Pita of Convenience

My mother has a tendency to impulse buy vegetables. I do too, actually, but the difference between us is that I will eat them before they get pushed to the back of the fridge where they are left to shrivel and die. While I was home, I noticed that she had purchased a multi-colored pack of bell peppers. This was interesting to me because my father can't eat peppers; they "bother his stomach" (his words, not mine). So basically I knew that they were going to sit there until they either (a) got moldy, (b) got thrown out to make room for something else in the fridge, or (c) were fed to the snails so that my mother would feel less guilty about not actually eating them (yes we do have snails and yes my mom likes to feed them leftover/unused fruits and vegetables). I had also bought some extra broccoli when I made the chicken stir-fry, so I thought it would be a great idea to roast the two veggies and stuff them into a pita along with some cheddar cheese and barbecue sauce. It was a delicious combination made even better by the fact that they didn't all fit, so I got to scarf them down as finger food.

And really, we all know how much I love roasted broccoli. I introduced it to the family as an alternative to the salad they eat every night, which consists of lettuce, a tomato, and way too much blue cheese/ranch dressing. Not that I have anything against salads, but they have to be filled with tons of ingredients to hold my interest. Namely sweet potatoes. And that just wasn't going to happen . So I banned them.

Roasted Broccoli and Bell Pepper Pita
Serves 1

1 crown of broccoli, broken into florets
1 red/yellow/orange bell pepper julienned
1 soy pita
1 tbsp (or so) barbecue saue
1 slice reduced fat cheddar cheese.

Preheat the oven to 450. Place broccoli and pepper slices on a baking pan. Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 15 minutes.

Stuff the pita with cheese and as much broccoli/pepper as you can fit. Squirt some bbq sauce in there. Eat!

Polenta Gratin with Spinach and Mushrooms

For the record, my father found the passports. He discovered that he hid them in the attic, of all places. Thankfully, this occurred before I went to the post office to request a new one. And can you guess what was sitting next to them? You got it - my birth certificate. That's right people; I have officially been born. Times two.

You should all know that I am officially recipe-backlogged. Majorly. But it's probably for the best since I will be away again this coming weekend to go to Cornell's revisit weekend. In fact, with all of the recipes stored up, you may not even notice that I'm gone ;). I am officially back in Boston, however, and am kind of glad to be home. I missed my bed. And the city. And my autonomy.

I really did have a lot of fun this vacation, though. Some highlights: seeing Jane Fonda and Colin Hanks (Tom Hanks's son) in the play 39 Variations, proving to myself that I can do three 6.7 mile runs in a week without my knee hurting, making gnocchi and whole wheat pizza dough (more on that later this week) from scratch, discovering new york sports club is the best gym ever (they have a tv attached to EVERY machine!), the best lunch of my life with my dad at Harry's, eating loads of sweet potatoes and a carton of Edy's Slow Churned Take the Cake ice cream, waching the third season of Big Love, spending some time with my grandmother (always a character, albeit a senile one), and of course catching up on some much needed sleep. All in all a pretty good break, don't you think!

Now I have some shocking news for you - previous to my making the polenta side dish shown above, my parents had never had polenta. When I told them I was making it, they reminded me that they were southern, not northern Italians. To which I responded, "You eat frozen Healthy Choice dinners - you're not Italian at all". They didn't like that very much. But they DID like the gratin, so maybe that redeems them, if only a tad bit.

Polenta Gratin with Spinach and Mushrooms
Serves 6, adapted from Food and Wine


2 tbsp olive oil
10 oz wild mushrooms, sliced
1 large shallot
16 oz baby spinach
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half
18 oz polenta (one pre-baked log)
1 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese (the original recipe called for gruyere, but I felt like cheddar)

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet and saute the mushrooms over high heat, until slightly browned (about six minutes). Add the shallot and cook on low heat for 3 minutes. Add in the spinach until all of it is wilted (I had to add it a handful at a time because my pan was getting full). Season with salt and pepper. Spread into a casserole dish.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour. Add the stock and cream and whisk until thickened. Season wih salt and pepper and pour over the spinach.

Slice the polenta into thin circles and arrange over the top of the mixture. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and broil and until the cheese is browned.

Chicken, Asparagus, and Broccoli Stir Fry

Looking back on this week of cooking, this dish was the one that got the biggest rave review of all - my father asked me to write down the recipe so that my mother could recreate it for him. Leave it to Bon Appetit...I'm telling you, that cookbook is a godsend. And seriously, leave it to my Italian family to fawn over Chinese food. You can't take them anywhere.

