You never know what you're going to get!

The finished product: Vegetarian chili (made with Tofurky)
*looks pretty close to the real-deal, eh?

Welcome to this edition of YATS Cooks!  These days, I have to say, have been rather hectic, and I haven’t been cooking as much as I used to. However, as we’re preparing to go away on vacation, I need to “clean out” the refrigerator, so let's roll up those sleeves and get to it!  

The last time we were at the supermarket, I decided I would try something new, and picked up some “Tofurky”.  A friend had recommended it some time ago when I shared that I had been experimenting with Tempeh (she’s also suggested Seitan, but I’ve not given it a go ‘round yet).  There are lots of versions of Tofurky out there, and I decided to try the one that claimed it was “just like ground beef!”.  Well, my carnivore husband will be the judge of that!

The picture on the box shows a delicious lasagna prepared with these little bits of Tofurky.  Making Lasagna involves a lot cheese, a lot of time, and turning on the oven.  Ahem.  Not going there with these 90 degree days!  I decided on Vegetarian chili, and the results were great!  When I make vegetarian meals for my family, I have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.  What they don’t know won’t hurt them, and around here, when I’m in charge of dinner, you never know what you’re going to get (might be Quorn, might be Tempeh, now might be some Tofurky…).  As long as it tastes good, I’ll keep experimenting.  I haven’t had too many complaints yet…

Here’s how I did it:

The main ingredients for flavor include one 12oz package of Tofurky and a sachet of Vegetarian Chili seasoning.  I’m sure you could use any sort of chili seasoning for flavor, but sometimes they add beef bouillon to it, so if you’re a strict vegetarian, stick with the vegetarian seasoning.

The supporting cast are your beans and tomatoes.  I just used canned because they’re cheap, quick, AND easy (I'll spare you the prostitute jokes here.  cheap...quick...  oh nevermind)!  My preference is for Cannellini and Red kidney beans, but you could easily use black beans or pinto beans, or whatever you like in your chili!  The tomatoes are always diced and almost always “fire roasted”.  Sometimes I’ll use a can with jalapeno seasoning included, but this is the can I had in the pantry, so it’s what I used.

Add all of the canned ingredients to a fairly large pot with the Tofurky.  I needed to mix the sachet with a 1/4cup of water before stirring into the beans and tomatoes.  I warmed through on medium-high heat until bubbling, and then I turned the flame down to let it simmer a bit, allowing the flavors to meld.  That’s it.  The finished product cost somewhere around $8.50 (each can was 89cents, give or take a dime), the seasoning was a buck twenty, and I think the Tofurky was $4.50.  It might seem like a lot for something that's not meat, but a pound of ground beef, last time I checked, was at least $7, and by the time you cook the fat out of it, you probably only end up with just a little more than 12 oz anyway!  

We added some shredded Colby jack cheese (oops!  Lost my "Vegan" status with that one.  I was so close), and everyone chowed down.  There’s even a sizeable serving left over.  Normally I’d be happy about that because it means I have lunch for tomorrow, but we are leaving on vacation, and I’m trying to cut down on the dang leftovers!

Bon Appetit! <--- a not-so-subtle nod to our vacation destination ;)

Detox day 4. I have problems.

Prep for my Mineralizing Vegetable Broth

Well, I didn't give in to the temptation that is RedMango yesterday.  If you know what RedMango is, you know that shows incredible discipline.  Discipline that I apparently can't hold together when I'm at home, faced with a bowlful of damned Candy Corn. 

What is it about this crap?  It's only available for 2 months a year, but the statistics about the annual consumption of Candy Corn are staggering.  The amount of candy corn kernels sold (and, we must assume, consumed) each September/October is sufficient to line up end-to-end and circle the Earth 4 1/4 times.  I wish I were making this up. But I'm not.  It doesn't even taste *that* good.  I mean, really.  M&M's are incredibly delicious - in my opinion a perfect food - and available year-round.  I haven't had any problems walking right past them and exercising willpower there.  Yet, tell me that if I don't eat up as much candy corn as I can get my hands on right now, I won't be able to taste it for another 10 months?  Hold me back, girls.  And you might need some handcuffs.

