For now

I'm taking a break from this blog for awhile.

Roasted broccoli

Today is day one of a return to healthful eating (Dragon's Way), and yes, to being gluten-free and casein-free.  I didn't just fall off the wagon...I fell off, then decided to join a crazy happy dance caravan.  When I came to, it was a long and arduous trek back.

But, I'm here now.

I was recently drawn to Elana's Roasted Broccoli post at Elana's Pantry.  I'd starred it in my Google Reader, tucked it away.

This afternoon, I needed a snack.  Withdrawal from meat and dairy, eggs and sugar, and junk food has hit fast.  I sliced a couple of the giant Mutsu apples that came in our CSA fruit share last week and enjoyed them with the kids. 

I needed something more.  I imagine what I need is protein.  Preferably animal protein.  But a quick glance down at my ample belly tells me otherwise.  There's just no way my body needs meat, dairy or eggs right now.


There's broccoli in the fridge so I distracted myself with trying out a new recipe.  Roasted broccoli.

Honestly?  I was a bit underwhelmed.  My first piece was bitter.  (The emotion associated with the heart system in TCM.)  I took these out at 13 minutes.  They are cooked, I was careful to cut them in small pieces.  But, they are just shy of crunchy.  Next time I'm going to push for 15 minutes and watch for the softness/browning ratio.

To be clear, I think the recipe is sound (the recipe can be found in the link above).  Future tweaking will be based on my own preferences and ensuring the quality of the broccoli I start out with (this head was from the supermarket, not John's farm.)

I'm going to pack these up for adding to stir-fries and scrambles later.  They'd be great on pizza.

Easy chana masala and kale

The "easy" comes from the fact that I did not make this chana masala.  Here's a recipe for chana masala that looks good.  It is one of Red Sox Daddy's fave Indian dishes.

I bought some yesterday morning during a solo week's food shopping trip.  It was early and I was alone at the deli counter at Whole Foods which never happens.  While I was waiting for the usual slow cooked ham and roasted turkey, I had a clear view of the big, pretty (read colorful...orange is a color that just makes me happy) vats of chicken vindaloo and chana masala.

The chana masala was vegan and GF so I went off-list and bought a pint container for Red Sox Daddy.

Fast forward to lunch today.  RSD did not like the texture of the chickpeas so there was quite a bit of the chana masala leftover.  There was also leftover white rice in the rice cooker.  I had some kale calling to me so I made me a chana masala-kale rice bowl.

I reheated the chana masala, sautéed the kale with garlic, and added both to a bowl of rice.  Yum.

Sautéed Kale

1 bunch kale, washed and torn into bite-size pieces

1 large/2 small cloves garlic

extra virgin olive oil to coat the bottom of a sauté pan

Heat olive oil and press garlic into pan. (I love my garlic press, you may do with your garlic what you will)

Add kale.  Stir well.

Lower heat and cover so kale wilts.