Announcements and Lentils

Okay, so before I get to the good stuff (i.e. the food) there are a few things I would like to share with you.

1) I have been added to the foodie blogroll!! I'm a REAL foodie now. Before I was just pretending, but now it's serious. If you are a food blogger out there, you should join too. It gives you the chance to be entered into a bunch of contests, and its also an easy way to find likeminded individuals within the blogger community.

2) I dyed my hair. As shown below. Its not that different than it was before, slightly darker and slightly redder. I chose it because the color was called Cinnaberry. I think I may stick with it for a while.

3) It was super warm here in boston today (above 50) so I ran outside! 6.1 miles in 53 minutes...that's 6.9 mph, including stopping for traffic lights, so maybe I might actually be faster. The best part is that my knee didn't hurt at all and I felt like I could keep going. I'm beginning to seriously think about training for the NYC half marathon, which is in August. You're not guaranteed to get in and registration is run by a lottery, but I'm definitely going to register for a 5M race in July. That won't even require any training!

4) I found out yesterday that I got into Columbia's MD/PhD program! I don't think it will change my decision about Cornell because I want to do cancer research and Cornell is affiliated with Sloan-Kettering, but it's good for my ego :P .

5) I won a contest over at Roni's Weigh...a backpack filled with $40 worth of Sensible Portions snacks. I am really excited, as this is the first time I have won anything within the blogging community, and it also means I get free food. Free guilt-free food. Yum.

Okay, now that I've teased you long enough, onto the food. After being so meat heavy earlier in the week, I decided to go for some vegetarian fare. I have a bag of lentils that has been sitting on my shelf for a while now, so I figured I'd better make a dent in it before they go bad. I had seen a recipe for curried lentils and caramelized onions a while back and decided to whip them up with some basmati rice. The spices were really good and I just wanted to meal to last forever. It was also really filling!

Curried Lentils and Caramelized Onions with Indian Cardamom Rice

Serves 2, adapted from The Savory Notebook

For the rice:

3/4 cup brown basmati rice

3 cardamom pods

2 cups water

salt to taste

In a dry skillet, toast the cardamom pods for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add in the rice and toast, continually moving the skillet for 2 minutes. Add in the water and salt. Boil the water and then simmer, covered for about 40-50 minutes.

These are the cardamom pods:

They made the rice taste exactly like the rice I order from Indian restaurants. I was pleased.

For the lentils:

3/4 cup brown lentils

1/4 cup cilantro

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp ginger

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup lite coconut milk

1 3/4 cup water

salt to taste

Heat the olive oil. Add the garlic, ginger, and curry powder. Saute for 1 minute. Add in the lentils, coconut milk, water, and 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. Uncover and raise the heat for about 5 minutes, until the lentils start to thicken. Add in the cilantro and adjust the seasonings to taste.

For the caramelized onions:

1/2 lb onions

1 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

Melt the butter in a skillet. Add in the onions, salt and sugar. Saute on high for five minutes and then on low for 15-20 minutes until the onions are caramelized.

Serve the onions over the lentils over the rice.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Guacamole Spread Sandwich

Yesterday when I was in the car with the mother of one of the high school students that I tutor, we started talking about her brother-in-law who is in the hospital with pneumonia. She mentioned that he is overweight and that for years his wife and the rest of the family have been trying to get him to be healthier. I mentioned my fruitless attempts at trying to "healthify" my father, who is very overweight, but who just doesn't want to seem to listen to anything that I have to say on the subject. I recently got into a fight with him and declared that as payback, when I move back to New York I am going to go over to my parent's house every weekend and throw out all of the food theyre not allowed to eat. In addition, I said I was going to institute an exercise policy such that if they didn't exercise for at least a half hour every day, I wasn't going to visit with them, I would just come over, throw out the food and leave. Tough love, but someone's got to do it.

Anyway, that's really not the point of this anecdote. In response to our conversation, the mother said that food is something that so many people struggle with because its something you have to deal with every day. It's not like alcoholism or cigarette addiction in which you could, in theory, go cold turkey and walk away from the things that haunt you for the rest of your life. You have to eat irregardless of your relationship with food, and that is why losing weight (and sometimes gaining weight) is problematic for so many. Then she said something that really struck me, which was, "Food is not love. Food is just food."

