Favorite Recipe. Revealed

We have blogged dozens of recipes, most of which we have thoroughly enjoyed. Some of the recipes were incredible (Blintz Souffle), some were surprisingly good (Sweet Potato Gnocchi) while others were a bit disappointing (Greek Moussaka).  We have done our best to give you some of the the recipes that have turned out well, but alas, we are guilty of witholding a recipe that we have selfishly enjoyed for years now.  We hope you can forgive us…we know you will after you try a bite of this dish.

Arora Creations – Healthy Indian Cooking

Words to live by.

As noted many times before, we love spice (remember our Tandoori Cauliflower blogpost?) Whenever something tastes bland, we usually add some hot chili sauce known as sriracha, or we add some kind of spice to impart more heat.  Many dishes that we are served at other people’s houses or in restaurants are too mild for our taste, which is one reason we enjoy Indian food. The generous use of spices ignites our tastebuds, and those first few bites are heaven. For these reasons, we were extremely excited when we were approached by Arora Creations, one of the top of the line retailers of authentic Indian Spices Blends.  They were kind enough to send us a sampling of their line-up of organic spice blends. All of their blends are made from 100% pure spices, and they are vegetarian, gluten-free, sugar free, kosher, nut-free, contain no MSG and are non-irradiated. Many Indian packaged spice blends are very salty, so the low sodium content and absence of MSG was very appealing. These inexpensive Indian spice blend packets allow you to create unique homemade Indian dishes with relative ease.

Turkey: A Culinary Destination

I Be a fooDie takes a cooking class in Istanbul!

As foodies, we enjoy learning about different cuisines.  Our ethnic culinary adventures have ranged from experimenting with a traditional Greek food to popular Korean dishes.  Food was a big part of our travels this past July in Turkey and Israel.  We encountered new ingredients and new flavors, and we gained a new perspective on cooking, as well as a renewed respect for specific ingredients.  In Turkey, ingredients are simple and unadulterated.  There are hardly any incredibly complicated dishes.  The natural state of food is heavily emphasized, and this brought us back to the basics of cooking: using fresh ingredients.  The Turks often love to take seasonal and local ingredients and cook them with some olive oil and a few spices. This method of cooking brings out the flavors in a way that is not complicated or overwhelming, but just perfectly balanced.

The Well-Traveled Foodies

Dinner in Cappadocia

We recently returned home from our global travels, and in many ways our trip was a gastronomic tour of Turkish and Israeli cuisine.  We tried our best to sample as many mezes, main dishes, desserts, and other foods that we could fit into our stomachs within a 3-week time span.  We were able to stay relatively svelte and fit thanks to walking an average of 8 miles each day.   Our goal during the trip was to try all the authentic cultural foods that these two countries offer, and of course, to stay healthy.  At times, Marnina was forced to expand her diet either because: 1) a Crohn’s-friendly dish was not available; 2) the language barrier caused confusion that led to Marnina biting into a food stuffed with seeds; or 3) she could not resist the temptation of ordering an authentic dish that contained some form of food that might upset her GI tract.  However, thanks to proper plannning (over-the-counter medications, antibiotics, flushable wipes), Marnina was prepared for the worst.  Luckily, neither of us got sick from the food and water in either country.  It turns out that the water is unsafe to drink in Turkey (even for natives) so bottled water was incredibly cheap.

Non-Dairy Chowder & Purple Sweet Potatoes

Fish Chowda!

On a recent visit to our local supermarket, Marnina and I came to the conclusion that we were spending too much money for subpar produce and seafood.  For months we had been bemoaning the produce and fish section of the supermarket (as well as the entire store in general), but for some reason we could not muster up the courage to switch our allegiance to a new supermarket.  Every now and then we would supplement our shopping trips with some tastier-looking food stores such as Harris Teeter or Whole Foods, but we would do the bulk of our shopping at the less-than-appetizing local grocery store.  We thought we were getting a better deal on our produce and other foods, but in reality, we were paying slightly lower prices for mediocre (and sometimes rotten) food. 

Saucy Meatballs (& Vegetarian too!)

The virtues and vices of red meat is a hot-topic right now, especially after the publication of a Harvard study entitled “Red Meat Consumption and Mortality: Results from 2 Prospective Cohort Studies.”  The study looked at the association between red meat consumption and mortality, and the researchers concluded “a higher intake of red meat was associated with a significantly elevated risk of total, [cardiovascular disease] CVD and cancer mortality.”[1]

Blintz Soufflé…and Added Fiber

On numerous occasions, Marnina has declared that soufflés are her favorite food.  Soufflés combine some of her favorite aspects of food: a savory dish that is soft, easy to digest, has cinnamon (one of her favorite spices!), and is just fun to eat because of its multi-layered nature. The ingredients are almost always on-hand (who doesn’t stock their freezer full of cheese blintzes?!?), and the aroma that wafts out of the kitchen during the baking process is heavenly.  The soufflé is like an omelet on puffed-up steroids (PUN INTENDED 🙂 ); it has an egg base, and while the base provides the flavor, the beaten eggs provide the ‘lift’ during the cooking process.

Roasted Parsnip Soup with Mushrooms

Parsnips are an anomaly.  When roasted, they are sweet and slightly spicy.  They are just as versatile as carrots.  And after comparing their nutritional makeup using nutritiondata.com, they are richer in vitamins and minerals than carrots. So why aren’t they as ubiqutous as their close relative, the carrot? We have no idea, and unfortunately, parsnips often languish in produce sections in favor of their more popular and brighter relative.

Fake Mac’n Cheese

Marnina and I enjoy taking traditional, everyday foods and turning them into unconventional creations (see Fake-Sausage Cacciatore and Shepherd’s Pie recipes).  Marnina’s dietary needs and my interest in eating healthy foods have produced some unusual combinations of food.  Just this past week, we made a spaghetti and tomato sauce dish, except we substituted your typical spaghetti pasta for spaghetti squash, which is more tender than it is chewy.

IBD Stew + Soup = STOUP!

An inflammatory bowel disease “attack” can be frustrating and exhausting, and sometimes even embarrassing (if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and don’t have immediate access to a bathroom).  Recently, Marnina had an attack that caused her to use the bathroom about 5 times within a 3 hour span.  She attributed the attack to not going to the bathroom the previous day, and then running 5 miles the next morning.  Her intestines literally went into hyper-drive after running, and she nearly ran another 5 miler going to and from the bathroom!   She decided to eat light the rest of the day because her stomach was on “the edge” as she says.  If she challenged herself with something mildly fibrous, difficult to digest, or something entirely new, she would fall over that edge and risk the onset of stomach pain, or possibly another attack.