Photographing Food

One thing I've learned from my roommate is that all food, especially meals eaten out, must be photographed. I did remember to bring my camera to Pasha, a Turkish restaurant in the Rice Village, but forgot to take the photo until we had already had a few bites. I went with a friend from work and the food was excellent. I had hummus with thick pieces of bread and my friend had the Pasha Meze Platter, a mixture of Turkish appetizers which included hummus, ezme, babaganush, tabuli, eggplant salad, dolma and lebni. They also serve an olive oil dipping sauce with sesame seeds that I could eat all day, everyday. We had tiny glasses of hot chai tea after the meal.

Another Breakfast at the Empire Cafe

Cameron and I had breakfast again at the Empire Cafe. I had the "Mickey Mouse" waffle with vegetarian sausage and Cameron had the egg dish with an entire bottle of hot sauce. It was a beautiful day and we were able to eat outdoors on the patio.

Food Porn Index

This is a pretty addictive site. It's interactive and best with a larger screen and the volume turned up.
http://www.foodpornindex.com/

I really want this bumper sticker.

Fourdogmom's Fabulous Quinoa Recipe

This recipe doesn't have a name since I made it up. On Sundays I make a big pot and put it in little containers and I have my lunch for an entire week.

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa (2 cups cooked)
1 can Rotel type tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, Fire Roasted with Medium Green Chilies)
1 onion diced
1 red bell pepper (or any color) diced
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Chile powder and salt to taste


Put the tomatoes in a medium saucepan with an additional cup of water, chile power and salt. When it is boiling add the cup of quinoa (be sure to rinse and drain first). Lower the heat and cook until all the liquid is absorbed (15-20 min.)
While that is cooking saute the onions, garlic, and pepper in the olive oil until tender.
When everything is done mix together and add the can of black beans.
Simple to make, delicious, and very healthy. I've been doing this for several months now and haven't gotten tired of it.. My roommate loves it too and took this picture.

Graupel

Yesterday morning when I went to my car I saw tiny little snowballs like these on my windshield. They didn't look like snow or sleet. They looked like white nonpareils or polystyrene pellets. Thanks to David Paul on KHOU, I found out that they are called graupel. A new word for me.
Here is the definition from Wikipedia: "also called soft hail or snow pellets refers to precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water are collected and freeze on a falling snowflake, forming a 2–5 mm (0.079–0.197 in) ball of rime. Strictly speaking, graupel is not the same as hail or ice pellets."
This isn't my picture but one I found on the internet. I was much too cold to take a picture.

Sunday Brunch

Here are some pictures from our brunch last Sunday at the restaurant where Cameron works. Cameron and I had the Vegetarian Eggs Benedict without the egg which is a roasted beet and mushroom patty, with vegan hollandaise and grilled vegetables. This is the same patty they use for their Vegetarian Burger which also has arugula, lettuce, feta cheese, sweet onion, basil pesto, and a Parmesan crisp. It's by far the best burger I've ever had. I also got to meet his aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandfather who, along with his brother and mother, are in the pictures.

Blueberry, Kale and Quinoa Salad with Fresh Blueberry Vinaigrette

Ingredients

For the Salad:
2 cups water
1 cup raw quinoa, rinsed and drained
1/2 bunch kale (6-8 large leaves), stems removed
1 Tbsp avocado or olive oil, preferably organic
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup chopped red onion
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

For the Dressing:
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup avocado or olive oil, preferably organic
juice of 1 lemon
1 large clove garlic, chopped

Instructions

Make the salad: Bring the water to a boil in a medium pot; add the quinoa, cover, and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 18 minute then remove from heat and turn the quinoa into a large bowl to cool to room temperature.
Meanwhile, wash and dry the kale. Chop into bite-sized pieces and place in a large salad bowl with the 1 Tbsp (15 ml) oil and salt. "Massage" with your (clean) hands by kneading and squeezing the kale between your thumb and fingers until it becomes shiny, softer and a shade darker. This will allow the kale to be digested more easily.
Add the tomatoes, red onion and blueberries to the bowl and toss.
Make the dressing: combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until creamy. Pour over the salad and toss to coat. Add the cooled quinoa and toss again. Makes 4-6 servings.

I found this recipe on cookingquinoa.net The original recipe called for only 1/2 cup of quinoa which wasn't enough so I ended up making an additional 1/2 cup which seemed just right. Cameron and I enjoyed it. I'll probably wait until blueberries are on sale before making it again as it is pretty expensive. This picture is from their website. Mine didn't look like this as I used lacinato kale.