Now, I spent a lot of time thinking about this statement because, as a health conscious individual I completely agree with this statement. I think a lot of people eat or don't eat emotionally, which can lead to a whole slew of problems. But as a foodie and someone who loves to cook and eat, this is heresy. Food is NOT just food. It is so much more than that, and sometimes it can be love and comfort, most poignantly when it is shared with those you care about. Sometimes a good meal really can make you feel better. The more I ruminated, the more I realized that there is a distinction between the food that is not love and will never be love and the food that is and always will be. Twinkies, potato chips, McDonald's, and Entenmann's cakes and other such cheap quick fixes are not and will never be love. But a great home cooked meal/dessert made from fresh-sweet-savoury-mouthwatering ingredients eaten while sitting around the table and talking about the day's events can more often than not offer the mental solace that we need to help us wake up in the morning. The latter kind of eating, I think, rarely leads to an unhealthy lifestyle, which is something we can so easily forget but should always remember.

Now that I've rambled long enough, I am going to get to the good stuff...the FOOD. I came up with this sandwich idea when I saw a cooking light recipe for a guacamole-esque cream cheese spread. The original recipe suggested that this be eaten, alone, on a bagel. I decided that was ridiculous and started thinking about what flavors would complement the subtle butteriness of the avocado. My mind, of course, went straight to my trifecta of veggies (bnut squash, sweet potatoes, and eggplant), and that was how this sandwich was born. I have enjoyed it every day this week and will certainly be sad when it is all gone. But to comfort me, I will be having a big slice of Whole Foods carrot cake for dessert tonight (my birthday cake, as I told my roommate that I would be happy with anything that had cream cheese frosting)...and I will love every bite!

Roasted Butternut Squash and Guacamole Spread Sandwich
Serves 5, partially adapted from Cooking Light
3 oz neufchatel
1 avocado
1 3/4 lb butternut squash
1/4 cup cilantro (I probably used more)
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
tabasco to taste
10 slices bread or whatever carb you want to eat this on...pita, wrap, etc.

For the spread: combine the neufchatel, avocado, and cilantro in a bowl and mash with a fork until smooth. Add in the lime juice, salt and tabasco and mix. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

For the squash: Cut into slices. I cut it in half lengthwise and then sliced the halves. Spray with PAM, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and bake at 400 for 40-50 minute or until soft and tender.

Spread the spread (hee hee) on the bread, add the squash, and devour!

I am submitting this to weekend herb blogging which is being hosted this week by Laurie of Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska.

Dabbling in Crockery

I just received an email from the Class of 09 Student Council informing us that there will be a study break on Thursday to celebrate that there are only 100 days left until graduation. That is a frighteningly small number, let me tell you. Conversely, 22 is a frighteningly large number. It is, in fact, the number of the age that I will be in just over 24 hours. Either way, the message is that time flies - enjoy it while you can.

In accordance with that theory - the SLOW cooker. And my first attempt to cook with it. Ever. I asked my mom the other day why she doesn't have a crockpot, because it really would seem to be the perfect thing for the woman who walks in the house every night confused and befuddled at the fact that there is nothing to eat. I tried to explain to her that if she bought one, she would be able to come home to dinner ALREADY PREPARED She didn't have an answer for me. In fact, I don't think she said anything (a first for my mother). I told her to get her butt to the store or to amazon.com. Pronto.

So what did I choose to make, you ask, for my first slow cooker experience? Beef stroganoff...slow cooked chunks of meat simmering in mushrooms and broth for HOURS that fall apart when you put them in your mouth...the heartening smell that greats your nose when you open the door, coming in from the blustering cold...could you really ask for more?

Beef Stroganoff
Serves 4, adapted from Cooking Light

1 lb cubed beef stew meat
1 cup beef broth
1/3 cup flour
2 tsp dijon mustard (I used barbecue sauce...I hate mustard and, well, I REALLY like barbecue sauce)
2 tbsp parsley (I used 1/2 tsp dried rosemary)
8 oz sliced mushrooms
2 small onions
3/4 tsp salt
8 oz fat free sour cream

1. Mix everything together in the crock pot except for the sour cream. Cook on high for 1 hour and on low for 7-8 hours.
2. Turn the crock pot off and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in the sour cream.

I served this over brown rice and with a side of roasted broccoli.

