Read 30 Books - #5 Our Husband

After my very long and slow read of The Lotus Eaters I needed something light, quick and predictable. That's exactly what I found in Stephanie Bond's Our Husband about three women who upon their husband's death discover they were married to the same man. I have to admit, I bought this book because it was $0.99 in the kindle store and even though I knew it wouldn't be a literary masterpiece I still enjoyed reading it. Sometimes I just want to read something funny, romantic, or predictable, and in this case, all three.

The story centers around three women - Beatrix the first wife in her 50s with family wealth, Natalie the second wife and doctor in her mid-30s, and Ruby the barely legal most recent wife and exotic dancer. Upon hearing their husband was in a car accident they rush to his side only to find out there are two other Mrs. in their husband's life. When their husband dies in the hospital it is discovered he was murdered and the wives become the main suspects.

Although the wives are shocked and hurt by their husband's bigamy, angry at each other, facing murder charges and grieving for their loss, they work together to clear their names and uncover more of their husband's lies along the way. I'm sure you can tell where this humorous romantic mystery is going, but if you're looking for a quick easy read you've found it!

Bill Paxton gives this book a thumbs up because he knows how to handle three wives.

One New Vegetarian Dish a Month - Red Lentil Dal with Rice

Oopsie, looks like I forgot to make a vegetarian dinner in September! To my credit, I did actually have a couple memorable vegetarian lunches using portobello mushrooms that could easily be made for dinner -- 1. I topped two tostadas with smashed black beans, sautéed portobello mushrooms, lettuce and hot sauce and 2. I filled a flour tortilla with black beans, cheese, sautéed portobello mushrooms, jalapenos, lettuce, and hot sauce for a similar, but much more filling version.

For our vegetarian dinner this month I made lentils and rice, which I have been craving for weeks. With the cold weather and rain we've had in London lately, something about a steamy bowl of lentils and rice is so comforting and satisfying despite the lack of meat. I absolutely love cooked spinach - on it's own, in soups, stews, dips, and in this case, in lentils. I would usually accompany the lentils and rice with some sliced cucumber and tomato, but I didn't have any on hand. Instead you can try the full recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, which serves it with coriander flatbread and carrot salad. That recipe is HERE.

I only followed the actual Red Lentil Dal recipe below because I didn't want to bother with the extra carbs from flatbread (plus I don't think it's needed) and I was just wasn't feeling the carrot salad at the time.

Red Lentil Dal with Rice

Ingredients:

5 cups water, divided
3/4 cup dried small red lentils
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 serrano chiles, minced - I can't get serranos here so I used red chiles which are popular in the UK
2 ounces spinach (about 4 cups loosely packed) - I used even more than this because I love it!
Hot cooked rice (brown or white)

Instructions:

Combine 3 cups water and lentils in a bowl. Let stand 20 minutes; drain. After lentils have soaked now is a good time to cook your rice then proceed with making the lentils. Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil; swirl to coat. Add the chopped onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add ginger and next 6 ingredients (through serranos/red chiles); sauté for 30 seconds. Add lentils and remaining 2 cups water to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 23 minutes. Stir occasionally  Stir in spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Read 30 Books - #4 The Lotus Eaters

So, I'm obviously lagging behind on my reading list, but this book took me forever to get through! The weird thing is that I enjoyed it, but it just seemed to go on and on and on.....

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli spans the last 10 years of the Vietnam War and follows Helen, an American female photographer who escapes her comfortable Southern California lifestyle to fill the hole her brother left when he died in the war. She struggles to break the gender barrier of the war being the only female photographer, while simultaneously adjusting to the cultural differences in Saigon. We never know if she supports the war or not, she just continues to focus on capturing the gruesome, terrifying, and sometimes humane and beautiful aspects of this long war.

During her 10 years she has two lovers - her American photographer mentor and her Vietnamese assistant who she ends up marrying. Through the latter relationship she experiences the real Vietnam, even learning the language. I found myself enjoying the love story most and reading the detailed descriptions of landscape, culture, people and food.

I'm not sure why it took me so long to get through this book. I loved Vietnam when I visited last December so the setting was easy to get lost in. The love stories were interesting, but amidst a war it was not as lovey dovey as typical romantic novels would considering the circumstances; although the relationships are a sort of escape for Helen. Helen herself is one bad-ass mother - she threw herself in combat missions just to capture the real moments of the war. She immersed herself in the Vietnamese culture, battled sexist colleagues and military, endured injury, lost a lover, went home and then returned soon after, then stayed even after the war was over with the risk of never being able to return...all for another amazing shot.

