Saigon Cinnamon

You've seen "Saigon Cinnamon" listed as an ingredient in many of my recipes, and I've listed a few of my favorites at the bottom of this post. This is what Saigon Cinnamon looks like...



Saigon Cinnamon is also known as Vietnamese Cinnamon, and in fact it isn't the same plant as actual cinnamon; it is more closely related to cassia. Its flavor is similar to cinnamon but much stronger. Read more background information on Saigon Cinnamon on Wikipedia. When the weather outside begins to cool and all through the winter, this aromatic spice sets a cozy mood and warms you from the inside, too.

The key point that you should remember about this ingredient is how potent it is. I use it often but in really small quantities -- anywhere from a pinch to a 1/8 or 1/4 teaspoon does the trick. I have only rarely used a 1/2 teaspoon of Saigon Cinnamon, when in combination with another huge flavor or of course for a large quantity.

As a principle, the same applies to a lot of other spices, especially when fresh. Use strong spices in moderation. As much good as they do in terms of digestion and of course flavor, too much of a good spice can cause stomach and other health problems. Some Indians and Indian food lovers may hate me for saying this, but what is the point of eating food so spicey, or so hot, that your tastebuds can barely taste it?!

Seattle Rhythm & Spice is my source for Saigon Cinnamon. They have collected high quality spices and blends from the world over. Locally, you can sample and smell these aromatic spices at the Ballard Sunday Farmers' Market.

Below are some of my favorite recipes using Saigon Cinnamon, and you can also add just a little to your everyday warm drinks, like coffee, cider, or hot chocolate :)

1. Pistachio Butternut Squash Pie
2. Chocolate Spice Pumpkin Tart
3. MPG Original Pancakes
4. Rhubarb Risotto

Sungold Orange Marinara

We all enjoy regular red tomato marinara. If you have plenty of late summer, sungold tomatoes, how about making a beautiful orange marinara! As I have mentioned before, I've received a steady supply of tomatoes from my friend, Heidi, this summer. She has given me tomatoes in almost every size and form. I also have some growing in our own edible garden. Lately they have been the most amazing sungold tomatoes, and I had finally eaten my fill of them in salads. It forced me use them in a slightly non-traditional way, and the results were fabulous!

Orange sungold tomatoes taste like candy, giving a natural sweetness to pasta sauce that we all like! Balanced with herbs, they made a beautiful marinara. Here is my simple recipe for Sungold Orange Marinara which I used for my stuffed shells, along with some nutrition information on tomatoes. Enjoy the last of the season!

Making Yogurt at Home

Having the right temperature is so important for making yogurt. Our often cool, damp weather in Seattle has been a real challenge for making yogurt at home, but that's when you find ways around it, and make more and enjoy during the warm days. We are back to 70+ F weather, summery after a few weeks of what felt like Fall. Here is my method for making yogurt, which a LOT of readers, friends, and family have asked me about.

There are no gadgets or machines required. Once I saw a so-called "green site" advertise a yogurt-maker. They were trying to argue how many resources you can save by not buying those plastic containers, while recommending you buy this machine ... um, WHAT?! Seriously, and the electricity that yogurt-maker uses?? and the materials used to produce and sell a yogurt-making machine to every home? With my more traditional method, you can go back to the basics, where all the best food starts. Homemade yogurt is milder than the store-bought stuff which turns sour easily, and you can make your yogurt in small quantities, to eat it fresh.

These are some of the best of my recipes using yogurt:

1. Mango Shrikhand
2. Mango Power Lassi
3. Tandoori Tofu Kebabs
4. Vanilla Fruit Smoothie
5. Heart Smart Carrot Muffins

My White Bean Soup

I once said how I had meant to start this blog years before I actually did. Well, some years before Mango Power Girl, I had started a vegetarian wiki. It began with a collection of my recipes with which I meant to experiment. My White Bean Soup is a recipe from the old wiki collection that has been refined, re-made, and varied in so many ways. It is an all-time favorite in our household. This common Italian-style soup can be adapted to fit many tastes and needs. I would call it simple, but satisfying.