So, anyway, in an effort to distract myself, I ate up all of my Kitchari last night.  Alas, it didn't stop me from scarfing down a few dozen orange, yellow, and white pellets, but with a full-of-rice belly, I didn't eat as many as I otherwise might have.  Anyway, today, I'll need to make a new supply of the stew, and I've decided to make a few variations.  Instead of the adding in the vegetable specific for a Pitta imbalance, I'll be adding in the vegetables specific for a Kapha imbalance.  We'll see if that make a difference in my satiety levels.  I still don't completely understand how certain foods are better for certain doshas; I'm just taking the guidelines' word for it and following along.  I am also going to be making homemade Vegetable Broth that I can drink as a "snack".  I know, I know, not many of us would consider veggie broth a "snack", but when you think about it, what's wrong with that?  A snack is a food that tides you over to your next meal, something that's hopefully nutritive and often tasty.  I suppose Vegetable Broth fits the bill on two of the former three.  If it's not terribly tasty, who cares.  It's not like this is it for the rest of my life.  I can make a small sacrifice for the next couple of days.  Maybe I'll head right back to the chips and guac or maybe my tastes will change and I'll reach for something healthier.

Another great benefit to the Detox's outline is that there is a daily yoga practice to supplement your cleansing journey.  The practices vary in length from 16 to 25 minutes, and it's a nice surprise to get my email every morning with my yoga practice "homework".  I try to do it first thing in the morning, which of course is much easier on the weekends, but during the week, it gives me some nice down-time to look forward to!

Perhaps today will be a better day.  I have plenty of culinary adventures to keep me busy (and far, far away from that bowl of honeyed triangles).

Rantsy Pants

  I know this blog is supposed to be all about Yoga and living a balanced life and whatnot, but today I just got a little bee in my bonnet.  I have a little rant going on, and my 120 characters on Twitter and 2-liner status updates just don't provide enough room for me to explain myself properly.  I decided to take advantage of my blog to vent.  I suppose I could rationalize that since I usually try to be calm, quiet, and advocate some peace, if I rant on here now and again, it technically is "balancing" things out. Plus, the subject of my rant does Yoga, so technically, she's relevant.  By the way, if I'm not ranting enough for you (and you may want to reserve judgement on that until you finish reading this post), you can always head over to my husband's blog, where he certainly rants enough for 3 blogs:  This Annoys Me

So, this morning, Husband wakes up and cracks open the iPad (which I received as an awesomely unexpected, absolutely delightful Mother's Day gift way back in May...however, the boys in my life seem to take advantage of its magic far more often than I do...don't get me started, or this blog may need to be re-titled "This Annoys Me in the Suburbs" - although I'm fairly certain that blog already exists.)  I digress....

So, my husband starts browsing IMDB for upcoming theatrical releases and points out a bunch of flicks he thinks I'll be keen on seeing.  Number one on the list:  Sherlock Holmes, part2 (Uhm, helloooo?  Jude Law?  Robert Downey Jr.?  As you can see, Husband should have been a brain surgeon with his overwhelming amounts of genius).  Number two:  Hugo (again with Jude Law).  Then, he mentions "Contagion", which has Marion Cotillard.  I'll see anything with Marion Cotillard in it.  She's like my biggest girl-crush ever...not because I want to get with her.  It's because I want to BE her.  Jude Law is also in this one.  Gosh this guy has been busy since that whole Nanny scandal.  I guess he has loads of free time these days.  Then husband says "Oh, but it has Gwyneth Paltrow in it."  The Marion factor far outweighs any negative impact that the Gwyneth factor brings, but it set me off.  I'm sooooooo annoyed by Gwyneth Paltrow.  And it takes a lot to get me that annoyed.

So what, you ask, could this amazing, tow-headed, Jill-of-all-Trades have done to send me into a rant?  She acts (Oscar winner, there, folks!).  She does Yoga (just look at those long limbs!).  She has no crow's feet (a recent tabloid article claims she's had botox to eliminate them, however, I'm calling false on that one, because she's my age, and I don't have crow's feet either, and I certainly don't have $300 at my disposal to inject Botulism TOXIN into my face.  She must be lucky enough to have fabulous outer-ocular skin, just like me.)  She blogs (hey, maybe I should be looking up to her instead of dissing her!).  She sings (ahem).  She's written a fucking cookbook. 

