Okrasaurus

I don't like shopping lists. I like going to the store (Berkeley Bowl mmmm) and figuring out what's going to happen inside my stomach for the next week or two once I actually get there. So last week I settled on a little crop of okra, and a small bunch of dinosaur kale. I tried making Bhindi Bhaji (http://www.indianfoodforever.com/vegetables/bhindi-bhaji.html) but I won't put up my own altered recipe for it until I'm happier with the result. Here's some okra though! I ate it all.



And I made some kale chips (see Amanda's recipe for chard chips a few posts down) with the dinosaur kale. With some freshly ground garlic chips and sea salt. Mm mm mmm.



I got thirsty, so I made a quick banana shake (banana + ice + milk + blender, wapoosh!) This got me discussing ice with a friend who went through a rough patch where her dependence on the stuff was just a little too much for her to handle. One fine afternoon, we made ourselves a snack of ice, pudding, and chocolate fudge. Best meal I've ever had. It is worth it to face the gates of Porter Ranch just to have Angela (aforementioned friend) make you a glass of that fine concoction. And she's promised to make me my first Orange Julius over the summer!

And yes, I did just redo the layout. That is my tongue you are staring at. Four times. I hope Amanda likes it, this will be news to her.

-Anna

A Glass o' Lassi on a Rainy Day

There will also be cookies in this post. Stay tuned.

As a little girl, I thought my sister (13 years older than me) was the coolest thing ever. She always took my family to the most exotic restaurants. Well, at least I thought they were, because I'm pretty sure I hadn't heard of Indian food yet. So we order some grub, finding ourselves questioning just how much we desired to taste some of the foods we'd ordered. Sometimes a long, bright pink sausage isn't the most tempting meal. But we went ahead and ate everything, unaccustomed to there being spice in food. And by spice I mean the hot kind. My sister was the only smart one, ordering a big glass of chilled mango lassi to calm her fiery taste buds. At the time, I blegh'd. I'm not sure why, because I liked yogurt, and i liked mango. Fortunately for you all, tastes change. So here you have it: mango lassi.


(based on this recipe)



What you need:

some means of blending (I used a cuisinart hand blender)
1 large ripe mango (yielding a cup of diced mango pulp)
1 c nonfat yogurt
1/4 tsp cardamom
4 or 5 ice cubes



Blend all of these things. Strain. Transfer to a glass. Drink.

I did not strain, and this was not a problem. I don't think it would have made much of a difference at all. Not a single mango hair found in my teeth!

You can add a few tablespoons of sugar before blending, but this was sweet enough for me.

I would also add a little less cardamom, because the flavor was a bit overwhelming. My roommate thought it tasted carroty. At some point I'll be adding some cinnamon to this.

I only read the wikipedia page on lassi after making this, but now I know to sprinkle some pistachio pieces on top of my lassi. And to get some Bhang Lassi next time I'm in India.



||
V



Cardamom Cookies

Making these cookies was a disaster. I'm no good at making cookies. But I found some nice ducks in the rubble.

What you need:

1/2c unsalted butter
1c sugar
1tsp ground cardamom
2 eggs
1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt


Preheat an oven to 325F.

Beat the butter, sugar, and cardamom together. Add eggs to this, one at a time. When well-combined, add the flour and salt and lightly mix with a spoon. Next, you can try dropping the dough onto a greased cookie sheet with a spoon, 1/2in apart. If you are like me, your cookies will form one unified cookie sheet. You will then watch this sheet til it is firm, remove it, and use a duck-shaped cookie cutter to shape the cookies, put them back in the oven til crispy and golden brown, and save the non-duck cookie bits for your mom.

I tried adding some more flour to remaining dough, but I needed to have flattened out the ploomped dough on the sheet. Edges too crispy. Tasted great though ! People really liked my ducks. I really liked my ducks


(based on this recipe, halved)

OH I almost forgot to mention something. Amanda and I made cardamom cookies at the exact same time. Without having planned this, or even bringing up cardamom cookies. That is how important these cookies are to the world.