Homemade Indian Food + Strawberries to Boot

I've tried many times to make Indian food at home, and it always came out lackluster. Well, thanks to the latest recipe I've tested for Joy -- no more! For last night's dinner I made a delicious daal from mung beans and spices. I served it with brown basmati rice and homemade chapati bread for scooping.

Mung Bean Daal:


Chapati {simple Indian flatbread}:


For dessert I made up some quick chocolate-covered strawberries. My husband was surprised and happy about them. They are romantic and look like they take a lot of work, but they are really so quick and easy:

Ras el Hanout Roasted Beets

So...I couldn't stay away for long, apparently. I got bored with work, so Oliver and I decided to go into the kitchen and make some lunch!

We decided to make Joy's recipe for Ras el Hanout Roasted Beets.

Ras el Hanout is a North African spice mixture, and is used in African and Moroccan food.

I had to make the Ras el Hanout mixture from scratch, as I couldn't find it at a store:



I also made a Cashew Crema to go on top, which is a vegan version of creme fresh. It is very tangy with a hint of lime, and super delicious on anything savory:



The beets were roasted in the Ras el Hanout and a mixture of garlic and various other seasonings. After they came out of the oven, I drizzled them in the Cashew Crema. Yum yum! Best lunch I've had in a while:



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As an aside, I swear Oliver is the cutest thing ever. He sees me cooking a lot, and today he's been copying me. He stole a couple of my measuring cups while I was unloading the dishwasher, and he's been sitting with his bucket of toys, measuring his cars and Star Wars figures and then dumping them into his toy bucket. He stirs it all with the flag from his Wonder Pets flyboat. Just a few minutes ago he was going around picking up every little bit of anything he could find on the floor, putting it in his measuring cup, and stirring it with the straw from his sippy cup. Crazy kid!

Carrots -- Not just for cute bunnies!

Last night for dinner and this morning for breakfast I tested two more of Joy's recipes, both involving grated carrot. Carrots lend a fresh sweetness to a dish, and are high in vitamins A and C, which help your eye-sight, lower your cholesterol, and reduces your chance of cancer and heart attacks.

For dinner I made Agave Mustard Poppyseed dressing and put it over a huge salad of romaine hearts, shredded carrots, grape tomatoes, raisins, and sunflower seeds:



For breakfast this morning I made Early Gray Carrot Muffins. They were spicey and sweet and a great way to start off the day!



I promise someday before too long I'll write about more than just food, but being so absorbed in recipe testing yields lots of pictures!

Adventures in Vegan Cheese

I don't know if I've mentioned it in this blog yet...but I'm vegan. Perhaps I'll make a post on the whys and hows at some point in the future, but for now, suffice it to say that I don't eat anything that used to have a mother, or came from something that used to have a mother. The end.

I've only been vegan for a short while, and I hadn't yet ventured into the intimidating world of vegan cheese...until today. My first attempt was actually somewhat successful. It was a test recipe for Chevre from Joy's cookbook. It's made from cashews, and set with agar flakes {a vegetarian "gelatin"}. After a bit of trial and tribulation, I was finally able to concoct a cheese-like substance that tasted like a rich fancy imported cream cheese. Overall, I'm impressed with the results.

I spread some of the Chevre on pieces of whole grain toast and topped them with strawberry preserves:



Then I froze one log of the Chevre to bring it to a cut-able texture. I sliced it into rounds, dipped the rounds in soy milk, coated them thoroughly in panko bread crumbs, and then baked them in the oven until they were golden brown. I used these rounds in a Raspberry & Baked Chevre Salad w/ Pineapple Champagne Vinaigrette. The salad had raspberries and macadamia nuts and little chunks of pineapple. It was a gorgeous light summer lunch:





To go with the salad, I made another of Joy's test recipes: skinny chewy Savory Sticks!



All in all it was a good day, and I had a lot of fun in the kitchen! I can't wait to do some more cooking tomorrow.

The Perfect Summer Dinner

Tonight I tested yet another of Joy's recipes: Three Bean Salad of Cannelloni, Garbanzo, and Green Beans. It is, as the title would suggest, composed primarily from Cannelloni, Garbanzo, and Green Beans. :D However, what the title fails to highlight are the bright tomatoes, peppery arugula, and luscious thyme vinaigrette. This was the perfect dinner for a hot summer night, and such a snap to make:

Joy's Recipes Rock!

I've been doing some more testing this past weekend -- okay, a lot of testing -- and it's official...Joy's recipes rock! When Joy's book is published, everyone in the world should buy it, as it is bound to be incredible.

Here's what I've been testing...


Sunshine Slaw {made with kumquats!}


Wild Mushroom Pate


Edamame Pesto


Savory Farina


Spicy Balsamic Syrup


Rosemary Fig Focaccia


Greens Au Gratin {kale, spinach, and swiss chard in a sauce made from sunchokes}


Asparagus w/ Creamy Saffron Sauce


Chocolate Chip Cookies {made w/ part oat flour}


Roasted Garlic Dip


Carribean Potato Salad

Mushrooms & Grapes

Okay, well not really. I didn't really cook something combining mushrooms and grapes. That would be adventurous of me though, wouldn't it? Ace, that's your next challenge: make me a recipe including both mushrooms and grapes. :D

In any event, I did a bit more cookbook testing this afternoon, and I thought I'd post the results:


Wild Rice Mushroom Soup w/ Vermouth


Peanut Butter Shortbread w/ Concord Grape Sorbet

Both recipes were wonderfully good. Joy {the cookbook author} is so wonderfully creative. I feel so privileged to be testing for her book.

Recipe Testing - Sway

I apologize for the lack of posts, but between the baby, work, and cooking...my life has been insane!

I've taken a break from the cookbook I've been writing to help a publisher test another cookbook that is due to be out this fall.

I don't have much time to write, but here are a few pictures of the recipes I've tested so far...


Cranberry Scones


Vanilla Custard


Strawberry Shortcake {made with scones + vanilla custard}


Perfect Potatoes {seasoned with rosemary and served with grilled portabella and greens}

As I'm heavy into the recipe testing at the moment, I promise more food-pr0nalicious posts to come!