More posts about buildings and food. Or just food.

I just made some food with ingredients I had sitting around my house!

I made:

Brown rice!
Spicy split mung dal!
Mixed green salad with shredded cabbage, carrots, and apples!

The brown rice is self-explanatory, if you've ever successfully made rice.

The dal is simple. The explanation is kind of complex, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy.

Take 1 cup of split yellow mung dal and wash it, then put it in a pot with 3-1/2 cups of water and 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric. Bring it to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer until the lentils are cooked. When they're cooked, you'll be able to blend them with a whisk--they'll dissolve into a creamy puree.

When they're almost ready, in a separate small frying pan, heat a little canola oil and add 1-1/2 teaspoons of whole cumin seeds. Fry them until they turn brown and fragrant, then add some minced fresh ginger and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook briefly, then pour into the freshly pureed mung dal and stir. Next, add some chopped cilantro (or another flavorful green--I used some mizuna, which is similar to arugula, and it was nice and peppery) and a little fresh lemon juice, stir, taste and adjust seasoning, then serve.

The salad was also easy, but it turned out well.

I had: some mixed salad greens from one of my favorite farmers' market vendors, and green cabbage, carrot, and apple from the CSA share. I made a dressing with some fresh ginger, ground coriander, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and a hint of agave nectar, then tossed in the salad green. I shredded some of the cabbage (cutting super thin strips is bizarrely satisfying) and grated the carrots and apple. The result is refreshing and a tad spicy and sweet.

The result: this stuff is TASTY... if you are a fan of GINGER. Which I AM.

Awesome snack to get you through the peanut butter crisis.

Surely you've all heard that processed peanut butter snacks are out due to salmonella. Way to go, industrial food complex! But that doesn't mean you can't have peanut butter at all--the jarred stuff, they say, remains safe and delicious. So here's something I made last night from a veganized and healthified (well, healthier) recipe found on Recipezaar.

-2 tbsp. ground flaxseeds
-3 tbsp. water
-1/3 c. canola oil
-1/2 c. sugar
-1 tbsp. molasses
-1/3 c. natural crunchy peanut butter
-1/2 tsp. vanilla
-1 c. rolled oats
-1 c. whole wheat pastry flour
-1/2 tsp. baking powder
-1/4 tsp. salt

In a small bowl, whisk together the flaxseeds and water, then set aside. In a large bowl, mix oil, sugar, and molasses until smooth. Mix in the flaxseed mixture, then peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until smooth (besides peanut chunks!). Add the rest of the ingredients (oats, flour, baking powder, salt) and mix until a thick dough forms. Spread the dough into a small, lightly greased pan (8-9" round, pie plate, 8" square) and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely before serving.

You won't miss those peanut butter Clif bars.

And yeah, maybe someday I'll actually blog again.

Who has time to blog anymore?

My god, I have never worked so much in my life. Sure, I got paid for 40 hours a week before, but I didn't always WORK 40 hours a week, y'know? There wasn't always 40 hours of work to do. Now, I have to account for how many hours I work on each project I have, so I'm working my ass off for a solid 40 hours a week and end up being in work mode for a little more than that. Add to that my commute time and I'm away from home about 11 hours a day. When I get home, I want nothing more than to watch Rachel Maddow and space the hell out.

It's great, though. I love working there. I hope it continues. I still don't know.

Now I am focusing my non-work energy on Thanksgiving. We are having only four people this year: his mom, my mom, my mom's "don't call him my boyfriend" friend, and my sister. The theme is Indian food. The menu is as follows:

• Andhra-style sprouted mung bean salad (if you've never tried sprouted mung beans, you're missing out)
  
• herb-laced yellow mung bean dal
  
• sliced white radishes with winter squash
  
• greens and plantains with toasted almonds
  
• char-flavored spiced eggplant and potatoes
  
• stuffed cauliflower with tart tomato-coriander sauce
  
• brown rice pilaf with broccoli, cashews, and cumin
  
• homemade raita, cilantro chutney, and tamarind chutney
  
  
• chapati (whole wheat flat bread)
  
• sweet potato-stuffed paratha
  
  
• saffron coconut soy ice cream and masala ginger apple crisp
  
  
• barley tonic, ginger lemonade, and cinnamon rooibos chai

It looks like a lot. It might BE a lot, but the recipes seem not super complicated and someone besides me is making some of it. I am ridiculously organized and my house is almost clean and it's only Saturday. Sunday is prep-planning and shopping day.

I have a headache and I need sleep badly.

Totally true things that are totally insane.

No, not that I saw the Mountain Goats last night. That's not insane, unless you want to call my love of a band that has brought me friendship, new bands to love, lyrical pleasure, and many happy times "insane."

But this, the threatened "outing" of No on 8 supporters by the Yes on 8 campaign is totally nuts. Oh, it's on now. If California fails to defeat the constitutional gay marriage ban, it might depress me even more than a McCain victory.

And you know the McCain campaign has gotten desperate, too. One of his young volunteers claimed that she'd been beaten up by an Obama supporter, but ended up in jail herself for filing a false police report. Because she made the whole thing up. Way to effing go. Whether this was a solitary act of insanity or a coordinated effort at race-baiting, the Republicans are the only ones looking worse for wear.

Is it just me, or is it funny that it's proud Red Staters who want to bring back "communist" as an insult?

If you care, here's more--gossipy but true--about the place I call work. Valleywag failed, however, to take the bait CFO Blake Jorgensen set out: photoshopped pics of himself in drag. I'm sure he's feeling very hurt right now.

This has totally made the rounds already, but if you hate broccoli and don't read 80,375 blogs already, click to reaffirm your disavowal of delicious little trees.

The last thing is totally true, and totally awesome. The only totally insane thing will come if this guy doesn't become our next president.

And here, just because it's been stuck in my head for weeks:

Yay for seeing the same band over and over again!

Yeah, Steve said we had to go see the Mountain Goats. They are playing the Fillmore, so we're hoping the show sold out so we get free posters. Anyway, tomorrow I better have more energy than I've had the rest of the week, because I have some serious rocking out to do! WOO!