I should also mention that I had what was perhaps the best lunch of my life today. First, I need to backtrack. This meal comes with baggage. You see, since I am going to the Bahamas with my roommate in May, I need a passport, not to enter the Bahamas but to re-enter the US. I have a passport. Somewhere. In this house. But my parents have been unable to locate it since we renewed it four years ago. So after ransacking the house, they claimed it officially MIA. No problem, I set about gathering all of the paperwork needed to declare it missing and apply for a new one. Except that to get a US passport, you need to prove you are a US citizen. How do you do that? With a birth certificate. And where do you suppose my birth certificate is? I personally have a hunch that it is with the passport since you need to submit the two together upon renewal. My parents maintain that the two are not in the same place, even though they are both missing. So now, not only do I get to stand in line at the post office, but I also had the pleasure of hauling my ass down to the NYC Dept of Health where I had to wait for over an hour to get a new copy of my birth certificate. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

I may have over-reacted slightly to this news last night, and so my dad offered to take me out to lunch if I met him at his office (which is about a 20 minute walk from the Dept of Health). I agreed and after a run this morning, was in a much better mood (albeit the 60 degree weather may have helped). So he took me to Harry's, which is this cafe/steakhouse off of Wall Street. I think it was the first time I have ever had really gourmet food in my life. The plate was the spitting image of food porn. I got the grilled swordfish with broccoli rabe and polenta, which sat atop a pool of tomato butter dotted with capers. It was heaven.

Needless to say, I forgave him.

Chicken, Asparagus, and Broccoli Stir Fry
Serves 6, adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast Easy Fresh

2 1/4 lb chicken tenderloins, sliced into strips
3 tbsp sesame oil
3 cloves garlic
1 1/2 lb asparagus
2 lb broccoli
3/4 cup chicken broth
6 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 cups brown rice

Heat 2T oil. Add garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the asparagus, broccoli, and 1/2 cup broth. Cover and steam until vegetables are cooked.

Spray a second skillet with cooking spray while this is going on and cook the chicken, seasoning it with salt and pepper.

Mix the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, and broth into the vegetable pan. Add the chicken to it. Toss until heated and everything is coated with sauce.

Note - I served this with brown rice. I also ended up doubling the sauce recipe so that there would be enough to spoon over the rice as well.

What Do You Do When Life Hands You a Sack of Potatoes?

Why, you make potato gnocchi of course! But only if you have an empty house and at least five free consecutive hours. Because, trust me, you will need both of those things. Along with patience. It's a virtue. Think about it.

The thought of making my own potato gnocchi first popped into my head when I found out that it was the Tyler Florence Friday's bonus recipe for February. Being that this is really not a recipe to make in a dorm kitchen, I was unable to make it during that month but bookmarked it as a kind-of project recipe to be undertaken during one of my school vacations. Spring break turned out to be especially advantageous because I am home all day, alone with the dog, with no one to interfere or poke and prod, as they are always wont to do. (My father is an especial culprit...he likes to stick a fork into whatever I am cooking no matter its stage of doneness.) Well, let me tell you, I set out with some fierce trepidation and anxiety (what if they didn't turn out - what would we eat for dinner?!?!?) but it all turned out okay. I made some changes to Tyler's recipe along the way, namely that I don't have a potato ricer so I had to hand-rice the potatoes with a fork. I also didn't add lemon to the ricotta because there are some lactose-intolerant people in my family and so I didn't know how much would be used. I figured it would be best to just let everyone take their own ricotta from the container at their whim.

And what did the family of picky eaters say? Not much. They were too busy eating. There were no leftovers.

Potato Gnocchi with Peas, Prosciutto, and Ricotta
Serves 5, adapted from Tyler Florence

2-2 1/2 lb russet potatoes
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg white
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup frozen peas
1 large shallot (yes, again Anthony Bourdain would be proud)
1 tbsp butter
1/4 lb prosciutto, thinly sliced
15 oz part-skim ricotta
2 tbsp olive oil
more salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Scrub the potatoes, spray them with some cooking spray, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes (or until fork-tender). Let the cool for a few minutes then peel them with a paring knife. (I started to accrue VERY minor burns on my fingers from doing this. I thought of them as battle scars. The hands of a true chef, again a la Monsieur Bourdain.) If you have a potato ricer, rice the potatoes. If not, take a fork and run it along the side of the potatoes, effectively shredding them. Kind of the way you would a spaghetti squash.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the egg whites, cheese, salt, and potato. Add flour until the mix achieves a doughy consistency. If I ever decide to make these again, I might add in some more spices at this point. Maybe some garlic powder or herbs. Imagine cilantro-infused gnocchi.

