Food

I have a whole post about food, but that will have to wait until later :-).  For now I am just going to say that after reading the book The China Study, we are trying really hard to go even more vegetarian.  I've never been a HUGE meat lover so that part isn't too bad.  But Campbell, the author of the book and study, suggests going without fish, too (you're supposed to to vegan).  That part is a bit difficult.  So to make it easy on us, we choose to eat meat a couple times a week. And we haven't given up eggs, either.  And cheese.  I figure while living in the land of awesome cheese...we can't give that up.  But honestly, the cows are treated SO MUCH BETTER HERE anyway, so really, I feel much better about eating cheese here than I do in the US, and hopefully the huge amounts of plant based foods will hopefully balance the cheese out a bit.  Anyway, I have been loving some recipes lately and I thought I would share.  Everyone in the family loves these.  Jackson has always loved beans because it's what he's eaten forever (I didn't give him meat until way later into his toddler years). 

I will say that living in Paris and eating out is pretty much impossible to be a vegetarian.  The French love their meat (and I have to note that for the 2nd time I just typed MEET and not meat). Lawd, I need to write and read more so my mind doesn't go to mush!

Anyways, here are the recipes. 

This one is super yummy.  The blog Cate's World Kitchen, has lots of yummy stuff to eat, and a lot of it is Asian.  And I can't find a lot of Asian stuff here without trecking to other neighborhoods....so we don't eat a heck of a lot of Asian these days!

CHICKPEA and EGGPLANT CURRY


CHICKPEA AND RAISIN SALAD
Serves 8
Adapted from Real Simple Magazine

1 cup raisins (I used golden raisins)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons  sugar
3 15.5 ounche cans chickpeas, rinsed
1 cup fresh cilantro (or parsely....but I think the cilantro makes it!)
4 scallions (I didn't use scallions since they are like impossible to find in this city)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
   Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

1.  In a small saucepan, combine the raisins, vinegar, and sugar and bring just to a simmer, remove from heat and let cool.

2.  In a large bowl, toss the chickpeas, cilantro, scallions and raisin mixture with the oil, cumin 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 

Make ahead tip...make the salad without the cilantro and toss with cilantro before eating.