Again, I have no idea why I wasn't hooked on this book until it was finished. I think the actual war parts dragged on and maybe I just wasn't as interested in that subject matter. It's a war that was before my time whereas others who were alive during that time are probably very passionate about it one way or another. I think I would have loved to see some pictures. I know that sounds weird, but the descriptions of the shots she was taking were amazing in my imagination and I would have loved to actually see them. I think this would actually translate into a good film, but probably wouldn't be my top book recommendation right now.

I'm going to give this one Tiger thumbs up because it was good, but also kinda disappointing!

One New Vegetarian Dish a Month - Tofu Stir Fry

I went out on a big limb for our second vegetarian meal - the dreaded tofu. I knew there was a very high chance Mike would not enjoy this meal, but I went for it anyway. Tofu originated in China and is made from soy milk, giving it a soft texture, but with little to no taste. It's high in protein while being low in fat and calories. Because it's pretty bland, it's essential to flavor it well, which is why it's usually prepared with plenty of strong Asian condiments like soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, sriracha, etc.

I got out my wok, but any large frying pan will do, and I got to work. What I love about stir fry is that they are so quick - literally just a few minutes to make! You can eat your stir fry on it's own, or on top of noodles or rice. I chose wholegrain basmati rice and I prepared that first since it takes about 25 minutes. 

Tofu Stir Fry

Sauce Ingredients:

1/3 c. Soy Sauce
1/4 c. Sherry
1 Tbsp Honey
3 cloves garlic, minced
zest of 1 orange or lemon

Whisk all ingredients together and set aside. If you want a spicier version add some red pepper flakes.

Stir Fry Ingredients - you can use any veggies you like, but this is what I used:

1 block of firm tofu (not soft or silken)
1-2 Tbsp Vegetable oil (or corn, canola, or peanut oil)
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced on a diagonal
1 zucchini/corgette, halved lengthwise then sliced on a diagonal
2 cups broccoli florets
2 small baby bok/pak choi
1.5 cups snow/mangetout peas
2 chopped scallions/salad onions
1 cup cilantro/coriander, chopped
1 tsp. sesame oil

You can also throw in cabbage, baby corn, peanuts, cabbage, etc.

Instructions:

Place the tofu on paper towels and lightly squeeze all sides so you can take most of the liquid out of the tofu. This will keep the tofu firm and allow it to brown nicely. Cut the tofu in cubes. Add a tablespoon of oil to your wok or frying pan and heat on medium high. Make sure your fan is on and your window open, it may get a little smoky while you fry the tofu! Add enough tofu so that they are not over crowded in the pan. Let fry for a couple minutes on two sides. Set fried tofu aside in another bowl. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan. Throw in vegetables that are firmer and take a little longer to cook - onions, carrots, broccoli, and let cook for 1-2 minutes before stirring so they brown a little. Stir and let cook a minute more. Add rest of veggies and continue to cook, stirring occasionally for a minute then add sauce and tofu. Cook for one more minute, add sesame oil, stir, then turn off heat. Serve on top of rice and topped with Sriracha.

So, how did this meatless meal stack up to the last one? Not as well for Mike, but he ate it all and didn't need to eat something else afterwards. Compared to the quiche this is much healthier and gave us plenty of vegetable servings. Using brown wholegrain rice was a better alternative to white, and if you're concerned with salt content you can use low sodium soy and even cut it in half if you don't mind less sauce to top your rice.

What I realized the next day is that this meal is WAY better leftover. The next day the tofu had been sitting in the sauce and had deepened in color, absorbing a lot of the flavors of the soy, garlic, and sesame. I added a little bit of oil to a hot pan and fried the brown rice for about 5 minutes to get some of the edges crunchy, then I added the tofu stir fry along with some of the sauce. I stirred that and let that cook for a couple mins then I pushed the rice mixture to the sides of the pan, making a little well in the middle. I sprayed the middle with some non-stick spray and cracked an egg in it. I let it cook for a minute before mixing it and essentially make scrambled egg. I then mixed the entire stir fry together letting the egg mix in with the rest of the rice and veggies. Topped again with sriracha and it was done! Extra protein from the egg and tofu, lots of veggies, and a half cup of brown rice. Overall a pretty healthy and very satisfying lunch, even Mike said it looked good.

