in two blockbusters-the racy Race and Singh Is Kinng. She walked away with the British-Indian Actor Award at the Zee Cine Awards (2008). She played a small part in Hello, based on Chetan Bhagat’s One Night At A Call Center. Yuvvraj with Salman Khan didn’t do well.

She continued to amp up her skills in 2009. Her performances in both New York and Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani were praised. She had a small role in Blue. She was seen with Akshay Kumar in De Dana Dan. The movie saw a decent run in the theaters.

What’s Cooking?
Kaif over the past five years has shown that she is more than simply ravishing. The industry which was tentative about casting her, now considers her a lucky mascot and she is now the industry’s darling.

In 2010, she will be seen as a politician in Prakash Jha’Rajneeti

Katrina Kaif Wallpaper

On screen appearances

Continuing to model was the reason she got her break in a Bollywood movie "Boom" offered by none other than film-maker Kaizad Gustad.

She was flooded with modeling assignments the minute she set her foot on Indian soil, especially with her innocent expressive face, hour-glass figure, and drop-dead gorgeous looks.

Professionally she started off as a model with photographer Atul Kasbekar, and upon being accepted, she received offers from LG, Cola, Fevicol, Lakme, & Veet. It was the Lakme commercial that got her noticed. She retained Matrix as her Manager to accept work on her behalf and at the price she deserved.

Moving to different culture and country was not much of a culture shock for her, as she states that no matter where you come from, the bottom line is that everyone wants to be loved, respected, and cared for.

Unlike other artistes from foreign lands, Katrina did not experience any difficulties in getting a visa nor of getting it extended in India.

Although linguistically challenged, Katrina puts on a bold face and states that other Bollywood artistes like Sridevi, who did not know Hindi, did get offers from Bollywood film-makers, and she is no different. She is taking Hindi and dancing lessons to fit in with the Bollywood culture. She likes to display a picture of her learning Kathak dancing where she used to dance 7 hours a day non-stop.

Despite of her soft gorgeous looks, she is not easily intimidated, but admits that she is very emotional, almost an incurable romantic, wears comfortable non-revealing clothes when at home, hates to do her hair, and above all dislikes make-up. Admitting to being lonely in the beginning, but now has several nice friends who she can hang out with.

Although her first movie "Boom" was panned by the critics and shunned by the audiences, two other Telegu movies "Malliswari" and "Pidugu" did get her noticed. She grossed Rs.70 lakhs for Malliswari - making her top the list of the highest paid actresses during a South Indian movie debut.

Not done with South Indian movies, she has been signed in a Tamil movie "Bheema" opposite National Award Winner Vikram.

She has received decent reviews for her part in "Maine Pyar Kyon Kiya", as well as a brief appearance in "Sarrkar".

Katrina has now made Bombay her base, and doesn't mind singing and dancing around trees while she's at it, and is determined to make it big in Bollywood। IMDb Mini Biography By: rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

katrina kaif pictures

Trivia

Is half British and half Indian.

Indian supermodel

Has 8 sisters.

Was born in Hong Kong and then moved to Hawaii till she was about 14, then she moved to London. Presently, she lives in Mumbai.

Unlike other artistes from foreign lands, Katrina did not experience any difficulties in getting a visa nor of getting it extended in India.

She was discovered at age 14 as a model for a jewelry campaign.

When moving to India, she worked for photographer Atul Kasbekar and did commercials for Fevicol, Lakme and Veet among others.

She is very particular about her clothes which she wears a bold outfit on screen or for ads, but she feels more comfortable in not-so-revealing clothes in personal life. And the one thing she hates is make up.

She refuses to speak about her personal life in the media.

Besides walking the ramp for several top designers and being on magazine covers, Katrina has also been the stunning face of Estelle jewelery, Lakme, Pantene, Veet, Kodak cameras, L'Oreal, Samsung, LG etc.

She doesn't do ramp shows anymore.

She was chosen as the face of the year for the Lakme India Fashion Week (2005).

Her favorite Indian designers are Rina Dhaka, Tarun Tahiliani, Rocky S.

Her favorite international designers are Armani, Versace, Miu Miu.

Personal Quotes

"It's not my style to either wear minimum clothes, to strip or to even be comfortable with a sex-symbol label. I just want to do good work instead of sporting such meaningless tags. Sex sells, but to a small extent, not always. And this is what filmmakers have to accept. The exposure has to be relevant to the film and its characters and not forced for the sake of titillation. On the contrary, some of the greatest Indian films have been devoid of all these sexual trappings. I know my comfort zone in today's Indian culture and society."

