Holiday Sides with Quinoa and Lintel
Posted: 23 December 2015 Filed under: Holiday Sides with Quinoa and Lintel, Uncategorized | Tags: avocados, Grilled Zucchini, Lintel, quinoa, side dish, Zucchini, Summer dip Leave a commentHere are two absolutely healthy simple yet delicious sides/salads to go with any Holiday dishes. Let’s get into them without further ado
Carrot Mixed Rice, Havij Polow, with Fried Chicken for Yalda Night
Posted: 17 December 2015 Filed under: Carrot Mixed Rice, Havij Polow, Uncategorized 8 CommentsFrom the sunset in the last day of autumn (Dec 20th) till sunrise in the first day of winter (Dec 21st) we have practically the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. And from then on, very gradually, days get longer until we hit the summer solstice six months later
Iranians mark “the longest and darkest night of the year” as Yalda, and have special rituals for it as they often do with other major celestial moments, namely Norooz, Persian New year on Spring Equinox and Mehregan, Persian Thanksgiving Festival around Fall Equinox
Three Vegan Blender Soups for Fall & Winter
Posted: 7 December 2015 Filed under: Three Vegan Blender Soups, Uncategorized | Tags: fall vegetable soup, gluten free, vegan, vegetable potage, vegetable thick soup Leave a commentLoving Fall-color vegetables? Feeling cozy with the promise of snow in the air and the desire of a steaming potage to go with it? Well then, let us get started with some inspirations (and instructions) for some hearty, easy, spicy blended thick soups. Remember, you could absolutely use your intuitions and creativity with the types and amount of vegetables and seasoning. Here is my take though.
Butternut Squash Cake
Posted: 18 November 2015 Filed under: Butternut Squash Cake, Uncategorized | Tags: Butternut Squash Cake, Butternut Squash Puree Leave a commentWhat do you do with your left over squashes after each Halloween? Leaving them out there for the squirrels to nibble at their leisure I guess, if they have been sitting there for too long!? Or perhaps, if the squashes are not too old, you would make a good use of them by turning them into puree, freezing them and using them in cakes, desserts and soups in the cold months ahead. Well, the latter is what I did this year.
Making squash puree is so easy I wonder why anyone should buy store cans! And of course, depending on the type of squash you use they make different tasting puree – from light yellow to dark orange in color. Below I will give a super easy way to make butternut puree – my favorite type of squash. Read the rest of this entry »
Remembering scents
Posted: 19 October 2015 Filed under: Memories & Events, Uncategorized | Tags: basil, rayhaan, smell_memory Leave a commentSensory cues are powerful mediums for setting moods and evoking emotions because they possess within themselves the magical quality of carrying small pockets of memories across time and space -memories inhabited by peoples, places, and events; memories which might be pleasant or sad; familiar or rare.
To me, the scent of cinnamon and apple promises the prospect of baking in a cozy kitchen on a beautiful cool autumn day. The scent of old vinegar, when trapped in a cabinet, always transports me back in time to my childhood when I visited my aunt’s old house and held my breath while playing seek and hide in her food storage lined with tens of “torshi” ceramic jugs. Read the rest of this entry »
Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (dolmeh barg kalam) for Mehregan
Posted: 2 October 2015 Filed under: Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (dolmeh barg kalam), Uncategorized | Tags: dolmeh, dolmeh_barg_kalam, Mehregan2015, PersianFoodBloggers, PFBMehregan, stuffed_vegetables, vegetarian 6 CommentsHere we are again with the King of all Seasons, Autumn; Autumn, a spring fallen in love, as Iranian poet ErfanPour describes it. پاییز بهاریست که عاشق شده ست. And here we are again, with the much loved and cherished Persian Fall Festival, Mehregan, the ancient Persian tradition to celebrate September Equinox, honor the god of justice, Mehr, and to be grateful for the harvest season and fall products.
Apple & Dried Apricot Stew (khoresh Sib o aaloo)
Posted: 21 September 2015 Filed under: Apple & Dried Apricot Stew (khoresh Sib o aaloo), Uncategorized | Tags: apple, apple_food, Fall_food 2 CommentsWhat comes to your mind first, when you see or think of an apple? Eve? Newton? Steve Jobs? Or Fall and pie ?? Amazing how omnipresent apple is, isn’t it? And how diversified, beneficial and of course delicious this “forbidden” fruit of wisdom is.
Iranian culture and literature is full of apple-related references as well, and culinary wise, we cook with apple not only in the Fall but also in spring when a particular type of small sour apple is in abundance in some of Iranian southern cities such as Shiraz. Read the rest of this entry »
Sour-Cherries mixed rice (albaloo polow), An alternative
Posted: 14 September 2015 Filed under: Sour-Cherry mixed rice (albaloo polow), Uncategorized Leave a commentAn end-of-summer favorite, sour cherries mixed rice is among the long list of Iranian polow — that is, plain rice layered with cooked or fried grains and herbs, vegetables, prunes or fruits. Sour cherries rice tastes- well, obviously, sweet-sour, it is dark-red in color, and is often served in large gathering either along with fried chicken on the side or with meat balls in the dish. Most importantly, just around this time of the year in Iran, an authentic albaloo polow is made with fresh, hand-pitted and home-processed sour-cherries.
Having been deprived of fresh sour cherries here in Montreal, I had been only dreaming about the good old days albaloo polow for the past couple of decades. I did embark on making this delicious dish with frozen and canned sour cherries more than once, but failed miserably each time, for the mix turned too mushy for the cherries to be even recognizable in the platter. Read the rest of this entry »
Peach-Yogurt ice cream
Posted: 5 September 2015 Filed under: Peach-Yogurt ice cream, Uncategorized | Tags: Healthy_foods, peach, saffron, Yogurt Leave a commentBefore peach season is over, try this hearty and delicious dessert with fresh peach. I modified the original recipe a bit, and inspired by Iranian ice creams, also added dissolved saffron and silvered pistachio for topping. It turned tasty, pretty and fruity fresh!
Ingredients (serving 2) Read the rest of this entry »
Good nuts, pretty nuts
Posted: 3 September 2015 Filed under: Good nuts, pretty nuts, Uncategorized | Tags: almonds, Healthy_foods, Iranian_chaser, mazeh, walnuts Leave a commentWalnuts and almonds are so good for your health: they are said to prevent heart disease and lung and prostate cancer and nourish brain cells. Walnuts and almonds also contain healthy calories and healthy fats. In fact, those who incorporate these two nuts into their regular diet are said to be less likely to gain weight.
I love walnuts with my tea and feta for breakfast; and I usually use almonds on my salad. My favorite nut dish however, is the one on the picture. Just on its own, as a side dish, appetizer, filler, snack, and with bear as a chaser or “mazeh”. Read the rest of this entry »
My Caldron 