Baked Rice Pudding

Today I made the Baked Rice Pudding (page 445). It's a nice recipe for when you have some extra rice already cooked. You bake it until this light brown skin forms on the top, so the photo is only showing the skin. The dates add a subtle dimension to the dish, and it's a good, wholesome sweet pudding... and did I say very easy?

Squash-Pecan Casserole with Dried Cranberries

Well, I have to confess to taking a few liberties with today's recipe. I made the Squash-Pecan Casserole with Dried Cranberries on page 133 with Delicata squash. It's a very sweet casserole and it made a wonderful vata pacifying dish with all the flavors of Thanksgiving.

Minestrone

The Minestrone (page 222) soup turned out wonderful. John called it "perfect comfort food" and I couldn't agree more. The recipe was easy to follow and it seemed that you could use the vegetables you have on hand if you were missing any ingredients. One of the things I really like about Miriam's soup recipes is that she has you sauté the spices (even leaf spices) first in oil to bring out the flavors and it does the job. You can smell the spice aromas even after an hour of simmering the soup. The entire kitchen smells all 'welcome home'... mmmm

Lentil Burgers and Avocado Mayonnaise

Lentil Burgers (page 199) was a recipe that I was expecting to be fairly easy but some issues came up during cooking. First of all, the recipe said one cup of lentils... which kind? I guessed the common brown type. Then the next issue for me was that they were too wet to form patties, maybe I needed to cook them longer or on a higher heat... but instead, I added a bit of flour to dry them out. I fried a few in the skillet and baked the rest. Miriam gives you a choice and I wanted to see what the difference would be. I put a burger in a pita pocket and added plenty of Avocado Mayonnaise (page 504) which is outstanding. The whole thing came out very nicely even though I had to ad lib a bit.

Corn Chowder

Today's lunch consisted of finishing off the last of the summer sweet corn. I made Corn Chowder (page 239).  I've noticed that I'm picking out some pretty fast and easy recipes as I go through the cookbook. I think that's partly because after 7 weeks of cooking from Heaven's Banquet, my idea of what is hard and easy, or fast and slow has changed. I'm more confident in the kitchen. My motivation for eating has shifted too. I used to eat to stop the feeling of hunger or occasionally to socialize with friends and family. But now, I feel more coherent in relation to food. I stopped in the grocery store a few days ago to pick-up a few things. Everything I looked at I'd think, "No... That has this preservative or that other thing... I'll just go home and make my own." So there is some improved field independence from the marketing of food, and the old habits that were comforting to me. Heaven's Banquet gives so many recipes for things we are accustom to buying at the store such as sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, cheese, salad dressings and teas; and these recipes are ayurvedic, so no more preservatives or poor food combinations.

Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Milk

Mixed Vegetables in Coconut Milk (page 140) was a quick Pitta-pacifying main course for lunch today. The recipe actually calls for cabbage but I didn't have any, so I used more cauliflower. I paired that with wild rice and chapatis for a lovely light lunch.

Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies (page 431) are full of nuts, raisins and I added dried cherries because I didn't have enough raisins. Miriam's directions say to "transfer immediately to a plate to cool and harden" and she means immediately, otherwise the cookies stick to the pan and break apart when you try to remove them. This recipe is a good oatmeal cookie recipe and again I'm amazed because it's egg less. The Ayurvedic reason to avoid eggs according to Heaven's Banquet is, "Eggs have the subtle effect of causing the mind to wander..."

Shepherd's Pie with Vegetables

Shepherd's Pie with Vegetables (page 62) is a wonderful take on the traditional Shepherd's Pie. When I was growing up in England, Shepherd's Pie was my favorite but as an adult vegetarian I had not found a satisfying alternative until now, true comfort food. I used asparagus, yellow squash, parsnips, carrots, celery and sweet red bell pepper as my mixed veggies. I sautéed tofu and added it to the veggies for a more substantial lunch.

Mashed Potatoes (page 123) are used as the top crust. Miriam gives a good explanation about why potatoes are not a favorite of Ayurveda. I've been advised to avoid potatoes by the Vaidya's, so I cut the recipe in half to make a thinner crust of potatoes. It is also a recipe one should avoid for dinner... although; you'll want to eat it for dinner.

Pesto Alla Genovese (510) is a good pesto that I thought might taste nice on some bread or on top of the potatoes. I've found that I like how Miriam adds little garnishes, sauces and other alternative tastes to a major recipe. I cut the oil down a bit to make it a little dryer and was very satisfied with the results.

Persian-Style Millet with Dried Cherries

The Persian-Style Millet with Dried Cherries is a very nice kapha-balancing grain dish. It contains pistachios for a little crunch and cherries for that touch of sweet. This dish was easy, quick, delicious and will go nicely along side some veggies and dal.

Mixed Vegetable Curry II

Today I needed some good Indian food. Mixed Vegetable Curry II (page 56) was the prefect answer. This is a very nice curry dish which is far more elaborate than I would usually make. It included buttermilk which I've never used before but found it very nice for a saucy curry.

Tostada with Refried Beans

Today's lunch consisted of three very tasty Tostadas with Refried Beans (page 201). I used all the following recipes from Heaven's Banquet to make them as homemade and ayurvedic as possible.


For the Refried Beans (page 201) I chose black beans instead of pintos because that is what was in the cupboard. As long as you remember to soak them overnight, this part is pretty easy.

