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[casu_consulto]

My sister, whirlygig, has been raving about 101 Cookbooks, a natural foods cooking blog with some really fascinating recipes. High on my list to try are Black Bean Brownies and Lemony Chickpea Stirfry. I've been frustrated because although the recipes the author cooks are roughly seasonal, she's in a different hemisphere to me, so everything's exactly 180

Comments

[pennywren]

I love that site too, it has some amazing sounding things on it! :) And is quite good for wheat-free recipes too!

[casu_consulto]

Hey, I didn't even notice that, but there are 65 gluten free recipes! W00t!

[whirlygig]

Hee. I'm impressed with your skillz!

(also, I freaking love the phrase 'ready reckoner'.)

I had an idea that kale was silverbeet, but it turns out that's chard - heaven knows why that name didn't catch on ;) They say it's like cabbage but in some pictures it looks a lot darker. Confusing!

[casu_consulto]

Oh kale = chard? Why didn't you say so!

(Pause while I investigate wtf chard is.)

Oh OK. Looks like "Swiss Chard" = Silverbeet. And there's a skinny, weedy looking one that looks a lot like rocket/rucola/arugula. But there's a curly kale that I've never seen before, it looks a lot more like the leafy bits you see around broccoli or cauliflower.

[whirlygig]

No, no, I meant, I was thinking, kale = silverbeet, when in fact, chard = silverbeet and kale = ?????. It doesn't look like it's available here, in any case. It might be worth reading through the comments to the recipe you're interested in - often people complain of unavailable ingredients and others will make suggestions.

[casu_consulto]

Yeah, there are lots of alternatives suggested. I must admit that I find myself a bit puzzled when I come across a fruit or veg that I just can't get...I mean, it's Australia! We can grow anything!

[whirlygig]

Also, I was just looking for where to buy quinoa, and I found Agave nectar for $6.70. They're sydney-based so orders of up to $20 cost $6 for shipping. I gather you can also pick up online orders, but it's in Artarmon so I don't know if I could be bothered, personally. Let me know if you fancy doing a big order.

[casu_consulto]

Yeh, I think the bottle I saw for $17 was a litre. $6.70 would be much more reasonable...except that the bottle is 250mL, and the recipe calls for 1½ cups of the agave nectar. Which would be $10 before you go anywhere.

Fair enough that agave nectar is better than cane sugar in terms of its GI etc., but it's imported from Mexico, and while that's maybe a reasonable thing for brownie-makers in the USA, it doesn't seem responsible or practical for cooks in Australia.