Sandwich, Soup, and A Good Read

Peanut butter and I have a very interesting relationship. As an American child, I can't really remember a time before peanut butter and jelly was a staple lunch item in my house. I went through phases with it as a kid, sometimes loving it and sometimes hating it, but eventually I forgot about it (or maybe Nutella took its place...I'm not quite sure). Then, when I started to think about eating healthier and losing weight, it became one of those items that I just couldn't have anymore because it was too high calorie, and so I of course started to crave it even though I probably hadn't had it in years. Now that I am out of that red hot diet phase of my life, I have realized just how great it is and a week doesn't go by that I don't have a peanut butter sandwich. Recently, as I was googling around the net, I came across P.B. Loco which is a company that sells gourmet peanut butters. Immediately intrigued, I decided to order their gift-set in which you got to choose any three peanut butter flavors for around 20 dollars. I chose Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (that one was finished first - it was amazing), Sumatra Cinnamon and Raisin (just finished today - also perfect), and Raspberry White Chocolate (haven't tried yet). In addition, they sent me a jar of Jungle Banana as a gift! Let me just tell you, these peanut butters turn a childhood favorite into a gourmet meal. Admittedly, I make my sandwiches with half gourmet pb and half Better'n Peanut Butter which is a lower calorie peanut substitute, but they are still REALLY good. In fact, I just finished one today with a cup of creamy vegetable medley bisque soup from Trader Joe's...the perfect low maintenance lunch for a lazy Friday.

Now for the book review. Beautiful Children by Charles Bock was the second book I finished from the NYTimes Notable Book List of 2008. It follows the lives of five seemingly unrelated individuals as they make their way through a typical Las Vegas night. In a larger context, the novel mainly details the disappearance of Newell Ewing, a 12-year-old (ish) boy who goes out for the night with his much older friend Kenny and never returns. All of the story's other characters are tangentially involved in Newell's disappearance, even though in many ways they are all beautiful, runaway children themselves. The descriptions in this book, especially those of Vegas and the desert that surrounds it, are just amazing and, even though the book ends with you never quite finding out just what happened to Newell that night, leaves you with a sense of peace and contentedness. Definitely read it if you get the chance.

Meals From My Childhood: Shells with Turkey Sausage and Broccoli Rabe, and Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

I honestly can't remember the first time I was introduced to broccoli rabe (or broccoli raab or rapini, depending on who you ask). All I know is that one day my mom came home with this pre-sauteed olive oil-y container of green stuff from the Italian grocer and mixed it with pasta and browned pork sausage. I wish I could say it was love at first bite, but I hated it. It was just too bitter for my naive and immature taste buds and so for the longest time, she would cook up a kid's version for my brother and I without the greens. As I got older, however, the taste grew on me and it is now one of my absolute favorite things! Unfortunately, while broccoli rabe is readily available in every New York supermarket, it is pretty hard to find in Boston. My mother attributes this to the fact that "there are no Italians in Boston". But what about the ENTIRE North End, I asked her, surely it must be around somewhere. Finally, it got to the point where I was really craving it, and so I made a special trip to Whole Foods, figuring that they HAD to carry it. Thankfully, I was right, and so I whipped up a version of it that is based on Giada's recipe. It was as good as my mom's version, possibly even better because I cooked the broccoli rabe myself. To go with it, I roasted some asparagus with balsamic vinegar, which was also really good. This will be my entry to both Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted this week by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, and Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Wiffy of Noob Cook.

Other news of the week: my slow cooker has arrived! It is my birthday next week (Feb 25) and I will be 22. Because she loves me dearly, my roommate bought me a slow cooker and so get ready for some (hopefully) great recipes to come. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Shells with Turkey Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
Serves 4, adapted from Giada de Laurentis

1 lb whole wheat shell pasta
3 links sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 lb broccoli rabe
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1. Start to boil two pots of salted water - one for the pasta and one for the broccoli rabe.

2. In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil. Remove the turkey sausage from its casings and sautee until brown, using a spatula to separate it into little "crumbs" as you do so. When it is just about done, add in the garlic and saute on low for a few minutes.

3. Once the water(s) are boiling, add in the broccoli rabe and pasta, respectively. Cook the broccoli rabe in the boiling water for 1-2 minutes or until reaches desired level of tenderness. Drain well and mix into pan with sausage/garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste, as well as red pepper flakes.