Her thoughts on Bollywood accepting her, being an outsider British girl, into Indian cinema: "I have no complaints. I think I'm especially lucky. As you said, I've come from outside and I'm not even anywhere closely connected. But I have absolutely no problem here. People have been more than welcoming, even before I was ready. There was a time when I felt that I need to take time to understand more about the industry, the workings of it. I was doing my modeling, which I really wanted to do at the time. So that's why even my entry into films was later than people expected." (Stardust magazine, July 2006)

"I've been very blessed, I think, or what do you call it... mmm... lucky to get at this stage what I have। It's not like I've come from acting school and done work at an academy or something. I feel I've been given a very huge chance and opportunity." (Stardust magazine, July 2006)

Katrina Kaif

Born Katrina Turquotte
16 July 1984 (1984-07-16) (age 25)
Hong Kong
Occupation Model, Actress
Years active 2003 – present

Early life

Kaif was born in Hong Kong[2] to a Muslim Kashmiri father,[3] Mohammed Kaif, and a British mother, Suzzane Turquotte.[4]. Her parents separated when Kaif was very young. Kaif has seven siblings. She was raised in Hawaii, United States and later moved to her mother's home country, England.

At the age of fourteen she was approached by an agent and she began modeling; her first job was for a jewelry campaign. She continued modeling in London, under a contract with the Models 1 Agency and did campaigns for houses, such as La Senza and Arcadius and even walked on the London Fashion Week.[2]

Kaif's London modeling-work led her to discover by London-based filmmaker Kaizad Gustad, who gave her a part in his film Boom (2003). She moved to Mumbai and was offered a number of modeling assignments. However, filmmakers were initially hesitant to sign her because she could not speak Hindi.[5]

Kaif saw success with the 2005 film Sarkar where she played the bit part of Abhishek Bachchan's girlfriend. Her next release, Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya (2005), where she was paired opposite Salman Khan, earned her the Stardust Breakthrough Performance Award.

In 2007, Kaif appeared in the hit movie Namastey London, wherein she starred as a British-Indian girl alongside Akshay Kumar for the second time after the box office dud Humko Deewana Kar Gaye (2006). Her hit films stride continued with Apne, Partner and Welcome.[6]

In 2008, she played a negative role for the first time in Abbas-Mustan's hit action thriller Race. She played the role of Saif Ali Khan's secretary who is secretly in love with his hostile stepbrother played by Akshay Khanna. Kaif's second release of the year was Anees Bazmee's production Singh Is Kinng, opposite Akshay Kumar. Upon release the film was a big success at the box office. Kaif's final release of the year, Subhash Ghai's Yuvvraaj, was a commercial failure[7], but its script has made its way into the Library of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for artistic merits, original screenplay with a substance and the film as a whole.[8][9]

Kaif's first release for 2009, New York, with John Abraham was a critical and commercial success.[10] Kaif's performance was highly appreciated with the critic Taran Adarsh writing, "Katrina gives you the biggest surprise. Known for her glamour roles, Katrina proves that she can deliver if the director and writer offer her a role of substance. She's outstanding. In fact, people will see a new, different Katrina this time."[11] She next appeared in a bit role as a biker chick in the multi starrer action film Blue, popularly known as India's first underwater thriller,[12] performed averagely at the box office.[13] At the year's end, she appeared in Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani with Ranbir Kapoor and De Dana Dan with Akshay Kumar. Both films were commercial successes.

In the year 2010, she is set to appear in the multi starrer film Raajneeti that opens on 4 June 2010.[14] She is currently filming for Farah Khan's Tees Maar Khan along with Akshay Kumar, which is set to release on 24 December 2010.[15]

Wrapped and ready | Family dinner | Getting testy

Cinnamon rolls wrapped and ready to go to the sale.

This past weekend I participated in another world-wide vegan bakesale — held at Sidecar vegan store in Seattle. The bakesale raised funds for Pig's Peace Sanctuary, a non-profit organization that provides a safe home for unwanted, abused or neglected animals in need. I'm merely a contributor to the sales but the hard work of organizing and running them is done by Bethany, who writes the blog, Spotted Devil Cat and his Vegan Assistant. For this sale I made nearly three dozen vegan cinnamon rolls. Making them wasn't nearly as hard as packaging them, since each item needs to be individually wrapped. I tried to make the packaging attractive by adding a ribbon and ingredient list but it takes so much time, and also I feel guilty about the packaging. I used the last of my roll of cellophane, and then moved on to plastic sandwich bags, ugh.