Read 30 Books #3 - Off Balance

The 2012 Olympics are officially over and it's probably a good thing, because I have been a little obsessed the past two weeks. I've heard how terrible the NBC coverage of the games in America is, but in the UK we had 24 HD channels on BBC streaming every game live. I even attended seven of the games so it's been extra awesome and overwhelming. My favorite summer Olympic sport is artistic gymnastics. I was 14-years-old when USA took home the team gold for the first time ever and 16 years later we did it again. It brought back all of those memories of the Magnificent Seven, which got me thinking, what are they doing now?

1996 US Women's Gymnastics Team Gold left to right: Borden, Dawes, Chow, Phelps, Moceanu, Strug, and Miller

After a couple hours of lost time on Wikipedia, reading articles, looking at old and new pictures and watching YouTube videos of those old routines I remember as a teenager, I caught up on those seven American gymnasts. I found out Shannon Miller has had enough plastic surgery to make her look completely different, she also survived ovarian cancer; Amy Chow is a paediatric surgeon, pianist and pole vaulter; Dominique Dawes is still gorgeous and is on President Obama's council for Fitness, Sports and Nutrition; Amanda Borden ditched that awful short bob and opened a gym in Arizona; Kerri Strug is an avid marathon runner; and Jaycie Phelps owns her own athletic center in her hometown of Indianapolis.

2007 Reunion in Atlanta. Left to right: Borden, Chow, Phelps, Moceanu, Strug, Dawes and Miller

But who can forget the youngest, tiniest gymnast of them all, Dominique Moceanu? She was the same age as me at the time of that gold medal performance, but at only 4' 4" and 70 pounds she looked more like a 10-year-old. She stole America's heart that year especially with her Devil Went Down to Georgia floor routine. A couple years after those Atlanta summer games she was surrounded by media and scandal as she took her parents to court for a divorce. After she was emancipated she continued to train under her own terms and made several attempts to get back to elite competing condition, but was plagued by injury and surgeries. While I was looking into what she's been up to I found that she just released a memoir nicely timed with the recent hype of another USA team gold medal. I found this video online and it's not hard to believe I immediately put down the book I was reading (and not very interested in anyway) to pick up this interesting memoir:

Yeahhhhh, so it's not enough that she has a secret sister that was given up for adoption, but that sister has no legs. Pretty juicy stuff. Dominique's memoir, Off Balance,  is full of gymnastics horror stories mostly surrounding her crazy intense father and the demanding and manipulative Karolyi power couple (who are still in power today). What makes this gymnastics story unique is that Dominique is a first generation American, but was raised very much like her family still lived in tyrannical Romania (she hadn't even tried a peanut butter and jelly sandwich until she was 14-years-old!). Because of this upbringing you see why she resorted to seeking emancipation after being under the iron fist of her father. Perhaps the most inspiring part of this whole story is not Dominique's at all, but that of the sister she only learned about a few years ago. Her sister, Jennifer, seems like an incredible person - born without legs, but doing more than most people with legs accomplish (including myself). She climbed trees as a small kid, played softball, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics - without legs!! Man, do I feel like a bum when so-called 'disabled' people do more than I do! Really makes me feel guilty for not appreciating or taking care of my body. 

I'm giving this book a thumbs up! I enjoyed the juicy gossip, was inspired by Dominique's sister, and even though Dominique did not get to compete again she's now living happily with her husband and two children. I did struggle with a couple parts of this book, one being the repetitiveness of some of the statements about gymnasts or her family; this is likely an editing problem which surprises me because there were two co-authors. Also, while I don't doubt Dominique had an awful childhood, I can't help but wonder how much of her perspective is distorted from a child's point of view? We all have our childhood issues, which at the time seem so traumatic or dramatic because that point in our life is narrow and that's how it feels. As we get older we look back on those things and yes, some of it is still awful, but maybe not as bad as we once felt when we were that immature child and our world was so small. We learn to understand our counterpoint's perspective, forgive, and grow. I don't know how much of that Dominique has done and at times I felt like I was listening to a teenager still. It almost seems as if this was an exposé on how awful, corrupt, and damaging Bela and Marta Karolyi are to USA gymnastics. I would have liked to read more in-depth details on her struggle to get back to competing again in the early 2000s, her partying years (she briefly discusses boys, alcohol and drugs, but not in anywhere close to the detail of the tumbles in her past routines or cruel conversations with Bela), and the creative process (if any) of gymnastics. After reading this book, I'm hoping we get to hear more from her sister about her journey through all of this!

