An Unexpected Friend

“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” ―John Joseph Powell

I was introduced to Yasu unexpectedly. One day, after living in Japan for over a year, I came home to a box of chocolates on my doorstep. A letter was attached to it. It read:

“Ms Anisa

I am Yasuko from upstairs.

When I was tired from moving work, you gave me a dessert. That was very delicious and thank you so much for that. I wanted to always talk with you.
But I will move on April 30 to next village.
The new address is Nishiawakura village.
If you don’t mind, could you hang out with me sometime?
I am really bad at English, but I hope we could be good friends.”

The dessert she was referring to was actually a blueberry smoothie that I made for my neighbors after seeing them gardening on a hot day.

When I finally met Yasu and asked her why she hadn’t introduced herself earlier she said that she had been too shy/scared. Can you believe it? One year of loneliness, living below my now best-friend.

Alas, we have done much since the letter: smoothie-bowls, food outings, yoga-classes, dinners with her family and yesterday, pottery class followed by a home-cooked Japanese dinner and my black-rice pudding for dessert. On the latter, her father told her mother he absolutely didn’t like it. He said this in Japanese but I understood regardless (hehe) but, no matter. It must have been an unusual taste though black rice and coconut milk is readily consumed in Asia. Yasu’s father reminded me of the many times my own father has made inappropriate comments in Persian thinking no one (but us) can understand him when they (the non-persian speakers) can easily read his facial expressions or sense his intent! Oops hehe.

Vegan Dinner With A Side Of Deer Meat

Vegan followers don’t be offended! And meat-enthusiasts don’t run away! (Or do-what are you doing here? I joke I joke). Last night I had the most delicious vegan dinner prepared by my dear sister and yoga sensei Akiko Tanabe. And after, I almost hit a deer. These animals are taking over.

Turmeric couscous
Eggplant and green-bean tomato medley
Cucumber tomato and mint quinoa salad
Carrot ribbon, walnut, raisin and soft-dried apple salad
Lettuce, dried figs, toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds green salad

Mazel tov!

Eating For Two…

So I have a confession to make… I think it’s important you know…

Hehe did it work? Did you click the link thinking I was pregnant? Ha, well it’s pretty hard here without any human interaction. As much as I love Asian babies that isn’t my confession. Yet. I want to talk to you about food bloggers. I want to tell you that contrary to our beliefs, they don’t always eat everything they make. Like, all of the foodporn on their Instagram is often just that. After they’ve put a filter on it and shared it on the World Wide Web, they, like me, probably share it with their friends or only eat a quarter and pack the rest for later. Don’t be fooled y’all. Remember the old adage: “never trust a skinny chef.”
In other words, no one stays fit off sweet potato, medijool, cashew cream cake for dessert.

Pimp My Oats

Last night for this mornings breakfast I combined two of my favorite breakfast recipes: overnight oats AND chia seed pudding. In addition, I added a handful of fancy Instagram-worthy toppings for that extra sumthin’ sumthin’. The result was a taste explosion (to say the least). Then I walked my village and looked for beautiful details to photograph for you and appreciate for myself.

1/3 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup milk (I used almond)
2 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp pure maple syrup or honey
1 tsp cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a jar and stir to combine.

Leave in fridge overnight and nom nom the following morning with favorite toppings.

*gluten-free (if using GF oats)
*dairy-free
*refined-sugar free
*vegan (if using maple syrup)

I Was Summoned To Make Dal

I’d swore I’d never do it. I’d swore I’d never post 10 pictures of the same damn thing from different angles like all of the other food bloggers but today is an exception. I was summoned to make Indian daal, dal, dahl or dhal, however you spell it. Here are the pictorials, followed by the cooking instructions. Oishikata (it was delicious).

2 cups yellow split peas
1 cup orange lentils
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cinnamon stick

(In a large pot, bring the above with 2-3 cups of water to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour or until soft and mushy – you will need to stir and top up the water every now and then)

1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
1 medium onion, chopped small
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped small
1/2 knob of ginger, chopped small
1 tbsp vegetarian indian curry paste (optional)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped small
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp sea salt
1 can coconut cream

In a frying pan, warm 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds, cover the pan and wait briefly until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Then add onion, garlic, ginger and curry paste. Fry until translucent. Add remaining ingredients: tomatoes, pepper, coriander powder and sea salt and cook for 10 minutes or so or until the flavours have melded.

Now add the lentil mixture to the onion/tomato mixture or vice versa and stir.

Turn the heat down and bit by bit add the coconut cream depending on your desired consistency. To state the obvious, the more coconut milk, the runnier the curry.

fresh coriander
2-3 tbsp coconut cream
squeeze of lemon

Serve topped with fresh coriander, a splash of coconut cream and a squeeze of lemon.

 

He’s stolen a pizza my heart

This weekend I had one of the best Saturday nights of my life. Thank you Lifa, Akiko and Oz for having me over and feeding me delicious home-made pizza. Aki, after your adorable son (click HERE to see the little man in action), for me, the highlight of the night was your “kiwi for a kiwi” salad. It left such an impression on me that I cannot wait to recreate it myself.



I should have really checked the salad recipe with Aki first, but alas, this is what I imagine it is:

Garden greens, diced kiwi-fruit, diced apple, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and raw walnut pieces mixed together and dressed with: a little olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce and maple syrup.

I can’t rave enough about it.

I especially liked the delicateness of the salad. Both the kiwi-fruit and apple pieces were diced small so everything (seeds, nuts and fruit) were the same in proportion. It was just divine. ARI GA TO!