Tag Archives | rice

Veggie Paella

Veggie Paella

I listened to a podcast recently, a recording of a Lucky Peach event called ‘Eating Out Loud’. Just like the magazine, it was creative, hysterically funny, artistic, irreverent and at times, totally bizarre. Different people spoke/sang/told stories, including Chef David Chang, one of the founders of the magazine (and of Momofuku Restaurant Group and other awesome foodie things).

Veggie Paella

I love him. I loved watching him on Mind of a Chef, I love his passionate but self-deprecating articles in Lucky Peach, I’m totally a fan. Which is why in this podcast, when he referred to paella as ‘the most overrated food in the history of the world’ I had to do the 15 second rewind to make sure I had heard him correctly. It’s not like I share his food philosophy in general, but this still surprised me. Paella?!

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Indian Cauliflower Curry

You guys are going to want to make this. It has everything in it to keep your body busting with health and wellness and spices to keep you warm against the draft of the leaves falling off of the trees. It tastes like the opposite of last week’s (Canadian) thanksgiving dinner (and leftovers) too, an exotic journey in the other direction.

Classically, butter chicken is made with cream and sometimes actual butter, so it makes sense that it was always my fave, it’s basically French food with a charming Indian accent. This dish is inspired by butter chicken but I have changed enough of its components that I don’t think I can get away with calling it butter cauliflower. It is still sort of butter cauliflower though.

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Black Sesame Kale Gomae

You know when you’re starving and you go to a restaurant and can’t wait for them to make your food so you order an appetizer that you know will be quick so that you don’t ruin lunch by being a hangry jerk? That’s how I was introduced to gomae salad.

I have since gotten my blood sugar under control and am generally a nicer person now but my gomae love persists.

Sushi restaurants are abundant where I live. You can get decent sushi on practically every block. I am only reminded that this isn’t the norm in most of the world when my sisters come home from living abroad and want to go for sushi more times in two weeks than I have been all year. That’s a lot of deep-fried tempura potential, so gomae helps to green things up with the help of calcium-rich sesame seeds (…and questionable sugar sources).

Homemade is always better, so of course a recipe for refined sugar-free, raw sesame seed gomae needed to be in my repertoire.

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Stuffed Grapevine Leaves

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This tail-end of the summer business really appeals to me. It’s this in-between summer and fall time when we seem to get the best of both worlds. Sweaters with shorts, jeans with t-shirts, less squinting while on the computer, fewer terrible runs, going to bed at 10pm without feeling nerdy (because it’s actually dark outside), I love it all. Equally great, the subtle shifts in food; soup is back, the tomatoes are still here, apples are crisp and juicy, warm breakfasts, and it’s no longer a sweat-based decision whether or not to turn your oven on.

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Cozying right into ‘pre-fall’, my oven is back in action and I’m making one of my favourite things. Just like this special time of year, this dish reminds me of my Mom, and embraces both really good tomatoes and the (slightly) cooler weather.

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