The Enlightened Cook: Protein Entrees iPad App is being created to provide everyone, including diabetics, with the means to naturally engage in the popular concept of a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. To do this best I’m advising one choose meats, poultry and fish that are raised without antibiotics, artificial feeds and hormones. It remains a sore reality that these products do need to be sought out in natural food stores at a high price, but remember you vote with your dollars! Growing is the trend to return livestock to their natural, free roaming habitats and chemical-free feeds paving the way to health and deliciousness. Spend on organic now and save on medical bills later!

This coming Saturday, April 23 is the first annual Silverlake Green Fair. I’ll be there with amazing brownie man Philip Horowitz of Phlip ‘n Nic’s. He’s peddling his amazing brownies and I’m there with my cookbooks and some cool terrariums and organic body oils. Come on down and meet the funky people. You know that Silverlake crowd is too cool!
4356 W. Sunset Blvd, LA 90029, right in front of Akbar.

With the new moon just passing and it’s gravitational pull increasing until it’s full, it’s the best time to plant seeds. If you start seeds now and pinch the sprouts back, you’ll have a bushy crop by July.

This weekend I planted summer savory, dill, parsley and chamomile. (I started my basil and oregano on the new moon last month) If the danger of frost isn’t gone, plant the seeds in peat pots or in 3-4″, soil-filled sections of left over cardboard form from a roll of paper towel. Keep them in a baking dish for easy watering and place them outdoors until the lowest overnight temperatures is 40º or higher.
Most herb plants like full sun, which could dry the seedlings out, so be sure to keep them well-watered until they develop their root systems.

My students have asked me to compile a list of essential books for becoming a yogi. As many of you know I sometimes vehemently protest to American classes that too often consist of 50 minutes of standing poses and little else. Don’t miss out on the wonderful pranayama, mantra, bhandas, kriyas and multitude of techniques that comprise yoga, and bless you all in your pursuits of divine yoga.

WARNING: READ THESE BOOKS AND THEY WILL CHANGE YOU!!

How to Know God Swami Prabhabananda & Christopher Isherwood
The Path of Fire and Light by Swami Rama
Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies byVasant Lad L.A.S.
Astanga Yoga by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois
Moola Bandha by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
(yes, spelled Moola in this title)
The Upanishads translated by Eknath Easwaran
Bhagavad Gita
translated by Swami Prabhabananda & Christopher Isherwood
Bhagavad Gita translated by Barbara Stoler Miller
Bhagavad Gita translated by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Integral Yoga Hatha by Sri Swami Satchidananda
The Science of Pranayama by Swami Sivananda
Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
Light On Pranayama by B.K.S. Iyengar
Chakras by Naomi Ozaniec
Chakras: Tools for Transformation by Harish Johari
Tools for Tantra by Harish Johari
Perfection of Yoga by A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Swara Yoga by Swami Mukti Bodhananda

In addition to immediate downloads of the The Enlightened Cook: Protein Entrees, beautifully glossy, soft-cover books are now available in the column immediately to the right for $11.99. Order directly from this site to save off the bookstore price and support the author best! Your book will be printed and mailed to you within 48 hours directly from the publisher! Now that’s modern publishing!!

In addition to immediate downloads of the The Enlightened Cook: Protein Entrees, beautifully glossy, soft-cover books are now available in the column immediately to the right for $11.99. Order directly from this site to save off the bookstore price and support the author best! Your book will be printed and mailed to you within 48 hours directly from the publisher! Now that’s modern publishing!!

With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching, most are thinking about betting on the big game. I’m marinating instead. Here is an awesome recipe for Chicken Wings and the story that goes with them. Recipe more via India than Buffalo!

4 lb chicken wings
3 cups plain yogurt
3 oz beer
4 limes
1½” ginger root- coarse chopped
2 t dried thyme
1 t dried lavender (yes!)
1 t black pepper
¾ t sea salt
1 ½ T sesame oil

 

Rinse and poke holes into the wings with a sharp knife, so marinade penetrates the flesh of the chicken. Juice 2 limes and mix with remaining ingredients, except the oil. Marinate refrigerated for 1-3 days, stirring the mixture occasionally.

