Mighty Lil Lentils Mighty Big Taste

 No one really thinks of lentils as a snack, yet there's a new company that has taken this humble legume to new heights. Seapoint Farms has turned a kitchen staple into a fun new treat - Mighty Lil Lentils, This not only introduces snack lovers to a protein filled bean but also to a new kind of bite.

This Hunting Beach California company is known for its' healthy snacks, Seapoint Farms produces frozen and dry roasted edamame , both tasty as well as seaweed crisps. They also offer such riced veggie dishes as Buddha Un-fried Rice and Chik'n Tikka Masala along with organic edamame spaghetti and fettucine.

         Mighty Lil Lentils come in four flavors, Pink Himalayan Salt, and Barbecue.

                                                  Along with Cinnamon Sugar and Falafel.

The savory flavors are packed with taste. Any one of them is a perfect handful of snacking. They're all crunchy , sort of like dried chickpeas and have that kind of aftertaste. I can see the Pink Himalayan Salt and Falafel flavors being used in salads for extra crunch and more flavoring. The Barbecue flavored lentils could work as a crust  for pork chops or even chicken. Surprisingly the cinnamon sugar lentils isn't that wild tasting. These's a sweetness and a crispness to them which would make them perfect for sprinkling over cupcakes and cake and as a surprise on sundaes and cereal bowls. They'd also be good in a tangine, replacing raisins in the recipe. Another plus is that a quarter cup of any of the lentils is only 150 calories and that much is filling.

Mighty Lil Lentils are the perfect savory and sweet snack for those who want to eat healthy. Try them on their own or with salads or sundaes. They are the perfect little treat for those looking for something new and different.

Kakigori -Ice For All Year Round

We may be on the cusp of fall but pastry chefs are turning out mounds of delicious ice for dessert. Kakigori or Japanese shaved ice is hot right now as American chefs are adding it to their dessert menus, It's a different take on a frozen treat but just as satisfying and delicious.

Tejal Rao, a regular contributor to the Wednesday New York Times Food section wrote about this trend yesterday,Kakigori is different than Italian ice in the respect that it's fluffy and light as opposed to dense and packed. However like Italian ice, it was once reserved for the noblity and the ice brought down from the mountains,specifically from frozen lakes. It began during the Heian period, from the Eighth Century to the Twelfth. Now every Japanese family has a kakigori machine according to Norie Uematsu, a pastry chef at the Cha-an Teahouse in the East Village. She, herself, makes it, all year round , Kakigori is more similar to the Hawaiian shaved ice than to Sno-Cones (although all three are relatively similar) The difference is the texture Kakigori and to a lesser extent, shaved ice has a fluffy melt in your mouth texture. Snow cone ice is gravelly and pebbly, There's a definite  crunch to it.because of it's texture, Snow -Cones have all the flavor at the bottom of the paper cone.Shaved ice hold the syrup so every spoonful is highly flavorful.Depending on where you are, shaved ice is more prevalent, being sold at roadside stands and trucks. Snow Cones are usually sold at carnivals , state fairs and oceanfront boardwalks. Home chefs can buy kakigori or shaved ice machines and serve the treat year round.

For those thinking about buying a shaved ice machine, try to emulate the Japanese masters of this dessert/treat. You could buy different flavored syrups or you could alp it up. Yoojin Chung, the general manager at Stonemill Matcha in San Francisco serves the traditional ujikinoki , with green tea or matcha flavoring with a topping of red bean paste.Homemade coffee jelly(!) and soft mochi, soft Japanese rice cake top it..Cha-an Teahouse has been serving this kind as well as other flavors. Chef Uematsu developed  a white peach flavor , wrought from poached peaches and other fruit and decorated with house made peach gummies cut into star and heart shapes..Marc Johnson, chef de cuisine at David Chang's  Los Angeles based Majordomo used citrus, namely blood orange and grapefruit pieces layered with the ice.Now he's putting a Mexican spin on it creating a frosty version of horchata.Rice pudding is put at the bottom of the bowl, followed by coffee syrup and a strong brew made with horchata a ground milk like beverage made with tiger nuts. He hid pockets of caramelized sweetened milk and whipped cream. This was similar to the kakigori Ms, Rao tasted at the cafe Kuriya Kashi Korogi at the University of Tokyo The ice had fresh soy milk and sweetened condensed milk layered with whipped cream. There were stripes of red bean paste and topped with a sweet and salty puree of fresh edamame.

