if not meat, what do you eat?

2006-09-05T04:59:00.000-07:00

And now, back to the food!

I slice green tomatoes, then dredge through egg. The slices are then patted in a flour/cornmeal/spices bath, and laid into sizzling hot oil for about two minutes per side.

Fried green tomatoes are exceptional with some macaroni and cheese.
They also make a mighty fine sandwich, if one enjoys that sort of thing as much as I.

2006-08-30T19:01:00.000-07:00

Sevyn has been tagged! In what may possibly be the first ever kitty meme, and he thanks Chez NTM family for the chance at feline expression.

Kitty meme

3 Things That Scare Me
thunderstorms.
dogs, but only over thirty pounds.
mostly, the vacuum cleaner.

3 'People' (or things) That Make Me Laugh
I can't exactly laugh, but I'd say:
my litter-sister, Six.
CATNIP!!
those darn kittens are fairly hilarious, also.

3 Things I Love
family-sis Six, mom and mama.
my colorful ribbons.
very, VERY early morning.

3 Things I Hate
"neutering". oh, sure, they're all FOR letting human babies keep their man parts. grrrr.
no longer being the babiest.
organic cat treats from trader Jose.

3 Things I Don’t Understand
car rides- sometimes good, sometimes bad.
my image in the mirror: that cat has NO smell. it's just freakish.
what the hell my momma is doing right now, with the typing and the up-loading.

3 Things I’m Doing Right Now
laying.
sleeping.
curled in a laundry basket.

3 Things I Can’t Do
drive a car.
call for takeout.
realize the design for my own imagined website, mau.

3 Absolute Favorite Foods
plastic bags, top choice. seriously, intense chewing pleasure.
cat kibble, basic solid everyday chow.
salt from any kind of snack food. i'll lick the salt off, thanks, and leave the rest of the item.

2006-08-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Mixed in a bowl: two cups of cooked brown rice
one half cup freshly grated Parmesan
half cup pine nuts, toasted
half cup raisins
one cup thinly sliced carrots
one cup green peas
one half cup provolone cheese, cut into matchsticks
one tablespoon dried leaf parsley, crumbled
one quarter cup soymilk
tablespoon or two of soysauce
salt and pepper to taste (use a bit more salt than you'd think)

Dump mixture into greased baking pan.

Top with dry breadcrumbs and a dash of paprika.

Bake three hundred and fifty degrees for thirty minutes.

Excellent as a side dish or when you just want to eat a whole bunch of rice pilaf, balanced meals be damned!

Ready in under an hour if you have the rice pre-cooked, 4* comfort food.

2006-08-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

Purple potatoes frying in a cast iron skillet was the first step to last nights dinner creation.

I was inspired by the stunning purple spuds from our farmshare, and by a bag of urad dal(white lentils).

I've tried green, brown, and red lentils; this was my first encounter with the white ones. They were delicious, both fragrant and delicate.

These lentils seemed to cook up into more of a plump seed-like shape, and did not 'run down' (cook into a mush, almost a sauce) as quickly as other varieties I've tried.

I made the dal and taters into a stew with onion, jalepeno, garlic, ginger, and spices. It was dished onto a bed of basmati rice.

It would be great with regular potatoes as well.

Very easy to prepare, dinner was ready in a little under an hour.

4.5*

2006-08-18T04:13:00.000-07:00

Golden miso soup with carrots, hijiki, tofu, and scallions.

Miso is a perennial favorite at the lilypad, it's total comfort food.

Simple to prepare, ready in twenty minutes. 4*

2006-08-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well, because I can.

1. How tall are you barefoot?
Five feet, eight and a half inches.

2. Have you ever been unfaithful in a relationship?
No, I understand all too well how much it hurts to be cheated on.

3. Do you own a gun?
No, but my father and sister own several. Sis also has a bow and arrow. She's an excellent archer, league worthy.

4. If you had a mental disorder, what would it be?
I do. Depression.

5. How many letters are in your crush's name?
Seventeen altogether.

6. What do you think of hot dogs?
Tofu cornpup gal, myself.

7. What's your favorite Christmas song?
They are all disliked. I'm not into that holiday, Halloween being my big fave.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Foo-foo coffee drinks.

