Noodly

Oh dear it has been too long. The dream of life has been distracting me from the internet dream world.. not such a bad thing I suppose.

I am getting into Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian these days.. it is such a great book, full of unique recipes and reliable basics. His philosophy is simple: not too many ingredients, not too much fussiness. He provides templates for you to experiment with with whatever you have on hand.

Recently I've tried chickpea fries, which you make up a lot like polenta; an even mix of water and channa (chickpea) flour, salt and pepper, simmered briefly and then poured on to a baking pan to chill for 15 minutes. You then cut them into fries or wedges and fry in oil. A great way to sneak more protein into a meal.

Also, you can make egg 'noodles' by making a Japanese-style omelet (ie: poured extremely thin, like a crepe...) and folding it up and slicing it. I made this simple mushroom soup with egg noodles the other day, which took about 20 minutes to prepare and really hit the spot (the spot being a Japanese food craving).

There are also several great seaweed recipes. I had been trying to replicate the Planet Organic edamame and arame salad to no avail, but Bittman's salad is bang on. I have grown to love seaweed over the years.. I remember when I first lived in South Korea I couldn't handle the texture, but by the end of my time there myeok guk was a go-to comfort food. It, like all seaweed dishes, is very high in iron and other minerals harder to obtain from a vegetarian diet. In Korea it is known as the best food for pregnant women.

I've also been enjoying the recent chatter around town about food, sustainability, and local issues. Interesting to see these conversations enter the mainstream.

Avenue featured an article about urban foraging and another about chickens in the city.
There is talk of an actual farmer's market in the city, as opposed to a warehouse that sells organic produce from Mexico.

Also fighting the temptation to start sprouting seeds.. this time of year in Calgary is always a tease, promising spring but I know there are months of snow ahead. So instead I just troll seed catalogs, and live vicariously through bloggers further south. I'm looking forward to a workshop in May with Daniel Vitalis through The Light Cellar which promises to be interesting.