Recipe: Spinach-Mint Smoothie

So I have been experimenting with Smoothies for breakfast. The first few times, I choose poorly, and I got gassy. Since I follow the "blood type" diet, I decided to use only stuff from the list. Result- no gas. However my body burns through calories now since I run and do weights, it's often not enough, and I need small snacks throughout the day. Looking for yummy snacks.

Till then here's the recipe for my Spinach-Mint smoothie:

1- Apple
1- Banana
1- long Carrot (not those babies carrots)
5- table spoons boiled/ baked black beans
3- stems of mint leaves
15 - 20 leaves of baby spinach
1 table spoon raw/ local honey
1 table spoon grade B maple syrup
2 cups almond milk

Blend!

Enjoy.

(if you add ice, take the almond milk down to 1 cup).

Vegan Chickpea Curry

Recently I've developed a plethora of food allergies/ intolerances. The doc doesn't know... anyway, this has driven me to be vegan, and gluten free, caffeine free and alcohol free (although I could have wine). I occasionally give into dairy and bread, but I pay for it sorely within hours. So really I never thought I would be on the vegan-gluten free band wagon, but here I am.

My choice to be a vegetarian was mien of course, but all this other stuff, no. I miss bread, and I miss yogurt.

My eating habits have changed, and it's been tough going out to eat. Everything, especially major chain restaurants only has meat, with cheese, and bread. After so many meals out does one want to order a bed of lettuce again with a few tomatoes.

Cooking has been awesome. It's interesting, and exercises the mind and heart. Also since I've been working out A LOT, I crave protein, however I need my balanced meals. In the past I'd go to chipotle and order carnitas with rice and what not. Now I have the joy of enjoying the veggie bowl (no fajita veggies- green pepper allergy). So a quick meal is usually brown rice, both beans, mild sauce, lettuce and guacamole. I was making this amazing garbanzo bean salad, but that got tedious and so I began eating plain chickpeas out of a can. 

However, eating out in general can get expensive, salads get old, and eating chickpeas out of a can, can get bland. Plus the art of cooking is so romantic in a way. So I came up with a recipe... or is it the inert Indian cooking genes in me?

Chickpea Curry Recipe

Ingredients:

1 can garbanzo beans (un-drained)

1 yellow/ sweet onion

1 - 2  cloves garlic (to taste)

1-2 vine tomatoes (or just any frikkin tomato)

1-2 teaspoons cumin seed

1/4th teaspoon turmeric powder

0.5 inch of grates ginger OR 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

1/4th teaspoon chili powder/ paprika/ cayenne pepper (to taste)

1-2 dried chili peppers

1-2 tablespoons oil (vegetable/ olive)

1/3 cup water

10-15 minutes. Serves 2.

Directions:

1- dice the onion, tomato and garlic, and keep separately

2- heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat/ flame

3- add onions, garlic cumin to hot oil. wait till little golden

4. add tomatoes (beware the splatter)

5- let the tomatoes get a little mushy

6- add all other spices let heat a little longer 5-6 minutes

7- add garbanzo beans with water and let cook covered for a little bit.

8- add salt to your own taste. and a pinch of sugar!

Voila!

drape over some brown rice, or with naan, roti/tortilla, and enjoy.

Kale! : Your New Best Friend

 

 

Crispy Kale Chips Recipe

What you need:

• 1 bunch of Kale (but from this you only need 2-3 leaves. This lasts for a good week- Chips everyday!)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil ( I like to use Kalamata olive oil)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon-ish pepper (freshly ground if possible)
• 1 lemon or lime (they taste the same to me - delicious!)
 

What you gotta do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet (the holey kind) with aluminum foil. I use my holey pizza pan! :-P
2. Wash and thoroughly dry kale. Then with your hands (or with a knife) tear the kale into bite size pieces. Sprinkle the olive oil onto the Kale, then distribute sparsely the salt and then the pepper. Drip a little bit of lemon juice onto all the pieces. Mmm!
3. Bake up to 10 to 15 minutes. It should not look burnt.
4. Ready to eat! 

