“February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer.” ~ Shirley Hardie Jackson, American writer (1916 – 1965)

Most of a cucumber was the last vegetable sitting in the refrigerator bin and beginning to look a bit rumpled. Lest it need to be thrown away (aaaagh!), it was time to use it immediately.

Fortunately, the pot of fresh mint growing in the sunny corner of the living room was also calling to me, wondering at its neglect, so that I was able to put the two thoughts together and remember some summer flavors. July.

Is it wrong to visit July in February?

The only thing wrong with this picture is that with the cucumber suffering from depression, the peel was unfit for consumption. That’s ok, though, because in cucumbers, the peel really doesn’t add significant nutrition, even though it is easier and prettier to leave it on.

Just before serving, we also happened to remember a cup of leftover quinoa, which we often use as a quick-cooking, high protein replacement for rice or oatmeal. Into the bowl it went along with the last bit of Poppyseed Dressing. It gave the dish enough substance to make it more like a lunch dish than a side dish.

Cucumber Mint Salad

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as an entrée
Time: 5 minutes + optional time to cook and cool quinoa

½ cup chopped cucumber
½ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 cup cooked, cooled quinoa (optional)
¼ cup Poppyseed Dressing (see below) or other sweet dressing

Toss ingredients together. Serve immediately.

Poppyseed Dressing

1/4 cup sugar (Fair Trade, vegan, of course)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup salad oil
1/4 cup cider vinegar

The weather service is predicting snow for Wednesday. That’s ok. Today, the sun is shining just the same as it does in July. Eat your veggies and dream.

“To attract good fortune, spend a new penny on an old friend, share an old pleasure with a new friend and lift up the heart of a true friend by writing his name on the wings of a dragon.” ~ Chinese Proverb

Dragons have always been a fascination of mine. What is more fun than a mythical, fire breathing beast that sparks the imagination? From Tomie dePaola’s children’s book, The Knight and the Dragon, to Katie MacAlister’s fantasy, Love in the Time of Dragons, if a book has “dragon” in the title, I will at least have a peek. And now, it is the Year of the Dragon. I couldn’t be happier.

Well, actually, I could.

You see, there is the matter of bubbles. I love bubbly drinks. For awhile, I switched from the mass market soda pops – full of sugar and health impacting artificial (read: chemical) colors and flavors – to naturally flavored carbonated fruit juices. But, even these are high in sugars and they are very expensive. Enter the home carbonator.

We bought a SodaStream System to start carbonating our tap water and add our own flavors with their naturally occurring colors. No sugar. This is a cheaper and more earth-friendly alternative to buying club soda, which I can go through at an alarming rate, and the effect is the same as using the prepared varieties.

When we picked up a couple of blood oranges from the grocery store produce department a few days ago, inspiration struck. Thus was born the Dragon’s Eye Cocktail. So easy, it is almost a shame to call it a recipe, but from time to time we do need to be reminded that simple can be best.

Blood oranges are slightly sweeter and somewhat smaller than typical oranges. The inside flesh is dark red, while the outer peel is generally orange with a patch of red blush. Make no mistake, however, that this recipe is all about the color.

Dragon’s Eye Cocktail

Time: 3 minutes

For each cocktail…

1 blood orange
1 cup carbonated water (club soda or soda water), chilled
1 sprig of fresh mint

Cut the orange in half crosswise, then cut a slice off to use as garnish (the dragon’s eye). Juice the halves directly into a glass – it should yield close to ½ cup.

Make a cut through the peel on the slice and perch it on the edge of the glass. Stand the mint sprig (the dragon’s tail) up in the glass and fill with the club soda. Serve while cold to all dragon lovers.

Learning about all the “not foods” that are used to flavor and color sodas is also rather off-putting – maybe even more so than the sugars. Reading articles about the health effects of these ingredients is enough to turn off the “I want” switch permanently. If you’ve been having trouble resisting the bubbly bliss, just read this article, which sums it all up very nicely: http://www.rodale.com/facts-about-soda

“Our team stayed in a little truck stop up there once and in the restaurant there, you could have your food prepared two ways: fried or deep-fried.” ~ Fisher DeBerry, former football player and coach of the United States Air Force Academy football team (1938 – )

Come game day, I’m going to want something spicy that goes well with beer. Not that I don’t want that every day, but you know some days are more “gotta have” than others and this is one of them.

When we go out to eat, food from India is right at the top of the list. Besides the fantastic aroma and tongue tingling flavors, Indian restaurants are also very accommodating to vegetarians, making them perfect for a group with a mix of diet preferences. Pakoras, deep fried savory fritters, are among our favorite dishes.

BUT these aren’t just any fritter!

Instead of being made with wheat flour, pakoras are made with a flour of ground chickpeas. Some call it besan, but Bob’s Red Mill calls it garbanzo bean flour, and I call it chickpea flour. Either way, it makes this dish perfect for those who stick to a gluten-free diet – and provides a generous serving of protein for everyone.

While traditionally prepared pakoras are made with the addition of potatoes and onions, we like to include some other veggies to give them a little more color, thus the broccoli in the version show in the photo below. Feel free to use whichever vegetables you prefer – chopped cauliflower and zucchini are also delicious!

By the way, if this day is a “must have deep fried” for you, you can prepare as directed but fry in hot oil that has been heated to 350° F in a wok or deep fryer for about 8 minutes, turning halfway.

