Naan (nan, non, n’n, neng) means bread and usually refers to leavened flat bread. There is a wide assortment of breads that go by that name. Some are small (Afgan), some are snowshoe shaped (Indian) and some are not even very flat at all (Tajik). In Xinjiang, the naan are big, round and flat in the middle. This bread was the most available, the safest thing to eat on the street and also the tastiest. We ate this bread every day while we were traveling through Xinjiang.
Karl’s Uyghur Carrot Salad
For Mother’s Day, Jan has requested Uyghur Shashlik and Naan for dinner. Normally, if I was making these dishes, I would make a tomato and cucumber salad as the side dish. For me this has gotten to be a bit boring and predictable. I want to do something else.
Filed under Salads, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
Karl’s Hot Pickled Cauliflower and Red Peppers
I don’t recall seeing cauliflower for sale in the Kashgar Sunday Market, but I want to do something different than the same old pickled cucumbers.
Filed under Pickles, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
Karl’s Central Asian Tomato and Cucumber Salad
When I make shashlik and naan I always make this salad to go with it.
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Filed under Salads, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables
Jan’s Grilled Fruit Skewers
Jan saw a bunch of fruit at the farmer’s market and thought, “What goes with lamb skewers? Fruit skewers!” Some of the fruit was not quite ripe and I suggested that since I would already have the grill going we could throw them on. Jan thought this was a good idea.
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Filed under Other, Side Dishes, Vegan
Papa’s Fine Soup
This is my first recipe ever to have a name. I first made this soup when Miriam was a small child. More than once she would toddle up and ask for “Papa’s fine soup” for dinner.
Filed under Main Dishes, Soups, Vegan, Vegetarian MD
Karl’s Veracruz-style Fish Tacos
Two weeks ago, Chris asked for Veracruz-style Fish Tacos. He had had these at a restaurant and they claimed that they were just like the ones sold on the beaches of Veracruz, Mexico.
I looked on-line and what my search brought up was many recipes for Fish Veracruz (a baked whole fish smothered in a salsa of tomatoes, onions, green olives and capers. This could be a problem. Myr doesn’t like capers, and none of the girls think green olives belong in a tomato sauce.
Filed under Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices, Seafood
Karl’s Casamiento Veracruz (Black Beans and Rice) with Grilled Mexican Green Onions
I wanted a side dish to go with my Veracruz Fish Tacos and the marriage [casamiento] of black beans and rice seems a natural. In reading about the cuisine of Veracruz black beans are a must.
Veracruz being as first port of call on the east coast of Mexico had more contact with Europe than other parts of the Mexican interior. The joining together of the Old World rice with the New World beans is almost symbolic of Veracruz’s historic position as the place where European, black slave and indigenous native cultures combined to form something new.
Filed under Side Dishes, Starches, Vegetables
Karl’s Salsa Fresca
Topping for the fish tacos. This salsa may be used with any Mexican meal. Indian Chili power is a favorite of mine. It includes the whole chili (seeds and all) and has a lot more flavor than Cayenne pepper.
Filed under Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetables









