Nourishing Recipes and Wellness Guides for your Mind, Body and Soul
Happy New Year! Welcome to 2013! We had an amazing end to 2012…spending time with family in Texas for a warm and sunny Christmas, followed by a brisk and electric night in New York City to watch the ball drop on New Year’s! Along with all the fun times, yummy food and endless treats came the consequences… a bigger waistline and the inevitable New Year’s resolution to get back into shape.
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One morning in Tuscany, we took a day trip into the hills above Florence to a renowned private vineyard, where we met a member of the Contini Bonacossi Noble Family (owners of the art work in the eponymous private gallery at the Uffizi). After touring the vineyards, olive tree orchards, wine cellars and olive oil refinery of the Tenuta di Capezzana Estate, we had the the pleasure of joining their private chef to prepare a vegetarian version of a traditional Tuscan meal, and later enjoyed lunch with the family.
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Invariably, if you stop by our house, anytime, you will probably find a batch of brownies on the kitchen counter. Usually a Ghirardelli boxed mix with some nuts thrown in…So, when I decided to try and go vegan this was the one thing that I had a very hard time giving up. Hence, began the quest for the ultimate vegan brownie. The recipe before you is the result of a rigorous testing process. Before this one, at least half a dozen different vegan brownie recipes were trialled and each of them was disappointing in some way. Some were too dry, some tasted too doughy, some turned out more cake-like then brownie-like. The most difficult part was finding that perfect balance of chewy, gooey, and fudgy, while still holding true to the texture of a “real” brownie, the kind you grew up with….
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A few days in Tuscany, in the rolling hills of Chianti, amidst orchards of olive trees and vineyards dating back to the Middle Ages, can be magical…a time to pause, relax, reflect and enjoy the simplicity of rustic Italian cuisine paired with sensational, deep and earthy wines.
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The one thing I frequently struggle with as a vegetarian is replacing eggs in desserts. When I first started experimenting with making homemade cakes, cookies, brownies and more, the end result was always a bit underwhelming. So for a while I found myself sticking with easy recipes that didn’t require eggs such as crisps, puddings and tarts. Lately, because of all of you who are trying and loving the new things on GalaKitchen, I have been re-inspired to do a little baking… I’ve done a little research and below have listed the best egg replacers other fellow vegetarians have come up with and use frequently… so over the next few months, let’s put some of these to the test…
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Every summer we make a weekend trip up the Pacific coast to visit our stunningly beautiful sister city to the North, Vancouver. And always, the highlight of this annual pilgrimage is dinner at one of our favorite restaurants of all time, Vij’s.
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In India, the vegetable leftovers from the previous night’s dinner are often mashed up and kneaded into dough to make parathas. The parathas are then eaten with pickles and/or yogurt for brunch or lunch the next day.
I’m always in search of new and creative ways to get more lentils, a rich source of protein and iron, into our vegetarian diet. In this recipe, the split chickpea lentils, also known as channa dal, mix well into the dough, making the parathas much easier to roll than if they were made with vegetables or harder-texture lentils.
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As may be true in Cairo, Beirut or Jerusalem, a falafel sandwich is and remains some of Detroit’s favorite street food. Growing up in Dearborn, Michigan (largest population of Middle Eastern peoples outside of the Middle East), I was never more than 10 minutes away from a fresh, hot, falafel. Every summer, my friends and I would ride our bikes to wait in line at a local, mom and pop, family-run falafel stand. Today, a bite of these crunchy, intensely flavorful patties, combined with cool garnishes, and folded into a fresh pita takes me home and to my childhood.
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The thought of making pita bread at home has always intimidated me. I’ve tried it a few times and they’ve never turned out quite right… Lately both kids have been eating a lot of hummus, and usually they are enjoying it with store bought pita bread, pita chips, or carrot sticks. So this was my inspiration for giving it another go. But, how do I get these flat round pizza-like doughs to puff up with steam, thereby creating that perfect pocket? The illusion of that perfect pita was hard to to turn to reality. That is, until today….
The ingredients in this recipe are as simple as it gets and with a bit of time, upper body strength and a brush of water, these pita’s puffed up like the perfect puri.
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If there is one thing our recent, late summer trip to Italy taught us, it’s that Italian cuisine is much more rich, varied and expansive than most of us here on the other side of the pond realize. While there is some truth to the north-south Italian divide, with simple tomato-based, produce-driven peasant food in the south and the opulent, rich, creamy, seafood and meat dishes from the wealthier north, there is also a unique culinary point of view that emerges at the country’s edge, on the island of Sicily.
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