Ayurvedic Tea

One of the nice things about Ayurvedic cooking is that it promotes health through eating real food. A friend who has studied and practiced this art/science for many years once made me a special tea for colds and upper respiratory ailments.  I liked it so much, I make it whenever I feel a cold coming on.
To a cup of hot water, add:

• fresh ginger, sliced or grated (frozen as a substitute, but not powdered)
• fresh lemon juice
• tumeric powder
• honey

The amount of each ingredient can be varied according to taste. Sip slowly and repeat as often as you like.

Oscars v. Superbowl

Every year, the Academy Awards follow the Superbowl by a few weeks. In the lead-up to the big ball game, print and TV ads are saturated with snacks heavy on saturated fats.  And while not all of them are tempting, the cumulatively they make me want my own occasion to gather around the TV, eating dips with beer, rooting for my favorites.  In sweats (as Ani di Franco says, "I don't wear anything I can't wipe my hands on.") Not your typical Oscars night party, where folks usually emulate red carpet attire and Wolfgang Puck's style of cuisine.

Nonetheless, that's what I want. Jalapeno pepper poppers, seven-layer dip, potato chips, beer, vegetarian chili, and gluten-free cornbread. No cakes in the shape of a football - maybe chocolates in shiny wrappers, instead, with a champagne toast. Making sure to share those deep-fried peppers stuffed with cream cheese among the whole crowd, and overall our intake will stay pretty healthy.  But it will feel decadent enough to honor a night where the players uniforms are tuxes and gowns.

Taro Sticks

Normally I only eat at Sweet Basil for supper. So trying the lunch experience brought a lovely surprise I had missed until then - taro sticks.  Promptly after we ordered from the short-list of lunch specials, an intriguing plate appeared for the table. Not potato slices, or yucca, or yam or parsnip, but another starchy root vegetable well-suited to the fryer.
Taro makes the most sense for a Thai restaurant, being SE Asian in origin.  But I had mainly seen it in a mashed form previously (as poi in Hawaiian meals, taro cakes in Chinese, and as a base for mixed vegetables in Malyasian). I was delighted by the light, crisp exterior and the lightly tuberish flavor of the interior. An excellent appetizer.

Gluten-free Bakery

As well as we've been getting along baking our own bread, making our own pizza dough, and using rice pastas from Trader Joes, the relief I felt to discover a gluten-free bakery near home surprised me.  Much of what Zest bakes in its San Carlos kitchen doesn't tempt me - cookies, muffins, sweet loaves, and mini cheesecakes I can live happily without.

For me, the ravioli and loaves of sandwich bread are much more critical to the savory pleasures of everyday life; and the occasional cupcake or brownie will please my sweet tooth.  And knowing I can walk in and order a basic sandwich, the one lunch item that all the great salads, SE Asian (Chinese, Thai and Indian) rice-using dishes, and soups or stews simply can't replace, is deeply comforting.

While I focus more on the abundance of good food choices that don't slam my joints and muddle my brain than on the few conveniences I should do without, some days being scrupulously prudent wears on the soul.  To walk into a shop brimming with good fresh-made offerings (and they are all good, based on taste tests so far) feels liberating.  Anything that appeals is available. I'd forgotten what that feels like.

Almond Milk Hot Cocoa

For some time, I've been looking for a really satisfying substitute for milk - the cow kind. Rice milk doesn't do much for me, soy milk does too much (bubble, bubble, squeal). I really like the flavor and richness of whole milk; but it is high in fat, calories, and lactose. In small quantities, like a big splash in a tall cup of tea, no problem.  But for, say, a latte or hot cocoa?
For those purposes, my best find so far is almond milk.  It has the calcium, some protein, a little sugar, a lovely rich quality, 1/3 the calories of whole milk (60 to a glass, v. 180), and no cholesterol. The flavor is different than cow milk, but tasty. And it melds beautifully with cocoa or with coffee. The other day, I made a batch of hot cocoa as I would normally, except for the liquid substitution (in a saucepan, stirring in dutched cocoa and a smidge of sugar, vanilla and cayenne until the thick drink resembles the signature drink in the movie Chocolat). Magnifique!

Second Breakfast

For me, the time between a light breakfast (tea and a Clif bar) while booting up the computer and a real, sit-down lunch break is simply too long.  Around ten a.m., I start to feel restless and distracted, a sure sign of dropping blood sugar.  Whatever lunch awaits me, it starts to whisper from the fridge. But if I give in to its siren call, how will I make it through the rest of the day without bottoming out?

The answer, for me (and Winnie the Pooh, and all the Brits who still nibble on Elevenses) is "second breakfast." Lately, my best choice for a tide-me-over morning snack is oatmeal.  It only takes a minute to heat up, and satisfies without being too sweet or too salty. At about 100 calories, it also wears off by the time I need the real break that lunch provides. And it goes well with a second cup of tea, if the first didn't offer enough caffeine.

Now that I've worked that break snack out, what's best in the late afternoon, between lunch and dinner? And what do I call it, if I've cut off the tea portion of the Afternoon Tea?

Rooibos - Red Tea

In the Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels, set in Botswana, Mma Ramotswe drinks bush tea every day.  It took a while for it to click that her drink is the same one marketed in the United States as red tea, or rooibos.  Whatever colloquial name one uses, aspalathus linearis (wouldn't that look good on a label?) makes a lovely beverage, hot or chilled, plain or with milk and sugar (and spices, for chai).

Red tea makes a good substitute for black tea in the evening, or any time one avoids caffeine. Its leaves, unlike those of 'real' tea, camellia sinensis, simply don't contain any.  They do however contain a nice dose of anti-oxidants, which may explain the statement on one purveyor's box, that:

"Rooibos (say roy-boss) . . . enjoys a reputation in its native South Africa as a stomach-relaxing, mood-enhancing, allergy-relieving tonic."  (www.ecoteas.com)