To make the rolls I used the recipe for Outrageously Easy Big Bread with a few small changes. The ingredients and recipe are all over the Web so I think it's OK to list the ingredients here. The filling was my recipe, but it's so simple it doesn't feel right to claim it.


Baked and smiling sweetly (but not too sweetly.

Dough

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 cups hot water
• 1/4 cup evaporated cane juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt plus 1 teaspoon Indian black salt (or just use sea salt)
• 4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/4 cup canola oil or corn oil
  

Filling

• 1 cup evaporated cane juice
• 1 cup finely ground almonds (or almond flour)
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Follow the directions in this recipe link for mixing the dough.

1. Let the dough rise for 2 hours, covered with a damp towel, then punch down. Divide the dough in half.
   
2. Roll one half to an approximately 11 x 17 rectangle. (I rolled mine on a floured piece of parchment paper.)
3. Mix the filling ingredients together and spread half the filling on the dough, leaving 1/2 inch uncovered at each long end.
4. Roll up into a long log, pinching the last edge to seal.
5. Cut into 3/4 inch slices with a serrated knife, and place on parchment paper in a large baking pan to rise, covered with damp towel. (Leave at least 1 inch between rolls.)
6. Repeat with second half of dough.
   
7. When doubled in size, bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350˚F oven.
8. Remove to a wire rack to cool. (Frost or glaze if desired. I like them plain.)

update: The sale raised $1,240 on Sat, $530 on Sun, for a total of $1,170!!!

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Dinner for eight



We had a family dinner Sunday night with one of the families contributing a delicious tomato- pesto pasta, my husband making a green salad, and me making roasted cauliflower and white bean salad, kalonji and sunflower seed bread, and rice pudding. The salad came from Herbivoracious, a Seattle-based vegetarian blog that has many interesting vegan recipes. I enjoyed the salad very much, and found it easy to make. (I doubled the recipe.) I didn't have the orange-scented olive oil in the recipe but used TJ's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar which was recommended as a substitute, and it worked well. And I used basil and olives.

tip: Instead of mincing the garlic, I grated it on my microplane zester. I don't like chomping down on pieces of garlic, and the zester puréed the garlic so it mixed easily into the dressing. I was careful not to get my fingers too close to the grating surface but was still able to grate all but the very end of the garlic cloves.



The bread was based on the same recipe as the cinnamon rolls (above) but with a slightly different ingredient list. This bread requires no kneading and is incredibly easy to make. Tastes great, too! It makes two loaves.

• 1 tablespoon dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 cups hot water
• 3 tablespoons evaporated cane juice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt plus 1 teaspoon Indian black salt (or just use sea salt)
• 4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 cups unbleached flour
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 to 4 tablespoons lightly toasted kalonji
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
  

The kalonji seeds added an exotic flavor to the fragrant, soft bread, and the sunflower seeds contributed to the rich texture and taste. (see above for a link to directions.)

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Testing 1, 2, 3 ...



Our dessert was (a lowered sugar and fat version of) Frangipane Rice Pudding, a tester recipe for Celene Steen and Joni Marie Newman's newest cookbook-in-progress. It's been ages since I've had rice pudding, and this easy version was a treat. Of course there was also an assortment of baked goods from the world-wide vegan bakesale but I forgot to take a picture.

Am I poisoned? | Cute vegan shoes

I mentioned recently that I'd picked up a Borner V-Slicer mandoline at Goodwill for $2.99 to add to my growing collection of thrifted kitchenware, and used it to cut carrots for sushi. I actually enjoy cutting vegetables by hand, so I cut the rest of the sushi veggies with my santoku, putting the V- Slicer away for another day. That day arrived sooner than I thought it would, with a terrible urge to cut potatoes into shoestrings and fry them in a pan.

We always seem to buy potatoes and forget about them, so when I went for the bag, the poor taters were covered with big sprouting eyes. So are these things poisonous or not, and are the potatoes safe to eat if you cut off the sprouts? What about green spots? After much research, I found advice ranging from, "not poisonous at all" to "discard potatoes that are turning green or sprouting." Even Rachel Ray weighed in on the subject with a video assuring everyone that poisonous potato eyes and green spots are an urban legend. After reading everything I could find, I've come to the conclusion that neither sprouting potato eyes or green-tinged potatoes are good to eat. The green color, while not in itself toxic, is an indicator that the potato has increased its production of solanine and should be discarded. Special care should be taken if children will be eating the potatoes as they are more susceptible to toxins.



