Food, Fusion and More

I had one of those nights that I couldn't live without chocolate. My husband offered to go to Ellensburg Pasta Company for a "Spoon cake", if you like desserts you really have to try that cake, when we got our bikes ready we realized that the wind was about 50 mph and coming back home was going to be a challenge so I decided to bake my own cake. I was checking my ingredients and ... oh! no!, I was out of eggs, milk, and butter, so I search for a vegan recipe on line, that will not include "veganize" or anything that I wouldn't have at home, and I found this cake recipe, I have to say, It was "to die for". Ingredients: 1 1/4 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 1/2 tbsp baking soda 1 cup warm water 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 tsp white vinegar or apple cider vinegar In a separate pan combine completely flour, cocoa powder, baking soda. In the mixer at low speed, incorporate, oil, warm water and ...

For my birthday, my mother in law and great friend gave me a cooking book from one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle, although some of the recipes are elaborated, I loved this artichoke patties, and they were very easy to make, the best part is that you can even eat them without frying them too; the curry rice and lentils sounded like good side dishes for them 1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt  1/4 cup mayonnaise 2 cups bread crumbs 1/4 cup diced celery 1/4 cup diced onion 1/2 cup diced red pepper 1 tbsp capers 1 tbsp fresh cilantro 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp chili powder Salt and pepper Mix all the ingredients in a bowl except 1 cup of bread crumbs that should be reserved for breading the croquettes. Refrigerate for at least an hour. I used two spoons to shape the patties in little balls, then flat them in the bread crumbs. Heat pan and about 3 tbsp of olive oil for frying. Lemon sauc...

Mondays and Wednesdays I have a late Zumba class, yes I teach Zumba, it's not only a great workout but it's also a great place to find great people. After my class I'm really hungry, and since I can't eat anything before my class, because if I do my body is too busy trying to digest and complains about the workout in very different ways;  I usually fix dinner before I go to class so I don't get home and "eat my way through cooking dinner". Last night I made this Multi-mushroom Stroganoff. I serve it with rice and a onion-avocado-tomato salad. My grandma and mother used to make chicken Stroganoff pretty often at my house and I loved it, but now that I'm vegetarian I look for different ways to have a similar flavors in my home. I didn't use my mother's recipe for this, I actually use one of my vegetarian cooking books. Ingredients: 3 tb olive oil 1 lb mushrooms ( I made a combination of white, shitake, and baby portobel...

In my mom's house it was very common to have any kind of quiche, with and without dough. We called them "pastel". the most popular one at my house was "pastel de verduras" which is a "veggie quiche" (without crust). So I made something similar, with crust. Crust: 1 1/2 cup all purpouse flour 1/2 cup butter 4 - 5 tbsp cold water (with 1 tbsp salt) Filling: 2 cups artichoke hearts 1 onion, chopped 1 cup milk (I used non fat evaporated milk) 5 eggs 3 tbsp Parmesan cheese salt and pepper For the crust: Swift flour, and add butter in form of little cubes. Mix them with the cold water until it forms a malleable dough. Separate it in two halfs. Extend one part of the dough in a big circle (25 cm diameter aprox), as you will be doing a pie. Set a side For the filling: Mix all the ingredients together, season to taste. Add the filling to the pie crust.  Cover it with the reminding dough. Paint it with one extra yolk diluted ...

As you can see, I had to keep up with the monday-Lentels day, so I made up this salad. What you see next to the salad are "soy/chicken strips" vegetarian patties, very tasty and excellent source of protein. For the salad you will need: 1 cup lentils 1 avocado 2 tsp chop cilantro 5 - 7 kalamata olives 1 tomato 2 tbsp chop celery Dressing: olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper. First cook the lentils "al dente", rinse them and set a side Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and serve.

Veggie Sushi My husband and I love sushi, but since I'm vegetarian I just make the veggie style ones. I will say this ones are a combination of a California roll and "whatever veggie" I have at home. You will need: For sushi rice: 2 cups of rice (it's usually made with sushi rice, but I just had Jasmine rice and it worked too) 1/2 cup of rice vinegar 2 tsp salt 1/4 cup sugar First cook the rice (I always use my rice cooker for that), in this case you do want to add a little more water so the texture of the rice is stickier. I made this recipe from this video, I hope it helps you too:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByXX17MpcF4 Meanwhile in a separate pan put the rice vinegar, salt and sugar and bring to boil. Let it cool, set a side. When the rice is done let it cool down a little. Poor it into a large bowl and carefully add your vinegar combination, I add it a tablespoon at a time so it doesn't get "drowned" in liquid. Ro...

Breakfast quinoa This is another way to incorporate quinoa in your meals, for me it works perfect for a really long day. Also it can be a dessert or a "smooothy" like juice too. You can drink it warm or cold. I like it both ways, and a lot of times this is what I take in between classes. You will need: 1 apple, peel and chopped 1 cinnamon stick 1 clove 2 tbsp brown sugar (optional) or 2 tbsp honey 2 tbs quinoa 1 tbs oats I use any seasonal fruit such as pears, apples, pineapples, etc. Put the fruit in a pan with two cups of water, bring it to boil with cinnamon stick and clove, add quinoa and oats and let it cook until both are completely cooked. Add sugar if desire. Sprinke with some ground cinnamon to serve. As I said I like to drink this in more of a liquid way, and carry it with me during the day.