Baked Party Pakoras

Serves 4-6 for appetizers
Time: 20 minutes

1 cup chickpea flour (a.k.a. garbanzo bean flour or besan)
2 teaspoons curry powder (your favorite)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup water
½ cup very thinly sliced red onion
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies
1 cup finely chopped raw vegetables

Barbecue sauce for dipping

If you are baking, preheat oven to 450° F. Spray or wipe a generous coating of olive oil on two baking sheets.

In a medium bowl, mix the chickpea flour, curry powder, and baking powder together. Gradually whisk in the water to make a somewhat thick batter. Stir in the onion, chilies, and vegetables to coat thoroughly.

Using rounded tablespoons, place mounds of the vegetable mixture onto the baking sheets leaving about an inch between. Place in hot oven and bake for 10 minutes, turning (optional) halfway through if you want them to be brown on both sides.

Serve while very hot (they aren’t very good cold) with a spicy barbecue sauce such as the Jazzed Up Mosaic Barbecue Sauce from page 116 in the Mosaic Meals cookbook.

These pakoras are spicy, so they go great with an icy cold amber ale or a glass of iced tea.

Carlo Indrezzano: YOU saved me?
Wonder Woman: Yes.
Carlo Indrezzano: Impossible. You’re a woman!
Wonder Woman: I have heard that once or twice before.
~ From “The New Adventures of Wonder Woman”, tv series (1975-1979) created by William M. Marston

We’re pretty much of the mind that casseroles are the best dishes, with all the flavors squashed together like they’re at a big party in a small apartment. They get to know each other so very well.

The butternut squash we use here is chock full of Vitamin A, that vitamin your mother told you would help you see in the dark. Like a superhero. Vitamin A also supports a glowing complexion and overall skin health, which is also important to superheroes because of the possibility of scoring a prime time television series. People who don’t like squash in spite of its natural sweetness probably haven’t considered the superhero angle.

As for the rest of the dish, earthy mushrooms and walnuts provide a meaty texture, delicious and nutritious, to produce a casserole worthy of Meatless Monday or any day special powers are called for.

Winter Rice Casserole

Serves: 3 entrée servings, or 6 as a side dish
Time: 25 minutes active + 20 minutes in the oven

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 ½ cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ½-inch cubes
8 ounces mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 cup California walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup short grain brown rice
2 cups flavorful vegetable broth

Soften the onion in the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large, oven-safe skillet for about 5 minutes. Add the squash cubes to the pan, tossing with the onion, then cover the pan and allow the vegetables to steam for 10 minutes.

Remove the lid from the pan and stir in the mushroom pieces. Continue cooking to soften, for about 5 more minutes. Stir in the walnuts, rice, and broth. Cover the pan and place into hot oven for 20 minutes.

Stir and check to be sure the rice is tender. There should be no unabsorbed broth in the bottom of the pan. If more cooking time is needed, cover the pan and return to the oven for 5 more minutes before checking again. Serve while hot.

We enjoy our Winter Rice Casserole with some Simple Tomato Chutney from page 107 of the Mosaic Meals cookbook, or with a sprinkling of dried cranberries on top.

“The whole is more than the sum of its parts.” ~ Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384 BC – 322 BC)

With apologies to Aristotle, when it comes to spending money on seasoning blends, my rule of thumb is that the sum of the parts should never exceed the price of the most expensive individual component – especially if most of the ingredients that are already marking time in my cupboard.

Checking out the spice rack at our local grocery store, I noticed that Thai Seasoning Blend was $6.99 for a 2-ounce bottle. The first ingredient on the list was black pepper.

In making this blend, you can control how spicy you want it to be by adding or omitting the cayenne pepper. Some prepared blends also include nutmeg, onion powder, and mint, for example, so if you have a favorite Thai flavor, by all means add it and make the mixture your own!

Thai Seasoning Blend

Makes about 3 tablespoons
Time: 3 minutes

½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons lemon grass OR basil
2 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Up to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, to taste)

Measure ingredients into a small jar. Cap tightly and shake to blend.

Of course, the whole reason for even looking at the Thai Seasoning Blend in the first place was because we wanted a Thai Brown Rice Noodle Stir-Fry for supper.

If you’ve never used rice noodles before, you need to know that this is a great weeknight dish because all you have to do is soak the noodles – no boiling required! We use the Annie Chun’s Brown Rice Noodles (as for Pad Thai), which is almost indistinguishable from the regular rice noodles except that they are more nutritious. They are both gluten-free.

Thai Brown Rice Noodle Stir-Fry

Serves 4
Time: 20 minutes (less if using frozen veggies)

1 (8-ounce) package Pad Thai style rice noodles
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
4-6 cups cut up vegetables, fresh or frozen. We used fresh onion, red bell pepper, pablano chile pepper, zucchini, and snow peas for the batch shown in the photo.
1 cup roasted, shelled peanuts (skins off)
1 tablespoon Thai Seasoning Blend (recipe above)
1 whole lime, quartered

Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover them with hot (not boiling) water. I just use water right from the faucet.

While the noodles are rehydrating, begin to sauté the vegetables in the oil over medium heat in a deep skillet or wok. NOTE: I start with the onion, then add vegetables in the order given, based on their relative firmness, always ending with the tender snow peas at the same time I add the noodles. If you are using frozen vegetables, they can be added all at once since they are already partially cooked.

After the noodles have been soaking for about 10 minutes, drain off the water.

Add the noodles to the skillet with the vegetables, cover the pan, and allow to steam for a couple of minutes. Remove the lid, add the peanuts and Thai Seasoning Blend, and toss lightly to combine. Remove from heat and serve while still hot, with a wedge of lime for individuals to squeeze on the juice to their own preference.