Bringing some Spice to my Life

Hello. 

Hello again. 

I'm sitting here thinking how it has been so long since I've sat down and talked about life (more often a stream of consciousness) and food. I am hoping that life in twenty eleven has been going wonderful for you. 

It has been going by rather quickly. I'm hoping it slows down a bit here soon. 

I should tell you that I got my first delivery from Washington Green Grocer. I received a mixed box of Organic fruits and vegetables on Thursday. I will admit I was a bit nervous. I am a bit obsessed about picking out my own produce but I liked the idea of supporting a local "green" business, so I thought I'd give it a try. 

Survey says? I like it. I received a great mix of produce and all came fresh and beautiful. 

I've been hooked on Indian spices lately so I took the head of cabbage from my organic mixed box and made some Punjab Cabbage with a couple extra ingredients that you normally wouldn't find in this dish, like asparagus and maitake mushrooms.

I absolutely love the colors of rainbow chard...look...how pretty :)

Ah! I need to grow my own rainbow chard someday. I think I'll be making some baked eggs with this rainbow chard and perhaps something else. Thanks again to my delivery of fresh produce!!!

I'm going to take on some break this week. I'm planning on making a started and diving into this new book of breads. I'm gonna start out easy because I don't always have the best luck with yeast dough/breads but I'm crossing my fingers for some success and my house to be filled with that wonderful aroma of fresh bread baking. 

And oh here is what I did to make the punjab cabbage...

Punjab Cabbage

1 small/med head of cabbage
1/2 cup of fresh/frozen peas
1 loose cup of chopped maitake mushrooms (optional, I had them and wanted to add)
1 loose cup of chopped asparagus (optional, again I just wanted to add)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/4teaspoon cayenne pepper

about 1/3 tsp salt 

2 Tbls. oil

Cut the cabbage into strips and chop all the vegetables.

Heat the oil and saute the onion with the cumin, coriander, turmeric, garam masala and cayenne or 3-4 minutes, until the fragrance of the spices emerges.

Add the cabbage, sprinkle on 1-2 Tbls water and 1/2 tsp salt, cover the pan tightly and cook on a low heat for 2-3 minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften. Now, add in the rest of the vegetables and cook another 1-2 minutes until combined and fragrant.

Take the pan off the heat and let it stand, covered, for about 2 minutes minutes. Add extra salt to taste. Serve and enjoy!