One New Vegetarian Dish a Month - #1 Caramelized Onion, Broccoli, Pea, and Tomato Quiche

I have no idea where the month of July went, but I forgot about making one new vegetarian meal a month so I'll have to do two for August. This challenge is an attempt for both myself and Mike to eat a bit healthier and not feel reliant on meat for every meal. The risk of eating vegetarian for novices like us is not getting our protein and eating too many unhealthy carbs, which is just as bad as eating too much meat so I have to be conscious of the recipes I choose. Mike grew up with plenty of meals without meat, but they consisted of lots of pizza and pasta, which is why this challenge cannot include either of those starches! 

I grew up eating a some-what balanced dinner of salad first, then a meal with a veggie, a meat, and a starch (often too much starch). Today when I don't have meat in a meal I don't feel satisfied. I know this is all in my head, so I'm hoping I can happily eat a meal without meat and be completely satiated.  Mike, however, didn't eat a single vegetable besides corn and potatoes when I first met him. The past few years I've gradually introduced Mike's diet to green beans, broccoli, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, and even the odd spinach or kale snuck in soup. He's new to vegetables so it's another thing I have to be considerate of. Growing up in California I always enjoyed a plethora of delicious, unique, inexpensive, and almost always in season veggies. When I moved to Boston and then London, that all changed. I transitioned to the lands of root vegetables and other vegetables and fruits you could only get at certain seasons or expensive markets (and some not at all). Because of this over the past 10 years my taste for vegetables has regressed to the extent I'd rather have a starchy carb or creamy soup instead of a green salad full of bright vegetables. 

This all has to change! But since this is the first of 12 (and many more) vegetarian meals we'll start a little slow and palate-friendly with a quiche. If you want to omit the starch completely you can always bake this without a crust, which is more like making a flat omelette or frittata. 

I haven't been grocery shopping in over a week so I used whatever vegetables I had in the house, but the original recipe calls for zucchini/courgette. You can find that recipe HERE, but my adapted version is below.

Caramelized Onion, Broccoli, Pea, and Tomato Quiche

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine
Serves 6

Ingredients 
1/2 (14.1-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (I used 1 roll of JUS-ROL shortcrust ready roll so I didn't have to roll it out)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used cherry ones)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped Basic Caramelized Onions (recipe HERE or my version below)
1 cup 1% low-fat or semi-skimmed milk
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 large eggs
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (about 1/2 cup)

Preparation 
1. Preheat oven to 425° (218° centigrade).

2. Roll dough into a 12-inch circle (or whatever size for the pie plate you have). Fit dough into a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate. Fold edges under. Line dough with foil; arrange pie weights or dried beans on foil. Bake at 425°F/218°C for 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove weights and foil; bake an additional 2 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

3. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F/190°C.

4. While the dough was cooking I made some caramelized onions a quickie way because I didn't have time to make the recipe above: Thinly slice 1 large onion. Put 2 tablespoons butter with two tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add onions and cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Lower heat to medium low and continue to cook until browned, about 15 minutes.

5. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl. Add broccoli and sauté 2 minutes. Add tomato, peas, and garlic; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sauté 3 more minutes or until crisp-tender. Cool slightly.

6. Arrange onions over bottom of crust; top with vegetable mixture. Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, milk, flour, pepper, eggs, and cheese in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Pour milk mixture over vegetable mixture. Bake at  375°F/190°C  for 35 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

I served the quiche with green beans and roasted potatoes (the potatoes were meant to be the good part in case Mike hated the quiche).

And the verdict? YUMMM! We both really enjoyed it and we still got our balanced meal in. The original quiche recipe is 314 calories, but I don't think my version is far off since I made only minor substitutions. I still can't believe Mike liked it considering he really doesn't like peas!

Next time I make this quiche, I will probably double the amount of tomatoes and increase the garlic by a couple cloves. If you make it, do not skip out on the caramelized onions, they absolutely made the dish!