Baked Asparagus

I love crunchy food - the deep-fried, nicely crusted stuff where you can feel the crunch. And who does not? Sure, the health maniacs can give me the glares.

You see, knowing statistics tells you - at the end of the day - everything is an estimate of how good or bad they are for you. And boy can you lie, with statistics or what?

But hey, forego the crunch? Think again.

This baked asparagus, however, is super easy to make. Chop them up coarsely, stir in olive oil, garlic salt, chilli, pepper to taste, and bread crumbs. Give them a stir and line them up on a baking tray. In the oven at 375 degrees - and there you go. Healthy fries that you can drool over. Interestingly, it has the same kind of flavor as that of a traditional dish from my hometown in Bengal (India) - potol posto. Or am I imagining things just from a sheer craving! Ah well, will let you decide.

A Short Book Review: The Grass is Singing, Doris Lessing.

The Grass Is Singing. Doris Lessing.

A story set in southern Africa. Apartheid. Portrayal of what life becomes in a social system where apartheid rules.

I found it disturbing. Mary Turner's loneliness in poverty is gruesome.
"Time passes quickly, rushing upwards, as it does in those periods when the various crises develop and ripen in each life show like hills at the end of a journey, setting a boundary to an era. As there is no limit to the amount of sleep to which the human body can be made to accustom itself, she slept hours everyday, so as to hasten time, so as to swallow great gulps of it, waking always with the satisfactory knowledge that she was another few hours nearer deliverance. Indeed she was hardly awake at all, moving about what she did in a dream of hope, a hope that grew so strong as the weeks passed that she would wake in the morning with a sensation of release and excitement, as if something wonderful were going to happen that very day."

The writing is unparalleled. The triumph of the black servant--gory, savage and hideous in the face of insanity and loneliness faced by his white masters sends shudders down one's spine. He is not ignorant. His eye towards detail and ability to understand the need without being told, makes him powerful and fierce. But somewhere deep down that superiority needs to be contained, because apartheid rules. 

Crumbled Blue Cheese, Toasted Walnuts and Dried Cranberries in Flatbread

I made it exactly the way Indian Naan is made - except the stuffing was with crumbled blue cheese, toasted walnuts and dried cranberries. If you prefer to make it spicy, you could add a dash of pepper. 

Stir Fried Arugula

Stir fried Arugula with an Asian/Indian touch. Take about a table spoon of oil, splutter mustard seeds and red chillies; add in coarsely chopped arugula; turmeric, coriander powder and salt to taste. Serve with rice. Works like a charm, if in a hurry.