Kakigori is definitely the rising star of the American dessert scene. It elevates shaved ice to new levels, with it's unique flavors and toppings, This ice will be hot all year round.

Ash Wednesday Giving And Giving Up

Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Western Christian holy period leading up to Easter Sunday. It's a time of giving up but can also be a time of giving. One of the pluses of this austere time is that our sacrifices can turn into habits that we can take with us through the year.

Volunteering is never really a Lenten idea yet is is a sacrifice of one's time. Many soup kitchens are understaffed at this time because volunteers usually drift away.  Our local media never  emphasizes this as they do around the Thanksgiving and Christmas when more people feel compelled to help out. To get rid of the mid  winter doldrums join your local kitchen and  hang out if you have the time. Get to know the regulars and listen to their stories.Buy them a coffee if you see them on the street, help them in whatever journey they're on. Another idea is baking for these kitchens . Have the offspring help so they can get an idea of what public service is.They can make brownies or cookies and bring them over to the kids (and there are many) that also frequent the kitchens.Smaller soup kitchen sometimes have parties so donate either food or drinks or even bake a cake or cupcakes to bring over as well as assisting setting up and cleaning up afterwards. Also donating seeds and gardening tools to community gardens are a huge help as well along with offering gardening advice. Right now many grocery stores are starting to sell seeds. Pick up a few packets, such as lettuce, peas and squash  to help them start.

Of course Lent means giving up the foods and drinks we love Many give up sweets such as cake or candy for these forty days. The good thing about giving up foods is that you lose your taste for them. These sweets can be replaced with healthier fruits for a burst of sweetness. After a while it's easier to reach for a handful of dark , flavorful grapes than cookies. It's also better for the body as well as for the soul, as we all know. You'll feel springier  after nixing the gluten and refined flours and replacing it with vitamins and fiber too. Many , especially the Greek Orthodox give up meats for Lenten fasting. There are so many bonuses win doing this. You'll lose weight  as well as not ingesting all those harmful antibiotics and hormones that are still being injected into farm animals. It's also a good deed , with saving animal's lives. Fasters will also enjoy broadening their diets by include all sorts of pastas and vegetable dishes. They'll  discover the variety of different faux meats from Morningstar Farms and Gardien brands. Remember though , that if you give up meat you need to supplant it with protein. This is where peanut butter or any nut along with green peas and edamame give you that punch of it. Even unsweetened cocoa powder which can be made into the Mexican mole sauce has huge quantities of it.

Ash Wednesday is a time to start  giving up whether time or favorite foods. It's a time of soul searching and wondering what you can do to make life better for yourself and your community. It's fasting but also also pondering too.

Your Own City Garden

Pity the poor apartment dweller.who doesn't have the luxury of fresh herbs or veggies. They have to go to their local farmer's markets or supermarkets for these culinary essentials. However that can change. City dwellers can grow their own greens and aromatics along with mushrooms! It's easy to do , even for brown thumbers.

It was the subject of an article by new writer Annie Raver in yesterday's New York Times Food section. Ms. Raver interviewed Kerry Trueman and Matt Rosenberg who are "urban gardeners" that first turned their roof into a rooftop garden. They started with tomatoes and them built large planters to hold roses and strawberries, Corn, blueberries and even hops followed.Sadly this had to be dismantled due to a 1998 legal dispute  to keep their building rent stabilized.Their window boxes now hold their greens. These are deeper than the typical windowbox with a length of 4.1/2 feet and a depth of 1 1/2 feet. The Trueman-Rosenbergs also made sure these were situated at the north, east and south to better capture the sun. They have sugar peas climbing up a homemade bamboo and yarn trellis. They have black edamame or panther soybeans as well along with Bright Light chard, a more heat resilient green than spinach. Apartment owners can also grow plant indoors, namely mushrooms. Home Depot sells kits  that can be easily set up Keep in mind that if city folk want eggplants and tomatoes, they do need eight hour of sun while lettuces and herbs need only two to three hours of light.