Wikipedia said this:

Potatoes contain toxic compounds known as glycoalkaloids, of which the most prevalent are solanine and chaconine. Solanine is also found in other plants in the family solanaceae, which includes such plants as the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna), henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and tobacco (Nicotiana) as well as the potato, eggplant and tomato. This poison affects the nervous system causing weakness and confusion.

These compounds, which protect the plant from its predators, are generally concentrated in its leaves, stems, sprouts, and fruits. Exposure to light, physical damage, and age increase glycoalkaloid content within the tuber; the highest concentrations occur just underneath the skin. Cooking at high temperatures (over 170 °C or 340 °F) partly destroys these.

Glycoalkaloids may cause headaches, diarrhea, cramps and in severe cases coma and death; however, poisoning from potatoes occurs very rarely. Light exposure causes greening from chlorophyll synthesis, thus giving a visual clue as to areas of the tuber that may have become more toxic; however, this does not provide a definitive guide, as greening and glycoalkaloid accumulation can occur independently of each other. The U.S. National Toxicology Program suggests that the average American consumes at most 12.5 mg/day of solanine from potatoes (the toxic dose is actually several times this, depending on body weight). Dr. Douglas L. Holt, the State Extension Specialist for Food Safety at the University of Missouri, notes that no reported cases of potato-source solanine poisoning have occurred in the U.S. in the last 50 years, and most cases involved eating green potatoes or drinking potato-leaf tea.

I also found this:

Many plants contain small amounts of naturally occurring toxic chemicals. For example, two commonly eaten foods, the potato and the tomato, come from the nightshade family. The nightshade family is known to contain toxic compounds called alkaloids. The alkaloid in the potato is solanine. In the United States, healthy potatoes contain 1 to 5 milligrams of solanine per small potato. Under current FDA regulations, 20 milligrams of solanine per 100 grams (a small potato) can render it unfit to eat. Solanine is produced as the potato gets old or is exposed to light. So consumers should avoid potatoes that are old, sunburned (green under the skin) or spongy. Under these conditions, the solanine levels can increase sevenfold or more. Do not eat the potato eyes because they contain a high concentration of solanine. Toxic amounts of solanine can seriously affect the nervous system and have caused death. Source: Angela Fraser, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Food Safety Specialist, North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, North Carolina State University.

And I found similar advice on Snopes, my favorite myth-buster site, to discard potatoes with green eyes, sprouts or greenish skin.



But on Chow.com, an article by Roxanne Webber states what I always believed, that if you cut off the offending onion sprout or green part, you can eat the rest of the potato.

Potato sprouts are considered toxic due to their potentially high concentration of glycoalkaloids, says Dr. Nora Olsen, an associate extension professor and potato specialist at the University of Idaho.

“Potato alkaloids exert their toxic effects on the nervous system by interfering with the body’s ability to regulate acetylcholine, a chemical responsible for conducting nerve impulses,” notes UC Davis vegetable specialist Marita Cantwell in the Perishables Handling Newsletter, Issue No. 87. She explains that the main types of glycoalkaloids found in potato sprouts are a-solanine and a-chaconine. “[S]ymptoms of solanine toxicity include headache, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea,” she writes. Cooking is not believed to reduce levels of the compounds, but you can cut the sprouts off and still safely eat the potato.

It matters whether the potatoes were stored in the light. “Sprouts exposed to light can have two to four times more glycoalkaloids than nonexposed sprouts,” Olsen explains.

A potato exposed to light, sprouted or unsprouted, may itself have an increased concentration of glycoalkaloids. If this is the case, the toxic area will turn green. Strangely, that green is not the poison itself but chlorophyll, which is harmless. The green color is, however, a good indicator that that part of the potato may contain higher levels of the poisonous compounds. As with the sprouts, Olsen explains, you can cut the green part off and eat the rest of the potato.

I cooked my elderly potatoes before reading any of the articles, and now I'm wondering if that was such a good idea. But, there doesn't seem to be absolute agreement on whether it's safe to eat potatoes after removing sprouts and green areas. My potatoes had sprouts, but not green skin or flesh, and they had been stored away from light. I carefully removed all traces of the sprouts, and put the potatoes through the small julienne attachment of the slicer. I also shredded half a large onion with the mandoline. If I were still at our house in Wisconsin and had access to my big old cast iron pan, I probably would have used that to fry the potatoes, but I ended up cooking my potatoes in the wok, which has become my all-purpose pan.