The Guacamole (page 279) also very easy and fast. However, I waited until the last minute to make the Guacamole because Miriam says to "prepare no more than an hour in advance..."

The Salsa Cruda (page 507) was easy, fast and delicious. This is the first salsa recipe that I can eat, as I can not tolerate hot and spicy foods.

And lastly, but not easily were the Tortillas (page 353). I was a little confused (and still am) regarding the type of corn to make the tortillas from. I used yellow corn meal but I don't know if that's the same as masa harina or not. Miriam said you can use blue cornmeal, so I was hoping yellow would work too. I have a tortilla press and if it were not for that piece of equipment, I seriously doubt any tortillas would have turned out.

Biryani with Peas & Potato Curry

Making Biryani (page 175) is like making lasagna. You start by making 3 other recipes then combining them all together and bake. First you make the yogurt the night before, then the basmati rice, and lastly the Peas and Potato Curry (page115). You combine all these recipes and top with cashews and raisins and for all your hard work, you are rewarded with bliss! This is a wonderful dish with a delightful presentation and a great recipe to take to a pot luck dinner.

Carrot Cake

I baked a Carrot Cake today (page 394). Carrot cake is my favorite birthday cake but it's not my birthday, so even better.

It's a very moist and delicious cake without being overly sweet. I decided not to frost it because the cake is perfect without it. I thought if someone wanted frosting, then I'll add a bit of whipped cream. John mentioned he liked it better than the zucchini bread...

 

Zucchini Bread

I picked the Zucchini Bread recipe on page 364 because I wanted something I could take into the advanced lecture at the TM center to share and something for breakfast the next morning. This recipe was prefect for both of these things. People at the TM center seemed to enjoy it and I got a chance to tell others about the blog and Miriam's cookbook.

The Carrot (Squash) Crumble didn't do as well, but it was my mistake. The recipe calls for wheat germ in the crumble part of the recipe and I grabbed the oat bran... so the crumble wasn't very crumbly but more like a sand texture. Oh well... I'll make it next time with carrots and wheat germ. (yes, I was in a hurry)

Samosas and Mint Chutney

Today I made samosas for the first time. It was a bit time consuming but the first time trying a new recipe always takes me a little longer.

The Samosa recipe is on page 283 and I found her directions and drawings of how to put a samosa together to be very helpful. I substituted cauliflower for potatoes as the author suggests and ended up with 24 samosas. Next time I will cut the recipe in half and make each samosa larger than the recommend 3 inches. This is just a personal preference for more filling and less dough.

Miriam says that traditionally samosas are served with Mint Chutney so I made her recipe on page 520. The mint chutney was just a few minutes to make and really added a fresh flavor to the samosas. It was delicious.

Daily Dal

 I made the Daily Dal but I added fennel seeds and coriander seeds (not in the recipe) thus eliminating any internal heat problems after eating since these spices are good for reducing pitta.

Dal I

I made Dal I, it has mustard seeds and cloves both of which I love but are heating. About an hour after eating, I was internally hot... I know that for me, these spices will have to wait until cooler weather. I remember a vaidya telling me that pitta is strongest in October because it has accumulated in the physiology from the summer heat.

The Vaidya's Salad

Here's the photo I took of the The Vaidya's Salad recipe. It is made with grated carrots, beets and fresh ginger. A little eaten at the beginning of the meal will increase the digestive fire or Agni.

Summer Pasta for Pitta

Heavens Banquet has several suggested menus for the main meal of the day. I decided to try one that sounded good for the end of the summer season.

Summer Pasta for Pitta (left)

The Vaidya's Salad
'Swonderful Shortbread

Summer Pasta for Pitta was delicious, very quick and easy to make. Miriam has what she calls Homage to Vivaldi: The Three Ayurvedic Seasons of Pasta. Fun and yummy.

The vaidya's salad is one of my husband's all time favorite salads. It was sometimes served to us on Residence Courses at the local TM center. I never had the recipe before now and it is as wonderful as I remember.

The 'Swonderful shortbread was easy but I think I did something incorrectly. It came out so crumbly that I can not cut it into squares for serving... but the crumbs taste great.

Dal #2

During the last 2 days I've made 6 new recipes from Heaven's Banquet. I'm finding more and more things about this book that I really like. The most recent discovery is the rhythm of the book.
When I first started using it, I could not find what I wanted easily. I thought this was because the table of contents was rather brief and the index only fair compared to my other cookbooks.
However, now I think the layout is done in a more holistic way. Let me use an example to explain. When I was busy painting, I would lay my paints out in "families" of color. I could have laid them out alphabetically but that's not how I work. I paint and cook very intuitively and after using this book for a few weeks I now feel in tune with the rhythm of the author.

I'm very happy with the flavors of all the recipes I tried. Some are extremely subtle... like the Daily dal #2. This will make a great evening dish for those of us who eat light at night and our main meal at noon.

Pilau

Today I tried the Pilau (Savory rice) recipe from Heavens Banquet on page 172. It is a fairly simple recipe to make but it has quite a lovely balance of some very sattvic ingredients. Sattva is the ayurvedic principle responsible for creation. It governs purity and the impulse to evolve. The recipe calls for saffron, almonds, raisins and pistachios (to balance pitta) cooked in basmati rice.