my falafel adventure.

so i tried making falafel, the other day. this was how it came out (apologies for the crappy resolution on my camera phone; it was one of the pioneers).

and it just goes to show you: never trust entirely the directions. the box said equal parts falafel mix and water ..

(so yes, i used a mix; i don't dare try to blend my own mixture of chickpeas and spices, yet!)

.. and the outcome of the directions was some goopy mess. not daring the mix any further, i cheated by soaking some couscous in boiling water and stirring it into the deficient falafel mixture.

regardless of the wisdom of such a decision, the outcome of the frying was forgetable, but not bad. you can see that i was unable to avoid carbon.

and to dress it up a bit, i sliced a roma tomato and served the falafel atop the remaining couscous. it was a little bland, but not bad.

on juices.

until recently, i was philosophically opposed to fruit juices, and now i cannot remember the reason. it might have had something to do with high fructose corn syrup.

in my opposition, i thought to eat whole fruits instead, thinking that the distraction of peeling orange skins and eating their sweet flesh would be worth the lack of convenience. the same idea went to apples, to grapes, and other fruits.

i was wrong. i forgot that i was (and always will be) a lazy human being. juice is too convenient.

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but one of my flatmates has bought a blender. now i will make my own juice. already i have bought half a papaya and made a smoothie mix by pulverizing it. it goes well with soy milk and coconut milk, and it reminds me of some exotic Creamsicle.

in the next few days i will buy a bag of oranges and a few limes. i will peel them all and make freshly pulverized orange-lime juice.

i think it will be fun.

baked sweet potatoes.

this is one of the lazier yet wonderful things i've made.

it's absurdly simple: turn on the oven to 400^oF, scrub the potatoes while the oven pre-heats, and stab little holes in them with a steak knife.

insert into oven for an hour, then turn off heat.

for the price of this little trouble, you will have little jacketed of wonderful, starchy sweet goodness. i dare say that they are better than baked russet potatoes.

simply amazing. i'm eating one plain, and it tastes like a custard.

a simple, quick recipe.

steamed:
brown rice and lentils,

raw:
diced tomato and chopped basil,

seasoning:
cumin and sesame oil and salt/pepper.

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blend in a big bowl, and serve.

it's a good, savory dish: a pleasant surprise, and one of my rare shots in the dark.

i was saving the tomato and basil for a good plate of pasta, but the basil was going bad, and the rice/lentils were already steaming in the rice cooker.




if you insist on adding meat, this would likely go well with chicken kebab or with grilled salmon with lime. i wouldn't suggest red meat.