Not So Great With Roots

So I cancelled the vegetarian diet after reading this book that definitively stated "there is no connection between diet and eczema flares." Unfortunately, the author then went on to contradict himself by advising me to avoid coffee and spicy food...hmm...whatever, Dr. Nasir.

In the meantimes, I've mulled it over and decided that "The Reluctant Vegetarian" will the amazing second book in my eventual culinary series. The first one, of course, is "Ghetto Tapas," small plates that I made senior year and still make now for my lighter dinners.

Last night's international ghetto tapas featured:

1) Spanish: Asparagus dressed with olive oil, garlic, and lemon (I was too hungry to wait, so parts of the asparagus were still cold....I need to work on the defrosting part).
2) Greek: Walnuts sprinkled with brown sugar and a pinch of salt. (The recipe said wait until the walnuts started to look oily, but they started looking burned so I panicked and cut the cooking time short.)
3) Italian: Foccaccia bread with mozzarella
4) African: Plaintains! (I know they have no place in the Mediterranean onslaught, but they are so good!)

Tonight I'm making the same thing again, except better and with more feeling!

I also made this really weird soup today. I bought a bunch of prepackaged, precut vegetables and met two new acquaintances, parsnips, and some weird-ass potato looking thing. Parsnip, which looks like a beige carrot, did not win me over...it's a savory blend of carrot and potato with a hint of earthiness. (I know I totally sound like some sort of food snob, but I have no idea how else to describe that strange aftertaste.) The wannabe potato was also disappointing..maybe that was a rutabaga?I'm still learning about these newfangled root vegetables.