On the Wagon, Off the Wagon...

 Being on a diet has been an interesting experiment so far. I did manage to survive the first two weeks on the phase I South Beach Diet and losing a few pounds in the process. But I did not follow the diet 100% though. For the most part I was ok, and I would say the success rate of the first two weeks was about 90 - 95%. The phase two was a bit more challenging and I did about 80%. Then came a bunch of traveling and the diet was out the window. And anytime life gets busy, it seems like the blog gets the least attention. So, here is a round up of some of the dishes I ate during the phase I. I probably ate about a cup of rice in those two weeks. Loaded up on a lot of veggies. 

      

Cabbage Kootu & Carrot / peanut Saute

     

Roasted cauliflower & Pan seared tofu

      

Chard with chickpeas & Ratatouille

Sambhar with Raita and Cauliflower

 

Spicy egg fry & Dal with Radish

 I did not really feel any big difference other than that my brain refused to acknowledge satiety no matter how much I ate. Am not sure if it was really an endocrinological response or just psychological. At one point I felt like I was making up for lack of starch by eating more and had to watch out for that. I am going back to phase I again this week and next, to help shed the pounds I gained while enjoying great food while traveling :) 

New Home for a Painting & Dieting Woes

After three weeks of trying to find a time that works, this painting titled "The Pond" went to its new home! I hope this brings lots of joy to the person who took it home. I am glad another one of my paintings has moved on :)

And last night, I had a reception for a group show with two more local artists. It was fun and if not for my migraine, I would have stayed for longer. Days 3, 4 and 5 on the South Beach Diet Phase I have passed and it has been eventful. Day 3 was good with a big burst of energy in the afternoon and I painted for about 3 hours. Friends were visiting that night and I made an eggplant moussaka adapted from the Moosewood cookbook and Vegetarian cooking. The side was a simple sauté of broccoli and cauliflower with coconut. We had the soup I had made the previous day and it had become a lot spicier, even for my taste. Dessert was a simple fruit salad and mochi icecream that I watched everyone else eat, till S gave me a small bite :) My friend who came over, had also done the South Beach Diet and it was really wonderful to actually talk to someone who has gone through with it and has seen tremendous results. She was very encouraging and I am glad to have the support.

Day 4 was bad, I woke up with the migraine and my stomach was hurting. I had an egg with salsa and sour cream for breakfast. S cooked during the day and made a delicious sambhar with onions, radish and eggplants, a green beans / carrots saute, a raita with cucumber, tomatoes and onion. I had a big bowl of all of this with my tofu scramble for lunch. After the reception last night, I had the same for dinner but with 1/4 of a cup of rice. Falling off the wagon already! I figured I might as well make some sensible accomodations that suffer too much.

Today, I had leftover sambhar and the broccoli/ cauliflower saute for lunch. And more of the leftover moussaka for dinner. Migraine also continues on day 2, but I managed to paint for an hour today and am now well rested. Only 9 more days to go :)

New Year, New Diet

All these years, I never thought I would go on a diet. But, reality is different and the amount of time spent on the couch, combined with increasing waist line among other things has led me to kick start a weight loss program. As being a vegetarian is already a restricted diet, I was not sure what I wanted to do in terms of controlling what I eat. Inspired by some friends' posts on facebook - one of them is on a paleo diet, and also by some folks I follow on pinterest, on a little whim I decided to do the South Beach Diet. This diet is basically cutting down on sugar / starch intake. There seems to be a lot of options too for vegetarians and well, I started yesterday. 

It was a little stressful yesterday as I felt unprepared to jump right in. Anyways, I had dark coffee to start the day. Then I had an fried egg for breakfast. I made a tofu/egg/carrots scramble, a curried lentil soup with green jackfruits and a saute of carrots. Though carrots are not allowed in the phase I of the diet, thats all I had at home and didn't want to not use them up. I went shopping last night, even a little over board, just to make sure I have enough to eat whenever there is a craving for sugar. I made adai - with three different lentils and very little rice fir binding last night with a coconut/carrot chutney.

I also had a nasty headache last night and wanted to make sure I ate well today. So I decided to go back to food I am very familiar with and knew I liked from before. Today, I made a spicy roasted red pepper - tomato soup and a shepherd's pie without the crust. For the soup, I used a berbere spice powder I got from St. Louis the last time we were there and it added a good amount of heat to the soup. I used up the tofu scramble made yesterday along with cottage cheese, broccoli, sour cream, mushrooms and scallions for the pie. Lunch today was delish and filling. For a snack this evening, I made a chickpeas sundal. 

I could totally tell the difference in my body from lacking sugar intake. I am not sure how much of it is psychological. I was more tired yesterday than today, but there could be other factors. Today I felt more fulfilled and happy, mostly because I cooked for myself! Most of the time, I cook for others and take great pleasure and satisfaction from seeing others eat well, but today I did everything for myself and it did feel good. 12 more days of no sugar / no starch :)

Mini Mango Tartlets

I made these for my last Art Show reception. It was an easy recipe and the tartlets tasted great!

Ingredients: Pie Crust -1 (I used one from Trader Joe's); Cream Cheese - 8oz; Mango pulp - 1/2 cup sweetened; Sugar - 4 tbsp; Cardamom - 1/4 tsp powdered; Corn Starch - 1 tsp.

