October 1st is World Vegetarian Day, the annual kickoff to Vegetarian Awareness Month.

Vegetarian diets have proven health benefits, are kind to animals and help to preserve the Earth (meat production is a major source of greenhouse gas and deforestation).

According to ProCon.org, some prominent vegetarians include/have included: Lord Byron, Bill Clinton, Leonardo da Vinci, Ellen DeGeneres, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, Dick Gregory, Steve Jobs, Carl Lewis, Franz Kafka, Paul McCartney, Martina Navratilova, Pythagoras, Voltaire and Leo Tolstoy.

But you don’t need to have particular beliefs to enjoy this delicious vegetarian (actually vegan) side or main course. The quinoa supplies excellent nutrition, and the Moroccan spices are irresistible.

The recipe is from Good Eggs, a San Francisco purveyor of artisan foods.

RECIPE: MOROCCAN QUINOA & ROASTED CARROTS

The addition of allspice, cinnamon and raisins impart a wonderful North African flavor profile and fragrance to this simple dish.
 
Ingredients For 2-3 Servings

†What’s a “squeeze” of lemon? Is it a squeezed half lemon or a wedge of lemon? A medium lemon has 2-3 tablespoons of juice, a large lemon can have 4 tablespoons (1/4 cup). For a “squeeze,” try 1-2 teaspoons. Take notes and adjust both parsley and lemon measurements next time, as needed.

‡Give plain yogurt some savory flavor by stirring in one or more of the following: roasted garlic, chopped fresh parsley, minced chives or thin-sliced green onions (scallions). You can also use the zest from the lemon.

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F. Soak the quinoa in water for 15 minutes.

2. PLACE the carrots on a baking sheet and toss with some olive oil. Roast for 20-30 minutes.

3. STRAIN the quinoa and add it to a pot with the water. Turn the flame to high and bring to a boil, uncovered. As soon as it boils, reduce the flame to a simmer and cover the pot.

4. CHECK after 15-20 minutes. When all of the water has been absorbed and the grains are still slightly opaque in the center, turn off the heat and let the quinoa steam with the cover on for 5 minutes.

5. PLACE the quinoa in a bowl with the parsley, 1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and cinnamon, the raisins and lemon juice. Add a drizzle of olive oil and salt. Adjust the salt and spices to taste and add pepper to taste.

Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead or All Souls Day, has has been an important festival in Mesoamerica since pre-Columbian times.

It is a time of festivity and joy, not mourning. Families gather to welcome the souls of the dearly departed—human and animal—who return from the spirit world for an annual visit home to the loved ones they’ve left behind. What a nice concept!

The celebration begins on November 1st and ends on November 2nd. Despite the timing and skulls, it has no relation to Halloween (here’s the history of Halloween). Analogies to the Celtic-based Halloween are purely coincidental.

The celebration of the Mayas and Aztecs evolved into what today is a large Mexican festival, incorporating:

Drink your coffee from a joyful skull. Photo courtesy Inked Shop.

Not into coffee or sugar skulls? Perhaps a bottle of Crystal Head Vodka is for you. Photo courtesy Crystal Head.

 
YOUR OWN SKULL MUG

You’ve got time to order a celebratory mug.

The Mexican Sugar Skull Giant Mug in the photo above costs just $14.95 from InkedShop.com.

High quality ceramic, dishwasher and microwave safe, it’s inspired by the Day of the Dead sugar skulls, but perfectly at home year-round.

Or perhaps you’d prefer a skull full of vodka?

October is National Popcorn Poppin’ Month. We love popcorn, a whole grain snack that’s low in calories when seasoned simply with spices and herbs. You can also use your FDA-sanctioned two daily tablespoons of heart-healthy olive oil.

But chief among our kitchen foibles is burnt microwaved popcorn. It not only imparts a horrendous lingering odor; it also stains the inside of the microwave with yellowish blotches. We sought help from HowToCleanStuff.net.
 
