Shiitake Pasta. I am either going to have to make smaller salads or get a larger plate. I went to five stores until I found shiitake mushrooms, and the ones I found were dried, direct from Japan. How direct I will never know. Had heard more great things about shiitake since the one time I had tried them. Can be served in place of meat, and has all 8 amino acids found in meat and dairy products. A highly prized food in Japan. As support for medical conditions, it has been used successfully in cases of hepatitus, candida, enhancing resistance against viruses, cancer, and in ameliorating the effects of radiation or chemotherapy, among a number of other applications. A very detailed treatment of this amazing mushroom can be found here http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_shiitake.htm and also at world’s healthiest Foods http://whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=122 A study done on the effects of shiitake on candida albicans concluded “the findings of this study have shown that L. edodes (shiitake) produces a fungistatic agent, which is able to control C. albicans (candida) multiplication”. http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1517-83822001000300003 I boiled the shiitakes to wet-them-out (opposite of dry-them-out), together with the spaghetti, and then cut into very thin slices. Fried in part olive, coconut oil with soy burger, and the spices cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, soy sauce, and one tbsp of fruit chutney which took the place of a butter sauce. Really enjoyed that dish, which is lucky since I have enough dried mushrooms for 10 more meals.

 Breakfast in a cup, except for the garnish. Just decided to make the plate environmentally green. This time, no baked-on, hard to get off oil in the pan because I did not put any in. With a good stainless steel pan this is possible. Be sure to put some oil in the cups (the top ones) before adding the ingredients. There is a fine line between burned on the bottom and cooked on top. The less often you lift the cover to check, the better. Which is why a glass cover is useful in one pan cooking. But, I do not have one, so often get slightly burned on the bottom. The muffins are amaranth, quinoa, pecans, walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds all ground in the coffee grinder, with a small amount of olive oil or coconut oil added afterwards. There is not a healthier muffin on the planet. Particularly when you factor in the charcoal at the bottom. 
 

 Who said there was no art in garbage. For those who are conscious of  environmental waste, and the profligacy of our society, some of these can be reused. But already they have served two purposes (the photo being the second), and who knows what else lies in store. Later note: Saved all of them except four. Stacked them and put in the freezer for next time.
 

 Garlic and Onion Eggplant With Raisins. Spices: pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, oregano. Fried in coconut oil (or olive oil). The super muffin? Space to fill and I have to get rid of them. Just ignore the carrots. Sort of difficult isn’t it. I try, but then remember how healthy they are, and give in. But not so much that I buy and intend to use them immediately or even in the near future. I freeze them. Don’t like pressure. This one was unfrozen two minutes ago. Scraped, cut, sliced (very easy if cut the length wanted, stand on end and slice top to bottom). Put slices into cup of hot water for 1 minute.  
 

 Cinnamon Q and A. Quinoa and Amaranth with sesame seed and an egg. If this looks unappealing, that’s because it is. But it has a lot of things that are good for you. Of course, that’s what they say about most things we don’t want. The topping of honey and cinnamon provides additional health benefits to an already powerful breakfast. 
 

 That was very good. I should reinstate my grading system. This is a four fork. Just to give perspective, a five forker is vanilla fudge ice cream on double chocolate cake. I am sitting here in a wet shirt. If you get turmeric on your clothes, immediately excuse yourself, and wash it, or at least the parts affected. The old idea of rubbing same cloth against itself doesn’t work on turmeric. I put the shirt back on and with a blue towel continued to rub it until gone. Does not have to be blue. The other option is to wear a bright orange top. Turmeric was and still is used to dye cloth. Potent stuff. Back to the dish. Spinach, carrots, broccoli, eggplant. This would make any alkalizing fanatic deliriously happy. They say that the foods you eat should be 60% alkaline and 40% acidic to keep a proper balance in the body. Check it out with this food chart of the two. Alkaline and Acidic Food Chart by www.essense-of-life.com at http://www.google.com/base/a/1389549/D6280858209555450942 After this you can eat all of the junk acidic food you want. The sauce is a garlic sauce with a small soy burger, and mushroom powder for cooking, water, small amount of flour, turmeric and black pepper. Other spices can be added (be careful with the salt). This dish as a whole, touches just about every red flag in the body and turns it green.
 
 

 Solid Soup. Have suddenly had these hives for about a week. Trying to figure out what is causing them by elimination of things which don’t set it off. So far, water is ok.  People like soup. Oh, you don’t? Well then, most people like soup. Living alone, who else am I going to talk to? One of the things I dislike about soups are the spoonfuls of water you have to wade through to get to the good stuff. This is the epitome of solid soups – no water. Plus, it is very healthy and green. Spinach, broccoli, carrots, and garbanzo beans. And the real health? Three cloves of garlic plus turmeric, crushed black pepper, and rosemary. The sauce is mushroom powder for cooking, flour, powdered coffee creamer (or milk) and water.