• Set oven to bake at 400F.
• Cut the pie crust to lay inside a regular or mini-muffin pan. I made the mistake of pre-baking them inside the pan and the sides kind of collapsed. To avoid this, invert the muffin pan and bake the shells on the outside. Bake for 8 minutes till slightly brown.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients well with an electric mixer.
• Now put the shells inside the pan, add a table spoon of the cream cheese mixture and bake again for another 15 minutes or till the cheese is set. 
• Let cool for at least 10 minutes and move to a cooling rack.
• Enjoy :)

Egg Curry with Okra

Ever since we had dinner at Mingalaba Burmese Restaurant in the Bay Area last month, I have been dreaming about their okra egg curry. And during thanksgiving I tried tor recreate the dish from what I tasted there. And here is my version which was pretty close to the restaurant's. The only change I would make it add tomato paste to it and make the dish a little more tart. This was the second dish we made minus the okra for the cooking class.

 

Ingredients: Eggs - 4, hard boiled and sliced in half; Onion - 1 (finely chopped); Okra - 1/2 pound, sliced to 1 inch pieces and teamed in the microwave for 5 minutes; Tomatoes -  2 (chopped); Tomato Paste - 1 tbsp; Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp (Alternately use minced garlic and ginger); Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp; Red chilli powder - 1 tsp; Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp; Garam masala powder - 1 tsp; Curry Powder - 1/2 tsp (optional); Salt - 1 tsp; Cilantro - for garnish.

• Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.
• Add the chopped onions till it becomes translucent.
• Add the ginger garlic paste followed by the chopped tomatoes and salt.
• Cook for a few minutes and add the okra pieces.
• Add the rest of the spices. 
• Fry it for 2 minutes and then add water as needed. Add cilantro now or garnish later.
• Once the sauce is cooked, add the eggs and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

Spicy Stuffed Eggplants

This is one of my two favorite recipes to make with these little eggplants (brinjals). The other recipe is the 'ennai kozhambu'. We usually get the best ones either from Chicago or Milwaukee and hence it is a special treat. Made this dish below for the Thanksgiving Lunch we had at home with friends.

Ingredients: 2 pounds small eggplants - slit crosswise from the bottom to the stalk; Spice powders - can be any number of different variety or a mixture. Here I used: Chilli powder, sambhar powder, coriander powder, black pepper + cumin powder; Salt - adjust to taste; 1 tbsp oil. 

• Put the eggplants in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 5 minutes till they are soft. Do not add water.
• In another small bowl, add all the powders, add a tsp of oil and salt. Mix well, taste and adjust salt.
• Remove the eggplants from the microwave, stuff the inside with the mixture. Microwave for about 5 more minutes.
• Add rest of the oil in a pan, and toss the eggplants in it. Cook till the skin is blistered / roasted on all sides.

Gobi Paratha

This morning I gave a private cooking lesson to a friend in Madison. She wanted to learn how to make stuffed parathas and egg curry. We made Cauliflower (gobi) paratha and here is my recipe!

 

Make the dough first and let it rest.

Dough

Wheat flour - 1  cup (Atta from Indian store - a more finely milled wheat flour)

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Water - as needed

To prepare the dough - mix all the above ingredients, adding water as needed and knead to a dough.

Cover and keep it aside for 15 minutes.

Stuffing

Cauliflower - grated - 1 cup

Onion (small)- 1/2 finely chopped 

Green chillies - 2 finely chopped - hot variety

Ginger (grated) - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Jeera/Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

• Heat a tsp of oil in a saute pan, temper the cumin.
• Add Onions, green chilies, ginger and saute for a couple of minutes
• Add the Shredded cauliflower and the spices and cook till the mixture is dry.
• You can also heat this in a microwave (dries the mixture more easily than stove top)

Making Parathas

Rolling pin and board

Pan to fry

Wheat flour

Butter

• Make two small lime sized balls from the dough. Roll them out into small roti. Dust with wheat flour as needed
• Place one tbsp of stuffing on the top of a rolled out roti and spread it.
• Then keep another rolled out roti on top of it and remove air pockets and seal the corners by pressing it lightly. 
• Now roll it out with the stuffing inside gently.
• Heat a pan and put the rolled out paratha on it. Apply butter as needed. Cook both sides well till brown spots appear.

Productive Day

I started and finished this piece today - something I haven't done in a while. The sun will get a small mirror in the center tomorrow after the coats of varnish. The painting is done henna style with acrylics on wood (not sure of the type) with textured lines. The painting is on a 12x16 cabinet door from the Habitat ReStore of Madison, WI. They are also doing a Salvage Art Show from April to June next year. I have a few more pieces of cabinet doos lying around that might also get some paint action before then. I am so thankful to have two of their stores in Madison and just the other day found two maple brand new cabinet doors for $3 each. The last day to apply is in the first week in Jan. This piece might get donated if it is not sold before then. Lately, I am very fortunate to sell paintings as I finish them :) This will be on show at a Holiday Art Fair this Friday and Saturday. 

The pieces I do on cabinet doors can still be used on a closet. That would be super cool!