Did you know there was a moratorium on factory farming by the Public Health Association? Did you know that factory farms are a breeding ground for disease? With animals packed in crates with no room to even turn around, and laying in their own feces, what else could happen except for several different strains of diseases that are passable to humans and then in turn cause pandemic and panic? Stop saying that “the animals are going to die anyway” and wake up. Animals –whether you think they belong on your dinner plate or not –deserve better treatment. And if you’re too selfish to understand why, then at least think about your health.
This bread was adapted from a Kitchenaid Mixer recipe for white bread, and I think it is pretty close to Macaroni Grill’s famous rosemary bread. It would probably be a dead on copy cat if it were baked on a stone. I have never had luck with my pizza stone (don’t buy the Oneida pizza stone, it fails every time) so i just put the bread on a regular baking sheet. The bottom came out very, very soft and not crisp. This was disappointing, but I was expecting it.
I like it fresh-out-of-the-oven with herbed olive oil, but it’s fantastic for sandwiches. Just slice and toast the bread, add some grilled eggplant, peppers, or portabella mushrooms and vegan mayo or herbed olive oil as a dressing.
Rosemary Music:
Rosemary Bread Recipe:
2 cups flour plus more if needed (up to 1/2 cup)
1 pkg dry active yeast (1.75 gram packet – about 1 tablespoon)
1 cup water heated to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, divided
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons melted vegan margarine like Earth Balance (see directions)
MIX yeast packet, water, and sugar in a bowl. It should become frothy and bubbly.
ADD 2 cups flour, margarine, salt, and 1 tablespoon of chopped rosemary. Knead for about 10 minutes by hand, and around 4 minutes if you have a stand mixer using a dough hook on speed 2. Dough should be smooth and elastic. If it is still too watery or sticky then add up to 1/2 cup more flour until you get the right smooth consistency.
PLACE dough in a large well oiled bowl. Cover with towel and let sit in a warm place for 1 hour (I usually place it in the oven -with the light on if it’s winter!)
PUNCH dough down and divide in half. Wait about five minutes. On a well greased cookie sheet, shape* dough into two loaves. Sprinkle remaining rosemary on top of two loaves, using your finger to push in gently. Let rest for 45 minutes.
PREHEAT oven to 375 degrees. Brush loaves with remaining 2 teaspoons of melted margarine.
BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
Full disclaimer: I want to take credit for it, but it’s totally my mom’s recipe. I had nothing to do with it. Well, I took the picture. But that’s it.
I’m actually not a fenugreek person, at all. It’s such an odd herb and I often feel like it’s an intruder in what would otherwise be tasty dishes. However, in this recipe it’s the main star and it’s really lovely. I really like that my mom adds cherry or grape tomatoes to it, because it helps balance out the bitterness of fenugreek. My mom garnishes it with cilantro leaves, which is also atypical from the standard recipes. I’m a big fan of cilantro, so I often add in more.
For leftovers, I totally recommend eating it cold with corn tostadas and lots of fresh cilantro. I don’t know why, but it’s freaking fantastic.
Methi Music:
*sidenote: When I was growing up, I never in a million years thought there would be an English song with my name in it. I thought the best I could hope for was Tara (and that too, pronounced the Gone with the Wind way). So you can understand why I love this song so.
Aloo Methi Recipe:
about 1.5 lbs of potatoes (3 to 4 small potatoes) cut roughly into cubes
1 bunch methi (fresh fenugreek leaves)
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
salt to taste (I usually use a teaspoon or so)
2 tablespoons water
Optional:
1 green chili, seeded and chopped (heat)
4 cherry tomatoes (I like the sour balance)
Cilantro leaves for garnish
1/8 teaspoon mustard seeds (totally optional)
HEAT 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add mustard seeds and green chili if desired. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for about a minute. Add turmeric and potato and cook for about 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt.
ADD 2 tablespoons of water to pan, cover immediately and bring down heat to low simmer. Let it cook for about 8 to 10 minutes. Check on potatoes at this point. If you find that potatoes are sticking to the pan, add as much as two tablespoons of water to deglaze. Continue simmering for another 8 minutes.
