Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Little pot of bubbling goodness seeks lentil patties, sweet potato fries, or pretty much anything else. I recently made  this recipe  from Crumb Blog for lentil patties with tomato jam. The lentil patties were pretty good, but the tomato jam was really something to write home about. It's one of those foods that makes you feel warm, even when it's cold. It has just the right balance of sweetness, acidity, and spice. The mustard seeds are a must (haha, must ard seeds). Their crunch, and the little burst of toasty peppery flavor that follows, are amazing in contrast to the rest of the flavors. The next time you're tempted to put ketchup on something, consider this instead.  I have a little bit of this gold left over in the freezer. I'm thinking I may thin it out with vegetable broth and use it as a sauce for a stir-fry. Stay tuned for the results. The only change I made to this recipe was upping the amount of mustard seeds. I think 1 tsp is the perfect a

The perfect Sunday lunch. My friend Jill is a fabulous cook who throws fabulous dinner parties. One night, she served root vegetable soup, and it was the most fabulous of the many fabulous things I've eaten at her house. I demanded the recipe and it's become one of my favorites. I've made a few changes: First, I replaced heavy cream with milk, which I actually like better because the flavor of the vegetables really comes through. I replaced chicken stock with vegetable stock because I usually have it handy, and again, it really brings out the flavor of the vegetables. Next, I added cayenne pepper, because the spice in the midst of creamy soup makes it really interesting. And then I added goat cheese, because I have a tendency to add goat cheese to things. It was a good addition. If spinach/avocado pesto wasn't reason enough to get an immersion blender, consider this recipe your reason. If you used it only one time, to make this soup, it would be worth the inves

Garlicky, creamy goodness. There was a time when pesto required the availability of fresh basil. When making it involved purchasing expensive pine nuts (or cheating with walnuts). When eating it involved the consumption of much olive oil. I dreamed a dream that pesto might be healthier, and cheaper, and maybe even creamy like the pesto at  Nib  without adding gobs of heavy cream. That dream came true when my friend Cassadie mentioned avocado pesto on  her brilliant blog . I decided to try this recipe from Perry's Plate , and I actually still follow it in its original form except that I add more garlic, because I add more garlic to almost everything. The avocado and yogurt make it creamy without being heavy. And it has a ton of spinach in it, so I don't even have to serve a vegetable with it. Although, in the summer, it's really delicious with sugar snap peas mixed in. All of the green in this recipe is spinach. I have tried it with a mixture of spinach and b

Hurry up and cook. I want to eat you. Recently on Pinterest, I've been seeing lots of variations on higher-protein pancakes that involve just egg and banana and maybe one or two other ingredients. I started playing around with these, and I think I've discovered my favorite take on this method. My added ingredient is buckwheat, which provides that texture and bite that are lacking in the egg and banana alone. It also keeps me full longer. I eat these with a dollop of plain yogurt for some contrasting cold creaminess, and maybe some kind of fruit topping (like deliciously tart strawberries that I canned in the summer). The Recipe: 1 banana, mashed 1 egg 1/4 c whole buckwheat Pinch sea salt Mix all of the ingredients together Cook on griddle just like any old pancake The Verdict: Overall grade: B+ Overall reason: Some zing would be nice, to offset the banana's sweetness. Orange zest? Time to prepare: 6 minutes Husband quote: Zzzzzzzzz........

My favorite winter meal. Also excellent in the spring, fall, and summer. Since I'm constantly finding and inventing new recipes, there are very few recipes that I make with any regularity. This chili is an exception, and appears on our table at least once a month. Note to meat-eaters: It's based on this  turkey chili  recipe from Food Network. I made it with turkey for a long time and it's excellent, so feel free to substitute turkey or other meat if you don't enjoy bird seed (I mean, fermented soy bean products) like I do. I've also tinkered with the spices and added more vegetables. The Recipe: 1 tb olive oil 1 red onion 4 garlic cloves, minced 5 jalapeno slices, minced 10 mushrooms, chopped finely 2 celery stalks, chopped finely 2 bell peppers (red/yellow/orange are good), chopped finely 1 tb tomato paste 2 tb red wine 1 pound tempeh, crumbled 2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes 1 (16-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed 1 c quinoa, rin

I hope I don't turn any readers away by featuring cilantro in my first photo. My current food obsession is black rice. I was first introduced to it at  Sushi Pure . It's purple when cooked, and I was completely smitten when purple sushi arrived at our table. I mean, purple sushi! It was like my birthday or something. Actually, it might have been my birthday, because I pretty much always have sushi on my birthday, but anyway. It's kind of sweet and has this great chewy texture. When I learned  how healthy it is , my crush evolved to full-out love. Sushi Pure's Spicy Tuna Roll (photo from FoodSpotting.com) In my ongoing research for ingredients that are low in calories but high in nutrition, adzuki (also spelled azuki) beans came up. I learned that these are the sweet red beans used in Japanese desserts, including red bean ice cream, which I've been obsessed with since I was a kid. But since turning them into ice cream probably negates the health benef