Veggie overload courtesy of Jamie Oliver.
I love Jamie Oliver. No matter that he is married. Or soon to be the father of four. Or that he lives across the pond. I love his spirit. His exuberance. His passion. My mom and I were lucky enough to go to two events that he did years ago. One was a book signing where he discussed a new cookbook of his. The second was another book signing, but he also cooked a few dishes and played drums. Yup. Played drums. His personality in person is exactly what you see on tv. Full of life and positivity. Full of quick movements, rapidfire speech and an easy smile.
And now, if you didn’t know much about him before, it’s hard to avoid him now that he’s brought his change-what-kids-eat-for-lunch campaign to US schools. And none too soon.  Last year, Nick’s school actually had a Burger King day every week. Followed by a Pizza Hut day. And a Subway day. Weekly. Ick. Probably don’t need to tell you that I was sending lunch from home most days, thankyouverymuch.
I bought Jamie’s newest cookbook, Jamie’s Food Revolution, a few months back and have been slowly working my way through it. Much like his “naked chef” persona, Jamie is still keeping the focus on the ingredients, making them the star of the meal without weighing it down with unnecessary extras. Simple, healthy, delicious meals that you can easily make from scratch. Meals that you can feel good about serving to your family (or yourself!), but don’t require an insane list of ingredients that you’ll never use again.
Friday morning, I flipped through the cookbook and flagged a few recipes to try that night. All the sudden, the whole dinner was Jamie Oliver, and I started with Vegetable Bhajis. They’re Indian vegetable fritters. Packed with veggie goodness and fried for a moment or two. Like totally OMG good. Once they’re done, you sprinkle with a little bit of salt and squeeze a little bit of lemon or lime juice over them. Crispy delicious goodness. You must make them. You simply must. That might be an order.
As I took more and more out of the pan, I called Jamie and The Neighbors to come over and grab a few while they were hot. They were that good. Just a word of note before you make them … as much as I love these, they really need to be eaten right away. This is not really a good item for reheating.
I mentioned that I made them to a friend of mine, who is Indian, and she said they’re also delicious using spinach or chopped up pieces of cauliflower. When Jamie came over tonight, she was scrounging in the refrigerator, looking for more of them, so we’re going to try another version later this week.
Make them. You’ll love Jamie Oliver as much as I do.
Project 365
April 26, 2010, Photo #83
I had a party on Saturday. There was Mom Juice. ‘Nuff said.
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