STIR in methi (add tomato here if desired). Cook for additional 5 minutes or until potatoes are soft, but still hold shape (ie, not mashable by just sautéing). Taste to see if you need to add more salt. Garnish with cilantro leaves on top.
Tomorrow is the 25th Anniversary of Meat Out! Why should you take just 1 day to go veg? Because one day is better than nothing.
Also: the other day I received a facebook message saying that vegetable based diet is “unnatural.” This irked me. So I linked him here:
And now look at this:
Which one seems natural to you?
I understand that we’ve evolved into heavy meat eaters. But you should understand that this has taken a toll on the planet, on animals, and on our health. The way we get our meat is totally ridiculous and completely unnatural, in my opinion. I chose to move beyond it. If you don’t, that’s your call. But I think maybe, it would be nice if one day out of the year, and if your heart is bigger than that - then one day of the week, be a conscious eater. The planet will thank you.
Whenever I think of St. Patrick’s day, my mind always turns to Maggie ordering a green beer. And, since the holiday doesn’t really mean all that much to me, I decided, in honor of the lovely Maggie (who is stationed in Iraq & can’t have a green beer), I would attempt to make a green drink and post on here. Not beer though. I know nothing about beer. o.O
So I went with a spinach smoothie.
Don’t exit out of the browser yet. Don’t gag. Don’t turn away in disgust. Trust me, this tastes nothing like spinach. You won’t even know it’s in there. It’s freakishly awesome. I swear, if I ever have kids, I’m totally going to serve them this. It’s the most ridiculously cunning way to get in loads of veggies in when you don’t want to deal with the taste.
After googling “green smoothie recipes” I came across greensmoothiechallenge.com where I found tips and a few recipes for smoothies. I didn’t have a complete set of ingredients for any of the smoothies. So I decided to just combine all three. I took the banana from the first, spinach from the second, and pineapple from the third.
Since it wasn’t really a recipe but more of a throw-it-in-the-blender-and-see-what-happens type thing, I decided to just show it to you guys in pictures.
Spinach Smoothie Music:
INGREDIENTS: 1 cup spinach, 1 banana, few chunks of pineapple.
METHOD: Throw it all in a blender and add about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water. I just filled to the “max” line in my little drink blender:
BLEND!
DRINK!
Notes: I’ve made this twice now, and the only thing I would recommend would be to make sure that your banana is ripe. I used a banana on the greenish side (unripe) because I was impatient and I just really wanted one. The drink was still good, still no spinach-taste, still yum –but not even close to the addictiveness of the first drink. I drank that first one down like there was no tomorrow. So if you’re a green-smoothie-virgin, go easy on yourself and get a sweet banana. Trust me.
This bread was adapted from a Kitchenaid Mixer recipe for white bread, and I think it is pretty close to Macaroni Grill’s famous rosemary bread. It would probably be a dead on copy cat if it were baked on a stone. I have never had luck with my pizza stone (don’t buy the Oneida pizza [...]
Full disclaimer: I want to take credit for it, but it’s totally my mom’s recipe. I had nothing to do with it. Well, I took the picture. But that’s it.
I’m actually not a fenugreek person, at all. It’s such an odd herb and I often feel like it’s an intruder in what would [...]
Tomorrow is the 25th Anniversary of Meat Out! Why should you take just 1 day to go veg? Because one day is better than nothing.
Also: the other day I received a facebook message saying that vegetable based diet is “unnatural.” This irked me. So I linked him here:
Whenever I think of St. Patrick’s day, my mind always turns to Maggie ordering a green beer. And, since the holiday doesn’t really mean all that much to me, I decided, in honor of the lovely Maggie (who is stationed in Iraq & can’t have a green beer), I would attempt to make a green [...]
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I don’t know what my fascination is with green food is, but I love cooking green things. It just makes me happy for some reason. I was going to go with an Asian type of dish today because I needed to finish off some frozen vegetables, but decided to use up the over priced basil [...]
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My name is Asha and I'm a vegetarian. This blog is contains recipes rants and reviews.
