Quinoa Salad with Pistachios

As I was saying, my acupuncturist is also big into nutrition and she and I often talk about our vegful kitchen experiments. Since Traditional Chinese Medicine views food as a living medicine that is part and parcel of one's qi harmony, or disharmony as often has it, much of what we in the West know of as healthful eating is reiterated: for most people's dispositions, TCM suggests avoiding processed foods, choosing fresh, whole foods, limiting the sugar, dairy, wheat gluten and alcohol. There are some folksy notions about certain kinds of meat nourishing one's particular qi deficiencies, otherwise it's quite vegetarian friendly, and my practitioners have always been flexible and respectful of my refusal to eat chicken liver, in spite of some good it's supposed to be for one persnickety meridian.

So she recently self-published a cookbook- for her women clients in particular.. those of us overly yin and in need of foods to fire up some yang to keep the energy moving productively.
This one sounded good, and even though I was out of the parsley it calls for, the combination of mint and cilantro is a revelation.. one I'll be playing with much more in the future.

Apparently the green onion, pistachios and quinoa boost yang while the cilantro and mint are harmonizing influences (I think by harmonizing it is meant spleen and liver qi... one of them is always lagging behind the other it seems).

1 1/2 c water
2/3 c uncooked quinoa
1/2 t sea salt
1/3 c goji unsweetened goji berries, quartered
1/3 c golden raisins
1/3 c shelled, dry roasted pistachios
1/4 thinly sliced green onions
1/4 c fresh chopped cilantro
2 T fresh chopped mint
1/4 t black pepper

(Vinaigrette)
1/2 t grated lime rind
3 T fresh lime juice
2 T mirin
1 T olive oil
1/4 t sea salt
1/4 t ground cumin
1/4 t ground coriander
1/4 t paprika

Combine water, quinoa and salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the remaining liquid and drain off the rest. Combine quinoa and next 7 ingredients in a large bowl and set aside.

To prepare the vinaigrette, combine reserved 3 T cooking liquid, lime rind, and remaining ingredients in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Pour vinaigrette over quinoa mixture, and toss well to coat.

Spiced Watercress

I would have used a shallot in this if I had one. The only member of the onion family not shriveled beyond recognition in my veg drawer this week (too busy to cook... makes me a bad mood) were a few chives.

This is also adapted from a recipe in my acupuncturist's cookbook (which is comprised, in turn, of recipes she adapted from sources online, so the circle of life, sans Sir Elton).

2 T olive oil
1/2 t sea salt
2 heaping T's of garlic paste (this jar of Swad garlic paste I got from the Indian grocery is magical.. it featured into a Mother's Day salad dressing with ease too. Oh, I mean to record for posterity the contents of that salad: microgreens, dried cherries, avocado, sunflower seeds, and a homemade dressing of garlic, dijon mustard, sherry vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.)
2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 pound watercress, washed and trimmed
1 T diced chives

Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. When the oil is hot add garlic and spices. Stir for a minute until fragrant and coming together as a paste. Deglaze pan with a few tablespoons of water. Add greens and toss to stir fry for a few minutes, until greens are tender, wilt slightly and turn bright green.

Veganfitti

It's no Banksy, but I have a soft spot for this tagger that's recently been quite ambitious in my neighborhood. J and I report in to one another with new sightings daily. The best so far is "vegan" across a closed down rib shack restaurant on Ashland Ave.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

In preparation for the brunch of the Mothers I am hosting tomorrow, the Lemon Poppyseed experiment.

3 c all-purpose white flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 c poppy seeds
3 eggs
1/2 c canola oil
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
3/4 c sugar
2 c lowfat, plain, unsweetened kefir
juice of 2 lemons
zest of 1 lemon

Sift together the flour, salt, soda and baking powder; stir in seeds. Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the oil, applesauce and sugar; cream well. Add the kefir, lemon zest and lemon juice. Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups and 1 mini loaf pan. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour.

Sekihan 2.0

So my abundance of azuki beans and rice made high-octane lunches for a week and formed the basis of a daily improvisation of toppings. Here is one of the more tweaked additions:

Exotic mushrooms sauteed in mirin and sesame oil, sauteed spinach and sesame seeds, hard-boiled egg.

Carrot Cake

I decided to make a cake for someone in our office who is going back to India, and was thrilled for the opportunity to understand her dietary restrictions a little better. Each day is a tribute to a different god, so one day meat is OK, another day is vegetarian, another day omits all meat and eggs, etc. So Monday meant she would do dairy but no eggs. Viola, a vegan cake with a very dairy frosting. Turns out she had never had carrot cake before and appreciated the sweet and the salty (cream cheese in the frosting) flavors she thought uncharacteristic of American sweets.

This cake was my first: carrot cake, layer cake, and baking with egg replacement (used arrowroot in its place). I made two batches actually. One batch of the same recipe with eggs and in cupcake form (for us)-- this batch also used Earth Balance vegan butter instead of butter in the frosting. The cake had a nice density that disguised the lack of poof afforded by the eggs. The arrowroot just added some thickening power. They were both good-- and the entire office requested the recipe for the cake, but I have a slight preference for the cupcakes J and I devoured to a Bogart and Bacall movie.

Recipe posting shortly.

Sekihan 1.0

3 cups leftover brown rice and wild rice mix
2/3 c dry azuki beans
1/4 c black sesame seeds
1 carrot, thinly and diagonally sliced
2 scallions, diced
2 T sesame oil
2 T tamari

Should have soaked first, but I figured, why soak when you can boil? Boiling took longer than probably necessary- 2 hours, but left behind a beautiful red liquid after I spooned the cooked beans out and then I boiled the carrots in the liquid.

In a separate pan, toast sesame seeds.

Heat sesame oil in a wok. Add rice. Stir and cook for 1 minute, then add 1 c carrot/bean water. Add carrots, sesame seeds, and beans and heat through, stirring often, about 15 minutes.

Serve with fresh scallions.

*I had hoped to add some soaked hijiki until I read all over the place online about its arsenic profile.