4. Mix together pasta, parmesan cheese, and sausage/broccoli rabe mixture.

Balsamic Roasted Asparagus

Serves 4

2 lb asparagus

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a roasting pan with PAM/cooking spray.

2. Cut the stalky ends off the asparagus and place in pan. Spray with PAM. Top with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Roast for 10-15 minutes.

Sausage and Peppers Pizza

I love three day weekends. Here at MIT we get at least one Monday off every month (we jokingly call them Suicide Mondays...they are days off that the school gives us to prevent us from doing ourselves in), although the one for February so conveniently fell on President's Day so it wasn't really a special day just for us. I'm definitely much less productive on three-day weekends, however. It's true, I am a procrastinator by nature, and so even though we get more time off, I definitely get significantly less done. I finally went to the mall yesterday to get my watch fixed and I stopped at Borders to drool over their wide assortment of cookbooks. I ended up picking up an Indian cookbook that was on sale for 9.99. As I flipped through, the pictures of each recipe made me salivate, so I figured it was necessary. Beware, there may be a lot of Indian food on this blog to come!

In deciding what to make for dinner this week, I knew I needed to use up the cup of shredded mozzarella that was in my fridge, and I had one more half pound of Trader Joe's dough in the fridge, so I opted for pizza. I have truly been on a pizza kick lately, and I think it may have something to do with the new pizza pan that I bought...at least I'm getting good use out of it. My potatoes and peppers of last week were still lurking in my mind, so I decided to go with the similar flavor combo of sausage and peppers. I also got the idea for this from a pizza I saw a while back on A Year In The Kitchen, which is one of my favorite blogs. The pizza was great and the turkey sausage that I used made it lighter than your typical sausage pizza. Perfect for dinner and two lunches! (And it went great with the eggplant salad).

Sausage and Peppers Pizza

Serves 2 for dinner, or 1 for dinner and 2 for lunch, adapted from A Year In The Kitchen

1/2 lb Trader Joe's whole wheat pizza dough

2 links turkey sausage

1 red bell pepper

1 onion

1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella

1 tbsp parmesan cheese

8 oz tomato sauce (I used Hunt's Roasted Garlic)

1. Preheat oven to 450. In a skillet, cook onions until slightly caramelized. Remove the turkey sausage from its casings and add to the skillet. Using a spatula, break it up into crumbles as it browns. When it is cooked through, remove from heat and set aside.

2. Spread out dough on a floured pizza pan. Top with tomato sauce, leaving a margin for the crust. Cover with mozzarella cheese, sausage, and onions.

3. Cut the pepper into rings and place on top of sausage. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

4. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until crust is browned and crispy and cheese has melted and started to brown.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Maybe it's because I'm cynical and single at the moment, but it seems to me that nothing would be more perfect to me on Valentine's Day than to have a dinner in with the person I love. No grand gestures would be necessary, no diamonds (well, at least not on V-Day...my birthday is another story), just a home-cooked meal and some good conversaion all while curled up on the couch.

This is essentially what my roommate and I did on this frigid night, although dinner was followed by a trip to the ice skating rink and the evening will soon be ended with a trip to a local bar. In keeping with the "simple things in life" mentality, I made this eggplant/tomato salad to go with my main dish (which I will post later in the week). The recipe is from a cookbook called Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon by Claudia Roden.

I took this book out from the library this summer, and this is actually the first recipe that I am making from it. I loved the fresh combination of flavors in this dish. The cilantro really tied it together in the end, reminding me yet again why it is my favorite herb. As such, I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted this week by Cheryl from Gluten Free Goodness.

Have a good one everyone and take advantage of this day to remind those you care about, whether they be family, friends or something more, how much you love them.

Mashed Eggplant and Tomato Salad

Serves 3, adapted from Arabesque

1 1/2 lb eggplant

1/2 lb tomatoes

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 475. Dice the eggplant into small pieces and spray with cooking spray. Roast on a baking pan for a half hour.

2. In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Cut the tomatoes and garlic and saute,with salt, twenty minutes on low heat.

3. Once the eggplant is done and the tomatoes have been simmering for 20 minutes, mix together the tomatoes, eggplant, spices, and herbs on the stove. Heat for a few minutes so that the flavors have a chance to meld.

