Mushroom And Lima Bean Stew, Indian-Style

I've long refrained from writing about ex-vegetarians-- yes, those who go back to eating meat -- because I do believe that a sustainable and lifelong commitment to vegetarianism can only be born of a deliberate, conscious and, above all, ethical choice. Clearly, there was something about the ethics of snuffing out a sentient animal's life that this bunch did not get in the first place, so why waste my breath trying to convince them?

But in recent weeks, the topic has gained intense media scrutiny. And recent confessions of a return to non-vegetarianism by high-profile former vegans like Angelina Jolie, Ginnifer Goodwin and Zooey Deschanel have given the meat-eating majority an opportunity to slap their thighs and yell, "See! Humans were meant to eat meat!" After all, if these stars-- with their wealth and resources-- could not stay healthy on a vegan diet, how can the rest of us?

Mango Cashew Cream

A quick post today about a recipe so cooling, so delicious, so refreshing in these dog days of summer that I couldn't wait to share it.

Mango is unequivocally my favorite fruit-- and if you have ever spent a summer in India you would know why. Come summer, Indian fruit and vegetable markets overflow with ripe, golden, juicy mangoes. Their scent perfumes the humid air, and there's nothing quite like the experience of taking one home, tearing open the skin with your teeth, and biting into the rich, velvety flesh as the juice flows down your arm.

The mangoes I get here in the U.S. are nowhere near as delicious (although Desi insists champagne mangoes are somewhat close), and when I cook with mangoes I prefer to buy the tinned pulp of the Alphonso mango-- unarguably the king of all mangoes--from the Indian grocery store.

Vegetable Biryani

Food spawns traditions-- or maybe it's the other way round. But you get what I mean, don't you?

Most of life's biggest celebrations, observations, and events center around food, gorgeous food. Special kinds of foods mark special occasions. Growing up, food was always the centerpiece of just about any day in our lives that was out of the ordinary. Puran Poli for Holi. Modaks for Ganesh Chaturthi. Chavde, Chakali, and Karanjis for Diwali. Shrikhand-Puri for Gudi Padva, the Maharashtrian new year (while most dishes were usually made at home, the Shrikhand was always bought "ready-made" from the bustling, family-owned Vijay Store in Vile Parle which made, unarguably, the best shrikhand ever).

When there was nothing to celebrate, the food alone would sometimes lift a day above mere ordinariness.

Herb Roti

Herbs are running amok in my backyard, and I couldn't be happier. But there is something like too much of a good thing. The first year we moved into our home, I planted an innocent looking sprig of mint in a corner of one of my vegetable beds. Little did my green-behind-the-ears gardener self know that by the following year the mint would take over the entire bed and by this summer it was beginning to break out past a brick barrier to take over the rest of the yard.

As much as I love mint, it got to the point where I finally gave in to Desi and let him uproot all of the mint. I saved just a couple of sprigs that I have now planted in a pot, and they're already flourishing. I am sure I will have all the mint I need in no time, and my vegetable bed will be able to play host to more veggies. Live and learn.

Whole-Wheat Saffron Buns

Summer's arrived, scorching and sweltering, and as much as I longed for it in winter, I find myself now wondering, why? There's one big bonus, though, for the vegetable gardener-- I can see my eggplant, okra, tomatoes, beets, and spinach growing almost daily. If I watched long enough and hard enough, I might just see the zucchini grow!

I made raised vegetable beds this year, instead of just mixing new soil into the existing one on the ground, as I did in past years. This was followed by multiple trips to the store to buy enough topsoil and humus to fill them up. I have Desi to thank in big part, because who do you think put the veggie beds together and then hauled all that soil?

I learned a thing or two about raised vegetable beds that I thought I'd share.

One, be sure that the wood you buy is not treated with chemicals (as a lot of wood meant for the outdoors is), because they will leach into your soil and get into your veggies. After walking through Home Depot twice and finding that they did not carry untreated wood that was also long-lasting, like oak or cedar, I settled for reasonably priced oak beds from a local nursery. They were sold precut and notched and all, and all Desi had to do was nail them together, which took him just a few minutes.

Second, you need a 50-50 proportion of topsoil to humus (or soil conditioner) to get a decent vegetable bed going. And, of course, try to buy organic if possible.