March 2012

Recently, I had lunch out with a friend and in the course of our conversation I mentioned that I was trying a new recipe that week: quinoa-potato croquettes (from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone). “That sounds good,” my friend said. “Will you have that with some baked chicken or something?” No, I explained, it was one of our meatless meals. “But it’s not Monday,” my friend pointed out. 

I explained that Meatless Mondays don’t usually work for us – Monday is slow cooker day, due to work and school schedules. However, we try to have at least two or three meatless meals a week; just not on set days. 

It was bound to happen. Restaurants come and go, especially those that start on a shoestring budget. Going into this adventure to uncover the hidden Latin gems in the Twin Cities, we knew that we would have some strikeouts, run down some dead ends and find ourselves looking for that which could not be found. This past week, we had wanted to check out a place we had heard some good things about. The Border Cafe in West St. Paul was to be our destination...or so we thought. Upon arriving at the address on South Robert street, something was a bit off. First of all, The place was called Three Amigos. Secondly, it was closed and obviously undergoing a bit of a change. We have vowed to go back and will give you more details when we do.

The End.

This is part-three in a three-part series about fermentation. Part-one contains information related to the nutritional value of fermented foods. It also touches upon the role that fermentation might play in personal, societal, and ecological renewal. It concludes with recipes for fermented vegetables. Part-two deals with dairy products and their non-dairy counterparts. This section is devoted to fermented grain products.

"Wow, that pink blob is moving. You are not going to eat it, are you?" I glanced at the dosa batter which was bright pink because it contained red lentils. It was creeping dangerously close to the top of the container. "Oh yes," I replied. 

Vegetarian. Gluten Free. Heart Healthy. Often overlooked as an inexpensive source of protein and fiber, pulses can play an important part in your daily menu. Not familiar with the term? You may recognize them under their more common names: peas, lentils and chickpeas. Pulses are from the family Leguminosae, or legumes, which gets its name from the characteristic pod that protects the seed while it is forming. These tiny nuggets of nutrition have been grown around the world for thousands of years. There is even a non-profit organization, the Northern Pulse Growers Association, based in North Dakota and dedicated to the promotion and awareness of their nutritional benefits. Who knew?