I'm sure several hundred people have already seen the irony in this (and blogged about it).  Gwyneth Paltrow, she of the "raw foods", "macro-biotic", "I cleanse for 2 weeks before every movie shoot" diet has written a cookbook. 
W.
T.
F.

The first recipe is for some secret family recipe for these amazing buttermilk pancakes her dad made every Sunday morning.  I know this not because I bought the damn thing, but because there was a magazine article highlighting Gwyneth's latest triumph in publishing this damn cookbook.  Yes, I just used "damn" twice in one sentence.  The whole concept of her writing a cookbook is about as preposterous as that food tour she took around Spain with Mario Batali a year or two back.  Laughable.  He of the robust waistline and love of olive oil, travelling with she of the "how long do I have to run on the treadmill if I eat one of your marinated olives?"

Should I waste even one more sentence on this chick?  Probably not.

YATS cooks!

Spicy shrimp curry with Naan

No, this is not a cooking blog.  But I do like to cook, and when I whip something up that's yummy, I don't mind sharing it with you...especially when it's extra easy.
Tonight, I made a 3-part meal that was super quick to prepare - particularly because many of the ingredients were "ready-made".  So is that "cheating"?  Maybe I should re-title the post "YATS re-heats".  Anyway....

First, prepare the rice side dish.  I used the microwave, so I couldn't go wrong.
1 cup Basmati Rice, 1 1/2 cups water, 1tsp Kosher salt.  Throw this in a round pyrex and microwave on high for 5 minutes.  While this is "nuke-ing", slice about 5 dried apricots into thin strips, then lightly toast 1/4 cup of sliced almonds in a pan and wash a lemon (you'll zest it in a minute).  By this time, the 5 minutes will be up.  Give the rice a quick stir and microwave for 12 more minutes on half power.  Once finished, stir in the apricots, almonds, and zest some lemon peel over top for color and flavor.  I got this recipe from the April issue of "Real Simple", and I call it jeweled rice.  The flavors sparkle on your tongue and the colors do look like little jewels...what a great side dish:

Jeweled Rice.  Mmmmm...
(potatoes to be used another day)

 

Second dish.  While the rice is taking it's 12 minutes to finish up, you can get on with the main dish.  You'll need:
1 pound peeled, deveined shrimp
1 tbs olive oil
1 can "fire-roasted" diced tomatoes
1 generous tablespoon of "Patak's original" mild curry paste (cilantro and cumin). 

Here's what you do:  warm the oil in a medium pan and cook the shrimp until just pink (maybe 3 minutes).  Add in the tablespoon of curry paste and stir (about 1 minute).  It will slightly coat the bottom of the pan and look like it's going to be a huge mess to clean up, but wait.  Next add the tomatoes and stir, stir, stir.  The slight acidity of the tomatoes is just enough to help you de-glaze the pan and get all the spicy curry paste flavor into the dish.  Once this is warmed through (2-3 minutes), toss a Naan on a griddle pan (the same pan you used to toast the almonds would work, too) to crisp up a bit (one minute each side).

Just in case this isn't enough (color OR flavor),  I always keep a "hidden secret", an extra side dish, something special to slop up with the naan.  A ready made sachet of Palak Paneer!  You heat this in the microwave for a minute or so, and add it alongside your other dishes.  Voila!  Your fellow diners will feel like they're in a real curryhouse for dinner.  I'm not saying this is anywhere near "restaurant quality" palak paneer...but coupled with your other homemade curry dish and the rice side, it adds quite a kick (waaaay spicier than the curry paste) and variety.  Even though it was a quick heat-and-serve dish, it's a nice complement to the overall meal.

The "Secret Weapon"

Soooooo, what are you waiting for?  Cook up some curry this week! 

"You make the best dinners" - Husband (now that's an endorsement!)

YATS cooks! Springtime Risotto

Fresh Spring ingredients!

