On January 18 major internet sites are going to go dark to protest SOPA.  I'm obviously not a major internet site but I think SOPA is a bad idea so I'm stepping away from my normal content for a day and posting in support of the sites that are going dark to protest SOPA.

I'm also not typically active in causes and politics but SOPA is bad news for the tech industry (which pays my bills) as well as for freedom of speech so I don't feel like I can be silent on this.  Yes, I know it sounds like a good thing to protect copyrights and intellectual property, and being involved in creative endeavors I should support it.  Heck, most of  the media companies and entertainment unions are supporting it and typically I agree with them.  But SOPA is too  broad and heavy handed and doesn't solve the real problem and it gives the government the ability to shut down entire domains even if the offending material is minimal, marginal, and being handled by the site.  It would mean all of Facebook could get shut down because some mom posted a video of a kid singing a song they don't have the rights to (hmm...like Happy Birthday).  Or Google being shut down because of a file someone puts up on Google Docs that contains plagiarized content.  Seems crazy, right but that's where SOPA will take us if this thing passes.   SOPA won't impact just social media.  It could impact a teacher that uses just a bit more of a poem than the Fair Use copyright laws allow and puts it in a syllabus on the university's BlackBoard site...the entire site and the .edu that hosted it could be liable for the copyright violation and be taken off line.  Crazy, I know...but it could easily happen.

This video below explains it but the bottom line is ALL CENSORSHIP IS BAD and Congress needs to be encouraged not to sign this bill.   Educate yourself and then write or call your Congressman.

Quick and easy breakfast ideas with leftover grains

I love to cook a big pot of quinoa, brown rice, or millet for dinner and then use the leftovers for the next day.  Here is a quick and easy breakfast idea that can be eaten hot or cold and is portable (which is very important for my lifestyle).

Millet with cranberries, almonds, and honey

You will need:

• Leftover cooked grain (quinoa, brown rice, millet, etc)
• Honey or Agave Syrup or Molasses or Maple Syrup
• Dried friuts (I like the cran-orange mix from Trader Joe's)
• Fresh fruits (sliced bananas, diced up apples, oranges, pears, etc)
• Chopped nuts (walnuts, flax seed, almonds, sunflower seeds, etc)
• Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract)
• Milk (rice, soy, coconut, cow, etc)

To make:

1. In container with a lid (or a bowl you can cover) put 3/4 to 1 cup of grain
2. Add any dried or fresh fruit you like
3. Add any chopped nuts you like
4. Add any spices you like
5. Add a splash of milk (it helps moisten the grain)
6. Drizzle it with honey (or syrup, etc)

Stir and warm covered in microwave about a 90 seconds.  Eat it right away or take it to-go.  It's good cold also.

Combinations we like:

• Chopped apples, toasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin pie spice
• Dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, ginger and nutmeg
• Dried pineapple, bananas, flax seed, cinnamon
• Roma's "dancer" breakfast - quinoa with shaved parmesan, butter and sea salt (this one packs in the protein before a morning of classes but doesn't cause a sugar crash or sit heavy on the stomach)

Experiment to find what you like.  I've discovered that if you have a base of grains, something fruity (dried or fresh), something crunchy (nuts or seeds), something sweet (the honey), and savory (the spices) you can make any combination and it's great.  Leave out any of the parts that balance the equation and it's not as good. 

Happy eating!

It's Sushi-fest time!

Do you love sushi?  I do.  Do you love how pricey it is when you go out and want to eat a lot of it?  Nope, me neither.  Many years ago (probably 15 or so) Ross and I took a sushi-making class at Great News Cooking School in San Diego.  Now, sushi is one of our favorite foods to make as a family.  Everyone gets into the act and it's fun and you can be very creative with the fillings.  Since I've given up wheat, sushi has become more of a staple and less of a treat since the rice is gluten-free and tamari is wheat-free.   

Ready to make a plate of food that looks like this? 



