August 9th, 2015
Paloma and I made it back home after our nearly two month stay Russia. We spent some quality time with family and friends in my home town, where Paloma took a few classes and got a chance to polish up her swimming, gymnastics and piano skills. The teaching style in Russia is quite different than back home – a lot is asked from the children, and the teachers are quite serious. Paloma didn’t seem to mind and actually had a few important breakthroughs. After all that hard work we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Sochi, swimming in the beautiful waters of the Black Sea (more on Sochi in the next post), hiking in the Caucasus Mountains and wandering around the Moscow center.
Back home in Florida, we still have a bit of time before school begins, to look at the hundreds of pictures we took and share the adventures with our friends over here. I keep a little dish of multicolored glass, polished by the sea, speckled pebbles and shells close by on the counter, to keep reminding myself of the most magical moments of this summer.
Below are a few favorite photos from our travels, starting with the said pebbles.
Caucasus Mountains in the summer.
One of the dozens of the ornate subway stations in Moscow.
Perlov Tea House, a beautiful tea shop and a historic building in Moscow.
One of Stalin’s high rises captured from the Moscow River.
It always takes me some time to adjust to the food here when coming back from the other side of the Atlantic. After eating all the juicy berries, wild mushrooms and my mother’s delicious Russian cooking, it’s hard to find things to be flavorful here, at least for the first couple of weeks. I do crave lots of vegetables and big salads.
This simple daikon pasta was the first dish I cooked back home, satisfying my veggie cravings. In two months without many eastern flavors, I forgot how delicious ginger and coconut milk are. The corn is also sweeter here in my opinion. This was my first attempt at cooking vegetable noodles like pasta – boiled in a pot of salted water – a method I’ve been curious about for a while. I loved the resulting neutral flavor and the noodle texture did resemble very delicate angel hair.
Daikon Radish Pasta with Corn and Tomatoes in Creamy Coconut Sauce
1 medium to large daikon radish
2 ears of corn
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon minced ginger
2 teaspoons sriracha
1 tablespoon lime juice
sea salt
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon smooth almond butter
1-2 handfulls heirloom cherry tomatoes – quartered
handful of basil leaves – torn
microgreens to garnish – optional
1. Cut kernels off the corn ears and set aside.
1. Set a medium pot with salted water over high heat. Peel and cut daikon into noodles, using a juliene peeler, veggie peeler or mandoline. When the water begins to boil, add daikon noodles and cook for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Warm coconut and sesame oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add ginger, sriracha, lime juice, pinch of salt and corn, saute for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add coconut milk, tamari and almond butter, stirring to incorporate until creamy and hot. Add daikon pasta, cook for another 3 minutes, letting all the flavors combine.
4. Turn the heat off, add tomatoes and basil. Serve immediately.
Tags: basil, coconut milk, corn, daikon radish, pasta, tomato
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March 15th, 2015
Spring is in the air, I can tell by the volume of the birds outside my window, which gets louder every morning. Daylight savings was a great help – having that extra hour of light in the evenings feels amazing and allows me to be much more productive towards the end of the day. Soon there will be peas, favas, rhubarb and asparagus. For the time being though, while winter produce is on its way out and spring produce is not quite ready, there are root vegetables.
We’ve been eating variations on this stew for the last couple of weeks, and this version is one of my favorites. It is a hearty one-pot meal that is very simple in preparation.
This dish speaks of both winter and spring, when the earthiness of roasted carrots, parsnips and sweet potatoes is combined with the bright notes of lime juice, ginger, turmeric, cardamom and coconut milk. Red rice and lentils bring substance to the dish, and spinach delivers a good dose of green. Enjoy!
Roasted Root Vegetable, Red Rice and Lentil Stew
serves 6
3 medium carrots
2 medium parsnips
2 small sweet potatoes or 1/2 small winter squash
3 tablespoons coconut oil – divided
few sprigs thyme
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
2 teaspoons cumin seeds – freshly ground
4 green cardamom pods – seeds crushed in mortar and pestle
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
large pinch red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
1 small red chili pepper – sliced (optional)
1 large yellow onion – chopped
3/4 cup red rice such as Ruby Red or Bhutan – rinsed under cold water
handful kaffir lime leaves – bruised with the back of a knife (optional)
1/2 cup green lentils – preferably soaked
1 14 oz can Thai coconut milk
1 large or 2 small limes – zest and juice, plus more for serving
4 cups packed chopped spinach leaves or baby spinach
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Peel and chop vegetables into bite-sized pieces. Toss them in a bowl or right on the baking tray with 1 tablespoon coconut oil and thyme leaves, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast in a single layer for 20-30 minutes, stirring at halftime, until soft and caramelized.
2. Meanwhile, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add spices, ginger, and chili if using, stir around for about a minute, until fragrant. Add onion and saute for about 7 minutes, until translucent.
2. Add rice, big pinch of salt and kaffir lime leaves, if using, stir to mix. Add 4 cups filtered water. Increase the heat, bring to a boil and decrease to a light simmer. Cook, covered, for 15 minutes.
3. Drain and rinse lentils and add them to the pot with rice with a pinch of salt. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes. Test lentils for doneness, if you did not soak your lentils, they might need to be cooked a little longer, cover and simmer for another couple of minutes until lentils are cooked. Add roasted vegetables, coconut milk, zest and juice of lime and another pinch of salt. Stir to mix and let simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to mingle.