3. Pour flour all over your entire table. Yes, this is a messy process. It INSISTS upon you getting your hands dirty. Breaking the dough into small chunks, roll it into a long tube and cut into approximately 1-inch pieces. Using a fork, press little indentations into the gnocchi to give them that grooved texture. After finishing my first tube, I heated up some water and tested two gnocchi. Tyler says in his recipe that they may either fall or apart or be too hard depending on whether you have used too much or too little flour, and I didn't want to go through the whole proces only to discover I had to start again. That being said, mine were fine. Unless you are planning on cooking the gnoochi immediately, dust some baking pans with flour and place each gnocchi into the pan once it is formed. Once you are done, you will have made approximately 150 gnocchi (!) and your kitchen table will look like this:

4. Cover the pans with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to cook.

5. Boil salted water in two pots - a large one for the gnocchi and a smaller one for the peas. While the water boils, heat up the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the shallots, some salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes. Cook the peas in the boiling water until crisp-tender, then strain and add to the pan with the shallots. Keep this on low heat.

6. Once the gnocchi water is hot, add the gnocchi in batches, using a slotted spoon to remove them when they begin to float. Add them to the pan with the peas and the shallots. Add the butter to this pan, along with 1/2 cup of cooking water.

7. While all this is occurring, preheat the oven to 350. Arrange the prosciutto on a greashed baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes or until crisp.

8. Place some gnocchi onto each plate and top with two slices of the prosciutto as well as some ricotta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.

I will be submitting this both to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted by Aquadaze of Served With Love, and also to Tyler Florence Fridays.

Meat and Potatoes: The Lenten Way

Greetings from the Big Apple! You will all be happy to know that I survived the first three days of being home. It was doubtful at first whether or not I would make it, and I will concede that there were some spotty patches along the way (most of which involved me proselytizing on the benefits of eating at least 5 servings of fruits and/or vegetables a day), but I like to think that now that the first leg is over it will be semi-smooth sailing from here.

So what have I been up to, you ask? Mainly cooking. And eating. And running. Is it really so different from what I do in Boston? I did 6.7 miles on Saturday and then on Sunday, I started a $20 trial membership at the local New York Sports Club. This gym was beautiful. I mean, gorgeous. Each cardio machine had its OWN tv. I think that I foresee myself starting up a real membership when I move back. It's a bit pricy but I'm willing to cut costs elsewhere to avail myself of all of their equipment. I also made a trip to the Amish Market that was in the same shopping complex as the NYSC. Does anyone else out there swoon when entering a really great gourmet market? Or is it just me? I refrained from buying anything that wasn't what I went in for (pre-baked polenta) but I plan on making a trip back for some essentials before I go back to Boston. They had tons of varieties of Italian whole wheat pasta, as well as faro, which I have been searching for. Also, many MANY varieties of bbq sauce. I see more pulled pork in my future.

As many of you may have guessed, I am Catholic. By birth. Personally, I am more agnostic than anything else. I disagree with many of the trappings and rules of the Roman Catholic religion, and I can't really say that I believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead, but I do believe that there is some higher power out there. You can agree, disagree, have no opinion...so be it. It is also my contention that, if there is a god, he (or she) is going to evaluate a person based on their morality and inherent "goodness" and not on what specific religion he adhered to, so to each his own. My parents, though mostly lapsed, still follow some of the conventions of Catholicism. My mother insists on getting ashes on Ash Wednesday, for instance. She doesn't go to church any other day of the year, but you better believe that she will be making an appearance on that day in February. She thinks it will save her soul for the rest of the year. Or something like that. For some reason, my parents are also very serious about sticking to the no meat on Fridays thing this year, so it was my job to come up with either a fish or vegetarian dish for Friday's dinner. As I believe I've mentioned before, my father and brother are meat and potatoes kinds of guys. They like their animal protein source along with some carb, so to satisfy their cravings I decided to make a simple fish dish along with some mashed potatoes. The fish was good, not amazing. I really liked the way that the bread crumbs kind-of melted into the top as the fish baked. The mashed potatoes were the real hit though. They were based off a Rachael Ray recipe that I had been planning to make for a while but never got around to. All-in-all a pretty well balanced meal.

Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Bread Crumbs
Serves 4, adapted from the Food Network

2 lb flounder fillets
2 lb tomatoes
3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Score the tomatoes and blanch for 1 minute. Rinse with cold water and then peel. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes and chop up the meat.

2. In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil. Saute the garlic for 30 seconds and then add the tomatoes for a few minutes.

3. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Place the flounder fillets in the pan. Salt and pepper them. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs so that they are completely covered and top with tomatoes. Bake for 10 minutes.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Spinach
Serves 6, adapted from Rachael Ray

3 lb potatoes, cubed
1 lb baby spinach
4 tbsp butter (I used light butter)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste
(the original recipe also called for nutmeg, which my father doesn't like so I excluded it although I bet it would have added a nice nuttiness)

1. Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Salt the water and bring to a boil. Cook until potatoes are fork-tender.