Grill over indirect BBQ flame or oil a preheated, baking sheet and oven roasting wings at 475º. Flip wings after 30 minutes. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Serve with remaining limes cut into wedges and celery sticks.

Sauce Safety
It’s okay to brush additional sauce on the wings as they cook, but not after the halfway point because bacteria from the raw chicken is also in the sauce. Be sure to allow ample time for it to burn away to be safe to eat.  Dispose of left over marinade and serve with clean utensils.

The Wing Story

A dear friend, Vicent Grupi, told me in1983 that he had fabulous chicken wings at a Super Bowl party. He was told they were made with yogurt. It seemed a very strange combination, yet he claimed they were the best wings ever!

I wondered how anyone, especially Vinny, could get that excited about chicken wings. To me, chicken wings were greasy, bar food with little culinary merit, yet somehow the thought of developing a recipe from that one ingredient stuck in my mind for 20 years. By then, my cooking acumen heightened and I began saving original recipes that would eventually become my first, self-published book. I learned of India’s yogurt-marinating Tandoori tradition, so that became the basis of my recipe.

Two decades after Vinny’s rave, I looked down to discover super-plump chicken wings at the grocery meat counter. They were hormone/antibiotic-free and organic, but still very inexpensive––a great place to start! Combining an unusual blend of Eastern and Western spices, I marinated those wings for 3 days, before bringing them swimming in sauce, to Texas grill master Will’s Labor Day BBQ in Venice, CA. My rock star date (who’d prefer to go nameless) was licking his keyboard fingers with delight and our drummer friend was stomping his foot with speechless appreciation. Everyone at the party said they were the tastiest, most succulent wings they’d ever had, except Will. Unfortunately, the wings were all gobbled up before he got one.  Sorry, Will!

Long before the recipe was developed Vinny moved to Florida and then passed on, but every time Super Bowl Sunday rolls around, I thank him for his friendship and wish his beautiful twin sons, Peter and Ray, whom I’ve sadly lost track of, knew that Vinny inspired this fantastic recipe. I spent many an Italian Sunday dinner with that family of all boys, who embraced me as family, too.

4 Haas avocados
3T fresh lemon juice
2T plain yogurt or mayo or sour cream
½ t sea salt
½ t chili powder
½ t cumin
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Split avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pit before scoring the avocado’s flesh in a grid pattern with a paring knife. Squeeze the skins and drop the avocado cubes into a glass or ceramic bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients and mash with a potato masher or fork to a lumpy consistency.

Refrigerating for several hours allows the spices to infuse more of their flavor, but the guacamole can also be eaten right away. To prevent discoloring from oxygenation, cover the guacamole with plastic wrap so that is making full contact with the bowl and the guacamole, with no air space in between.

Before serving, stir to reincorporate the ingredients. Serve with “baked not fried” tortilla chips to conserve calories.

Party Trick

Making this recipe for a party?  Make it a few hours ahead and put it in the freezer until serving time.  There’s so much oil content in avocados, it won’t harden, but it will stay cold and look fresh longer, which is a big plus.

Avocado by Choice

Rich in “good cholesterol”, ripe avocado slices are a nutritious substitute for mayonnaise in sandwiches or salads. Most flavorful are Haas or Bacon avocados, which have bumpy blackish skins, not smooth green ones.

Store-bought avocados usually need about a week in room temperature to ripen to supply their luxurious flavor and texture, so buy well ahead of time. A perfectly ripe avocado feels as firm as a banana that was some brown spotting.

Emergency tip:

If you need to make guacamole now and the avocados are still hard, add an extra tablespoon or two of mayonnaise, sour cream or plain yogurt for smoother consistency.

Get Really Real!  A friend, who regularly enjoys citrus juice in his cocktail, was surprised to know bottled lemon-lime juice he was using was is full of sulfites! It was this preservative that was giving him a headache and allergic skin reaction, not the gin! Give yourself the vitamin C benefit, which almost immediately vanishes when citrus juice is exposed to air, and wonderful tartness of those fresh squeezed lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruits on a weekly basis.  You can use an old-fashioned wooden pummel or an electric citrus juicer.