American Kitchens= Boring

I'm cooking something right now that ought to be gross, but I fear it might be fantastic.

I thought I'd be writing about other blogs when I started this little daily report, but my own life keeps forcing itself through. Lately, I've been loving books more than blogs. Real, musty, touched-by-other-people books. Tonight I'm cooking napa cabbage in a modified version of bund gobi aur peeli mung dal from Neelam Batra's The Indian Vegetarian: Flavors for the American Kitchen. On a regular day, that title would make me turn away, but on a holiday weekend that steals a day from the standard library hours, I'll take what I can get.

I admit, I'm a snob. The "American Kitchen" part turns me off, even though I am in the Americas and I do have a kitchen. However, I associate that part of the title with bland, overly creamy/meaty meals. My folks made foods from around the world, but they still had some fall-back casseroles typical of the U.S. kitchen that I despised. Just the smell of tuna casserole still makes me feel a bit seasick. The dish that's cooking away right now is full of tumeric, cumin, coriander, garlic, ginger, peppers, cilantro, split mung beans, tomato, (napa) cabbage and my other modification, a bit of dino kale. Nothing like tuna casserole, thank goodness!

The description promises a non-watery dish, which is a bit of a novelty for the average U.S. cabbage dish, so I'm excited. We'll see. The nibbles I've had so far are promising!