The Kamikaze Cook #27 Colorful Raw/Vegan Dish

Once again I find myself hungry at a late hour but since I'm trying to avoid anything with white flour and simple sugar/carbs I'm having to be inventive in my choices since I simply don't go to sleep hungry....keeps me awake.

I made a beautiful dish which took, literally, five minutes and it's so beautiful that I photographed it before digging in.

Green Leaf Lettuce leaf (you can use any kind you want: collard, romaine, red leaf..)
Sliced mango
Sliced avocado
Marinated red cabbage (recipe below)

See! Simple and yummy!!! Very good for you too.

If you've never been to the North Woods Inn, you're missing out. They're known for their marinated red cabbage and cheese bread. You should check them out.

North Woods Inn Marinated Red Cabbage:
1/2 cup vegetable or oil oil
1/2 cup plus 2 T red wine vinegar
3 T sugar
1/2 head red cabbage, sliced very thinly
salt to taste
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t onion powder

I'm sure I don't have to say it, but I will- I varied this recipe. I did not use pepper or onion powder, I used sea salt instead of table salt and I didn't have any sugar so I used honey. I think this was delicious as I made it. I let it sit in the fridge for over 24 hrs before I even tried it and it's wonderful!!!

The Kamikaze Cook- Tip (Soaked nuts)

This is a "note to self" more than a "tip"- you must let soaked nuts dry a while before using them lest they become "yucky" when you put them in the food processor.

The Kamikaze Cook- A Kamikazeism

Life is your own personal recipe. You take the basic ingredients (food, water, shelter) and then add your own personal touches. Sometimes you don't end up liking the recipe, so next time you change the ingredients. Sometimes you love what you've made and you keep making it over and over again. Sometimes, other people try to add their own ingredients into your recipe and you have to learn to be strong enough to say "no" when you don't want that ingredient. Sometimes you're offered an ingredient that you never would have found on your own and you have to be brave enough to try it.

Life is a recipe. Make it well.

The Kamikaze Cook- Tip (Flavor Hogs!)

There are certain varieties of food which I've deemed "flavor hogs". What do I mean by that? Their flavor is so intense that it often overrides any other flavor in a dish.

A few examples:
red bell pepper, banana, raw onion, peanut butter, blue cheese....

There are many more items that tend to be "flavor hogs" and I'm sure you've come across them on your own. My solution? Use them sparingly. Even if a recipe calls for a larger quantity of these items (and you all know how I feel about recipies anyway- just a guideline) I always cut that by at least half.

The bottom line is that you can make your dish whatever you want it to be. Don't be bound by what's on a recipe card. Feel free to explore, try new things, add more of what you want (for me it's always cheese) and take out what you don't want. There are no wrong answers in cooking- only lessons of what not to make again!

The Kamikaze Cook #26 Raw/Vegan Chocolate Dessert

Lately, I've been investigating the raw/vegan culture. It started because I was having heartburn almost everynight as I tried to fall asleep and knew it was because I was having white flour, of some variety, in my evening meal. So, I ventured out and inadvertently found a woman named Ani Phyo who creates simple and yummy raw/vegan dishes and desserts. I highly recommend that you check out her website if you're interested in learning more about what she can whip up in five minutes!

This is a tweaked version of one of her desserts.

Soak overnight (separately): 1 cup almonds and 1/2 cup raisins. In the morning, drain and put on cookie sheet to dry out for a few hours.

In a food processor, combine almonds and some cocoa powder- maybe 2-3 tablespoons (she recommends raw but I used regular cooking cocoa as you would for baking). Add a dash of salt if desired. Whir until nuts are small pieces. Add about 1/4 cup soft raisins and whir again. Keep adding raisins until the mixture is soft. Remove blade and roll small amounts of mixture into little balls. Put in freezer. Super Easy and pretty yummy- even to a chocoholic!

I'm going to try a few more changes to this recipe next time too. I'm going to add a bit of avacado for some smoothness and richness and then I'm going to roll the balls in coconut or chopped nuts before freezing.

The Kamikaze Cook #25 Easy Quiche

Many, many, MANY years ago there was a recipe for "Impossible Cheeseburger Pie" on the side of a Bisquick box which I cut out and have been using as a base for a variety of different flavors since. The recipe basics are simple and you probably have them at home right now but you can add any kind of meat and cheese and spices and vegetables it's really an endless list of possible outcomes!

Actual recipe:
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 t salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bisquick*
1 cup milk*
2 eggs*
Heat oven 400 degrees. Cook beef and onions. Drain fat. Stir in salt. Spread in greased pan, sprinkle with cheese. Stir remaining ingredients in separate bowl with fork until blended then pour over meat and cheese mixture. Bake 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Now, do you see where I'm going with this. If you leave off the beef and onion, you can use any kind of meat like ham, salami, pepperoni, chicken, turkey, sausage, etc. You can also use any kind of cheese like mozzarella, provalone, muenster, monterey jack, pepper jack, etc. I've added lightly steamed broccoli, fully cooked carrots, steamed green beans and more. You can put in Mexican spices, or Asian spices, or BBQ spices. This is probably the most versitile recipe I have in my little secret box! Another great thing about this is that it's easy to "half" the recipe which I often do as a single person. The only thing is that you must make sure the main three ingredients* are measured accurately because if you put too much bisquick, then it becomes more biscuit like instead of fluffy and eggy. Try something out and let me know how you like it!

The Kamikaze Cook #24 Gordita Breakfast Sandwich

The 99cents only store has this fluffy bread called "Gorditas" which is really yummy. I decided to make a breakfast sandwich with them.

Put gordita bread on micro safe plate, sprinkle grated muenster or mozzarella cheese. Heat skillet and whisk egg. Add a bit of butter to the skillet then add egg to cook quickly (scrambled). Meanwhile, put bread with cheese in micro for 30-40 seconds or until melted. Put cooked egg on half of bread and fold over. Mmm Mmm Good. You could even add salsa if you wanted (not my choice, but we're all different.)