9. Do you do push-ups?
Once in a while.

10. Have you ever done ecstasy?
Too often, don't remind me!

11. Do you have a girlfriend? Oh yes!

12. Do you like the rain?
Love the rain.

15. Do you have A.D.D?
Possibly. Wait, what'd you ask?

16. Full initials?
EAY

17. Name 4 thoughts at this exact moment.
1) Grrr, chainsaw.
2) Wonder what frog is doing.
3) My cat is damn adorable.
4) What am I making for dinner?

18. Name the last 3 things you have bought in the past week.
1) hippie tye-dye dress
2) three pack of Carters bibs for seventy-five cents
3) groceries

20. What time did you wake up today?
For the first time about six am, trampled by the big man-cat.

21. Can you spell?
Usually.

22. Current worry?
My friend and ex; her living situation and addiction/legal problems.

23. Current hate?
Ugh, my nightmares.

24. Favorite place to be?
The Big Purple Couch, with frog and cat posse.

25. Least favorite place to be?
In a nightmare.

26. Where would you like to go?
Pick up my froggie baby!

27. Do you own slippers?
Yes, knitted blue and purple tones.

28. Where do you think you'll be in 10 yrs?
A bigger, more rural house, with frog and the kids.

29. Do you burn or tan?
I get pink, and then turn to tan while sleeping.

30. Yellow or blue?
Blue.

31. Would you be a pirate?
In my younger days, sure. I'm too much of a homebody for that these days.

32. Last time your phone rang?
I pay it no attention, and just return whichever messages I choose.

33. What songs do you sing in the shower?
Generally I only sing to the cats, and so far they have not joined me in the shower.

34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?
The GunnyWolf.

35. What's in your pockets right now?
I'm wearing a simple cotton sheath dress, with no pockets.

36. Last thing that made you laugh?
The cats and frog this morning.

37. Best bed sheets you had as a child?
Don't remember anything special.

38. Worst injury you've ever had?
Tripped and caught the corner of a coffee table with my chin; eleven stitches!

40. How many TVs do you have in your house?
1

45. what is your favorite book?
That is clearly an impossible question for me to answer. Too many books have I loved...

46. What song did you last hear?
Something in the car, scanning for good music driving home from downtown a few hours ago.

48. What is your favorite cereal?
Granola or Raisin Bran.

49.What were you doing at midnight last night?
Drifting off to sleep while petting Kissa the cat.

50.what was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
The first thought in my head this morn was also actually mumbled aloud.
"Hi Mae-mae."

-Ripped off from somewhere in the blogosphere-

2006-08-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Fettucini with flat beans, escarole, and lemon caper sauce was accentuated perfectly by shavings of assiago cheese.

This meal was very simple to make, and took about twenty five minutes.

5*

2006-08-10T11:13:00.000-07:00

We've been getting lovely summer squash from the farmshare, and this week I bought some extra to make a massive batch of calabacitas for freezing.

I used a few new-to-me varieties of flying saucer squash, some yellow crookneck squash, and both regular & heirloom zucchini.

The finished calabacitas were built into chilequiles along with black beans and cheddar cheese.

About forty minutes to prepare, around the same difficulty level as lasagna. 5*

2006-08-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

As of late there has been a limeade extravaganza at the lilypad.

We can scarf down about a pitcher each at our fave family owned & run authentic fresh Mexican food spot, the next town over.

For a gallon of water I used a dozen huge Persian limes, cut into eighths. I left on the skins. As the limes in water began to boil I added sugar. And more sugar.

About twelve cups in all, at the end. I know that sounds excessive, but the limeade is meant to have a lot of ice dissoving into it.

So drinking it straight- it is very strong and very sweet.

With the ice, though, it's heavenly.

About an hour altogether, 5*

2006-08-06T16:49:00.000-07:00

For a basic tomato sauce I like to use Roma tomatoes. Their flavor is intense, both sweet and tart.

I slow cook the tomato chunks for about eight hours, then puree and strain.

Then garlic is sauteed in olive oil; basil, salt and oregano are added, and then the strained tomato sauce.

Warmed gently for a few hours or left to stand overnight to allow flavors to develop, this sauce is perfection over pasta, on pizza, with eggplant Parmesan, etc.

It takes forever cooking, but not much actual effort.

I would rate as 5*. (My sweetie told me that if she wasn't already committed to me, she'd marry me on the basis of the sauce alone!)