What you gotta know about amazing Kale:

Truth about Kale

Cooked Kale - Nutrition

Raw Kale Nutrition

Kale and you!

Kale cooked, raw, broiled - nutrition

Kale Vs. Spinach (I'd still eat spinach though!)

Life: In a second... in a day... in a year... a lifetime of moments!

On the plane ride from Newark to Delhi, I watched a few very very dull films: The zookeeper (oh why did i pick this one?) and Bad Teacher (They should show this movie to torture people. Honestly how immature and shallow does one get!). There were a few good movies I picked: The Help. It brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of Gopa Didi, the lady that helped bring me up. She was with our family since I was 7 in Chennai. She took care of me (my sister and I), bathed me, washed my clothes, cooked for me and sometimes even tucked me into bed. She saw me grow up. Then she had a child and got married. She and her daughter lived with us for a while in Calcutta. I saw Gopa Didi's daughter till she was about 5. Now she is 15, and speaks English, Tamil, Hindi and Bengali! She writes lovely poetry and has memories from what her mother speaks of. She has a younger sister who is hyper and naughty, and a 2 year old brother who can't walk but is utterly cute. Her name was Trishna, but we called her Chintamani (chinta-thinking, mani - the one: the one that thinks too much). I took a video of the brother who walks with the help of a luggage dolly which my dad purchased in the 80's. It's amazing how something so mundane from over 20 years ago can create such a difference in this little boy's life. I was close to tears. I shall try to post the video sometime. In India people (such as Gopa Didi and her family) who come from a village, place more value in having a son than little girls. This is because the boy can work bring money home, and the girl needs a dowry later in life and is just another mouth to feed. This leads to female infanticide in Indian villages. So this family was humbled by being blessed by two bright lovely girls, and a son who has been slow in development. It took them heartbreak and hardship to realize the value in girls, and yes having a son is great, but now a days girls can accomplish as much as boys can. So what they thought was a curse, is now a blessing. However their families in the village do not understand and still think they are "cursed" and have cut them off. Having two girls and a slow boy is not a "blessing" to them. They don't see. I sometimes think it took my own grandparents many years, and loyalties to realize the value of Granddaughters, daughters and girls. The world is such a beautiful place thanks to girls, such as Trishna, and her sister. Their innocence, joy in simple things and enthusiasm in life, makes one see the world from such a different perspective. Children, will do that to you. Do you remember those days? I do!

This is a Picture of Chintamani (Trishna Ghosal) and I. She goes to school in Chennai, India and lives in a very humble but warm home, and could achieve awesomness if she had the opportunity. I shall try to help send some $ her and her siblings' way. If anyone wants to contribute, that would be lovely $1 can make a difference!

This is a video of the Little Boy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvemZl65I6k

Talking about joys in simple things... I watched another movie: Life in a day. It is an amalgamation of videos sent from all over the world, to youtube, and it was all shot on one day July 24th 2010 (which is also my sister's birthday!)... I don't remember exactly what I was doing that day, but it was a Saturday. I posted this on FB: The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose. --Hada Bejar
And I probably called my sister and wished her, at this time she was going through a very rough patch. Do you remember what you did that day?

I would definitely recommend watching this movie because it is beautiful... its reminds us it is the little things that count. It is eye opening, and moving in the most unsuspecting ways. I liked it so much I watched it on the flight back to USA. I bought the movie and now am watching it with everyone. Every time I watch it, it is new! I see something I had not seen before! That is life!

This movie has strong affect... because it is real, raw, surprising, and it is LIFE! It made me realize that every moment, every little thing, is new and beautiful! Celebrate and love each moment we are alive. Everything is proof we are alive: living, heart beating, lungs breathing, eyes seeing... life experiencing. It is happening! Absorb, observe, be and enjoy. Learn, Love, and Laugh to it...

There are some dark moments in the movie. Yet these moments might be subjective to the viewers perspective. This reminds us that there are many people out there, everyone is different... it is up to us if we are haters, or lovers! If we see things "this way" or "that way"!

