Norwitz Notions

I have many versions of hummus because I make it so often. This one is my basic recipe made with dried chickpeas. Other recipes use canned beans, larger amounts, different flavorings, etc. I even have one made with edamame instead of chickpeas.
Recipe:
2 cups dried chickpeas, soaked and cooked
1 1/3 cups (10-11 oz) tahini
2/3 cup (5-6 […]

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A favorite dinner of mine is a big salad with lots of finely chopped vegetables and warm protein on top. For those of us who want to eat more raw foods but feel better with something both physically warm and solid, this is a great combination.
The salad works on its own too, as a low-protein […]

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I don’t know who was more excited: the birthday girl or her mom. Miriam is turning 3 on February 26th and I wanted to get her something special. She’s been planning her birthday party for nearly a year now and, whenever we ask her what she wants (either for the party itself or for her […]

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For dinner tonight I made a simple but elegant meal. Each item wasn’t hard to make, though having four of them took more time. The details make a difference too. Nicer plates, eating at the dining room table (something we should do every night, but don’t), using wine glasses.

Miriam and I went to Whole Foods […]

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Who says you need dairy or sugar to enjoy ice cream? Though I make lots of sorbets and ice milks, this one is full cream.
Recipe
3 cups pureed strawberries
1 can coconut milk (lite works better but regular is fine)
A couple tsps vanilla extract
Squeeze of fresh lemon
Pinch salt
Stevia to taste
If you have an ice cream maker, […]

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This is a follow up to Part I from Dec, 2007. We got this bed frame for free from Freecycle and it was a mess. Massive scrubbing ensued. Then we varnished, but the coat done in the late afternoon bubbled due to the cold. It took nearly two months before we had a warm sunny […]

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The same day I bought vegetables for two new ferments, I also got some salmon for dinner. It was a halved fish but the Whole Foods fish folks will cut it to order for free. I asked them to make me fillets and to save the tail and spine and other usable parts for stock. […]

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Kim Chee (aka kimchi) is a wonderful collection of vegetables and spices brought together to ferment. This was my first attempt at making it. I used the recipe from Wild Fermentation, adapted a bit.
Recipe:
Napa cabbage (aka Chinese cabbage), 1 head chopped
Daikon radish, 3
Leeks, 2
Dried chile pepper, 3
Ginger (I used frozen that I had grated from […]

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I was inspired by a trip to Han Il Kwan, a Korean restaurant in San Francisco. They had a huge spread of fermented dishes, including glorious crisp and sour turnip pickles. My attempt was simple and only partially successful.
I can tell you straight out that I used the wrong kind of turnip. What I had […]

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I like Ann Gittleman. She is the former Pritikin nutritionist who realized that ultra-low fat was not a healthy way to eat and took on her boss in the book Beyond Pritikin. Some of her ideas and viewpoints make a lot of sense and she is willing to forge her own path without getting bogged […]

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So what’s wrong with cranberry sauce made with oranges, you ask? Nothing. It’s delicious. But the slightest trace of oranges make my daughter sick for hours. So I developed a version with lemons instead. I think it works better than oranges for cutting fatty foods and providing a clean crisp taste. You will need to […]

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I’ve filed this recipe under Thanksgiving because it’s now my standard offering for that holiday. I bring it every year to the Thanksgiving Potluck we go to and it’s a great dish for other events as well. To people eating turkey or other meat, it is a nice side dish. But for a vegetarian, […]

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This was a huge hit at the Thanksgiving potluck I went to last November. My pie (and all the cream) was devoured. The other pumpkin pie (homemade with traditional ingredients) still had half of it left.
Because I couldn’t find one perfect recipe, I used the crust from one and the filling from another. Actually, Michael […]

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This is a very simple recipe but it can be difficult to get the consistency just right. You need a good blender for this one.
I made the cashew cream to go with a vegan pumpkin pie I took to a Thanksgiving Potluck.
I started with raw cashew pieces (I keep them in the freezer), about […]

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Most of our Thanksgiving dinners are in the community room of Ecology House, an 11-unit government (HUD) complex for people disabled with chemical sensitivity. Every year, with the help of the Environmental Health Network, the residents there host a (supplemented) potluck dinner for the entire chemical sensitivity community. It’s great fun. I share the […]

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