2006-08-05T05:35:00.000-07:00

It's that time of the summer- sweet corn soup.

First, carrots, onions, yellow & red pepper, and spices are diced and cooked until soft.

Then the veg mix is pureed with water and half the corn.

Add the rest of the corn, adjust seasonings to taste and reheat.

It's a wonderful soup, a bowl of sweet 'corn on the cob'.

About forty minutes to prepare, 5*

2006-08-04T05:24:00.000-07:00

My sweetie made us some of her scrumptious vegan pancakes, with blueberries.

They were fluffy, light, pancake perfection~ 5*

2006-08-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

Oh the heat wave. Getting things done during the day hasn't been so much of an option lately. But I had all this lovely sweet corn to cut off of the cob and freeze.

I ended up improvising a kitchen-ish workspace in the living room, the coolest room of the house. (Aside from the basement, which I would no sooner use for food prep than for brain surgery.)

The sweet corn, all 24 ears, was cut while I lounged on the living room floor. In the carefully chosen intersection of two fans.

We both love sweet corn around here, and with some 'farm grrl' connections, I'm able to obtain it relatively cheaply. So much tastier than commercial frozen corn.

I ended up with almost a gallon of corn kernels to freeze.

2006-08-03T08:21:00.000-07:00

Damn you blogger, and your nonsense with the pictures not uploading. I'm sick of your glitches!

2006-08-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

We've had the first harvest from the dozen or so tomato plants I'm growing. These are Bonnys Best, oddly coming in before the Early Girl. Maybe because of the crazy heat?

I know, this isn't a gardening blog. But they were sweet deliciousness, even though they were about the size of a golf ball.

Tostada with black bean, lettuce, sour cream, and salsa.

Prepared by frog, 4*

2006-07-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

Tempeh 'steaks' with mushroom gravy, served with parsley new potatoes. The romaine lettuce of the side salad was topped with scallion, carrot, and blueberries.

Everything went together fairly quickly and easily, the meal took almost an hour to prepare.

4*

2006-07-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

The other evening we were faced with a slight dinner dilemma. My sweetie was craving either an Arby's Roast 'Beef' sandwich or Lipton Sides Vermacelli Cheddar Broccoli Rice.

Having once worked at Arby's, I would rather cook her a steak.

So I improvised to hopefully create a reasonable facsimile of the side dish she wanted.

It took about forty minutes and was totally easy.

3*

2006-07-18T06:21:00.000-07:00

During the pesto prep, my sweetie came into the kitchen with her copy of the Linda McCartney On Tour cookbook held open.

She requested a dish from the book: pesto Genovese with potatoes and green beans.

With the pesto already made this meal was a cinch to make, and took around thirty minutes.

4*

2006-07-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Another farm market find was fresh basil.

I bought loads and ended up making about six cups of pesto.

The pesto was then poured into ice cube trays for easier freezing and later use.

2006-07-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday mornings we pick up the farmshare, the inspiration point for that weeks worth of meals.

This week I also purchased some basil for pesto, and about five pounds of sweet corn to make soup.

I'm thinking of roasting those beets, then slicing them for a bath in orange vanilla dressing.

2006-07-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

Veggie-loaded pizza from a box, super easy but so obviously not cooking.

2006-07-05T11:19:00.000-07:00

Basmati rice with red lentil dal.

Easy, thirty minutes to prepare.

4*

2006-07-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Mmmm, strawberry pie...

2006-06-19T05:28:00.000-07:00

Morningstar Farms veg corn 'dogs' and buffalo 'chix' nuggets. With ranch, mustard and ketchup for dipping variety.

Made by frog, 4*

2006-06-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

One avocado quesadilla, two bean and rice tacos- one with tomato, one with avocado.

Fabulous food from the neighborhood taqueria.

4*

2006-06-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

The bowl contains sea salt, oregano, and olive oil. I then added the yeast in sugar water, and both whole wheat and unbleached white flour.

Dough ball, preparing to start the rising process.

The finished dish, fresh spinach and tomato sauce pizza with mozzarella cheese.

Easy, thirty minutes hands on plus one hour rise.

5*

2006-06-10T11:57:00.000-07:00

On Thursday night we had the Maybe Expectant ladies over for dinner. Dinner opened with edamame and coarse sea salt.

