I love being in my kitchen when it's stormy outside!

I especially love cooking with warming Indian spices when it's cold.

I just got through making this recipe. Please try it - you won't regret it.

The flavors were dancing in my mouth - this dish literally made me smile.

Spiced Black-eyed peas

1 Tablespoon grapeseed oil

½ tsp. whole cumin seeds

2 ½ cups black eyed peas, cooked ( See note at the bottom)

1 tsp. coriander powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. turmeric powder

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. lemon juice

¼ tsp. garam masala

½ cup red onion, diced

¼ cup cilantro, chopped

· Heat oil in a heavy skillet

· When oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and cook for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally

· Stir in black-eyed peas

· Add coriander, salt, turmeric and chili powder along with ½ cup of water

· Bring to a boil

· Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed

· Stir in lemon juice and garam masala

· Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with onion and cilantro

· Serve immediately

This dish is great as a side dish along with brown rice and baked winter squash. It also works well as an appetizer.

How to make black-eyed peas from scratch

You can use canned black-eyed peas but there's a noticeable difference between canned and freshly cooked beans. There was a time when I was shy about cooking my own beans but once I started doing it, there was no going back.

To make black-eyed peas from scratch, place 1 1/2 cup of beans in a large bowl and cover the beans with fresh water. Add enough water so that the beans are covered by several inches.

Soak for 8 hours. Soaking black-eyed peas isn't entirely necessary but they will cook faster and I find the final product to be more tender after they've been soaked.

After beans have soaked, rinse them a few times with fresh water.

Place beans in a large pot along with a two inch strip of Kombu (this sea vegetable makes beans easier to digest) and cover with 2 1/2 quarts of fresh, cold water and place burner or flame on high.

Bring water to a boil and bring heat down to medium.

Let beans cook for 40-50 minutes, stirring once or twice. Beans should be tender but not falling apart when they are done.

Eat happy, be happy

Molly

Transformation: vegetarian to vegan

I was born and raised a vegetarian. When one grows up in a a Teepee this is normal (true story and a whole other blog)

When I became older I had the same mentality about meat as I did with drugs. I figured, I went this long without - why start now? That's right, my 15 blog followers, in all of my 30 years I have never eaten meat.

My vegetarian diet was by default - I wish I could tell you that it came from an emotional place of wanting to be a better person but the truth is, I wasn't inspired by Bambi, health concerns or green house gases to eat a vegetarian diet. I didn't know any other way to eat or live.

It wasn't until I started working for Nature's Express did I become vegan. Again, I wasn't inspired by Bambi, health or green house gases. I felt like a hypocrite working for a vegan restaurant while I continued to indulge in eggs, butter and my all time favorite.....cheese. I made the decision and that was that. Apart from having physical cravings for cheese and missing the convenience of dairy, my transition was fairly easy.

I remember being skeptical that cutting out dairy would make any difference in my day to day life. I was very wrong.

The first two weeks of cutting out dairy I went through physical, emotional and mental transformations that I was surprised and delighted to be having. I felt lighter, I had more energy than I ever had, my skin was glowing, my pants fit better, I slept more sound, my eyes became brighter and I literally had moments of pure clarity. I know this sounds dramatic - believe me, I wouldn't have believed it had I had not experienced it first hand.

While all of these amazing things were happening I was kicking myself for not doing this sooner; while at the same time nervous that I had opened Pandora's box.

I started reading books, reading blogs and subscribing to all things vegan. At first, I was driven by my responsibility for learning everything vegan that I possibly could for the sake of my job. I was working on opening Nature's Express in Berkeley and I had to be in the know.

The more I was learning about the impacts that the meat and dairy industry have on our health, the environment and animal suffering, I quickly realized how blind I had been in the past not acknowledging what had been right in front of me.

I grew up not eating meat, my mom has been vegan for over 20 years, I was a personal chef who helped ill people get better through my vegan cooking. It's not like I lived in a vast far away country where the thought of factory farming was an alien concept.

I was disappointed with myself. How had I turned a blind eye my whole life to this entire world that I was just now looking at straight on? Although, I wished I had done it sooner, I had never felt better about being vegan. I have been vegan for two years now.

My personal outlook is simple. There are so many negative impacts that the meat and dairy industry account for. I very politely refuse to be part of the contribution. It is not my wish to push my views or beliefs down anyone else's throat, nor do I wish to make judgments on anyone who has a different view point from my own.

I am fortunate enough to work for a company that feels the same.

I could not be the person who I am today If it wasn't for my ah -ha moment - and that ah-ha moment had to come from me and no one else.

When I sat down to write this post, my intention was to write a quick post about the unbelievable positive effects that eating Miso and seaweed every morning have had on my menstrual cramps. Well, boys, you're out of luck 'till next time - unless I decide to write my next post about Anthony Bourdain and why I can't NOT like the guy.

Eat happy, be happy.

Molly Patrick