Many apartment and condo dwellers may have reservarions about starting a garden.After all it does involve- dirt - along with fertilizer and water. However nowadays its' extremely easy - and neat to maintain plants. The window boxes have only three sides instead of the traditional four.The open side faces the apartment where the roots are contained in malleable bags called Root Pouches. These can be moved around and easily washed.At the end of the season they can be cleaned, folded and stored for next Spring They also come in different sizes so herbs can be grown in the one gallon pouch while veggies can be grown in the bigger ones. The Root Pouches are also made from recycled plastic water bottles , another plus. As for potting soil, it now comes in lightweight compressed bricks. Just add water and it expands into ten pounds of potting soil.Another help is Rain Mat which helps seedlings grow deep, downward roots. This makes the plants heat and drought resistant. There is Better Than Rocks, a recycled plastic that prevents the plants from becoming waterlogged from storms and Terra Sorb which retains water and keeps the soil moist during heat waves.

Anyone can have a garden with fresh veggies and herbs. Apartment dwellers will love the idea of having their favorites at their fingertips.It's easy to have a high rise green spot.

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Fun Holiday Snacks

The Christmas party goer does not live on drinks alone. There are also nibbles and bites that keep them happy and dancing throughout the season. It could be something as small as a handful of nuts or dried beans or a plate of hot appetizers. Whatever you serve , it will always be the right treat to go with the champagne or egg nog.

There's nothing like a handful of nuts to go with any holiday drink. Most hosts and hostesses have served smoked almonds for decades. These are still good and healthy but you can switch it up a bit. Try flavored pecans or walnuts. Pour a mix of melted butter and different spices over them and roast for five to ten minutes.Edamame is another fun party bite. These can already be bought dried or can be served steamed with a side of soy -ginger sauce. You can also  do the same thing with green peas. Sprinkle frozen peas with oil and sea salt and bake for an hour.Add some cayenne pepper for some punch and heat.

Parties can also have bigger nibbles. Bruschetta and crostini are always good and they go well with every thing from champagne to wine. Bruschetta is just Italian bread thinly sliced and topped with a chopped tomato and oil mix.  Crostini is just the same thing, except the bread is toasted and drizzled with olive oil, With both you cna have fun by adding meat such as salame or mortadella or even crumbled Italian sausage and some grated Parmesan or shredded mozzarella. Mini quiches are also great right now as are hot phyllo puffs. The last can be labor intensive. You can always buy a few boxes of them already made.

Parties always require some knd of nibble to offset the various drinks and punches. You can go big or go small, dpending on the amount of people you have. You can even mix it up, with havign just nibbles and bigger bites together for a really fun time.

Edamame Snacks

Snacking is always fun, Unfortunately it's not always healthy which is a pain. That problem can be solved by making those yummy soy beans or edamame. These beans are not only fun but good for you. They make a great treat for movie night or during football games.

The beans were the subject of Mark Bittman's column How To Cook Anything in yesterday's New York Times Dining section. Edamame is an excellent snack along with any other bean as Mr. Bittman points out, He seems like an avid vegetable gardener as he describes the variety of his homegrown legumes from black beans to scarlet runners. Any bean can be turned into a snack, All you do is just boil them, drain them and then sprinkle them, preferably with coarse sea salt. They're an excellent source of protein which are rich in proteins and good carbohydrates.They're also devoid of all that fat and transfat most snacks have.

Now here's th e fun part. Use spices and sauces to jazz up them and any other bean. Most people like edamame just with a sprinkle of sea salt and maybe dipping the pods in a rich dark soy sauce. However , there are other dips that work just as well, Try rice vinegar or lemon juice for a tart variation.Toast sesame seeds til they pop and sprinkle them onto the shelled beans. You could also add a few chiles for some bite.Toast nori or Japanese seaweed and crumble on top. You can also toss the shelled beans with curry or chili powder for some fun fire,. Another idea is to  sweat some garlic or ginger in peanut oil. Drizzle this over the edamame.

Edamame is a good and healthy snack. Have them plain or with a variety of sauces for a different kind of nibble. They're fun and unusual , but better than the usual fare.