Biryani is what my hubby might to refer to as rice-with-bits. Whenever I ask him “what shall we make for lunch?” he invariably says “rice with bits!” He loves rice-with-bits. The best Biryani I’ve tasted was at Benares restaurant in Madrid. It’s delicate flavours inspired me to come up with a vegan version for the Zen […]
How to Press a Lemon
Duh, sounds obvious doesn’t it? Apparently not. Having studied the throngs of people passing through the Zen River kitchen who have squeezed lemons during kitchen prep I began to wonder why one lemon produces more juice than another in spite of them being the same size and from the same batch? After paying attention I […]
Chilled Sweet Sake Rice & Mint Pudding.
There were days during Ango training in Japan when there was so much okayu (rice porridge) left-over I wondered if there was anything that could be done with it? After some pondering during zazen this was one recipe I came up with that was perfect for when it was super-hot outside. To my surprise the […]
Carrot & Burdock Ginger Stir-fry
This is another favorite recipe from Japan. It conjures up fond memories of Fujidera, Hojosans countryside temple nestled at the foot of Mt. Fuji. The monthly zazenkai is followed by a lovely potluck with little dishes carefully prepared by each member, and this was one of them. Eighteen years on I finally I decided it […]
Quinoa Okayu
Technically this is not really Okayu (お粥 Japanese for rice-gruel) but it is a nice name for a porridge. Quinoa Okayu easy to make, doesn’t take too long to cook, and has a lovely texture. Some may recall similar recipes in the ZRC made with rice or a little amaranth, but I thought it was […]
Chinese-style Black Bean Sauce with Veggies
While making a Chinese-style veggie dish at my brother and sister-in-laws, I suddenly realized I’d forgotten to buy tofu. By chance Stef and Jen had a can of black turtle beans in the cupboard. Seeing them jogged my memory; black bean sauce (made with fermented soy beans though!) is regularly used as a flavoring in […]
Marmalade Dressing
For some reason marmalade, olive oil, and freshly ground black pepper are an awesome combination. One day, no doubt being influenced by our Spanish friends, I prepared myself some toast drizzled with olive oil instead of butter. Then by chance continued with marmalade and (heaven knows what made me do it) finished it off with […]
Fried Soya-Meat Substitute
I was in Amsterdam this week seeing friends, and couldn’t help noticing that the restaurant we were visiting had arranged their menu for the National Meat-Free Week campaign. It reminded me that it might be time to post this little recipe to echo the sentiment. So, this is for the vegetarian in you even if […]
Spiced Spinach
Tenkei loves cooked spinach so when we serve curried lentils as a main dish, I like to serve this instead of a green leafy salad. I vaguely remember that when we used to dine out at the local Indian restaurant in the 1980’s green leafy salad was not on the menu. If someone asked for […]
Mango with Almond “Tofu”
Almond “tofu” reminds me of our visits to Japan and China where dessert was often canned fruit and glace cherries drenched in a light syrup with exotic cubes of almond-flavoured jelly. At the time I could never figure out what the cubes were, imagining they might be a fruit I’d never heard of? Turns out they […]