Love At First Bite: Caramelized Sweet Potato, Garlic and Rosemary Macaroni and Cheese, and Roasted Aparagus with Parmesan Cheese

So you know how people always wonder whether they will die in real life if they die in their dreams? Well, last night in one of my dreams, I decided to take my pants off. I'm not sure that there was any logical reason behind it or if it was one of those things that makes sense in the dream at the time but actually has no basis in reality. All I know is that I woke up. Pantsless. Thankfully, I realized this before my roommate woke up and before I decided to leave my room. But it provides evidence for the fact that any dream-induced lethality may in fact translate to real life. So be warned.

Now that I am done with my public service announcement of the day (i.e. be wary of your subconscious...it may be out to kill you), I will move on to bigger and better things. Such as the grandeur notion of love embodied in one single casserole dish. Generally I am not an advocate of using food as a substitute for interpersonal relationships. It can lead to emotional eating, which we can all agree is not usually a good thing. However, given the fact that I will be single (again) this Valentine's day, I decided that if I can't get that gushy, dreamy, reach for the stars feeling from another person, I might as well get it from food. And I knew just the recipe that would provide the aforesaid satisfaction: caramelized sweet potato, garlic, and rosemary macaroni and cheese. Can you really ask for a better combination of ingredients? I saw this on delish.com a bit ago where it was lauded for being the winner of the Tillamook Mac N Cheese competition. After making it, I fully appreciate why it won. I may never be able to eat any other mac and cheese ever again. I am submitting this to the 100th edition of Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted by the pasta-rific founder herself, Ruth of Once Upon A Feast (I really can't think of a pasta dish better suited for this honor), and also to this month's Weekend Cookbook Challenge, the theme of which is love. This is being hosted by Sara of I Like To Cook. On a less exciting, but still delicious side note, I whipped up some roasted asparagus with parmesan to go with the pasta. Asparagus is an aphrodisiac after all...(Even if it does make your pee smell weird).

Caramelized Sweet Potato, Garlic, and Rosemary Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 4, adapted from delish.com

5 cloves garlic
1/2 lb sweet potato
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb pasta
2 tbsp light butter
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
12 oz almond milk
1 cup reduced fat mozzarella
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp rosemary
2 tbsp bread crumbs

1. Choose your pasta of choice. I recently ordered some gourmet pastas from Pappardelle's and decided to use this southwestern blend. This really added some kick and smoky flavor to the pasta which complemented the sweetness of the potatoes really well. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.


2. Slice the sweet potatoes. Boil with garlic for five minutes. Mash the garlic with a fork and set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Fry the sweet potato slices for 5 minutes or until caramelized, flipping every minute or so. Set aside.

4. Boil water and cook pasta.

5. Prepare your cheese sauce. Melt butter over low heat. Whisk in flour and cook for 3 minutes. Whisk in milk, slowly. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 1 minute, whisking all the while. Mix in all of the mozzarella cheese, 2 tbsp of the parmesan cheese, the salt, pepper and rosemary until the cheese is melted. Mix in the garlic and the sweet potato and pour into pasta.

6. Pour the pasta/cheese/sweet potato/heaven mixture into a greased casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs and remaining 2 tbsp parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden.

Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan

Serves 4

1 1/2 lb asparagus

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Arrange asparagus on a baking pan. Spray with cooking spray. Top with salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Roast 10-15 minutes.

Meat and Potato Monday

This is groundbreaking, really. I think my dad almost collapsed when I told him. I. Cooked. And ate. Red meat. Not that I have any problem with doing either of those two things, it's just atypical for me. Mostly because steak is expensive and I am a poor(ish), starving(not at all) college student, but also because I just tend to prefer vegetarian meals. I am one of those people who would be content eating pasta with garlic and oil for the rest of my life, but that is a whole other story. This was good, though, and hit multiple cravings I was having. The steak was marinated in a Tyler Florence rub, so I am submitting this to tyler florence fridays, albeit QUITE early. To go with the steak, I thought I would go with a completely classic flavor combination - peppers and potatoes (minus the sausage). I based the recipe from one I found in a cookbook that I have - Vegan Fire and Spice. This is a great cookbook for some simple (and VERY healthy) recipes that can be expanded upon. Happy eating everyone! I am off to shower, as I just got back from the gym, and I don't think my roommate is too happy with me sitting here and typing this :P.