2. While potatoes are cooking, spray a saute pan with some cooking spray. Add the spinach in increments and cook until all is wilted. Remove to a dish and, when cool, squeeze out the excess water.

3. When potatoes are ready, strain them and set them aside. In the same pot, melt the butter. Add the garlic, minced, and cook for 2 minutes on low heat. Add in the half and half and spinach. Mix in the potatoes and mash to desired consistency. Salt and pepper them to taste.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

So I've just about finished packing (I just need to weigh my suitcases to make sure they're not over 50 lb), the menu plan is basically done, and I'm about to head out for a trip to the gym before my flight leaves at 3:30. Yes I am flying from Boston to New York. Yes I am lazy. BUT I used my frequent flyer miles to buy the tickets. And that 30 minute flight as opposed to the six hour bus ride is worth every penny. Trust me - you don't know pain until you've spent 10+ hours on a bus on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving sitting next to a smelly lady who's taking up more than her fair share of the seat.

Part of me wonders why I didn't just spare myself the annoyance of traveling and stay here for spring break, but I know that my parents are very happy that I will be home and, honestly, I probably would have been bored here. I will probably be bored there, what with everyone working/going to school but at least I'll have the dog (my baby) and a car. I'm definitely looking forward to the chance to cook some time-consuming food that I would never have the patience to take on in the dorm kitchen. I will also be doing some serious running. My roommate and I booked our cruise tickets last night for the end of May (we are going to the Bahamas) and since the date doesn't interfere with Boston's Run To Remember half marathon, I have decided to sign up for that since I will not be guaranteed a spot in the NYC half marathon. I will probably register for both, since they are three months apart, and in the worst case scenario I will get to run one half marathon before the year is up. This, however, means I will have to start some serious training. I am already a fair part of the way there, as most training schedules never make you run more than 10 miles in preparation for the 13.

The best part about the whole going home process, however, is going to be explaining to my family why I have to take pictures of all of their food before they can eat it. That is going to go over well.

As for these dishes that I am posting about, I knew that I wanted to make something quick and easy before I left that would use up some of the stuff in in my fridge (namely the sun-dried tomatoes I had left over from last week). So, lo and behold, I pulled out my new and beautiful copy of Bon Appetit's Fast Easy Fresh, closed my eyes and opened up to a random page. This random page was in the pork section of the book. Deciding that this was a definite case of divine intervention, I perused the pork recipes finally settling on the pork medallions with chili-maple sauce. I figured I was also channeling some of Kevin from Closet Cooking's current obsession with maple syrup :P. Now for the hard part - the sun-dried tomatoes. I looked through some of my bookmarked recipes and found this combination of quinoa, corn, and sun-dried tomatoes on Lisa's Kitchen (a great vegetarian food blog). Since I always make it a point to have quinoa on hand (it is one of my favorite whole grains and if you haven't yet, you should definitely try it) I decided to go with it. Both dishes were spicy yet satisfying with lots of fresh flavors. The Bon Appetit one was especially good. I think I am going to make it my goal to try to cook a recipe from there every week (i.e. cook through the book...VERY slowly).

Pork Medallions with Chili-Maple Sauce
Serves 2, adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast Easy Fresh
3/4 lb pork tenderloin
1/2 tsp chinese five-spice powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce

1. Cut tenderloin into 6 slices. Season with salt, pepper, and five-spice powder.

2. Heat oil and cook the pork 3 min/side. Remove from pan. In the same pan, add the broth, maple syrup, and chili-garlic sauce. Boil until reduced to 1/4 cup. Pour over pork.


Quinoa with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Corn
Serves 2, adapted from Lisa's Kitchen

3/4 cup quinoa
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 onion
1 jalapeno pepper
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

1. Heat oil and cook onion and garlic for a few minutes, until softened. Add sun-dried tomatoes and jalapeno. Cook about 3 minutes.

2. Add quinoa, spices, and broth. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes or until broth has evaporated. Fluff with a fork before serving.

I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted this week by Yasmeen of Healthnut.

Filling Up on Favorites - Rotini with Butternut Squash in A Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

So I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I'm going home for spring break next week. Now to most college students, going home elicits visions of warm, home-cooked meals prepared lovingly by mommy dearest. Not so in the Bruno household. Instead, what it means is that I have to come up with a week's worth of warm, home-cooked meals to prepare for my family. I swear I don't know what they eat while I'm gone. A lot of Chinese food, take-out pizza, Tex-Mex, Healthy Choice frozen meals and chicken cutlets, I imagine. None of which I eat. I have qualms with take-out namely because I don't like to spend money on food when I can prepare a better meal myself for less money and in less time. If I'm going out, I want it to be to a nice restaurant where I actually feel like I'm getting some quality out of what I'm putting into it. I really have a feeling that cooking my own meals has brought this out in me...back when I still ate dining hall food, take-out sounded great (in comparison!) but now that I'm cooking my own meals which I think taste pretty damn good, why should I even bother with something second-rate?

