WhirlwinDISH 24

I didn’t go too wild with my WhirlwinDISHes this time — just a few updates to some of my fave comfort foods. As I said in my last post, I have not been feeling my best this week. So, I thought a bit of rice pudding for Rosh HaShanah would cheer me up! I made it with cow’s milk sweetened with honey and traditional flavors like nutmeg and vanilla. I decided to use forbidden rice instead of my usual white or brown, then topped it with unsweetened whipped cream, fresh pom syrup, and pom seeds. The finished pudding was actually a little more purplish than the black that the pic shows (and sorry, I didn’t realize the pudding smudged a bit of the glass, making it harder to see). It was SO good and just the thing I needed. A perfect Rosh HaShanah treat!

I figured I would include a couple more fairly simple dishes (nothing fancy!) with forbidden rice this posting. I made a baked soup/casserole, as the weather has finally cooled off here in Tucson (80s & 90s vs. 100+ degrees 😀 ) — yellow split pea and forbidden rice flavored with garlic, onion, smoked paprika, s&p, and lots of cilantro. Cilantro is one of my favorite things, so I find ways to (over)use it for tons of different meals. I actually hated it when I first tried it, but it grew on me. Good thing, too — living in the Southwest, it’s in many a dish. I haven’t made a baked soup with split peas before, but I kind of think of it as a version of my typical beans and rice. The pic doesn’t look all that great, but it was pretty tasty and satisfied my need for comfort cooking (and cilantro). More cilantro: other pic is a tortilla made from whole and heirloom wheat flour with beetroot powder & juice, forbidden rice, and a fried egg. Super easy!

The Many Uses of Food Powders

Adding to my other posts about preserving our foods, I thought the many uses of dehydrated and powered foods might be interesting. As you can see from my pics, I dehydrated red beets, sweet potatoes, and chard, then ground them into powders. I dehydrated golden beets around the same time, but after tasting one…well, they got eaten! Many people are allergic to artificial dyes and colors, so this is a great way to get the food coloring you want and save some cash. I’ve pictured veggies, but fruits (like cherries, black and blue berries, etc.) or herbs are also wonderful.

Colored pasta is the first thing that comes to mind for me (it’s ALWAYS pasta for me!), but there are a plethora of other uses. You can use your powders to enhance color and flavors for broths (you can thicken them a bit with sweet potato, as well), cream, sauces, bread doughs, cakes, truffles, and frosting. You can make powdered drink mixes, use them for garnishes, and they are great for craft projects. Mix them with a little water and use them as an alternative to water colors for little ones. Naturally-dyed Easter egg shells are fun, or you can make marbled eggs like Chinese tea eggs (see my pic. *As a side: In case you’re interested, I made those from an adaptation of this recipe: Chinese Tea Eggs.*). Teas and coffee are fab in that they are already dried. They can be used for food dyes, but also try them for natural and inexpensive wood stains (fruits and veggies, too).

I used a blender for my veggies this time, but you can also use a spice mill. I store my powders in recycled containers with a desiccant to keep out the moisture. There are probably a ton of other options, but those are just a few I’ve thought of for now. I will post more ideas as they come to me.