Roasted Potatoes and Peppers

Serves 2, adapted from Vegan Fire and Spice

1 lb red potatoes

1 onion

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Mix all of the ingredients together and roast for 45 minutes, turning once and tossing halfway through.

Grilled Marinated Strip Steak

Serves 2, adapted from Tyler Florence (gotten from the Food Network website)

1/8 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 lb strip steak

1. Mix together all of the herbs and spices for your rub.

2. Rub the rub (hee hee) on the steak at least 4 hours before cooking it.

3. Grill on a George Foreman (or regular) grill until it reaches desired degree of doneness. I didn't get a picture of this because my camera was being weird, but it looked something like this:

The Proof of The Pudding Is In The Eating

I tend to think of myself as a control freak. I really like to have a schedule and a plan, and while I am very flexible about changing the plan once it is set in place, it just comforts me to know that it's there in the first place. I attribute this to my type a personality, which may or may not stem from the fact that I am a first child. Maybe its the combination of the two that's at fault. Either way, I'd say that this is not only my biggest weakness but also my biggest strength (or at least that's what I told medical school interviewers :P ). So it should come as no surprise to anyone that when the superbowl rolled around, I was the one sending out the emails to all my friends about what food we were ordering, where we were watching it, etc. Never mind the fact that before coming to college, I was never able to sit through the entire game and really only watched the halftime show, or that even after being coerced into watching three superbowls in a row I still can not tell you what the hell a first down is. Not that I mind doing it, it's just kind of ironic.

We ended up ordering this FABULOUS stuffed pizza from this place called Sicilia's. They make this really dense, heavenly crust that is to die for, and was perfectly complemented by our "stuffing" of cheese, spinach, chicken, eggplant, mushrooms, and roasted garlic. To go with the pizza, I took it upon myself to make dessert. Last year, my friend Tim made a key lime pie, however he is even more health conscious than I am owing to the fact that he is on lightweight crew and has to stay below 160 lb, and so it had next to no sugar in it and was a little too tart and sour creamy for anyone's taste but his. To continue the trend, however, I decided to make a pie as well. I wanted something that was no-bake and could sit in my fridge for a day without going bad. I thought something with cool whip and pudding would be good, and so upon perusing the Kraft website, I came across this creamy two-layer pumpkin pie. It ended up being a crowd-pleaser and, in concurrence with the title of my post (which is a quote from Cervantes), was gone before I knew it.

Creamy Two-Layer Pumpkin Pudding Pie
Serves 8, adapted from Kraft


4 oz neufchatel
1 tbsp skim milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 cups cool whip
1 6 oz graham cracker crust
1 cup skim milk
15 oz canned pumpkin
2 4-serving packages of vanilla intant pudding (I used sugar free)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger

1. Let the neufchatel warm up for a few minutes. Then mix it with the 1T skim milk and 1T sugar until blended smooth. Add in the cool whip and mix until smooth. Spoon into the graham cracker crust. Lick the bowl.

2. In another bowl, mix together the pumpkin, 1 cup skim milk - make sure it's cold, pudding mix, cinnamon, and ginger. The mixture will get very thick as the pudding starts to condense. Mix it for about two minutes and then spread it over the neufchatel layer.

3. Refrigerate it for at least 4 hours. Serve with extra cool whip or whipped cream.

Sandwich of the Week#3

Do you ever have one of those moments where you wake up at 5 in the morning to go to the bathroom and some really enlightened idea pops into your head (or, well, you think it's enlightened at the time) and you tell yourself you're going to remember it, and then you go back to bed and wake up only to find that it's gone forever? I totally experienced that last night. I woke up and thought of some really great thing to write about and now, nothing, zilch, zippo. Maybe I'll remember it later, if I do I'll get back to you.

Anyways, this week was the first week of classes for me and I've been trying to ease myself into a routine. I have class every day of the week except for Fridays (yay!!) starting at 11. I really like being able to sleep in until 9 and it's something that I should appreciate now before medical school starts and I have to get up early again. My roommate and I made this pact that we are going to try to clean our room every Saturday this semester. We are both pretty messy people, so this will be tough. It's kind of like a New Semester's Resolution...we'll stick to it for about a month and then it will slowly start to dwindle into a once in a lifetime occurrence. My mom is coming to visit tomorrow, along with my sister and aunt, and so I really need to whip myself into shape. I love it when she comes up (which is really rare) but at the same time it comes with a lot of stress. I guess I should go try to find that vacuum...but before I do, I would like to share a yummy sandwich that I made this week:

Grilled Tomato, Pesto, and Goat Cheese Sandwich
Serves 1

2 slices whole wheat bread
1 small tomato
1 tbsp homemade pesto (the pesto I made earlier this week for my pizza)
1 oz herb goat cheese

Layer the pesto, goat cheese, and tomato between the bread slices. Grill on a George Foreman or panini press or broil until cheese is slightly melted and bread is browned.

