I was going to start a thread, but as I don't like doing so, I'm glad I found this thread.
I've made so many new discoveries in the past year that I was wondering what is left to be discovered?
Flaxseeds and Bioglan's supergreens powder are my big discoveries.
Although no less important it seems are the cumin seeds and turmeric powder I cook with sometimes.
Ginger is another discovery. As is cranberry juice. Although the amount of sugar they put in cranberry juice is off putting. I think I'd rather buy the cranberries in their natural form.
I rarely have tomatoes in anything that isn't a pizza or a sauce. Of late I have started buying whole tomatoes and eating them on their own or as part of a cooked meal.
Beetroot is an old discovery. But it's still worth a mention.
What am I missing from this list?
For health-giving foods, lentils? Very versatile and healthy, cheap and tasty. Other beans and pulses, of course, like black beans and chick peas etc.
Dried cranberries in couscous are good. They add a nice sourness.
I'm thinking of trying a new tapas-type recipe with consists of olives baked with garlic and orange at some point. Does that sound too weird?
I have discovered a solution to an old problem. Namely that I would buy root ginger, use some and put it in the fridge, only to find that it had gone rotten and mouldy by the time I wanted some again.
Now I peel the ginger and keep it in a small clip-top jar topped up with sherry. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a year. It tones down the flavour of the ginger a bit, so it's milder, but you also get a bit of nice gingery sherry which can be added to dressings, stir fries and the like.
I have discovered a solution to an old problem. Namely that I would buy root ginger, use some and put it in the fridge, only to find that it had gone rotten and mouldy by the time I wanted some again.
Now I peel the ginger and keep it in a small clip-top jar topped up with sherry. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a year. It tones down the flavour of the ginger a bit, so it's milder, but you also get a bit of nice gingery sherry which can be added to dressings, stir fries and the like.
Thank you for this.
My ginger keeps going off and as I hate to waste things, so I use more of it than is necessary. I won't be doing so any longer.
It's not weird if it works. Although my taste buds clearly aren't as developed as yours.
I prepare lentils and use the turmeric and cumin seeds in that. I sometimes add a little soya milk when I remember to.
Kale is another discovery I forgot to add.
My taste buds are very average, I think! I'm still very haphazard with herbs and spices and use too much salt, I think.
I wish I liked kale. And celery. I can just about eat kale but not celery or celeriac which is a shame because I love most vegetables a lot (and lentils, chick peas, pinto beans, butter beans etc).
My taste buds are very average, I think! I'm still very haphazard with herbs and spices and use too much salt, I think.
I wish I liked kale. And celery. I can just about eat kale but not celery or celeriac which is a shame because I love most vegetables a lot (and lentils, chick peas, pinto beans, butter beans etc).
If you're aware of your salt intake it's probably because of an adverse effect you're associating with it. If you really want to, you can train yourself to live without it.
I probably wouldn't like kale either, if I didn't put it in a pan with quorn mince, garlic, beetroot, ginger, kidney beans, cumin seeds, lentils, tofu and mushrooms to drown out the taste.
I suffered with clogged arteries for years. I don't recommend it.
Quorn.
I'm a carnivore and have sneered at the the thought of quorn and tofu.
On a complete whim in Sainsbury's over a week ago I saw a four pack of quorn frankfurters and put them in the basket out of curiosity.
That afternoon I decided to try them and simmered them as per instructions.
I tentatively tried a bite of one fully expecting to dismiss it as tasteless and was grudgingly surprised.
My wife, too, found them "ok".
I freely admit that, given one in a bun with onions and mustard, I would have been unaware it was quorn.
The problem is that hot dog frankfurters don't much resemble meat anyway but - I was surprised.
A few days later a friend defied me to make bolognese or chilli with quorn mince and try to detect the difference - he swears he can't.
But...... tofu
I cannot understand the "attraction".
It also depends on how you cook it, too. People don't just taste a badly cooked steak and then never eat a steak again. Asians eat tofu because they like it, not because they're following a fad diet. I'd suggest trying a good Thai/Malaysian or Chinese restaurant that serves it.
Not all of it has the same texture and it varies depending on how you cook it, so it can't be.
It's unfamiliarity, nor knowing how to cook it and/or attitude.
Loads on the Internet, of course, for anyone interested. I've been through this one too many times on DS!