The wok was heated, and a couple of tablespoons of canola oil were added and swirled around to coat the cooking surface. Kalonji (black onion seeds) were sprinkled on the wok and the potato-onion mix was arranged in a thin layer on the bottom and sides of the wok. The potatoes were sprinkled with ground cumin and turmeric and left to cook. When the bottom was brown, the potatoes were flipped over for the second side to cook. When the potatoes were tender but crisp, they were finished with fresh ground pepper and a mild hickory-smoked salt.

I recommend making this with fresh, firm, sprout-free, not-green potatoes! I'm composting the rest of my bag because they're old and soft as well as sprouted, and after reading all this information, I've decided to be more cautious with my spuds. Do you use potatoes that have sprouted? Turned green?

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Dividend time



Now that we're in Seattle, headquarters of REI, squandering our REI dividend is more fun than ever. It's true I have to check my ego at the door when entering REI alongside the young, hip and fabulously fit crowd, but hey, I've been a member since memberships cost $5. I'm entitled. My husband wanted a new jacket so we spent a LOT of time in the men's department picking one out. It was a lot less expensive than we thought it would be, plus we had a 20% off coupon for each of us, so we had a bunch of dividend dollars left. We headed to the shoe department to look around because I'm always interested in seeking out vegan shoes. I immediately found two pairs of really cute vegan shoes to try. I have to mention that every woman in the shoe department — and there were a lot — was trying on hiking boots, except me. I was trying on CUTE SHOES. Even the sales clerk said, "Hmmm. These are awfully CUTE SHOES for REI." I looked her straight in the eye, and told her all my other shoes were hiking boots, and I needed something different.


Jambu pilot vegan shoes.

This is not far from the truth, but I had to ignore the serious-hiking-boot-action around me to get the CUTE shoes on my feet. I liked them both, and unable to make a choice, I bought both pairs thinking I'd try them at home, and then decide. What should I do??? They are both comfortable. (And yes, I already do have hiking boots.)

Update:
There is some confusion about whether or not the Jambu "Pilot" shoes are vegan so I called Jambu to see what's what. The woman I spoke to said three of the four Pilot colors are vegan; black, raspberry and pistachio are vegan but the brown color is leather. This is because the designer couldn't find an acceptable brown vegan material. The box doesn't say "vegan" but the shoes definitely are, according to Jambu customer service. Various Web sites are listing the shoes as nubuck but Jambu told me this isn't the case. That's all I know.

Is this a dream or is it real? | Carmelita's pizza | listed again

The sushi rolls I made in class.

I recently dreamed I went out for ice cream with my youngest son to a place I heard had vegan options. At first we couldn't figure out where to get in line to place our order, but once we did, I saw there were four vegan flavor choices. The only one that sounded good was peach. I ordered it, and it was a grey-brown color, and came between two slices of dark brown bread — an ice cream sandwich of the weirdest kind. I ate the ice cream off one slice and immediately felt sick. Luckily I woke up before I could eat any more.


My very first inside-out rolls.

That dream sucked, but how about this one? I'm in a pleasant room with my husband and a number of other people, and a former zen monk hands me a bowl of perfectly cooked and seasoned rice and a plate of exquisitely cut veggies with which to make sushi. This is a much better dream, isn't it? Only this isn't a dream; this is a real cooking class at our local food co-op. It feels like a dream, though. How many times have you wished for a sous chef to perfectly prepare ingredients for your masterpieces? The teacher demonstrated cutting techniques, and talked a little (maybe too little) about cooking rice, but he did all the prep work, which is both good and bad. We didn't get to practice cutting or learn how to make perfect rice, though we did get to make both regular rolls and inside-out rolls. I've made lots of sushi rolls before but learned how to make them better. And this was my first go at inside-out rolls. You can see the results above.