One variation featured here would be the use of kohlrabi. Some years ago, I would've never known to buy kohlrabi, but by now I can tell you a few different ways to use it. I found the most beautiful kohlrabi from Red Barn Organic Farm. When I bought some recently for the salad I made for the Comox Valley Kids, I made White Bean Soup with the other bulb. Kohlrabi worked wonders because it's root-like and earthy, adding flavor and body.

I have used vegetable stocks and broths before, but now I almost never use them. I consider them unnecessary -- they're usually over-processed, wasteful, and high in sodium, all of which no one really needs. The store-bought stock is also expensive as hell! If you have enough earthy vegetables, you don't need anything fancy for a base -- water will do just fine!

As I very unwillingly say goodbye to summer (see, I'm still not giving up on the last bit of market basil :), I am also trying to convince myself to enjoy fall. I know the new season will bring wonderful fruits and vegetables that we enjoy. Have I mentioned? I still hate putting on those thick socks and scarves :'( not to mention the rain in Seattle is back.

This soup really helps me cope with any cold season. It will be warming us up all winter, too!

I used:
2 small cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 big cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 dried bay leaves
1 big tomato, freshly chopped
4 diced carrots
1 diced zucchini
1 diced kohlrabi
1 twig with fresh rosemary leaves
1 tspn dried oregano
1 tspn dried thyme
1/2 tspn red pepper flakes
2 bean cans full of water
salt & pepper to taste
2 tspns sugar
extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil to garnish

My method:
1. Heat olive oil in a pot on medium high.
2. Sauté the onions & garlic till translucent, do not let them brown!
3. Add bay leaves, red pepper flakes, carrots, kohlrabi, and zucchini. Add all the herbs and seasonings, and cook till the vegetables are slightly tender.
4. Now add beans and water.
5. Bring it to a boil, and reduce heat to low, letting it simmer till half of the water simmers off.
6. White beans cook pretty quickly, so add the tomatoes and sugar next, and let it simmer some more till most of the water boils off.
7. Mash about a fourth of the beans in the pot with a spoon or a potato masher. This will make the soup nice and thick. Stir, and let it cook for a few more minutes.
8. Once you achieve the consistency you like, taste it and adjust the seasonings if necessary.
9. Pull out the bay leaves, the rosemary twig, garnish with some extra virgin olive oil and basil, and serve with a nice crusty bread.

Growing On Me Granola

Granola is growing on me. It was something I once hardly ate. Until recently in fact, I would have said that maybe if there was no other food and I was stranded somewhere ... with only granola ... then, maybe.

Finally I started experimenting and I'm loving granola. Here is a recipe of mine that I keep as a backup breakfast or for a snack at work. I vary the combination in this granola just like I do in my Trailmix Turtles, and it turns out just as wonderful. See this post on Naturopath.ca for my recipe and more.

From a Day on Vashon

Seattle is surrounded by many beautiful islands that are only short ferry rides away. They can be magical places. We needed to go somewhere fun and relaxing, so we recently took a day trip to Vashon Island. Other local islands are better known as tourist destinations, but we had long wanted to go to Vashon. They are known for their Saturday Farmers' Market and small island farms, first rate coffee and liberal politics, and for being home to many writers, artists, and the friendliest people.

We don't own a car, so we grabbed a Zip Car and were out. The best leg of the journey is a twenty minute ferry ride. It's just enough time to get out of your car, get some wind in your hair, and snap a few photos of course :) That short ferry ride makes Vashon a different land and blesses it with a laid back vibe.

As soon as we hit their farmers' market on the Vashon Village Green, we found some of that island magic. It has such a great sense of community, full of friendly faces and easy conversation. Everyone was busy with island-grown foods and flowers, crafts, and services as varied as knife sharpening and henna tattoos.