 You will need:

For the rice:

• A rice cooker - I like an electric rice pot but a covered pot will work also
• Rice - I prefer either Cal-Rose or Kuhio Rose brand but any Asian short grain rice will work. 
• Rice Wine vinegar
• Sake - do yourself a favor and buy one you would also drink.   
• Dried kelp (Dashi-Kombu) or fresh seaweed - Asian markets have this
• NOTE:  If you can't find this, don't sweat it.  Just salt the water
• Sugar
• Salt

 For the filling:

• Nori - there are usually 10 sheets in a package
• cucumber - seeds removed and cut into strips
• thinnly sliced scallions
• thinnly sliced mushooms or use enoki mushrooms
• diakon (radish sprouts)
• thinly sliced avocado
• toasted sesame seeds
• fresh fish - there are no rules here...get creative and put in what you like
• ask your fish guy for "sashimi grade Ahi" or buy it frozen
• imitation crab sticks
• cooked shrimp
• masago (these are the little red fish eggs - OK to substitute cheap caviar)
• cream cheese
• mayonaise (Best Foods brand seems to taste the best with seafood)
• wasabi paste (most grocery stores have this)
• pickled ginger (most grocery stores have this)
• tamari (gluten free) or soy sauce (not gluten free) - depending on preference

To make the rice

1. Put 4 cups of rice in the rice pot.  Rinse and drain the rice until the water is clear and not cloudy.  You might need to repeat the rinsing and draining 6-10 times.  When the water is clear, drain one last time then add 4 to 4.5 cups of clean cold water to the rice and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. 
2. After 30 minutes, add 3 tbsp Sake to the rice and the dried kelp or seaweed if using that.  Adding the kelp adds a salty taste to the water and seems to make the rice stickier.  If you don't have this, add about 2 tbsp of sea salt to the water instead. 
3.  Turn on the rice cooker and let it cook
4.  While the rice is cooking mix 1/2 cup of rice vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 tbsp salt and stir it to dissolve the solids.  Let it sit until the rice is done.

When the rice is done, remove the seaweed or kombu piece and invert the pot onto a large cookie sheet or pan with an edge.  We have a rice cooking bowl (pictured below) which is a giant bamboo dish that lets the rice spread out while cooling.   Drizzle the rice vinegar/salt/sugar mixture over the top of the inverted rice pile so that it is evenly distributed.

Fanning the rice to cool it

Using the side of a spatula or rice paddle, separate and spread the rice out into a thin layer on the cooling tray.  Try not to crush or break the grains.  I've found that if you turn it from underneath and sort of fold it over (rather than stirring it) it works pretty well.  While you are turning, spreading, etc have someone take a magazine (or an actual hand fan) and fan air over the rice.  Repeated turning, fanning, and spreading/separating will allow the rice kernals to separate and cool properly.  You will notice them starting to get glossy.  Don't rush this process - you may need to keep turning the rice over and cooling it for 5-10 minutes.  When you think is cooled and nicely sticky and glossy put a clean dish towel over the rice to keep it moist until you are ready to use it. 

To Make the Sushi

Once the sushi rice is done, the hard part is over.  To make the sushi you will repeat a few simple steps.

1.  Take a clean dish towel or place mat and put a piece of the nori shiny side down. 

2. Dip your fingers in a bowl of water with a splash of rice vinegar in it (this helps keep the rice from sticking to your fingers)

3. Using your fingers, pick up a ping pong ball size clump of rice and start pressing it down onto the nori.  You want a thin layer of rice covering the nori but leave about 1/4" of edge on one side to press it all together.



Spread a thin layer of rice on the nori

4.  When the rice is in place, add whatever you want in your roll.  Lay the ingredients along one edge and then roll it towards the other direction.  When you get to the edge without rice, wet your finger and use it to wet the edge and seal the nori to itself. 



Put fillings along one edge and roll towards other side



5.  Congrats!  You've just made a sushi roll.  Slice it into pieces with a sharp knife dipped in water (so the rice doesn't stick) and feast away!

 Suggestions for sushi roll fillings we like:

• Crab Roll - chunks of imitation crab, a thin layer of mayo, salt, pepper, avocado
• Tuna Roll - strips of Ahi
• California Roll "Roma Style" - cream cheese, cucumber, masago
• California Roll "Marie Style" - cream cheese, avaocado, crab, mushrooms, sesame seeds
• Spicy Tuna - strips of Ahi marinated in a sauce made of Best Foods mayo, chili sauce (we use the leftover to-go packets from Panda Express), salt, pepper, garlic
• Spicy Shrimp - chopped up cooked shrimp in the same sauce used with the Ahi
• Crab Roll "lobster" style - chunks of imitation crab, drizzled melted butter, lemon juice
• The Roma - a log or ball of sushi rice rolled in sesame seeds and/or nori flakes (no nori wrapper)
• South of the Border sushi - shredded carnitas or chicken, avocado, shredded cheese, and picante sauce (Why not?  It's just like a rice taquito!)
• Caesar Roll - chopped romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, cooked chicken in strips, and caesar dressing (A salad you can eat while driving!)