4. Remove from heat and stir in spinach to wilt. Taste for salt and pepper, adjust as needed. Serve immediately with more lime juice squeezed over.
Tags: carrots, coconut milk, lentils, parsnip, red rice, rice, spinach, stew, sweet potato, vegan, vegetarian
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August 4th, 2013
This summer has been unusually mild for Florida, and we’ve been able to come out of our AC shelters and enjoy the outside. Evenings are almost cool, especially here on the island, with nice breeze coming through from the gulf. We even decided to celebrate Paloma’s fifth birthday outside, at our beach park this year and I’ve been busy making ice-cream and sorbets for the party. Paloma is very concerned about the menu and has me consulting her on every dish.
These veggie burgers will be one of the main dishes at the party. If I ever had to choose a favourite out of all the recipes I’ve come up with, these Asian flavored burgers will probably take the prize. I must admit that veggie burgers have always seemed boring to me, but after seeing these two, I became fascinated with the idea of creating my own.
Heirloom black Forbidden rice is a fairly recent culinary discovery for me. I love its purplish color and unique texture, especially when cooked in coconut milk with kaffir lime leaves. When first fava beans appeared at the market, I could not resist making a burger featuring the dramatic combination of black and purple rice with the spring green of fava. Since then, I’ve made a few variations of this burger using fresh fava, green peas and edamame – all to amazing results.
These burgers alone contain fireworks of bright flavors and will be delicious with any fixings that you use for your veggie burgers. I like to make asparagus fries to accompany the burger. Their spicy and zesty flavor can convert any asparagus hater.
Another serving idea for the burger are marinated beets. These are a variation of a very popular Russian-Korean salad, where thinly julienned carrots are marinated in a spicy vinaigrette. It’s a mandatory item at any food market in Russia and is often a welcomed dish among the many plates on a holiday table. In Russia we call this salad, literally, Korean Carrots.
Serve the burger on your favourite bread or burger bun, or wrapped into collard green leaves with a thick slice of juicy tomato.
Asian Flavored Veggie Burgers
(makes 8-9 patties)
for the rice
1 cup black Forbidden rice
1 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk
handful of kaffir lime leaves – bruised with the back of a knife
pinch of salt
to prepare the rice
Mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
for the burgers
2 cups shelled edamame or fresh shelled fava beans or green peas
1 cup untoasted pistachio nuts or pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 cups coconut black rice (from above)
1/4 cup ground chia or flax seeds
3 soft dates – pitted and mashed with a fork
2 tablespoons sesame tahini
1 shallot – minced
3 garlic cloves – minced
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 small red chili – seeded and minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Large handful fresh mint leaves – chopped
sea salt to taste
to make the veggie burgers
1. Blanch the edamame for 3-4 minutes in a large amount of well salted boiling water. Transfer into an ice water bath, drain when chilled. If using fresh fava beans, blanch them for 1-2 minutes, then shock in an ice water bath and squeeze each bean out of its outer skin when chilled. If using peas, blanch for 30 seconds, then shock.
2. Grind the pistachio nuts or pumpkin seeds into a coarse meal in a food processor. Grind the coriander, cumin and mustard seeds in a mortar with a pestle or in a designated coffee grinder.
3. In a large bowl, partially mash the edamame, fava or peas with potato masher or fork, leaving bigger pieces and some whole beans here and there.
4. Preheat oven to 475 F. Add rice, ground pistachio nuts, chia meal, dates, tahini, ground spices, shallot, garlic, lime zest and juice, chili, pepper flakes, mint and sea salt.
5. Mix thoroughly with your hands, form burger patties and place them on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. Let cool and serve between slices of this bread with fresh lettuce leaves, marinated beets and a few mint leaves, or wrapped in a collard green leaf with a slice of tomato and marinated beets.
Asparagus Fries
2 tablespoons ground chia or flax seeds
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons purified water
1 asparagus bunch – about 25-30 pieces
1/4 cup ground pistachio or other nuts, or pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for sprinkling (optional)
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds – ground
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
to make the asparagus fries
1. Choose asparagus spears of medium thickness, they shouldn’t be too thin in order to hold their shape. Trim the hard ends of each asparagus spear and discard.
2. In a shallow dish, whisk together the lemon juice, water and chia meal. Set aside and let it form a thin gel.
2. Mix the rest of ingredients in a bowl or shake them in a ziplock bag to combine thoroughly. Pour about 1/3 cup of this mixture onto the large plate.
3. Preheat oven to 395 F. Dip the asparagus, one spear at a time into the lemon-chia mixture, then transfer it to a plate with the dry coating. Using a fork, generously cover it to coat, avoiding touching the spear and the coating with your hands in order to keep the coating on the asparagus and as dry as possible.
4. Carefully transfer coated asparagus spears onto a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Continue to add more of the coating mixture to the plate as it gets used up. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the coating is dry and golden.
5. Remove from the oven and serve immediately. The leftovers will get soggy in the fridge, nevertheless will be still delicious and great for placing between a slice of bread along with the burgers and vegetables.
Marinated Golden Beets
1/2 lb golden beets – thinly julienned
2 1/2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 tablespoon coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 small garlic clove – minced
1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground hot chili pepper
to marinate the beets
Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, mix thoroughly, cover and let marinate for 4 to 24 hours in the refrigerator. Stir again and serve.
Tags: asparagus fries, beets, black rice, coconut milk, edamame, fava, kaffir lime, recipe, vegan, veggie burger
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