YATS cooks!  Tonight's dish:  Red Wine Risotto with Peas. 
This is a recipe from Giada DeLaurentis, modified ever so slightly - and hungrily declared a "win" by Husband today.  You see, he has committed, somewhat reluctantly, to eating Vegetarian 2 days per week.  I have no meat/non-meat requirements, unlike Husband, (who feels a bit "cheated" if there is no meat on the plate) so my only challenge is coming up with some variety for these "Vegetarian" days.  With the extra time I have on vacation, I have the luxury of whipping up such labor-intensive dishes like risotto mid-week.  This Risotto uses red wine instead of the traditional white, which lends a pretty purple hue to the dish.  When mixed with the greens from the peas and parsley, it looks a bit like "Joker" from Batman, but lovely for Spring!


Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups chicken broth (I used wild mushroom broth, in keeping with the "vegetarian" theme, figuring mushrooms would go well with the red wine in the dish - borrowing the flavors from Chicken Marsala, sans chicken, of course!)
3T butter
1c chopped onion (I used 1/2C because I don't like onion.  I used red onion, in keeping with the purple color of the finished dish)
1tsp minced garlic
1c arborio rice
1/2c red wine (I used Malbec)
1/3c frozen petit pois, defrosted.  (I went with a whole cup to give more substance to the dish)
1/4c chopped italian (flat leaf) parsley
1/2c grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper

Directions:
Get your broth nice and hot, meanwhile, melt the butter in a heavy saucepan.  Saute the onion until soft (8 mins) then stir in the garlic and saute until fragrant.  Stir in the rice until nice and slick, coated with the buttery onions.  Add the red wine and stir until absorbed.  Add 1 1/2 ladles of warm broth, simmering over medium heat until absorbed.


After 1st addition of broth. 
What should I do with the rest of that wine??


 You will repeat this addition of broth (1 1/2 ladles) 3 more times, stirring faithfully until all the liquid is absorbed before adding the next addition of broth.  This is what takes time.  Finally, add the last 1/2c of broth and let it simmer until the rice is tender and looks creamy.  Stir in the peas and parsley.  Finally, mix in the Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

THAT'S what you do with the rest of the wine...
YUM.

Enjoy.

"Foods that are tasty, wholesome and satisfying give long life, vitality, strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction" - Bhagavita Gita

YATS "cooks"

TOTALLY unrelated to yoga, I recently read a dime-store novel (although it cost waaaay more than a dime!) called ‘Murder your Darlings” by J.J. Murphy. It features real NYC writers from the ‘20’s (Dorothy Parker, William Faulkner, Robert Benchley) enthralled in a fictitious event – a murder-mystery – set in a real place (the Algonquin Hotel – where we had High Tea when my mom was visiting last November). It put me in the mood to have a real honest-to-goodness drink. I’ve been on antibiotics for 10 days, nursing a strep-throat, but now that vacation is here and the course of meds is done, I can indulge a bit, pre-Prohibition-style!




The Can-Can Martini…in homage to the spirit of the super cheesy fiction and to celebrate the end of my meds, not to mention the fact that most of us don't have to be at work tomorrow morning.



2 shots Vodka or Gin (I tried both, and must say the Gin version is more palatable – On my way to draining Hubby’s supply of Tanqueray 10)

1 ½ shots St. Germain (elderflower liqueor. The bottle alone is worth it for it’s art-deco design - see pic above - Dorothy Parker would approve!)

¼ shot dry vermouth



Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with lemon or orange twist (I was lazy, and it was satisfactory without either). High-kicking, cartwheels and petticoats recommended, but purely optional. Hmmm….after a few, no yoga would be required to High-kick OR cartwheel.



I’m a damn good cook.

YATS cooks!

Want a cost effective and delicious foray into Indian cuisine?  Try it yourself at home!!