I expect so ..... but the stuff i've seen raw looks like putty.
Wife loves it ..... but she did live in Tokyo for a couple of years which explains many things about her.
Maybe I'm confusing it with bean curd. Or maybe they're the same thing.
I expect so ..... but the stuff i've seen raw looks like putty.
Wife loves it ..... but she did live in Tokyo for a couple of years which explains many things about her.
Maybe I'm confusing it with bean curd. Or maybe they're the same thing.
Does your wife make sushi? I've recently had some non-fish or meat sushi from Tesco, M&S or wherever and it's lovely! I had some years ago when I still lived in London and hated it so either I've changed or supermarkets have improved their non-fish/meat versions (never been to a Japanese restaurant). Pickled ginger is lovely! What an experience to live in Tokyo. I've read there are no street signs (in Japanese, I mean)?
This is an old discovery, but I'm going to dust it off and present it as new.
Malt Extract.
In an earlier post I talked at length about my chocolate addition. Well I replaced that with savoury snacks. But the snacks weren't filling me up and they had too much salt in them.
Since cutting salt (not trace amounts) from my diet I've become sensitive to salt.
Anyway I brought a jar of malt extract from H&B yesterday. I was surprised when I didn't devour the whole jar. I only used a few spoonfuls. Amazing, considering what I use to do to a jar of that size. Malt extract is me trying to find a happy medium.
I recently discovered that the "Crispy Noodles" i loved as a child (but seem to have mysteriously vanished from Chinese takeaway menus a couple decades ago) are just deep-friedRice stick noodles infused with turmeric during the manufacturing process.
Alpro almond yoghurt. I'm addicted! I love how you can top it with literally anything. It's my fav brakfast at the moment with blueberries, sliced bananas and a handful of granola and some almonds
I know I should make it myself but we tried some Sabra baba ganoush and hummus yesterday and the hummus was far superior to normal supermarket stuff with a lovely taste of tahini. The baba ganoush was lovely and smokey. http://sabra.com/products/Classic-Hummus
and Bonne Maman Lemon and Poppy Seed cakes. Gorgeous!
Rediscovered Danone Pear Yoghurt. Years ago it used to be sold with a 'Bio' tag and then disappeared from the shelves of the supermarkets in my locale. Now it is back as 'Oykos Greek Style' and is as lovely as ever.
Also M&S Italian dried pasta. I love Bucatini and it can be hard to find here but Marks do a lovely authentic range and Bucatini is included. Oh joy.
Rediscovered Danone Pear Yoghurt. Years ago it used to be sold with a 'Bio' tag and then disappeared from the shelves of the supermarkets in my locale. Now it is back as 'Oykos Greek Style' and is as lovely as ever.
Also M&S Italian dried pasta. I love Bucatini and it can be hard to find here but Marks do a lovely authentic range and Bucatini is included. Oh joy.
I'll look out for that pear yoghurt. Never had it. I agree about M&S pasta.
We had M&S's new broccoli, leek and cheese sausages yesterday.Very nice! Hope they don't discontinue them. They're only at the bigger stores, too, I think.
If you peel and slice ginger and spread it out on a baking tray and freeze it like that, you can just bag it up for the freezer and use slices as an when you need them for cooking. The slices don't stick together, either. There is always a bag of that in my freezer and bags of whole chillies, because they slice straight from frozen. Lemon grass stalks are good to freeze, too, a quick bash when they come out of the freezer and chuck them in the pan. Easy peasy.
I reckon garlic could be sliced up and frozen like I do with ginger, but garlic never gets the chance to go off in my house.
As for recent discoveries, I am very taken with Sainbury's own brand cartons of tomatoes with added olives. I only got one because I thought it would be useful for a quick add in when I was making a sauce but it is lovely as it is with spaghetti.
Comments
Dried cranberries in couscous are good. They add a nice sourness.
I'm thinking of trying a new tapas-type recipe with consists of olives baked with garlic and orange at some point. Does that sound too weird?
I have discovered a solution to an old problem. Namely that I would buy root ginger, use some and put it in the fridge, only to find that it had gone rotten and mouldy by the time I wanted some again.
Now I peel the ginger and keep it in a small clip-top jar topped up with sherry. It keeps well in the fridge for up to a year. It tones down the flavour of the ginger a bit, so it's milder, but you also get a bit of nice gingery sherry which can be added to dressings, stir fries and the like.