Then we had the cucumber, scallion, hijiki & mustard seed salad with the sushi. I twisted California rolls and sweet potato/cream cheese/fried onion rolls.

Everything was very well received. For dessert we ate a dual-mango salad with a lime dressing.

This meal was a fairly easy prep, and took about ninety minutes.

5*

2006-06-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

This is green lentil soup with potato, onion, and carrot. The potato is pureed for creaminess, and the soup is spicy with flavors of lemon, cumin, and ground coriander seed.

This took about forty minutes and was very easy to prepare.

4*

2006-06-06T07:49:00.000-07:00

The bread on this little sandwich is actually two fried corn tortillas. The filling consists of refried beans, rice, salsa, cheese, lettuce, and a dab o' sour cream.

Delicious, and prepared for me by frog.
5*

2006-06-05T07:49:00.000-07:00

This would be red miso soup with udon noodles, snow peas, carrots, scallions, and diced tofu.

Easy and ready in under thirty minutes.

3.5*

2006-06-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

Last night we ate spaghetti for charity, and it was fairly good. On Friday, though, I made sour mix for whiskey and tequila sours.

The various brands of sour mixes range from tasty to nasty, and I wanted to try a hand-made version.

I juiced up a bag of lemons plus a handful of limes, boiled up some simple syrup, and stirred them together.

The result was definitely the best sour mix I've ever tasted, and created amazing drinks.

Not something that I would do for everyday, though, due to the time investment versus cost of a decent pre-made mix. (I like Daily's.)

2006-06-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

The shockingly green substance in the bowl would be asparagus and rice soup. The veggie stock is enhanced with white wine, lemon, garlic, and herbs.

The accompaniment was cheddar & colby cheesey potatoes, accented with garlic and spices.

An easy meal, put together in less than an hour.

4*

2006-06-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

Last night the dinner was traditional style lasagna with the tomato/fake meat sauce, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella. We ate it with slices of fresh wheaty bread.

An easy to medium difficulty level, this dish took about an hour and twenty minutes.

5* (frog says 6!)

2006-05-31T04:20:00.000-07:00

We had flour tortillas stuffed with refried beans, Spanish rice, sour cream, salsa, tomato, and onions.

Easy, and ready in under 30 minutes, using canned beans.

3.5*

2006-05-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Because of the sweltering heat yesterday, we had a cold meal. There was a marinated salad of brown rice, black eyed peas, onion, carrot and celery. The dressing was lemony with cumin, mustard seed, bay leaf, garlic, and garam masala. We had curried pickled eggs (not at all like purple pickled eggs). We also ate a salad of red and green leaf lettuce with tomato, scallion and radish.
(That's Annie's Roasted Red Pepper dressing.)
Everything turned out really well. I ate more than I thought possible, considering the heat of the afternoon.
And see the lemonade? Absolutely perfect tart lemonade, brought by our dinner guest.

Medium difficulty; this meal would take about 90 to 100 minutes to prepare, when using canned beans.

4*

2006-05-29T03:38:00.000-07:00

I know that other people like strange food combinations, but this feels a bit like I'm revealing a 'wierd fact' about myself.
Pickles and garlic dip, on a wheat flatbread.
The first instinct is to say eeeeww, but it's actually really amazing.

All pickles, all the time...

2006-05-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

A recent treat was pickle spears, breaded with flour, cornmeal, & dill and deep fried. These were perfection. Down south I've had both whole pickles and sandwich chips fried, but not before now have I seen the spear given frying treatment. The shape works out way better than others I've sampled

5 frickin' *

<----- The reason I haven't been cooking.

2006-05-26T04:04:00.000-07:00

Frying up the potato cakes for frog's lunch. They contain onion, carrot, corn, peas, curry spices, and mustard seeds.

She really likes these.

5*

2006-05-25T01:30:00.000-07:00

Last night there was a sushi party.

Cucumber salad with scallions and hijiki went over fairly well.

The edamame disappeared, in no small part due to my own efforts.

One of the young men in a family we are friends with needed to learn to make sushi for a school project.

It was a lot of fun. We went to their place, because apparently not everyone can breathe with four cats in one house.

Their kitchen also has more room; I don't think all of us would have fit into the lilypad kitchen.

Dinner was for seven and took about an hour and a half altogether, went together quickly with so much help rolling and cutting.

After the initial showing of how to roll, I mostly got to sit back. The guys took over, and even came up with a version of their own: crab and cream cheese.