So how expensive is this to make....rice is ridiculously cheap (I buy it in 20lb bags and store it in smaller air tight containers), the vinegars and soy/tamari are a few dollars a bottle, the Ahi was from Major Market in Escondido (about 2 lbs for under $10), the shrimp was $9.99/bag (but was buy one/get one) and we used about half the bag for the sushi, the rest of the stuff was under $20.  I think all together it was under $50 and we got 15 rolls with 10-12 pieces each.  That's heck of a lot of sushi for $50 IMO and at about $3.00/roll it's a bargain compared to going out for sushi. 

Good luck and have fun.  Get messy and make it a family activity. We've done it for a movie night and it was a fun group activity. 

Eating wheat-free while on the road

I have a crazy lifestyle that involves a lot of long car rides thanks to living in the Boondocks so we pack snacks, and have meals on the road as needed.  It's not always easy to find wheat-free meals for me when the family is along for the ride.  Earlier this week we had one of those nights.  We had to go to LA and were driving home about 7pm so dinner was definitely a "must" at that point.  When I'm by myself, I eat Mexican food because it's easy to find a taco stand in So Cal and get something on a corn tortilla.  When it's just Ross and I we do Asian, typically Thai or sushi.  When it's all of us it's usually Panda Express, Subway, or Panera.   It's almost impossible to be wheat-free at Subway (yes, they have salads...but ick!) and I'm burned out on Panda, so it was Panera this time.

If you aren't familiar with Panera it's a temple to BREAD and WHEAT (so you would think I would avoid at all costs) but I was able to have a wonderful meal that made both my taste buds and tummy happy.   I had the "You Pick 2" with the Vegetarian Black Bean soup and the half Thai Chopped Chicken. My side was a bag of the sea salt chips (fried in olive oil so quasi-healthy).   I knew the soup was gluten-free, and therefore wheat free.  So I was OK there.  The Thai salad has a dressing with soy sauce in it which means there was a little wheat (which I'm OK with in soy sauce, but plain old bread makes me sick) and I asked them not to add the won ton strips. I had no ill effects afterwards, so skipping the won tons was the right call and the wheat in the soy sauce was negligible. You can check out the nutrition info here, and for those interested in watching their calories, it was about 330 for the soup and salad but the sodium is over 1500.

One final tip - Starbucks is a regular quick-meal-on-the-road spot.  I skip everything in the pastry case and look below in the cold case for wheat-free and gluten free items.  The Greek yogurt parfait is good for a quick protein boost and I just don't add the granola or I add a handful of gluten-free granola from the snacks I pack. Sometimes they have string cheese and chocolate soy milk.   I also like the Fruit and Cheese bistro box - throw out the crackers and you have a nice lite meal.  When I'm really on the run, I get a Kind Bar and a banana to go.  I wish Starbucks would offer a few more gluten-free options, but at least it's a start.

I recently downloaded 2 iPhone apps for finding gluten-free menus at nearby restaurants.  I'll review the apps in a future post.

Why this blog is called "Cafe Pangaea"

Happy New Year!  I trust we all made it through the weekend well fed.  I was able to survive round 2 of wheat-free Holiday eating thanks to homemade sushi.  I didn't feel like I was denied anything because I could eat my fill of sushi stuffed with spicy tuna, crab, shrimp, avocado, enoki mushrooms, masago, and sesame seeds (not all in the same roll of course!).  Here's a little peek at the sushi platter Roma made.  I'll put up our no-fail/inexpensive/super-easy sushi recipe in a few days.

So what is Cafe Pangaea? 

What I've realized so far on the wheat-less journey is that if you willing to embrace foods from non-Western countries, your wheat-free and gluten-free options open up and you have a full menu of wonderfully satisfying foods to chose from.  This is where the Cafe Pangaea name comes from!  (Not familiar with the concept of Pangaea?  Go to Wikipedia)  For me, Cafa Pangaea is a way of eating that removes boundaries between cuisines and food groups.  There are many cultures that have wheat-free complex carbs and starches and no one seems to miss the bread basket.  I've embraced Asian, Caribbean, Mexican, and Indian food because they use more rice, corn, root vegetables, and non-wheat whole grains than European cooking does.  My friends know I love to break the rules and take the path not-yet-excavated so this won't come as a surprise for any of them.  For example, I like using chorizo and taco spice in my spaghetti sauce instead of traditional ingredients.   I'm going to be sharing these recipes and explorations on this blog in the coming weeks.

Happy Eating!