It's not weird if it works. Although my taste buds clearly aren't as developed as yours.
I prepare lentils and use the turmeric and cumin seeds in that. I sometimes add a little soya milk when I remember to.
Kale is another discovery I forgot to add.
Thank you for this.
My ginger keeps going off and as I hate to waste things, so I use more of it than is necessary. I won't be doing so any longer.
I wish I liked kale. And celery. I can just about eat kale but not celery or celeriac which is a shame because I love most vegetables a lot (and lentils, chick peas, pinto beans, butter beans etc).
If you're aware of your salt intake it's probably because of an adverse effect you're associating with it. If you really want to, you can train yourself to live without it.
I probably wouldn't like kale either, if I didn't put it in a pan with quorn mince, garlic, beetroot, ginger, kidney beans, cumin seeds, lentils, tofu and mushrooms to drown out the taste.
I suffered with clogged arteries for years. I don't recommend it.
http://www.omfg.co.uk/index.php
Really nice. Will be trying the rest.
I'm a carnivore and have sneered at the the thought of quorn and tofu.
On a complete whim in Sainsbury's over a week ago I saw a four pack of quorn frankfurters and put them in the basket out of curiosity.
That afternoon I decided to try them and simmered them as per instructions.
I tentatively tried a bite of one fully expecting to dismiss it as tasteless and was grudgingly surprised.
My wife, too, found them "ok".
I freely admit that, given one in a bun with onions and mustard, I would have been unaware it was quorn.
The problem is that hot dog frankfurters don't much resemble meat anyway but - I was surprised.
A few days later a friend defied me to make bolognese or chilli with quorn mince and try to detect the difference - he swears he can't.
But...... tofu
I cannot understand the "attraction".
It's just a flavour carrier really, isn't it? Like lentils, dull on its own, but tasty if cooked or marinated with something savoury.
It's unfamiliarity, nor knowing how to cook it and/or attitude.
Loads on the Internet, of course, for anyone interested. I've been through this one too many times on DS!
I expect so ..... but the stuff i've seen raw looks like putty.
Wife loves it ..... but she did live in Tokyo for a couple of years which explains many things about her.
Maybe I'm confusing it with bean curd. Or maybe they're the same thing.
http://www.veggiebelly.com/2010/03/easy-thai-green-curry.html
http://www.veggiebelly.com/2011/04/teriyaki-tofu-noodle-bowl.html
http://www.theholisticherbivore.com/crispy-tofu-cauliflower-curry/
Does your wife make sushi? I've recently had some non-fish or meat sushi from Tesco, M&S or wherever and it's lovely! I had some years ago when I still lived in London and hated it so either I've changed or supermarkets have improved their non-fish/meat versions (never been to a Japanese restaurant). Pickled ginger is lovely! What an experience to live in Tokyo. I've read there are no street signs (in Japanese, I mean)?
Malt Extract.
In an earlier post I talked at length about my chocolate addition. Well I replaced that with savoury snacks. But the snacks weren't filling me up and they had too much salt in them.
Since cutting salt (not trace amounts) from my diet I've become sensitive to salt.
Anyway I brought a jar of malt extract from H&B yesterday. I was surprised when I didn't devour the whole jar. I only used a few spoonfuls. Amazing, considering what I use to do to a jar of that size. Malt extract is me trying to find a happy medium.
They go deliciously well with banana. A sliced banana and a small dish of these makes a very filling snack.
http://sabra.com/products/Classic-Hummus
and Bonne Maman Lemon and Poppy Seed cakes. Gorgeous!
http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=282924898
Also M&S Italian dried pasta. I love Bucatini and it can be hard to find here but Marks do a lovely authentic range and Bucatini is included. Oh joy.
We had M&S's new broccoli, leek and cheese sausages yesterday.Very nice! Hope they don't discontinue them. They're only at the bigger stores, too, I think.
I reckon garlic could be sliced up and frozen like I do with ginger, but garlic never gets the chance to go off in my house.
As for recent discoveries, I am very taken with Sainbury's own brand cartons of tomatoes with added olives. I only got one because I thought it would be useful for a quick add in when I was making a sauce but it is lovely as it is with spaghetti.