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).

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

Have you had your "Greens" today?

The latest issue of Yoga Journal arrived a week and a half ago, and I dove right in (appropriately, as it's the annual "Blue Issue",chock full of stories related to preserving our planet's most valuable resource: Water).  Great articles, as usual; particularly inspiring is this month's home practice sequence and it's cheeky nod to all things aquatic with "Mermaid Pose"!

Anyway, while perusing the magazine (whilst on the Elliptical at the gym - don't judge), I was once again intrigued by the 2-page ad spread on "Vega", a green superfood dietary supplement skillfully developed by professional "IronMan" champion Brendan Brazier.  This ad appears just about every month.  They're really psyched about it, apparently.  According to the ad, it's a complete, nutritional superfood, with an ideal proportion of 40% protein, 30% carb, 30% fat.  It's also prohibitively expensive.  A tub providing enough powder for 7 servings costs $42.50.  I am curious about this type of supplement, but not *that* curious. 

Still, when I had a few minutes to spare as I was near a Vitamin World store, I stopped in to scope out similar products and see what all the fuss is about.  It was, afterall, a 2-page spread.  One of the more affordable options was the GreenSuperfood by Amazing Grass (How punny:  One of the main ingredients is WheatGrass.  They're so clever.)  It's a greenfood blend with Spirulina and Broccoli, an Antioxidant blend, thanks to the Gogi and Acai, a Fiber blend, and a Probiotic Blend complete with acidophilous.

For $22 I picked up a tub of enough powder for 30 servings.  Still a little pricey, but this one, above all others, was guarateed to taste good, and provide a complete nutritional serving of fruits and vegetables from freeze-dried greens ("Raw Food"), not juices.  1 scoop provides 30 calories, 1 g fat, 2 g protein, and 8% of your daily value of fiber.  The container also boasted to restore the Alkalinity to your digestive system.  I recently saw a sales pitch at my gym for some kind of specially filtered water that restores alkalinity by neutralizing all of the acidic foods we consume (diet sodas, gatorades, and probably wine and spirits).  I blew it off, but the second this SuperFoods starts talking about restoring Alkalinity, I was sold! (I'm a sucker.  My husband is in advertising and even he knows I'm a sucker).

So, yesterday morning, I tried my first scoop, shaken, not stirred with good 'ole tap water.  Ugh.  I almost gagged before I could finish the 6 oz.  Almost.  I still managed to wolf down a bowl of cereal and nab a bit of my kids' waffle.  I decided I used the wrong "mixer", so at lunch, I mixed a scoop with a cup of blueberry yogurt.  Not as heinous, but not exactly delicious.  I have absolutely NO aversion to eating my greens - I'll eat vegetables every night of the week, much to the chagrin of my husband, and preferably "Raw", as in a crunchy garden salad - so I'm starting to question my weird desire to eat his superfood.  It's not really "food"...is it "super"?  That remains to be seen.  I'll give it a go, and see how I feel after a week.  I'm $22 in, anyway, might as well...  For now, I have no expectations, so any observable results (more energy, clearer skin, better sleep, more endurance) will be a plus.
What, if any, are your experiences with Powdered Greens?  Thoughts, questions, advice?  All are welcome!

That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.