So I've been spending a bit of time this week trying to come up with a menu plan. This is where the hard part comes in because my family is full of picky eaters. My father doesn't like herbs or spices. Or so he says. I, on the other hand, can't live without herbs and spices. I mean HELLO - cilantro, cumin, basil, chives (okay he eats the last two but only in SEVERE moderation), curry, cardamom...where else does the flavor come from?!?!? My brother won't eat a meal that doesn't have meat in it and the only meat my sister will eat is chicken (and turkey if I push it). No one will eat beans except for my mother and, sometimes, my sister. And forget tofu and tempeh. They are considered to be the devil reincarnated. Not to mention the other staples in my diet - vegetables...that's a whole other war.

As you can see, I have my job cut out for me. And it makes me begin to understand why my mother stopped cooking. My general philosophy in getting through this has been that I can't please everyone every day and so they will just have to deal with it. I haven't finished the plan yet, but I will have by Friday (which is when I go home) because I need to figure out which spices/etc. I have to bring with me as my mother doesn't have any of them. So far the menu looks like this: Friday - tomato and herb crusted fillet of sole/garlic mashed potatoes with spinach (they are observing Lent), Saturday - spicy southwest turkey burger/southwestern corn pudding (vegan-style...this will be interesting)/roasted broccoli, Sunday - Mexican lasagna/some kind of vegetable, Monday - Tyler's gnocchi with peas, prosciutto, and ricotta (I figured I'll be sitting home alone all day so why not take on gnocchi!), Tuesday - a chicken dish - haven't decided yet, Wednesday - a pasta dish - haven't decided yet, Thursday - a pork dish, Friday - attempt to make whole wheat pizza dough (easy no-meat meal), Saturday - potentially go out to dinner. And somewhere in there, I am going to make a red velvet cake for my sister's birthday. The good news about all of this - LOTS of recipes to blog. The bad news - I guarantee that there will be at least one complaint about every item I make. Except for the cake.

So in preparation for the long haul ahead of me, I decided to make some comfort food. Now for me, comfort food includes either butternut squash, sweet potatoes, or eggplant. I knew there would be a severe lack of these over the next week, so I needed to binge on them this week. Hence when I remembered this recipe for what is essential a gorgonzola mac and cheese with butternut squash that I had found on Cooking Light's website, I knew I had a winner. Gorgonzola and butternut squash are a pretty common pairing in the culinary world and after eating this I knew why. The creamy tartness of the gorgonzola was cut really well by the sweet nuttiness of the squash. Some sage would have probably gone really with it as well, but I didn't think about until after the fact. I swear, though, after eating this, I convinced myself that I WILL get my family to eat some winter squash next week. They just don't know what they're missing.

I will be submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted this week by the lovely Pam of Sidewalk Shoes, which is one of my favorite blogs.

Rotini with Butternut Squash in a Gorgonzola Cream Sauce
Serves 4, adapted from Cooking Light

14 oz multigrain rotini
20 oz diced butternut squash (I got one of the pre-cut packages since they were on sale)
4 oz gorgonzola
3 cups almond milk
3 tbsp flour
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

1. Start to boil water for pasta. Cut up the onion and the garlic. In a non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil and melt the butter. Add in the onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add the butternut squash, and cook uncovered for about 5 minutes and then covered until soft enough to pierce easily with a fork. The smaller the pieces are, the faster this will be. When these are done, set them aside.

2. In the same pan (or a different one if you don't mind having more dishes to clean :P) heat 2 cups of the milk until boiling. In a cup, mix together the last cup of milk and the flour until completely dissolved. Once the milk is boiling, slowly add in the milk/flour combo. Boil and then simmer until thickened, constantly stirring. Add in salt and pepper to taste.

3. When the pasta is done, strain it, and mix it with the butternut squash. When the milk has reached desired consistency, remove from the heat and add in the gorgonzola, mixing until it has melted into the sauce. Pour over the pasta.