My dark moment was life and death: slaughtering animals... I made a friend on the streets of Delhi... it was a goat... Goat meat is delicious, but this goat (see below) came up to me and nuzzled against me and reminded me of all my doggies (doggie blog soon to be posted). That's one thing about India, that no matter where I go, there are doggies, goats, cows and other animals, and I don't need language to communicate with them, and they don't see me as foreigner or Indian. I just am a human to them who shows affection and they warm up to me. So my conclusion was, how can I eat my friend. So I decided to stop eating the mammals.

My goat friend and I (Nizamuddin, Delhi)

I definitely recommend watching it, and I would love to hear what you think about it!! Here's a picture of the DVD cover. Also the music/soundtrack is lovely!

Live Life! Breathe!
My New Year's Eve Idea was this... Instead of celebrating One night, celebrate each moment... as in live in it and BE PRESENT. For EVERYDAY is a NEW day! Every Moment is New and Happening! Live it! Love it!

(shrutipb@gmail.com)


 I found out - My friend Miles Reed has some footage in this film.
Also upon googling I found this article by NYT. It is the flip side, the point of view of those who won't enjoy the film... probably people who want the standard formula, and nothing exotic and different!

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/movies/life-in-a-day-review.html

All I can say is this guy probably enjoyed Transformers.


It's a powerful movie! Watch it!

Raj Dadu's Life Stories

Raj Dadu and Adarsh Dida are visiting, as well as my grandparents, not to mention the other visitors we have day after day. You may be one of them! glad to have you, but i must tell you, my mind tires after a week of work, driving and other things that are a part of life. Weekends are when i just flop about the house. In other words, my language will be casual here, Im jsut super excited to hear these stories and I WANT to write them down.

So i wake up relaxingly at 12pm this afternoon. Delight to see my sister back from her interview in DC, and Raj dadu already sipping on his beer! Adarsh dida and Maya dida relaxing around the house.

I begin listening to the stories my elders (who have seen much more of life, the world, and time than I have) have to tell. Raj dadu comments on my music, photography, and movie collection. I tell him how much i admire his book collection... somehow the conversation winds its way to the fact that he had Dennison Berwick staying at his house!!! I just got his book "a walk in the clouds" a few months ago, it is out of print and hard to come by. Apparently a few months ago Mr. Berwick had visited Raj Dadu. This man lives in his boat on the oceans, and travels the world. I wish that were a life i could lead. Well About Mr. Berwick, not only did they take him to visit a very crowded Durga Mandir (temple for godess durga), but they went out digging, a amateur archeological venture. What fun!

We all dream. (the secret: beleive in that dream. see it feel it.... and you will have it).

Then he talks about how Hilary stopped by once. So i ask Raj Dadu, "Which Hilary" and he says "edmund ofcourse". Ofcourse I am astounded, I admire and aspire to be like these great travelers and adventurers. There is nothing more I'd love more than to see the world i most love and protect with all my life. So Sir Edmund Hilary hung out at Raj Dadu's dig on the Ganges on a trip up to the himalayas via jet boats!

They had 80+ bottles of beer with them and did not have the privacy to drink it the entire trip, until then. They were just staying for lunch, but lunch lasted till 4, so they shacked up there for the night! AMAZING! Going back to the story of the jet boats, apparently a Yogi came over, and the Hilary crew had a tug of war with them! I need to get the book and read this! For all who are new to these places and people, just know one thing: India is beautiful, India is an Adventure, India grows on your heart, India is where you go when you want to learn more about yourself.

Raj Dadu and Dida are pure vegetarians, no meat whatsoever, maybe egg, but no MEAT! (although dida loves fish).

Here's the story: a long time ago (i think he said in the 60s) they went to Paris, France. There the host was invited to the best and very famous seafood restaurant. Ofcourse there was nothing vegetarian to eat there. The salad had herring in it. Raj Dadu has never tasted meat in his life, however he doesnt not want to eat herring, and it would be distasteful to suggest a different restaurant. So what he does is order a plate of raw oysters. dipps them in lemon and butter and swallows them whole. Thus he says he has NEVER tasted meat in his life. :-)