Making Love in the Kitchen

Pasta the mother of comfort

Since this is the first day of my blog, allow me to introduce myself to those who don’t know me.  I’m a mother of six, wife to the man who still makes my heart skip a beat and sister to three brothers and three sisters (I am right in the middle of the line up).  I was raised by strict, devoted east indian parents from a long line of farmers in Punjab, India.  My father was a Sikh priest and mother was a chef in Canada, they are both retired now. 

My blog is about food.  I’ve had a love affair with food since I was born.  My mother taught me that cooking is an expression of love and more recently I believe with the opening of our raw food cafe and organic market that I make love and health in the kitchen.  The thought that everything I make is good for you is still mind boggling, especially as I prepare dessert!

In the Bible it says that it is better to eat vegetables where there is love, than to eat meat where there is contention.  Everyday, before I start preparing the dishes, I make sure I’m in a happy mood.  I feel the taste of the dishes will improve if I’m making them with love.  Lots of times I’m not quite sure what I’m going to make but I know I’m going to make love that you can taste in every bite.

Today I was motivated to make the most comforting and loving of dishes, pasta!  Now that can be a challenge raw food style.  I find kelp noodles replace pasta beautifully because they taste like firm pasta--but the sauce is another story.  How do you make your dish taste like love when you can’t smell tomatoes cooking on the stove and you can’t integrate cheese because you don’t cook food past 118 degrees and you are a vegan?

In my vitamix I started with luxury -- soaked "truly raw cashews" hand cracked in Indonesia.  2 cups cashews and 2 cups purified water.  To that I added garlic, black pepper, pink himalayan sea salt and garam masala to give it body.  This tasted like a rich cream sauce but what about all my other favorite pasta ingredients like olives, sun dried tomatoes and parsley?  I knew I needed a pesto for color and depth.  I chopped the curly and flat parsley stems off the bottom and put the parsley in my food processor.  I used soaked and peeled almonds instead of pine nuts for the base of my pesto.  Lemon juice, cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and the himalayan salt gave us a regular pesto.  I soaked the sun dried tomatoes and added them along with some of the soak water.  1 package of truly raw pitted black olives and crushed fresh garlic kicked it up to a deep blend of flavors.  I thinly julienned green bell pepper and diced some shitake mushrooms for garnish.

I washed my kelp noodles in hot water and cut them so they weren’t long and stringy.  I mixed the white cheddar alfredo sauce in the noodles.  I teaspoon of pesto in the centre of the dish and green bell peppers like petals and mushrooms accenting it. 

Satisfied with my creation I relaxed knowing that I had truly made love in the kitchen.  A dish your body will love and that will whisper comfort in every bite.

Looking forward to what tommorrow will bring, I remain 

Yours in food and health,
Tara 

T: 559-284-4803  E-mail: wholefarms@me.com   Website: Whole Farms Online  
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