Ginger Lemon Everything Day!

Last week at the grocery store, I went through the check out line with the biggest, most beautiful hunk of ginger root I could find in the bin. The cashier rang it up, then asked me, "what do you do with ginger?"

What's not to do with ginger! Its so magical. I'm remembering so many South Indian dishes I enjoyed over the past month in India, so many spiced with fresh ginger. Today for lunch I made one of my favorites from the trip, Lemon Rice, spiced with mustard seeds, turmeric and ginger. Its so quick and easy, and great for using up leftover rice. And its delicious. I used this recipe from the blog Zesty Palette. I omitted the chana and urad dal, and I didn't have any dried chilli peppers on hand. But still, so good!

This afternoon I used some ginger again to make Ginger Lemon Honey tea. This was another delicious treat for me while in India, and I've been enjoying making it at home.

the honey did not want to stay on the spoon!

Ginger Lemon Honey Tea
serves 2

2 1/2 cups water
2 inches fresh ginger root, sliced
half of a lemon
honey to taste

Boil the water with the sliced ginger for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from the lemon. Strain into mugs and add honey to taste (be generous with the honey!)

So nice.

I missed you KTF.

xo Cara

So long kitchen table, off to India!

Dear Kitchen Table Friends, I'm off to India this weekend! I won't be bringing my kitchen table with me but perhaps I will find other friends to join at kitchen tables while I am there. I'll be away for a month, studying yoga, drinking from coconuts, and eating Indian foods! I hope to blog for you at least once or twice while I am away. And Allison, I'm going to find us tiffins to bring back for our kitchens!

I thought I'd leave you with a recipe in the spirit of my travels, some homemade chai tea. I'm sipping some right now, and the apartment smells of cinnamon, ginger and cloves. You'll need a well stocked spice rack for this. Whole spices are best, powdered will do in a pinch.

left to right: cinnamon sticks, nutmeg seed, star anise, cardamom pods, whole cloves, ginger root

Homemade Chai Tea

2 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
2 star anise pods
8 crushed cardamom pods
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
3 1/2 cups water
2 tsp black tea
1 cup milk
honey to taste

Add spices and water to a small pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for 25 minutes, or longer for a spicier brew. Remove from heat, add black tea and let steep 5 minutes. Meanwhile, bring 1 cup milk just to a boil and remove from heat. Strain tea and spice mixture into a tea pot, add the warm milk, sweeten to taste with honey.

Makes 1 pot of chai tea.

If you would like a peppy chai tea without the caffeine, skip the black tea and instead add a 1/2 tsp of freshly crushed black pepper. That will wake you up!

Recipe inspired by the wonderful Ayurvedic cookbook, Eat, Taste, Heal.

Au revoir!

Cara