My thought for the day: When I think of all the things I could do, and all of the various things I have done, I begin to realize the enormity of the world I inhabit and how small it is the place I actually circumscribe for myself. Our dreams are always greater than  our realities but it is only when we attempt to close the gap that we truly live.
 

 Highland Omelet. Tried to get all of the beans into the center. Could have used a good sheepdog. The swath of chutney/sweet chili sauce is the ribbon of excellence.  The brown beans were soaked over night, then initially boiled. After boiling for about 5 minutes, poured the water off and renewed for final stint. This step really helps. Combination of coconut and olive oil for frying, with the 2 eggs poured on top of the beans. Garlic thinly sliced. An alchemy of basics.
 

 Just The Normal Spaghetti Except do not put hot paprika on cucumber. Just does not work. Add oregano, sage, and mushroom powder if you have them. Cook the garlic whole so that it gives its flavor to the dish, and those who have not eaten my last 5 meals, can enjoy it for its benefits, but can leave it if they are already super healthy, or have a close quarters board meeting.
 

 Chocolate and Peanut Butter Plus Ground Nuts On Top Chutney Inside Pancake. That’s the recipe. Use butter in the pan to fry, or you will never get it off the bottom due to the fruit chutney.

 Sweet Potato Pies. You are seeing this only because I believe in spreading my failures as well as my successes. Technically, it came out perfectly. But taste wise, I could not even finish them. You know that has to be a sign of terrible. This, in spite of my motto “You will like it no matter what because you cooked it”. Basically the problems were: Added no spices or sweeteners to the sweet potato. Added no spices to the white sauce. Added no spices to the pie crust. I forgot my own admonition about everything must stand on its own in terms of flavor. Nothing did. Pie crust was too thick and looked totally unappetizing. So, from the stand point of appeal, I may as well have served the meal in a paper bag. This could be fixed by sticking it in the oven for a couple of minutes, or, pan frying the tops to a light brown before putting them on the mashed sweet potato and white sauce. On the technical side: Sliced the sweet potato very thin, put coconut (olive) oil in the cups. Used a small glass to cut out pastry bottoms from hand flattened dough, heaped up the sweet potato/onion mash (if you want to turn them over to pan brown the top, make it flat), covered the top crust with a thin layer of oil or butter. After this meal, I will have to go back to basics. It’s very good to do that every once in a while. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the za’atared leftover-dough which I pan fried.

 Sweet potato mash with onions, before putting on the crust.
 

   My Choice. Pan fried tortilla, melted swiss cheese, raw sweet onion, cherry tomatoes, fried champignon mushrooms (read warning), fried sliced garlic, coriander, basilicum. This was really a delight to eat, aside from the yellowish color of the photo which makes it impossible to see the swiss cheese. But I didn’t have to look at the photo while dining.

 Desayuno de Joan Miro. You should see me when I get serious. The bread chips toasted in butter are a sliced-while-frozen roll.

 Smart Seed

Avocado Hot salad. This one was hot when I ate it. Took the photos fast. I was hungry. The true secret of this dish is the Middle East herb and spice zaatar / zaa’tar / zahtar / zartar / zaartar) with roasted sesame seeds. Also some sweet basil. The mushrooms, bell pepper sliced thin fried in olive oil, with the avocado put in just before turning off the flame and after mixing somewhat transporting the whole thing to the plate. 

Olive Oil Pan Fried Swiss Pizza. Just thought that the Italians get too much mileage on the generic pizza. So, I decided to correct the imbalance. This is so named because I used Swiss cheese instead of mozzarella. The piece upside down is so you can see the bottom. All of the toppings were fried first – especially the garlic which was golden browned before adding it to the rest of the mix. So, the list of ingredients goes like this: Soy burger mashed, bell pepper, mushrooms (champignon), Oregano, dill, tomato sauce (its optional because I had it right there, and forgot to put it on which is one of the problems of not working off a recipe), Very good without it, if you hate tomato sauce. Bon appetite as they would say in the French part of Switzerland, or Buon appetito in the Italian part, or En Guete! in the German part, and I have no idea what they say in the fourth official language Romansh. One interesting note: An archeological find of a preserved Bronze Age pizza in the Veneto region. Mine tastes better.

 Raw spinach salad. Well washed and diced spinach leaves, avocado, cherry tomatoes, zaartar, olive oil and salt.

  Eatable Spinach.  This is not to say that spinach is not normally eatable. Well, it isn’t. But with a cheese sauce on it, anything is possible.

