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.

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. 

Autumn Vegetables Fish Soup with Turmeric

As we continue our soup splurge (try saying that 10 times fast), Marnina and I have expanded into adding new kinds of ingredients into our soups: never before have we used fish or pumpkin.  And in our continual quest to find IBD-friendly soups, this one is high up on the list.  With the salmon, turmeric, and extra virgin olive oil, this soup is an omega-3 and anti-inflammatory powerhouse.  As I noted in a previously, omega-3’s can be found mostly in the fat of cold water fish, such as the salmon in this recipe.  Omega-3’s are thought to reduce inflammation, and play a number of key roles in improving one’s circulatory system.  Research indicates that omega-3’s may be better absorbed from food than supplements, so it is more cost-effective and healthier to just get your omega-3’s from natural food sources.  You also have to be wary of some supplements, especially those that are not labeled with a USP (a Dietary Supplement Verification Program that helps dietary supplement manufacturers ensure the production of quality products for consumers).