The Story Behind the Stomach

I am learning again to love apples.  As a child, I would go bananas over bananas; banana pudding, banana cream pie, chocolate covered frozen bananas, banana bread, banana smoothies, and on occasion banana flavored Now & Laters.  Apples were an afterthought.  They were always so plain and never seemed to change in flavor.  Only later did I learn of the incredible variety of apples that are available in the world today and the strange journey they have taken from a few wild ancestors to the 7,500 descendant cultivars that now presently exist.  Apples and I are now learning to get along just fine.

My heart of hearts still favors a room temperature Golden Delicious.  I am fast falling for the sloppy, juicy, crunchy, and snack worthy Honeycrisp.  The Fuji is a favorite of the morning oatmeal and stew pot due to my recent discovery of the Curried Apple Couscous recipe.  Granny Smith remains the best old biddy a pie ever seen.  If I had to cast a vote for the thickest and most flavorful skin, Red Delicious would top the ballot.  Ambrosia, Braeburn, Gala, McIntosh, and a vote of delight for those unnamed bitter variations that live and serve we connoisseurs of the hard cider community so well.

During childhood, one of my favorite desserts that my mother would prepare was her personal spin on the old fashioned Waldorf Salad.  Crisp sliced and peeled apples, water softened raisins, crunchy walnuts, carrots, and celery swimming with love in a bath of mayonnaise.  Some folks will wince at the mayonnaise, but believe me, it was a belly full of sumptuous.

When I first began my voyage back into the arena of cooking, one of the first dishes that I attempted was this wonderful Apple and Walnut Salad.  It was for the graduation pot luck at Jah’kaya’s school at the time, New Concept.  By the way, whatever happened to those pot lucks?  There was some good community interaction there.  I also made a taco salad for one of them which didn’t turn out well in my opinion, but still received warm reviews from other members of the community.

In any case, I do hope that you derive some enjoyment from my update to my mother’s old recipe.  I have dropped the mayonnaise in favor of Strawberry Yogurt.  Vegans can use either a soy yogurt, lime or citrus vinaigrette, or dijon mustard.  All of these substances are designed to tie the flavors of the fruits and vegetables together and can be used in greater or lesser amounts as your tastes prefer.

Ingredients

• 4 Large Apples, chopped & cored
• 1/3 c. Strawberry Yogurt
• 4 1/2 c. Carrots, shredded
• 1/2 c. Walnuts, chopped
• 1/3 c. Raisins
• 1 1/4 c. Celery, chopped
• 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
• 1 dash All Spice
• 1/2 c. Coconut, shredded

Directions

1. Combine apples, carrots, walnuts, celery, & coconut in a salad bowl.
2. Soak raisins in warm water for 10 minutes until sufficiently soft and moist.
3. Drain & squeeze out any excess water.
4. Combine remaining ingredients in salad bowl & toss until all items are sufficiently coated in mixture of yogurt, lemon juice, and all spice.
5. Spice to taste.

Variations

For flavor variations, substitute Citrus Vinaigrette, Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, Dijon Mustard, or Plain Yogurt for Strawberry Yogurt. Dried cherries may be used in place of raisins.

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The Story Behind The Stomach

On a particular day some time ago, I was making purchases at the Shabazz Healthy Food Hub at the close of a particular lazy shopping day.  I had come to discover on that day that I was presently maxed out on a backlog of vegetable produce and thought I would use this shopping visit to increase my spice supply and grab a few pieces of fruit while I had the opportunity.  I am a fairly lackadaisical shopper and make no qualms about throwing bread at the bottom of the bag or letting fruit, vegetables, and spices all commingle in a single container.

On this day, the apples found themselves placed close to the taco and berbere seasonings later coming to acquire their unique aroma.  As I bit into this apple, the wealth of my senses became activated.  My nose dangled on the edge of the berbere scent and my tongue danced across the sweetness of the Honey Crisp while my mind began to wonder what the two flavors would do if we locked them behind the walls of the stew pot or dutch oven.

As I am usually inclined to do when so inspired, I scoured the internet for a recipe that might pique my interest and spark my taste buds which I found at fantastic food lover’s blog 101 Cookbooks as authored by Heidi Swanson.  The concoction that follows originates from there.  I have not yet had an opportunity to attempt this recipe myself, but it received extremely high markings from my good sister Safia Rashid when she prepared it for the Rashid clan.  Perhaps I will post a follow up when I am occasioned sit down and work out the recipe for myself.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter (or Butter Substitute)
• 1 tbsp. Curry Powder
• 1 Medium Apple, cored & chopped
• 3 Green Onions, washed, trimmed, & thinly sliced
• 1 c. Whole Wheat Couscous (or regular)
• 3/4 c. Water
• 1 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1/2 c. Pine Nuts, toasted
• Small handful of Mint, chopped

Directions

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat add 3 tablespoons of the butter, the curry powder, and a couple generous pinches of salt, and cook for a minute or until the spices are fragrant.
2. Stir in the chopped apples and cook for about 3 minutes, enough time for the apples to soften up a bit and absorb some of the curry.
3. Scoop the apples from the pan and set aside in a separate bowl.
4. In the same pan, again over medium-high heat, add the remaining tablespoon of butter.
5. Stir in the green onions, let them soften up a bit and then add the water and salt.
6. Bring to a boil, stir in the couscous, cover and remove from heat.
7. Steam for 5 to 10 minutes and then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.
8. Stir in the apples, pine nuts, and chopped mint.
9. Season with more salt and curry powder to taste.

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