11/22/01
An adventuresome spirit does not require that one climb mountains, jump from planes, or traverse barren deserts on camelback. Tom and I explore the lesser "traveled" areas of interest without adding known risk to our goal of a greatly extended healthy life. These most often take the form of walking (or driving to, if at a distance) locales new to at least me (frequently also possessing fond memories for Tom) and trying new foods or recipes at home or in restaurants.
Lately Tom and I have challenged ourselves to transform some favorite recipes of our childhood into more nutritious versions. This past weekend at the cottage after our first walk in the woods in which we rediscovered and cleared an old trail, we took on rice raisin pudding. This was a planned activity, so we had brought ingredients from home. Our objective is always to eliminate added sugar, so we make great use of apricots, prunes, and raisins - all high in bioflavanoids as well as simple and complex sugars. This time however, the planned raisins were found to be currants - used only by Tom in his breakfast smoothies. I had not taken sufficient time to closely examine the plastic bag in the cupboard and verify the contents. Ah well, currants it would be.
A substitute for rice had been used in entrees many months ago - quinoa, an ancient grain with higher protein than rice - and found quite satisfactory. For this pudding, we cooked the quinoa in milk in a makeshift double-boiler (one pot inside another containing boiling water). Once the quinoa was cooked to "open and soft", the eggs, vanilla and remaining milk were added along with the currants and all were poured into a large pyrex casserole dish. This last was placed in a pan of warm water in the oven and baked until firm, stirring once halfway through to prevent settling. (Tom has a great dislike for finding the "goodies" solely on the bottom.)
Tom misread the original recipe, so the currants weren't added to the cooking quinoa. This didn't detract from the flavor, however, which we enjoyed as soon as the pudding was done. We agreed - it was delicious! We had "invented" a new version of an old desert; one more nutritious than our standard dessert - store-bought bread pudding.
Our next at-home gastronomic dessert adventures planned are non-sugar added protein fruit bars, raisin rye bread pudding and, if possible, lemon snow (Tom's childhood birthday delight). Yummmmm!
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