This is my WakeupCall. Realized that I am not getting enough of what broccoli, bell pepper, zartar, sweet basil, eggs give in terms of vitamins and minerals we generally bypass in our daily rush to just get by. Since earlier is better than later, and breakfast was the earliest time I could muster, this was the solution. But only after drinking two glasses of water and waiting an hour to let the water percolate throughout the system and lay the basis for some serious vitamins and minerals. It is the next best thing to a trip to the doctor. In fact, it’s  preferable.  By the way, I also ate the brocolli stalks which are not shown. Art often gives us only a slice of the whole thing. 

 Cherry Tomato Tree Salad. With my now famous (at least in my house – that’s with me and cat doesn’t count when it’s salad) dressing with some changes of sweet and sour sauce, fruit chutney, mayonnaise, soy sauce, olive oil, water for consistency, honey, brewer’s yeast, turmeric, coriander, salt, crush black pepper. This makes eating a salad a real treat. Proportions are up to you and your taste buds. One word of warning. Turmeric was used to dye cloth a brilliant yellow in the old days. So if you get it on your clothes do not let it dry. It’s also put in yellow mustard which is called American mustard by the rest of the world.

 Brown Bean Tempter. Forget the lemon. It’s there to suggest that what you are looking at is eatable. Beans are one of the healthiest foods on the planet and all too often they are sidetracked. Soaked over night, boiled, and water changed with new water added along with the tomato sauce, sweet and sour sauce, two drops of hot chili sauce/oil for a bit of a bite, and the cheese/milk/mushroom powder sauce on top. The brown bean, originally from Sweden, is related to the pinto and kidney bean. High in fiber and antioxidants, it is a full protein which actually helps you lose weight, and has been found to be extremely beneficial health wise. Do yourself a favor, add beans to your diet, and look up some really good recipes.

A balanced meal. At least that’s what I call it. A dietician would probably look at it and say ‘this guy needs help’. I’m showing it because lately I have not been getting anything close to it. I cook a dish, always make it for two. Why, I do not know. And end up eating the whole thing and not looking around for the balanced part. I have not really cooked before. Oh, when I had to have something sweet and there was nothing in the house, I would put some flour, water and sugar together in a pan and put it in the oven to see if a cake would come out. Nobody would ever eat it except for me. Offered a cookie I had made the same way to a neighbor who I think ditched it as soon as I was gone. She never did give me her opinion on it.  

 Can you do without lettuce? I can. And yet, well you know the routine – it’s good for you. So this will make it interesting enough to overcome the natural tendency to go in the opposite direction when handed a menu. Of course you will not find this on any menu, at least not the sauce. Lettuce, tomatoes and avocado with blueberry dressing. Don’t gage until you try it. And you won’t then either. The sauce is a combination of blueberry jam, mayonnaise, olive oil and just enough water to make it pour.
Red Cabbage Revisited. By the time I decided that this was definitely good, there was nothing left on the plate. One of the problems of good food. Doesn’t stand around too long. The other problem is that many of the foods which are best for us in one facet of nutrition or another, is not always the most palatable. And chefs have agonized over this for centuries, not to mention mothers. This one takes the bite out of a bite, and leaves you looking for a second helping. One word of warning. It grows on you as you are eating. The base is cabbage – that hard to sell under any circumstance vegetable which gives so much in terms of cell detoxification and cleansing, promotion of gastrointestinal health, protection against cardiovascular problems and many cancers, and possibly even helps in the protection against Alzheimer’s (particularly red cabbage). So with that introduction, what do we have to do to make it interesting? Red cabbage chopped and fried with red pepper, half a cubed apple with skin, grated ginger root, caraway seeds, raisins, brewer’s yeast (have to get the Bs in somehow), sweet and sour sauce, fruit chutney. With the add-ons giving their own health benefits, this is one powerful dish. You may say to yourself, ‘why suddenly ginger?’. The health benefits of this root are prodigious. Take a look at  whfoods.com/ginger and you will include it in your next meal.  You will have to wait until I make it again for the photo. Source of health benefits of red cabbage whfoods/health benefits red cabbage.  Next on the list – Brussels Sprouts.

Panache. (1. Dash; verve. 2. A bunch of feathers or a plume, especially on a helmet. Thefreedictionary). The word just emanates from this dish. For a history of Panache from King Henri VI of France to Cyrano de Bergerac, see Wikipedia/Panache. Base: Flour, egg, water, brewer’s yeast for extra B vitamin (not baker’s yeast). Additions: Ground walnuts/almonds/sunflowerseeds, raisins, banana!. “Baked” in the skillet with heavy lid. When the time came to turn it over, had to ‘plate’ it (plate on top of pan and turn over) Requires nerves of steel, an unbreakable plate, and heat guards. Of course this is only for the uninitiated. once you have burned yourself, dropped the plate, and lost your breakfast, you will be more adept next time. Just this takes panache.
I look at my cat lying there sound asleep after breakfast, waiting for a little sun. “It’s a great life”.