Honey Glazed Crock Pot Pulled Pork

And so the nice weather here in Boston comes to an end. Briefly. I hope. It was so lovely yesterday that my roommate and I spontaneously decided to walk across the bridge and over to Boston to get ice cream. We knew we were going to have to go sometime in the next week to get our March flavors of the month in, and so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. My roomie got Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake with Chocolate Chips and I got Irish Mint Lace. Both got some serious thumbs up. It was interesting to notice as we walked along Newbury Street (a high end shopping area in Boston) that so many of the stores, from the most couture to the lower end, were having massive sales. I don't often notice the effects of the economy, even though I'm aware of how craptacular things are these days, but this was really an eye-opener. We even noticed that one of the Gap outlets had closed - this is the second instance of this occurring in Boston and so we were quite surprised. I can't shop in the Gap anymore because their clothes just don't fit me right, but it was once a favorite store...its sad to see that they're doing so poorly! Has anyone else noticed the economy crash in unexpected (or expected) ways? And if so, how have you been dealing with it? I have been trying to cut back on groceries and only buy things that are on sale...this is hard because I am somewhat of a spontaneous shopper in supermarkets...they are my danger zones. I have an especial weakness for odd/exotic fruits, vegetables, spices and herbs...it's a problem.

Anways, I made this pulled pork last week as a variation on the bbq-style pulled pork of the week before. I really liked the addition of onions and jalapenos, and the flavor combination really reminded me of that of sausage and peppers. I don't know what it was, but it just had that feel to me. The sauce was less thick than your average pulled pork marinade, but the pork was juicy and full of fresh flavor. I enjoyed this on a pita for lunch (although I had to eat it open-faced because the sauce seeped through). Thank you to Natashya over at Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, because I found the original recipe on her blog!

Honey Glazed Crock Pot Pulled Pork
Serves 4, adapted from Living In the Kitchen with Puppies

1.3 lb pork tenderloin
3 cloves garlic
salt and pepper
1 cup water
1 tbsp honey
1 large onion
3 jalapeno peppers
4 tbsp lime juice
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp coriander powder

So first, I quartered the gloves of garlic, made indentations in the pork and stuffed them inside. Then, I salt and peppered the pork. I cut up the onion and peppers and placed them on the bottom of the crock pot with the cup of water. I threw the tenderloin on top, and turned the crockpot on low for about 8 hours.

When the eight hours was up, I took the pork out and shredded it. I placed it back in the crockpot, added the rest of the ingredients and mixed it all up. I then left it in the crockpot, on low, for another 45 minutes. Voila!

Carb Loading: Sweet Potato and Refried Bean Pitas

So the Dropkick Murphys concert was awesome. It made me realize, though, how much I am going to miss Boston. There is just such a great sense of community and shared city pride here, that I've never really felt in New York. It really is like its own little world and every time I run around the Charles, nodding to other runners as we pass, or walk down Newbury Street on the first sunny days of spring, I am struck by how much meaning there is behind the term "Red Sox Nation". It's more than just a love for the Red Sox; it's who Bostonians are and now, irrevocably, it's who I am as well.

Anyway, enough nostalgia for the city I haven't even left yet. I have been seriously hungry today. Last night my friends and I went to Pour House which is this ridiculously inexpensive bar/pub that has basically any kind of sandwich/burger/Tex-Mex options you could desire...all for under $8. I got a hot turkey sandwich smothered in gravy and garlic mashed potatoes. Now one would think that was enough calories to last me through the night (see this is the reason I eat healthily all week) but I woke up at 4 in the morning RAVENOUS. I don't know about anyone else out there, but sometimes I have these moments where I swear I can feel my metabolism working. They usually occur when I eat something right after a workout...I can just feel my body using up all the energy. Well, I coerced myself into falling back to sleep without eating anything but I was really happy for breakfast when I woke up in the morning.

I decided to go to Trader Joe's before my run today and so I ended up inventing the above sandwich in order to prep me for the upcoming seven miles. I don't know how much of an invention it was, since I've seen so many recipes for Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas/Burritos/Quesadillas but c'est la vie. It was good.

Sweet Potato and Refried Bean Pitas

Serves 1

1/4 lb sweet potato

1/2 cup vegetarian/fat free refried beans

1 soy pita

Heat up a 1/2 lb sweet potato in the microwave for 2 1/2 minutes, making sure to prick it all over first. Turn it over and microwave for another 2 minutes. Spread the refried beans in the pita. Microwave until warm (about 40 seconds). Cut the sweet potato in half and put half in the pita. Save the other half for tomorrow's pita. Rejoice at how filling and delicious this is.

I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by Astrid of Paulchen's Foodblog.

Tofu and Tyler

Tofu. And Tyler. Now who really thought you would see those two words together in the same sentence? Tyler is just such an All-American meat and potatoes kind of guy,not that he doesn't love his veggies, but he does tend to spend a lot of his time cooking with beef. That being said, the tofu recipe isn't his...it's from Veganomicon...but I figured I would add a little flair to it by eating it with some of Tyler's creamed spinach. And, really, it never hurts to add a little Tyler to every meal, especially when the aforesaid meal is just in time for Tyler Florence Fridays!