Minding My Pea's and Q's

In my household, err...dorm room, no meal is complete without a veggie side dish. Although I didn't like peas as a kid (I am very weird about certain textures and am only now as an adult beginning to grow out of some of my phobias), I tried them again when I was home over break as they are one of the few vegetables my father will willingly eat and discovered that I really like them. I decided that my previous aversion probably stemmed from the fact that I had canned peas when I was little, which are really mushy and have a very different texture from frozen or fresh peas, which are firm and almost crisp to the taste. Therefore, to go with my lasagna that I posted earlier in the week, I decided to make a simple pea side dish.


Peas are incredibly high in a whole bunch of nutrients, including vitamin K, manganese, and vitamin C. They are really important to maintaining bone health, and can also help protect against cardiovascular disease. Peas have been eaten by humans for many, many years and were even mentioned in the Bible! They were popularized by King Louis XIV in the seventeenth century when he served them at parties in his palace. The most common form of pea is the garden pea, which we generally refer to as the sweet pea. An alternate variation is the snow pea, which is native to Asia. The sugar snap pea is what results when you cross these two species of pea. Now that you have been properly introduced into the world of one of the world's greenest legumes, I will commence with the recipe.



Peas with Honey and Lemon-Pepper
Serves 4, adapted from Best Life Diet

1 lb frozen sweet peas
2 tsp honey or agave nectar
lemon-pepper to taste

1. Heat the peas according to the directions on the bag. I microwaved mine.

2. Sprinkle with honey and lemon-pepper.

Honey Hint: A good trick when measuring honey is to coat whatever you are measuring with, with some kind of non-stick device (cooking spray, olive oil, etc.). This way, the honey will actually come off of whatever you are measuring with and will slide easily onto your food.

I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted this week by Dee of The Daily Tiffin.

Pesto Pizza with Butternut Squash

Before I was born, my grandfather owned a pizza parlor in the Bronx. As a result, homemade pizza has always been a staple in my house. We make it the Italian way, meaning that the cheese goes on the bottom and is topped with sauce and parmesan cheese. This, added with the fact that I am a native New Yorker, means that I am very picky about my pizza. Needless to say, Domino's and Pizza Hut (and, let's be honest, Boston pizza) just don't cut it. Going with the motto that if you want something done right you should do it yourself, I decided to make my own pizza this week. Although I would like to be able to say that I made the dough myself, I will admit that I was lazy enough to use the Trader Joe's garlic and herbs one that tasted so good on my calzone last week. In making the pizza, I decided to go a little out of the box, choosing to top it with some of my favorites - butternut squash and pesto! I got the idea from a cooking light recipe that I saw, which I adapted very slightly. The flavor combo was delicious, pairing the sweetness of the squash with the saltiness of the cheese and pesto. All around the perfect meal to start off my first week of classes for the spring semester, but also my last semester as a college undergraduate.





Pesto Pizza with Butternut Squash


Adapted from Cooking Light, serves 2



For the pesto...this makes twice as much as you need for a two serving pizza but I decided to use half of it on sandwiches for the week.
1 tbsp pine nuts
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups basil leaves
salt to taste

Puree the pine nuts and garlic in a food processor until ground. Add olive oil and puree until a paste is formed. Add cheese and basil. Add salt to taste. Process until reaches desired consistency. I added a few drops of water as well to thin it out a bit.

For the pizza:
1/2 lb trader joe's pizza dough
2 slices provolone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp sugar
20 oz butternut squash (half of a squash)
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 tsp oregano

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Dice the squash into small pieces and toss with sugar and olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once half way through.

2. Once squash is done, raise the oven temperature to 450. Roll out the pizza dough onto a floured pizza pan. Top with provolone cheese and tomatoes. Mix butternut squash with pesto and pour onto the top of the pizza. Top with oregano and parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, turning once midway through.