The little market was also alive with an experienced band playing Irish and American folk music. Rain started to fall while the sun was still shining; everyone just kept on dancing and downing their market-fresh brunch. We joined them, buying a steaming bowl of yummy vegetable curry and rice from an Asian food stand. Lunch was served in a real bowl and with real spoons which we were expected to return sometime later. Here is a clip of it:

Before we got to Vashon, I swore left & right how I would not buy too much produce from the farmers' market, because I had so much at home, from friends' gardens and my own local market. Of course once I was there, I could not resist the perfect white squash and a bag of greens loaded with beautiful, edible flowers -- those had to come home!

We enjoyed some of Vashon's downtown -- here a bookstore and cafe, there a bakery and chocolaterie, and then an antique shop named Treasure Island -- how perfect! We moved on to a delicious, all-vegetarian bakery & cafe called Monkey Tree. I couldn't recommend Monkey Tree highly enough, the place itself was beautiful and every bite of the FOUR things we ordered was amazing.

Monkey Tree was the last of the places we'd researched in advance, so from there we wanted some locals' advice for more adventures. Asking around for the best destinations is my favorite way to visit anywhere new. Monkey Tree was also about to close, but a baker and an owner pointed us to a sweet, well enough hidden beach that the locals love. We took our picnic to that beach, thanks to the ladies at Monkey Tree! Just look at the lovely map they drew :)

We stopped to refuel at the brilliant Vashon Island Coffee Roasterie and Cafe to grab some coffee ...

We overheard two local girls chatting outside the Roasterie:

Girl #1: Hey, you wanna go pick berries after this?
Girl #2: Nah.
Girl #1: Why?
Girl #2: I picked and ate a lot this morning...

It all could seem too perfect, but I got to experience what these girls were talking about ... as we were walking around the beach we decided to try some wild berries ... wow! they were yummy :)

The stunning baked goods we enjoyed from Monkey Tree included flatbread pizza, a giant chocolate chip cookie, and hearty chickpea soup with freshly baked bread. With all that and our free spirits, Brian & I relaxed and enjoyed some beautiful sounds, sights, and each other's company on an almost deserted beach. What else could you ask for! Taking time for myself and connecting with nature is something I had been missing, and Vashon sure did the trick.

Finally, below is our Island Grown Dinner prepared the next day at home, using everything from Vashon, along with a few more shots from this little island romance.
Recipe...another time! :)

Making Ghee at Home

For all my life I've seen ghee being made at home. When I was little, I would watch my mom boil raw milk to get cream, churn the cream to make fresh butter, and then boil the butter to make ghee at home. She would repeat this process regularly just to get the fresh ghee. I anxiously waited for the day she was going to make ghee, not for the ghee but for the butter! Fresh, home-churned butter sprinkled with sugar was my one of my favorite things.

Here and now in the U.S., we usually buy homogenized milk, which does not allow you to make fresh cream at home for churning into butter. There is no home-churned butter any more for me, but on the upside, making ghee at home got a whole lot simpler. Making ghee is simple and obvious to me and almost every Indian, but I wanted to share with all the other friends or readers who've asked for the method. Here are the benefits and the method for making ghee at home, as I have posted at Naturopath.ca.

My Top 5 Recipes Using Ghee

1. Winter Dates
2. Mom's Carrot Halwa
3. Mom's Peace Kheer
4. Chikki
5. Caramelized Cardamom Banana Toast

Kohlrabi Salad for the Comox Kids

I was thrilled when Robin from Our Big Earth asked me to guest blog for them. This kid-friendly, community blog is always fun to read, they have so many creative ideas and activities for the kids in the valley. Their community is environmentally conscious, modern, and they are rearing their kids with sustainability in mind. What would I not do to someday raise my kids in such a wonderful place?

I found the most beautiful and whimsical looking vegetable that I have ever cooked with -- kohlrabi. Julie Rice from Red Barn Organic Farm told me a bit more about kohlrabi, and she gave me the most gorgeous specimen of this green vegetable. See and read more about my Kohlrabi Salad with Honey-Lemon Dressing for the Comox Valley Kids.