Here at YATS, we do it all...yoga poses, media reviews, fashion, and now:  COOKING!  Don't get me wrong...I've always cooked - I just never blogged about it before.  Then, when I was fixing up dinner last night, I looked down at the table and decided it WAS something worth writing home about.  Heck, it was even something worth blogging about!  I know you'll appreciate it:

So, the key to this evening's meal was this TastyBite "Good Korma" simmer sauce, which I picked up for the low-low price of $1.99 at Fairway last week.  All of the TastyBite simmer sauces were on sale, but this one had a catchy name, AND I was pretty sure I could get my kids to eat it.   While I was there, I also picked up a package of Garlic Naan (already made - I just needed to warm it up) and some Basmati Rice.  All other ingredients I had at home (and purchased at Stop & Shop for a fraction of the cost at Fairway.  Fairway is great for specialty foods, but terrible for other things...it's just a matter of whether or not you have time to visit another grocery store to find out if saving the 5 bucks is worth it to you.  I'm on a tighter budget these days, and I have the time to shop around, so I did).  Here's a list of ingredients along with what they cost, so you can get a sense of what a bargain this meal was for my family of 4!  My standby curry place lists Chicken Korma at $16.95.  I think it comes with the rice, but add in the Garlic Naan at $3.95, and you're talking over 20 bucks, and there's no guarantee that would feed 4, let alone with leftovers!

Here's what you NEED for a home-cooked curry, YATS-style:

• TastyBites "Good Korma" sauce ($1.99 on sale)
• Garlic Naan (2 large pieces $2.99)
• 6 Frozen boneless chicken tenderloins (we call this "magic chicken" - it cooks from frozen and never disappoints!  The HUGE bag costs $5.99, and I only used 6 pieces (about 2 breasts' worth).  There's plenty more in the freezer for several other uses!)
• Frozen cauliflower florets store brand "steam in bag" variety ($1.79 - I only used half the bag)
• Basmati Rice ($4.99 for a 1 lb. bag...pricey, but this is the variety of rice you need for an Indian cookup!)
• 1 can Swanson fat free chicken broth (.79 on sale)
• Cardamom pods (I had these in the pantry...don't remember how much they cost)

Here's what you DO:

1.  Place 1 cup plus 2 Tbs.  Basmati in a medium-sized microwavable bowl.  Add the can of chicken broth (1 3/4 C), stir to mix, and toss in 4 or 5 cardamom pods.  Put the bowl, uncovered, in the microwave, high power, for 5 minutes.  Once that's going...

2.  Heat 1 Tbs. Olive oil over high heat in a saute pan (I used a braiser, actually).   Add frozen chicken tenderloins, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 3 minutes.  By this time, the microwave is beeping.  Give the rice a quick stir, and cook uncovered for 12 more minutes on 50% power.

3.  Turn your chicken.  Cook for 2 minutes, remove from heat.  The chicken will not be cooked through OR browned - and this is how you want it.  Cut the semi-cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.  Return to braiser and add the 1/2 bag of frozen cauliflower.  Cover and steam over medium heat for 2 or 3 more minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

4.  Add the Good Korma simmer sauce and stir to coat all the pieces.  Let this simmer at low heat until the rice is done.  Meanwhile, on the next BARE burner, gently toast the Naan.  You are doing this over an open gas flame, so your undivided attention is necessary.  I just let the naan sit right on top of the burner and it does the job nicely!  When I see the bread smoking, I use tongs to lift it and move it to a new spot.  Once toasted to your liking, turn off the flame and transfer to serving dish. I cut mine into 4 pieces, otherwise the kids would leave "naan" for us - :P

5.  By now, your rice is done (to perfection, I might add!).  You can toss the cardamom pods or leave them in as garnish.  Don't eat them.   Transfer your curry to a serving dish, or plate onto dishes right from the pan. 

Yum!

So, how did it turn out?  See for yourselves:

As you can see, I did have the expectation that my kids would eat this meal...but I was realistic about it.  The little one needed some apple slices because there was no way he was touching the cauliflower.  He did dog the rice and naan, though.  The older one tried everything, and took an extra spoonful of chicken.  He, too, probably could have done with some apple slices since he didn't eat much cauli, either.  Hubbs wasn't in the mood to eat very much, so we ended up with a lunch-sized leftover...perfect for bringing to work during the week.  All in, this meal probably would feed 2 hungry adults, or 2 sorta hungry adults and 2 picky children :)

Not bad for a Saturday night; it was easy, tasty, and wallet-friendly!  I paired it with a glass of chianti - not my first choice, but it was already opened. 

So, comment and let me know if you would attempt this, or better yet, share your own meal ideas!