The next day at home, I set about making sushi without the teacher's help, and realized nearly all my rice-cooking experience was with brown rice, and I'd chosen to use white rice for my sushi experiments. The teacher used a rice cooker but I used my pressure cooker. I remembered back to the Shojin Japanese cooking class we'd taken previously, where we learned to wash the rice with several changes of cold water until the water ran clear, and I did that. Then I cooked it and left the rice in the pot with the lid on for 30 minutes after turning off the heat like the sushi teacher recommended. Once the rice is cooked and rested it goes into a wide, shallow bowl (a wooden bowl is best because it absorbs excess moisture), and the side of a rice paddle or spoon is used to gingerly mix the rice with seasoned rice vinegar. (Seasoned rice vinegar contains salt and sugar and I don't use it. Instead, I cooked the rice with a pinch of salt, and used brown rice syrup along with unseasoned rice vinegar to season the rice.) It's the vinegar that is supposed to make the rice sticky, not the mixing, so care should be taken not to damage the rice kernels and release starch. You want to mix and fan the rice to bring it to room temperature.



Following the teacher's cutting techniques as best I could, I prepared vegetables for the sushi. I used cucumber with the core removed, avocado, carrots, baked tofu and green onions. In our class we also had asparagus but we planned to have wok-grilled asparagus for dinner so I didn't include any in the rolls. On the plate there is also wasabi and umeboshi paste. (Just thought I'd mention I cut my carrots with the new Borner V slicer I found at Goodwill for $2.99. I don't know if I should stay away from that store or go more often.)



To assemble the sushi, lay a sheet of nori on a covered bamboo mat with the shiny side of the nori down, and the lines on the nori going in the same direction as the bamboo slats. The major thing I learned in class that changed my sushi-making was to place much less rice on the nori than I used to. The layer of rice should be very thin, with bits of nori showing through. The sushi tastes much better when the fillings don't compete with a thick layer of rice. Above you can see the rice spread to the sides of the nori sheet with a 1/2" edge of nori left at the top and bottom. I still put a little too much rice on this sheet because I can't seem to help myself from overdoing the rice, but really, it tastes better with less rice. There is also a stripe of umeboshi and a stripe of wasabi. The fillings should be confined to about 1/4 of the sheet. (If you compare my class sushi with the home version, you can see how the amount of rice used affects the ratio of rice to filling.) Keep a small bowl of water handy to dampen your fingers so the rice won't stick to you, but be careful not to use too much water or to wet the nori sheet.



To keep the bamboo rolling mat clean you can encase it in a plastic bag or cover it with wax paper, if desired. I used the covered mat and my fingers to help encase the fillings in the first rollover, and to press it firmly in place. If the rice comes out the ends of the nori, you've pressed too hard! I've moved the bamboo mat away so you can see the first roll. Use the mat to roll another section, being careful not to catch the paper into the roll. Roll and firm until the nori is completely rolled up. Use a very small amount of water on the open edge of the nori to seal the roll.


There should be chop sticks instead of a fork.

When the sushi is completely rolled up, support both sides of the roll with one hand and slice it into halves with a sharp, damp knife, using a sawing motion. In class we used a Japanese chef knife but I think a serrated knife works well, too. Cut each half in half, and repeat until you have eight pieces. Our zen teacher told us if we mess up any of the sushi, we should eat it and keep going, saving the best ones for serving. As you can see there are only seven pieces of sushi in the photo above because I took his advice!

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Out to dinner at Carmelita - not your ordinary pizza



We had a gift certificate to Carmelita that needed to be used, and since no one felt like cooking Friday night, we went out. I've had really good as well as not so great meals at this restaurant so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the meal was pretty terrific, and I was sorry not to have my camera with me. I won't go into the details of my asparagus appetizer or my husband's nettle soup and sweet potato gnocchi; I just want to talk about my pizza. It was topped with a puree of roasted sunchokes and truffles, with hen of the woods mushrooms, toasted pecans, roasted garlic, watercress salad and sunchoke chips. (The photo is of the half I brought home because I was stuffed.) The crust was almost like a crispy cracker and so delicious, and the toppings were amazing. I can't even begin to describe the gorgeous flavors, but on the downside it was way too oily, and my stomach was not as happy as my greedy taste buds. The next day I consumed two of the leftover pieces and felt like I'd eaten six. So yes, it was delicious, but will I order it again? Probably not.

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Another list?

It seems my humble blog made it onto another "best" list. Yikes. Here's an excerpt from an email I received:

I just published an article on my site, “50 Best Vegan Lifestyle Blogs.” I am happy to let you know that your site has been included in the article.

Best, Theresa Jackson

Theresa has assembled an interesting and useful list covering categories from becoming vegan, vegan cooking and international vegan cooking to gardening and vegan podcasts. Check out her list for blogs you may not be familiar with. New and aspiring vegans may find it especially helpful. I'm going to add some of the blogs to my reading list.