I got the creamed spinach recipe from the Food Network website, and I will concede that I did make some changes. Instead of heavy cream, I used part half and half part almond milk. Also, because I have been reading Anthony Bourdain lately for Cook the Books, I substituted shallots for the onions. In his book Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain claims that one of the main differences between restaurant and home cooking is that restaurant chefs use shallots. Always. Even if they say they are using onions, they are actually using shallots. Trick of the trade. Honestly, that book is rubbing off on me more than I care to admit, so hats off to Cook the Books for choosing it as their next read. I also may never order fish in a restaurant on a Monday again. Or be able to enjoy brunch. Ironic, because Bourdain's restaurant, Les Halles, serves brunch.

In honor of St. Paddy's day/weekend, my roommate and I are going to a Dropkick Murphies concert tonight. They are basically the posterband for Boston and the Red Sox (yes even though I am a New Yorker, I am an avid member of the Red Sox Nation) and are probably most famous for playing the theme song of the movie The Departed. SO excited, it's bound to be a great show.

And before I forget, a little feedback on the tofu recipe. I really liked the crust on the tofu. Really. A lot. Except I couldn't help thinking that it would be even better on chicken. This is the one time that the softer texture of tofu has left me thinking that, so heads up for anyone who decides to make this. It grew on me a bit as I was eating it, but it definitely took some getting used to.

Chile-Crusted Baked Tofu
Serves 2, adapted from Veganomicon

1 package of lite extra firm tofu
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3/4 tsp salt

1. Squeeze the liquid out of the tofu. Cut it into 8 slices, and then cut each of those diagonally across into 6 triangles. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Mix together the dry ingredients except for the cornstarch. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk and the cornstarch until dissolved. Piece by piece, dip the tofu in the milk and then dredge it in the cornmeal mixture. Place on a greased baking sheet.

3. Spray with cooking spray and then bake for 12-15 minutes/side. I ate these inside a pita and didn't seem to have the drying out problem that some other people have claimed to have had with these. Go figure.

Creamed Spinach
Serves 2, adapted from Tyler Florence

20 oz spinach
1/4 cup half and half
1/4 cup almond milk
5 shallots
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat the olive oil and the butter in a pan until the butter is melted. Add in the shallots and garlic and cook for 5 or so minutes or until the onions start to soften.

2. Add in the spinach bit by bit, pushing the spinach to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon so that it wilts. Do this until all of the spinach has been cooked.

3. Add in the milk(s) and nutmeg. Simmer for 10 minutes, constantly stirring. Add in salt and pepper to taste.

A New Twist On An Old Favorite

I was a bad Italian growing up. I hated tomato sauce, meatballs, and sausage. I drove my mother crazy, I'm sure, with my picky eating habits. The only way I would eat her Sunday night pastas was if she let me smother the tomato sauce with ricotta or if the pasta being served was ravioli (only freshly made from Little Italy in the Bronx, of course). Now, I am happy to announce, I have taken quite the opposite attitude...kind-of. I love tomatoes now, except for ketchup, and would happily eat tomato sauce any night of the week. Meatballs and sausage are where I still diverge from the norm...I'm all about the turkey/chicken sausage and meatballs, but am not so in love with their ground beef or pork counterparts. I think it's been two years since I've eaten ground beef now and quite a few years since I've eaten pork sausage, and even though I know that I can eat anything in moderation, I just prefer the taste and texture of the poultry options more.

As I think I've mentioned before, I ordered some gourmet pasta from Pappardelle's a while ago and am still working my way through it, trying to find the perfect recipe for each flavor. This week, I knew I wanted to make the Toasted Onion and Garlic Fettuccine. I figured that a simple tomato sauce would really complement those flavors, but I also wanted to spice it up a bit in a way that wouldn't detract from the taste of the pasta. I thought that I would go ahead and try to make some meatballs that even I, the meatball hater, would like. I found a recipe for sun-dried tomato turkey meatballs on the Food and Wine website that sounded intriguing, and so I decided to give them a try. I made a few changes to the recipe...I'm pretty sure I added more sun-dried tomatoes than was called for, and I baked them instead of fried them (does that surprise you?). Even though most people complain about turkey meatballs being dry, these were actually really moist, probably because I was careful about not over-cooking them. I think I might actually try serving these to my picky family members when I go home over spring break, while I laugh silently at the fact that now I am the one complaining about their eating habits.

My roommate and a lot of people I know have been sick this week, I think because of the rapidly changing weather patterns, so everyone make sure to eat your vitamin C (tomato sauce is a great way to do it)!

