Farmer's Market Fresh Lunch

On Sunday, Shankar and I spent some time at the farmer's market in Oshkosh. Though we have quite a bit of produce from our garden, I couldn't pass up a chance to try other vegetables that are farm fresh. So, here is what we had for lunch - long beans stir fried with coconut, Kohlrabi in a coconut - buttermilk gravy and mint & lentils chutney. Overall, a very green lunch :)

The coconut - buttermilk gravy works with a lot of vegetables and is very simple to make. A handful of shredded coconut, is pureed with some chili peppers (I used jalapenos in the above version), cumin, salt, curry leaves and buttermilk. Sour cream is a good alternative to buttermilk. This mixture is poured over the vegetable boiled with some salt, and cooked for a few minutes. A garnish with tempered mustard seeds, cumin and urad dal round up this few-ingredients dish.

Tamarind @ Chicago

Tamarind - an asian restaurant in the South Loop has become one of our favorite Chicago restaurants. They have a wide array of Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and now Indian cuisines in a beautiful setting. We had been there last November when Shankar attended the AME conference. We went to Chicago in August to show Shankar's parents the big city, and went to Tamarind after a long day downtown.

We stared the dinner with some Avocado rolls and deep-fried Tofu. This is the first time I had Tofu garnished with ginger and toasted Nori. Both of them were excellent.

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Shankar loves his fruit drinks with bobo and Tamarind has a selection of fresh fruits, from which you can choose up to three for a blended drink. We had a Melon trifecta - with water melon, cantaloupe and honey dews.

Shankar's parents had vegetable fried rice and we had a Cashew and Vegetables in a brown sauce with Tofu. This was a perfect meal for us. We noticed that they add a slice of cucumber to their water jars - a refreshing touch!

The staff were very friendly and we also got to talk to the owner. She promised us dessert, but after such a big meal we just couldn't order anything more. Tamarind is very reasonably priced, actually I would venture to say they are in-expensive for the quallity of food and their location. A must-go to restaurant in Chicago!

Random: Bison

A Bison at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, near Manhattan, Kansas. This picture was taken in March 2004 when my friend Ramya was visiting us. Konza is a tall grass prairie biological station and it is also a long-term ecological research (LTER) site located in the flint hills region of Kansas. The Bison population on Konza is managed, and are studied for the role of grazing on the prairie. For more information, visit: Konza Prairie

Fancy Lunch

Today's lunch was Quinoa grains garnished with rosemary, sage and thyme in butter, and stir fried vegetables from our garden - Green peppers, Broccoli, Zucchini, Potatoes, and left-over Tempeh. Now that's what I call a gourmet meal :)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a success in our garden this year and seeing so many of them, I decided to pluck some of the unripe ones to try some South Indian gravies. Fried Green Tomatoes have been on my mind since our South Trip, as we didn't get to eat them and they took precedence over South Indian dishes this time.

I sliced the tomatoes - a little thick, dredged them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, dipped in a beaten egg, then dredged in cracker crumbs. I used olive-black pepper crackers. Then shallow fried them till brown and served with Maggi's Oriental Hot Sauce. Next time I think I will try deep-frying the tomatoes for more authenticity.

Grand Marais

Grand Marais is definitely one of the charming towns with a lot to offer. After a good lunch with a big slice of cake, we had to walk around to burn it off. Though the day was warm, it was a little chilly with all the wind from the lake.

We walked on the pebble beach and stopped at the Trading Post, a couple of gift shops, galleries, and a book store. We were on our feet for about a couple of hours exploring the town. We also went to the Coop store and got some hand-harvested, hand-parched wild rice.

Our next plan was to look for a wild Moose and before heading out, we stopped for coffee and of course check email :) @ Java Moose.

Spinach & Lentils

Spinach and lentils can be mixed in a variety of combination and is an easy dish to make. I love the version of "keerai kootu", which is more watery and goes well with rice and a dash of ghee. For the following recipe I typically use less lentils than spinach, but it can be varied by using more lentils, other leafy greens, adding sauteed onions and tomatoes. This can also be served as a soup by adding some lemon juice after removing from the heat.

This one is for Naghma & Carolyn

Ingredients
Spinach - chopped
Lentils (dal) - Moong Dal or chana (yellow split beans) dal
Coconut - shredded
Salt & Pepper
Cumin
Coriander
Turmeric - pinch
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (optional - found in Indian stores - use no more than a pinch)
Chilli - either red or green

Directions
The easiest way to make this dish is to use a pressure cooker - reduces the time it takes to cook dal. It is also faster to cook dal in the microwave than on stove top.
* Add the dal, a few drops of oil, salt, two pinches of turmeric powder, add the required amount of water (1:2 for chana dal and 1:1.5 for moong dal) and cook till the dal is soft and mash it.
* If using the pressure cooker, I would spread the spinach on top as a layer and let it cook in the steam. If not, wilt them in the microwave or blanch.
* Heat a small pan, add a little oil and fry the cumin, coriander, pepper, chilli (either green or red) and blend it with the coconut and salt. Watch the salt here as the lentils are already cooked with some.
* Add this paste to the spinach and Dal mixture, garnish with a tempering of mustard, a little chana dal, asafoetida. Add more water depending on required consistency and bring to a boil. I prefer the blended method to uniformly distribute the heat from the chillies.
* For a non-blending option, add cumin and coriander powder, black pepper, salt, mix in shredded coconut and chopped green chillies or half a peice of dried red chilli. Bring to a boil and top with tempering.

Angry Trout Cafe @ Grand marais

We were pretty hungry after our ~3 miles hike for more than a couple of hours and headed for Grand Marais for lunch. Our first stop was at the visitor's center, where in addition to a lot of good information, we were able to park our car for the next few hours.

We strolled along the beach to Angry Trout Cafe, which was recommended to us by two of our friends. Though they don't have a menu on their website, we were sure they had vegetarian fares. We were pleasantly surprised to find that they used mostly organic vegetables in their recipes and supported a variety of local producers and also artists.

The appetizer was Fried Eggplants with a very lemony aioli sauce.

It was followed by a Wild Mushrooms sandwich, served with chips and coleslaw

And of course, we had room for a big slice of Maple Butter Cream Cake that is from a local bakery (Lola's Sweet Life Bakery) that supplies to almost all the good restaurants in town. I really liked the idea of outsourcing the dessert department in a restaurant :) This is one of our top restaurants, with not only really good & healthy food, but an awesome view of the lake, good ambiance and great service.