Callaloo

I stopped by our community farm stand on the way back from the park this weekend. I told Xavier he could pick out anything he wanted. This is a dangerous move in Whole Foods but a safe bet at a stand that sells cheap kale and okra. Xavier opted for a huge, bushy bunch of greens that I didn't recognize. It turns out it was callaloo and they are delicious!


Callaloo is the name of the leaves but also of a popular Caribbean stew that I want to try when I have more than 45 seconds to cook dinner. This weekend, however, since I was alone with the kids I simply sauteed the greens in some oil and garlic. They are sturdier than spinach but don't have the bitterness or toughness of kale. I gobbled them up. Xavier did not touch them. Macaroni and cheese beats callaloo every time apparently.

Bhindi Masala

This summer they opened a community garden across the street from me. To be honest, I'm not sure eating vegetables that grow THAT close to my stoop is a particularly good idea but nevertheless, I wanted to support the idea and the people behind it. I therefore ended up with some okra this weekend and finally got the chance to make one of my favorite Indian dishes.

Bhindi Masala is a flavorful dish that begins with frying the okra (which takes away some of the stickiness that some people don't like). I read through a bunch of recipes and picked this one based on the ingredients I had at home. 

http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/bhindi-masala/

I didn't have dry mango powder but I did add the fenugreek which is delcious. Now I just have to stop picturing the giant rats that probably roam our community garden. Ick!

Plum Coffee Cake Muffins

I haven't been cooking this summer and it's actually been wonderful to take a break. I have been mooching off my parents, vacationing and eating out and having lazy lunches of spoonfuls of peanut butter with a side of ice cream. It's been awesome.

This weekend, however, my parents asked me to stop by the farmer's market to pick up some vegetables for dinner. I guess they have caught on to the mooching trend. Anyways, I got sweet talked into buying way too many plums which turned out to be too ripe. (I knew I was getting the hard sell!) I didn't want them to go to waste so I made muffins. I followed Martha Stewart's recipe exactly but I added a bunch of ground flax seed to try and get something besides sugar into my toddler.

http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/plum-coffee-cake-muffins/

The report back was that these were really good. The plums in the middle, however, create a natural break point that allows said toddler to more easily just eat the sugary tops off the muffins and leave the rest. Owell...I'm the one eating ice cream for lunch so it's hard to claim any moral ground these days.