 
BURNT MICROWAVE POPCORN SMELL

Want to get rid of it? Ready to begin? Gather your weapons.

For The Odor

 
For The Stains

 
Now get to work.

Because burnt popcorn is so ugly, we elect to show only beauty, like these heirloom kernels. Photo by Katharine Pollak | THE NIBBLE.

To rid your home of that burnt popcorn smell, there are two approaches: the coffee method and the vinegar method. Ground coffee absorbs odors, and vinegar neutralizes them.
 
The Coffee Method

 
The Vinegar Method

STEP 2: REMOVE THE STAINS

This method should remove most, if not all, of the discoloration of the inside walls of a microwwave.

 
If you have manicured nails, put on rubber gloves for the next step:

The original Noosa is a picturesque Australian resort town on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the home of golden beaches. The name Noosa comes from an Aboriginal word meaning shade or shadows, a probable reference to the tall forests behind the sunny coast.

On a vacation to Noosa, company co-founder Koel Thomae—an Aussie ex-pat living in Colorado—came across a tub of creamy yoghurt and passionfruit purée.

It took just one spoonful for her to decide that she must bring this celestial style of yogurt to the U.S. Back in Colorado she found a partner, fourth-generation dairy farmer Rob Graves, who milked happy, pasture-raised cows. He took one taste of the Australian yogurt and agreed with Koel. America needed Noosa.

They began to make Noosa in small batches, from farm-fresh whole milk, local raw clover alfalfa honey and purées of the best fruits. The “Australian-style” texture is thick like Greek yogurt but oh-so-velvety, as elegant as any dessert. (Some of that texture comes from kosher bovine gelatin.)

The line is certified kosher (dairy) by OU, certified GMO free and made with rBGH-free milk from pastured cows.

Noosa Yoghurt is so silky, it’s like an elegant dessert. Photo courtesy ChooseCherries.com.

The four-ounce cups, for 140 calories or so, depending on the flavor, is a wonderful bit of fruity sweetness at the end of the meal, or as a snack anytime.

And for breakfast or lunch, well: What a treat. It’s worth seeking out.

Here’s a store locator and the main website. Scroll to the bottom of the home page for a link to print a coupon.

Instead of our favorite after-dinner coffee—a steaming cup of French or Italian roast with a shot of coffee liqueur, substituting for dessert—we celebrated with a Café Liégeois (lee-eh-ZHWAH). It’s a parfait with layers of iced coffee, ice cream, and whipped cream (called chantilly [shon-TEE-yee] in French).

We highly recommend it as an easy-to-make dessert for coffee (and especially iced coffee) lovers.

While the original recipe does not contain alcohol, no one stops you from adding a shot of coffee, chocolate, or vanilla liqueur.

If you don’t have parfait or sundae dishes, use what you do have—beer glasses, wine goblets, any tall glasses, or glass mugs. You can even make the recipe in conventional coffee cups, although part of the eye appeal is looking at the layers through the glass.
 
 
RECIPE: CAFÉ LIÉGEOIS

Ingredients Per Serving

A modern variation of Café Liégois (photo © Benoit Bistro | NYC).

 
Variation

1. MAKE the coffee and refrigerate. Also, refrigerate or freeze the dishes or glasses. When ready to serve…

2. FILL each dish or glass with ice cream and pour over the iced coffee and the optional liqueur. Add the whipped cream, garnish as desired, and serve immediately.

 
THE HISTORY OF CAFÉ LIÉGOIS

According to Wikipedia, Café Liégeois did not originate in Liège, Belgium; it was initially known in France as Café Viennois (vee-en-WAH), Viennese Coffee.

Following the Battle of Liège in World War I, in which the city of Liège put up a resistance to the advancing German army with its Austrian-made guns—Paris’s cafés changed the name of the dessert from Viennois to Liégeois. Curiously, notes Wikipedia, in Liège itself, the dessert continued to be known as Café Viennois for a while.

In the U.S., both ice cream desserts are made from the same ingredients. The difference is in how the ingredients are presented.

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