Week 24: Mushrooms à la Grecque with a twist

This week I made a variation to a classic. Start by taking half a kg of mushrooms and snapping of the stems. Depending on the size of them cut them in half or quarters and sauté them in some olive oil. Add three fairly large tomatoes that have been coarsely chopped. Add two chopped up cloves of garlic, one tablespoon of tomato purée, one tablespoon of ketchup, one tablespoon of cilantro seeds, about 20 green olives (in slices), one teaspoon of white wine vinegar and one teaspoon of lemon juice. Let this simmer for a while until you get a nice tomato sauce.
Now here's the twist. Traditionally you would let this cool in the fridge and serve. What I did was add about 300 grams of coarsely chopped spinach (a little bit at a time) and serve it warm. It adds a whole new dimension and it's totally yummy ^^

Week 23: Vegan Celery Curry

Start by chopping up one onion and 250 grams of mushrooms, take an equal amount (in size) of celery and chop that up too. Sauté all of this in a cooking pot with some olive oil for a few minutes. Add some sage, salt and pepper, half a teaspoon of hot curry and some soy sauce. Add 50 cl of white wine and 100 cl of low-fat soy cream and leave to thicken for a few more minutes.
Just before serving add 5 chopped up slices of tinned pineapple and leave on the stove for another minute and then it's done!
Easy, fairly quick, yummy and vegan :D Goes great with rice!

Week 22: Zucchini-Potato Casserole

Woops, forgot to post this last week. It's a very simply yet delicious dish. You start by taking 250 grams of boiled potatoes and 250 grams of zucchini and slicing them (not too thinly) and placing them (alternatively) in a greased in quichedish. Chop up two cloves of garlic and mix them with 250 cl of cream, salt and pepper and teragon. Pour this over the potatoes and zucchini and sprinkle with some cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven at 220°C for 20 to 25 minutes (until the cheese has been grilled nicely).
Very easy and very delicious!

Pokéballs and sushi

Religious Books: Bhagavad Gita

I finally finished reading the Bhagavad Gita! It took me about 4 months although that seems like more than it actually is seeing as I only read it on the tram on my way to school and only on the days where I could still fit the book in my bag with all my school stuff.
To be honest I'm slightly disappointed. I expected it to be a more gentle book with less harsh and strict guidelines but in the end it's just another way to justify the distinction between the socia classes (obviously in favour of the rich). The story is quite simple, God (in the form of Krishna) speaks to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra where he is leading his troups against his own family (but they have stolen the throne from him so it's all justified apparently). Arjuna doesn't want to fight because he doesn't want to hurt his family and because he thinks it's wrong to kill (which it is in my opinion). Krishna then tells him that we should live according to the prescriptions of our class, therefore Arjuna, being a ksatriya or warrior, should fight, it his his duty. Krishna also tells him the story of birth and rebirth, aka reincarnation, and says that death is like changing clothes so Arjuna killing his family and friends is fine because they'll just get reborn anyway. Only those who always think of Him (Krishna) and meditate and do their prescribed duties will eventually reach Krishna's planet.
This is basically the base of Hinduism as it is constantly repeated throughout the book. Worship Krishna and do your prescribed duties and Krishna will love you and you well get the chance to join him on his planet.
Another constantly repeated item is that Krishna is everywhere (like literally). He is in all of us in the form of our soul (or atman). Interisting is that they define how large our soul is (one hundreth of one hundreth of the tip of a hair) but not where it is situated (although it is most likely in the stomach seeing as Krishna is apparently the stomach of the universe making everything function properly).
Basically, I think the Gita was written by a rich prince or something similar to keep the poor people from starting a riot and taking over the country. Just like with any other religion it's something to trick the minds of people into believing that 'God' gave everything they have and that they should be grateful for it, live the way they should and shut up. I'm all for being grateful for what you have but not grateful towards anyone vague up on some strange planet.
That said there is some good stuff in it too. After all, yoga is based on the hinduistic scriptures (though hardly mentioned in the Gita) and even though Krishna thinks those who perform yoga for the physical benefits are idiots I still think it's quite enjoyable and soothing. I also liked the part about reincarnation despite it being a mere attribute to justify Arjuna's war.
I could never be a true hinduist though (partially cause that would mean abstinence), in my opinion there are more interesting people and things to think of than Krishna and there are far too much goals to reach to just sit back and do my prescribed duty without the ambition to go places. But hey, I could be wrong, after all there are millions of hinduists all over the world...

Week 21: Cannelloni

Another cannelloni recipe this week but a regular, non vegetarian one. You start by taking one chopped up onion and frying it in some olive oil with a crushed and finely chopped clove of garlic. Add 500 grams of minced meat (I prefer chicken but any type will do I suppose) and fry it so it gets nice and crumbly. Add one grated carrot and three chopped tomatoes and fry this for a few minutes, add 25 grams of butter and 90 ml of cream. Let thicken (add some cornstarch if needed) and cool down once done.
Next you need to prepare a bechamel sauce with 50 grams of butter (I've explained how to do that before) and then you have a choice. Originally the recipe said to use plain bechamel sauce but I personally think a cheese sauce would taste much better. Try not to let this cool down as it will thicken and it won't be easy to use later on. Prepare your pasta according to the directions (ideally you'd have cannelloni that doesn't need pre-cooking as it is the easiest to fill) and spread a good layer of cheese/bechamel sauce in your oven dish. Fill the cannelloni with the meat/tomato sauce and place them on top of the cheese/bechamel sauce. Finish off with the rest of the cheese/bechamel sauce and some additional grated cheese.
Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190°C for 40 minutes and you're done.
As you've probably noticed this is a dish that requires a fair bit of time but it is absolutely delicious and so worth it! (Unless you're lazy and prefer store-bought microwave stuff)