We also had asparagus cream cheese, california roll, asparagus avocado, and sweet potato cream cheese rolls.

2006-05-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

Tofu smothered in Frank's Red Hot, which is my favorite spicy "buffalo" style sauce.

2006-05-22T18:59:00.000-07:00

In the bowl we had sour curry chick peas with brown rice.

On the plate, garlic ginger spicy green beans and a mixture of onion, carrot, peas, corn and seasonings smushed with mashed potato and then pan fried.

Medium difficulty, this took about two hours.

5*

2006-05-22T01:04:00.000-07:00

To onions, garlic and jalapeno sauteeing I added diced zucchini and yellow squash.

I layered corn tortillas and the veg mixture, then topped with a bit of cheese.

The finished dish, calabacitas chilaquiles.

25 minutes hands on, 30 in the oven

easy (unless you try to act all tough because of your asbestos hands, and mince the jalapeno bare handed, and it's a really HOT one, and your hands are still burning twelve hours later...)

Now, frog often tells me that whatever meal we just ate is the best one I've made, but there was much raving over the calabacitas.

5*

2006-05-21T04:34:00.000-07:00

Scene from the kitchen,

because last night the dinner involved crab.

2006-05-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

I made a vegan 'creamy' style brown rice with spinach and mushrooms casserole.

Minced garlic infusing olive oil to be used in making roux.

The finished vegan herbed white sauce.

Adding the spinach and mushrooms is the second to last step.

The finished dish, served with a side of roasted asparagus.

Medium difficulty, this dinner took me an hour and twenty minutes.

4*

2006-05-19T05:14:00.000-07:00

Friday photos, eh?

Since we had takeout LaShish for dinner last night I thought I'd bore you with my seven toed cat.

2006-05-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

We had a stew made of chickpeas, tomato, onion, potato, and carrot.

Over jasmine rice.

With strawberry mango salad as dessert.

Using canned chickpeas, this meal would be done in about an hour.

4.5*

2006-05-17T07:33:00.000-07:00

For dinner we had macaroni & cheese

with a side of garlic sauteed broccoli rabe.

And dessert was perfect ripe raspberries.

Forty minutes hands on, plus one hour baking time

4*

2006-05-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

In other news, the world on the opposite side of our door is drizzly today. But there's beauty even out in the gray rain.

2006-05-16T04:50:00.000-07:00

Dal stew made with red lentils, onion, diced tomato, coconut milk and secret blend of herbs & spices over brown rice.

Served with home made wheaty bread and a salad of romaine lettuce & vinegared cucumbers.

Minus bread, this meal would be ready in one hour.

4.5*

2006-05-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

bonus lunch view

Curried chickpeas & onions with rice, side of

spinach with garam masala and nutmeg.

Easy meal, one hour ten minutes

4*

2006-05-15T05:37:00.000-07:00

Corn grits with salsa and cheddar cheese.

Excellent with a side dish of greens.

beyond easy, 15 minutes

3.5*

2006-05-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

It's been all comfort food, all the time.

Fried tofu with peanut sauce and hot sauce.

Super easy, twenty minutes.

3*

2006-05-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

Veg junk food! The mock hot dogs have greatly improved in the past few years, in both flavor and texture.

I keep them in the freezer, which makes the texture a bit heftier.

There are some childhood foods I missed way more than others, and hot/chili dogs were on that list.

Quick and simple, but not really cooking.

2006-05-12T06:52:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time with the company who was over last night.

I made a salad of romaine lettuce, cucumber, avocado, tomato, scallions, and radish.

And what I jokingly refer to as 'pigeon' pot pie, AKA fake chicken. It's in a wheat crust, is vegan when made with olive oil, and contains carrots, celery, carmelized onion, peas, and aforementioned mock chix.

Our guest brought some delicious bread and Chardonnay.

Difficulty: Medium

Time: one hour hands on, plus one hour ten minutes baking time

3.5* veggie comfort food

2006-05-10T05:29:00.000-07:00

Sliced strawberries with lime juice drizzled over.

Scrumptious!

I'm a huge fan of fruit with enhancement.

2006-05-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

Pecan roll from Hell's Kitchen in Minneapolis. I wasn't in the mood for something so caramel quite yet, but there were raves from other people on the tastiness.

frog's pic

2006-05-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

'Fancy pants' huevos rancheros from the restaurant in Minneapolis with all the typos.

