Daughter Eilene is visiting her sister tonight and this allows us to have something for dinner that she doesn’t like—mushrooms. Last week, I made a Noom adapted sukiyaki that wife Jan really liked. She asked that I make it again, filled with mushrooms.
Karl’s Noom Friendly Vegan Sukiyaki
This dish is Vegan except for the optional addition of a ramen egg
Filed under Main Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
When wife Jan recently bought me blue corn meal, she also purchased some blue masa harina. Masa harina is corn that has been soaked in calcium hydroxide (AKA slaked lime) in a process called nixtamalization. This process has many benefits, making it easier to remove the hulls, breaking down toxins that may be present in the raw corn, and altering the corn’s chemistry—allowing for easier absorption of key nutrients like niacin and letting the corn flour to absorb water to make a dough. The freshly ground corn dough—masa—is dried and then reground to make masa harina.
Blue Corn Tortillas
Tortillas on top made with culinary ash,
those on the bottom made without ash
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan
Today, I am making cornbread with blue corn meal and Hopi culinary ash—this is in no way a traditional Hopi recipe. I was unable to find any recipes online for making this bread. The first reason for this is that culinary ash is almost impossible to come by outside of the Hopi reservation, so I am adapting my own cornbread recipe to the new ingredients.
Karl’s Blue Cornbread with Chilies
Filed under bread, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
Wife Jan asked for za’atar chicken skewers for Mother’s Day and I thought about what should go with it as a side dish. A Mediterranean tomato and cucumber salad came to mind as something I had done before. However, to change things up I decided to throw in some chickpeas—AKA garbanzo beans. My meat marinade used most of a carton of yogurt and—to pair the salad with the main dish—I added the rest of the yogurt to the dressing.
Karl’s Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
Filed under Salads, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
My wife Jan has started on the Noom program, and I am adapting recipes to fit the new restrictions. While there is nothing really restricted on this diet, some foods are better than others—you are meant to fill up on “green foods” with some limited “yellow foods” to keep you happy and satisfied. Finally, there are “red foods”—foods like white flour and sugar that are to be severely limited in this diet. She requested orzo shrimp for dinner and I adapted the recipe to be more Noom friendly. The real goal of Noom is to reduce the amount of “red foods”—like butter and to include more “green foods” like vegetables.
Karl’s Lemon Orzo Florentine with Pan Seared Garlic Shrimp
Filed under Main Dishes, Pasta, Shrimp
I am making dinner for Daughter Eilene’s friends and I had decided to have green beans as a side dish. Since my main dish was a French flavored meatloaf, I chose to use French Harcourt Verts with French thyme and chervil—French parsley. While Harcourt Vert simply means “green bean” in French, they are usually picked younger, and are thinner—and tenderer—than the Blue Lake variety that is most popular in the US.
Karl’s Harcourt Verts with Thyme and Chervil
Filed under Beans, Side Dishes, Vegetarian
I am making broiled salmon for a weekday dinner and I usually make some kind of rice dish to go with it. Recently, I learned a new—to me—way of preparing basmati rice. The rice is par-boiled in a lot of water, drained, and then steamed with any additional ingredients. One of the fondly remembered dishes of my mother Claudia was green rice. Today, I decided to expand on my mother’s recipe by adding spinach—al la Florentine.
Karl’s Rice Florentine
Filed under Rice, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian
This is another of those dishes that we were served in at the Panda House restaurant. I have tried to replicate this dish before, but I think this one comes closer than my last attempt. In America, we had always eaten our cucumbers either raw or pickled. It simply would not have occurred to me to fry something like a cucumber. However, because of the dangers of using night soil as fertilizer, the Chinese cook almost all of their vegetables—the rest are pickled.
Karl’s Sichuan Stir Fried Cucumbers
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
I was making my birthday dinner and I wanted something to go with my barbecued lamb. I looked on-line for suggested side dishes. I saw some things I liked, but mostly it gave me ideas for what I would make.
Karl’s Parsley Potatoes with Slow Roasted Leeks
Filed under Potatoes, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
I was making my birthday dinner and I wanted side dishes to go with my barbecued lamb. I looked on-line for ideas. I decided to have green beans as one of my dishes. I adapted a recipe from Spruce Eats to suit my tastes and needs.
Karl’s Slow Roasted Harcourt Verts with Za’atar Breadcrumbs
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
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Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 