Very tasty, I must admit.

4* huevos

I'm not even gonna mention those potatoes in the back of the pic. I have nothing nice to say about them, so quiet I'll keep.

frog's pic

2006-05-07T05:08:00.000-07:00

Road food! I read the recipe years ago, for pan bagnat. It was basically a Nicoise salad on a bun. For our eight hour driving day I thought it would be fun to finally try the sandwich.

The recipe clearly stated to use stale bread, and make the sandwich 24 to 48 hours before you plan to eat. Then you were supposed to wrap it up and put it under something heavy for a day or two. I put it under the twelve pack of Mountain Dew that always lives in the frig. Frog really should post her story behind this sandwich sometime, it's hysterical.

Green beans, sliced hard boiled egg, red onion, tomato, provolone cheese (because it sounded tasty!), tuna optional for those who eat seafood, and then the dressing. Olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and capers.

Difficulty: totally Easy

Time: 15 minutes

way 5* for road food

2006-05-04T04:49:00.001-07:00

We had company last night, so there were Actual Courses to the meal. Although only in the most extremely casual of ways.

First off was the sushi and salad.

The salad was fantastic. Cucumber and scallions in vinegar dressing with roasted sesame seeds. I think I would've really enjoyed some sea vegetables in this salad as well. Next time, I would possibly add hijiki.

The sushi was good, nothing exceptional.
Asparagus and cream cheese, then some (not pictured) (look away die hard vegetarians/vegans) California roll for a seafood option.

The last bit was miso soup with udon noodles and tofu. Sort of bland, that.

Charming company was kind enough to bring a bottle of sake. It was my first try and I found it pleasant. A bit sweet and a touch nutty.

Difficulty: easy Medium

Time: one hour hands on plus one hour rice drying time.

5* just for the sake & salad

sushi and soup frog's pics

2006-05-03T04:55:00.000-07:00

Portobella leftovers. I threw some oil, honey and soy sauce in the pan and heated the 'shroom with a slice of provolone cheese. On sprout bread, accompanied by red ripe tomato.

Difficulty: way Easy

Time: 10 minutes

4*

2006-05-01T03:33:00.000-07:00

Garlic, red wine and herb marinated roasted portobella mushroom cap with lemony broccolini.

Turns out SO does not like portobellas. More for me!

Difficulty: Easy

Time: hands on 30 minutes, overnight marination for the mushrooms

Enjoyment: 3.5*

2006-04-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

Rice noodles with stir fried bean sprouts and button mushrooms.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 20 minutes

4*

2006-04-29T12:13:00.001-07:00

Bruschetta with smashed lima beans & lightly carmelized sweet onions, served with Italian style summer squash + zucchini.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 60 to 75 minutes, but only about 25-30 of that was hands-on

5*
This plate got raves from SO and me.

2006-04-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

Red lentils and spinach in garlic lemon veggie stock, with special blend of herbs and spices and a diced tomato topper.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 35 minutes

5*

I wish I had made a bigger batch, it was super zingy fresh yum.

2006-04-27T05:18:00.000-07:00

Sweet sushi rice, asparagus, carrots, and button mushrooms in garlic ginger peanut oil with golden fried tofu.

Difficulty: Easy

Time: 40 minutes hands on
plus one hour rice drying

3.5*

2006-04-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Veggie stock!

Big bowl of veg trimmings, I freeze mine.

Medium high heat for about an hour, or until reduced by at least one third.

Stock adds extra layers of flavor to soups, gravies, sauces, etc.

Difficulty: so so Easy

Enjoyment Rating: N/A

2006-04-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

Short grain white rice starting to dry after it has gone through the bathing process.

Best food ever invented, sushi.

I simply adore wasabi. It's the perfect wasabi delivery vehicle.

I rolled up one with asparagus and cream cheese.

And the other one with spinach and chives.

Then sprinkled toasted sesame seeds over both sliced rolls.

Enjoyed with the usual stateside complement trio of soy sauce, wasabi, and sweet pickled ginger.

Difficulty: an easy/Medium

Time: 45-60 minutes hands on time (depending on complexity of fillings and skill level) plus one hour rice drying

gotta go with 5*, it's nori-maki and I'm partial