Toasted Onion Fettuccine with Sun-dried Tomato Turkey Meatballs
Serves 4, adapted from Food and Wine

1 lb toasted onion fettuccine (or any fettuccine of your choice)
28 oz canned diced tomatoes
1.3 lb extra lean ground turkey
6-7 pieces of whole sun-dried tomatoes (not the oil-packed ones)
1/4 cup egg beaters or one egg
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp almond milk (or any milk)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp parsley

In a food processor, process the sun-dried tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper until finely ground. Add in the breadcrumbs and pulse so that everything gets mixed together. In a separate bowl, mix together the turkey, egg, and milk. Fold in the breadcrumb mixture with your HANDS (yes this is the fun part...it's like playing with play-doh which my mother never let me do). Preheat the oven to 400. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Shape the meat mixture into little meatballs, approximately 20. Place on the baking sheet. Spray with cooking spray and bake for 20 minutes.

While all of this is going on, it is probably a good idea to start boiling the water for your pasta, since in my experience this is the rate-limiting step. Once the meatballs are in the oven, heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Mince the remaining clove of garlic and add it to the pan. Saute for 30 seconds. Add in the tomatoes, oregano, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and heat through, simmering until the mix thickens a bit.

Once the pasta is done cooking, mix everything together and mangia!

I will be submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Ben of What's Cooking.

Slow Sunday

When I woke up this morning, my phone said that it was 10AM. I expected this because I normally get up at 9 and, assuming that my phone had reset itself to account for the loss of daylight savings, that is what time it would feel like to my body. You can imagine my surprise then when I looked at my computer and saw that it was 11! I NEVER sleep in (some may say that nine is sleeping in, but when you go to bed at 1 its exactly 8 hours of sleep), and often wake up before my alarm in the morning...I also have had some sleep issues in the past and so I was amazed. I guess my body needed the rest after my run yesterday and all of the walking that I ended up doing while food shopping (walking to Trader Joe's and Shaw's and back carrying groceries is tiring!). As for the run itself, I finished the 6.5 miles in 55 minutes, bringing my speed to a solid 7 mph. My knee is feeling good, so I am pleased. I am also now halfway to a half marathon! It makes the whole thing seem much less daunting. I'm getting hyped for my 7 mile run next weekend...that will be the longest I have run EVER.

Now I would like to say that on this lazy Sunday morning, I decided to whip up some pancakes. But that would be a lie. This may be heresy, but I don't like having pancakes for breakfast. They just don't do it for me. I need something more filling and nutritious to start off my day (I always have an egg on an english muffin and a package of kashi golean oatmeal). Instead, I much prefer to have pancakes for lunch or even dinner. Yes, I am a huge fan of the breakfast-for-dinner mentality...pancakes paired with a frittata, sausage, potatoes... And yet, I made these pancakes for lunch this week from a cookbook that I got for my roommate for her birthday. I had also gotten her an electric griddle to go with the cookbook, since she is a verified pancake addict, and she's always chiding me for never having used it. So I decided to go ahead and give it a try. The electric griddle is god's gift to the pancake lover...they all turn out so well, unlike when made on a pan on the stove, where the first batch is usually awful (at least in my experience). I made oatmeal-raisin pancakes and they were really yummy. Even though they were as calorie-dense as my usual sandwich options, I felt pretty hungry soon after eating them, though, and so I may stick with having them for dinner paired with some other options (like the aforementioned frittata). I guess I just really need to have a protein source at every meal!

Oatmeal-Raisin Pancakes
Serves 2, adapted from The Pancake Handbook

3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup oats
1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup egg beaters or one egg
3/4 cup almond milk (or regular milk if you so desire)
2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce (to replace the 2 tbsp butter)
1/4 cup raisins

In a large bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt). In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients (egg, milk, applesauce). Add the liquid to the dry until just mixed. Fold in the raisins.

Heat an electric griddle to 375. Pour 1/4 cup measures of pancake batter onto the griddle. Cook for 2-3 minutes or until bubbling. Flip and cook for another two minutes.

Warming Up - Cajun Chickpea Cakes with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Somehow, my Fridays have been turning out really great lately. First of all, it was warm outside. Close to fifty. And today, it is going to be close to sixty. Spring is in the air, my friends, and so is loss of daylight savings times this weekend, but I will accept losing an hour of sleep for better weather. In addition, I got an excellent package in the mail: Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential - for this month's Cook the Books event (I started reading it already, and I could barely put it down), Bon Appetit's Fast Easy Fresh, and Tropical Vegan Kitchen. These were my birthday presents to myself :P. Or really what happened was that I wanted to order the Anthony Bourdain book so that I could participate in Cook the Books, and then Amazon would only give me free shipping if I spent over $25 and and so I added on the Bon Appetit cookbook. Then, unbeknownst to me, I had already put Tropical Vegan Kitchen in my wish list and so that automatically got added to purchase list, and I just decided to leave it. You can't have too many vegan cookbooks in my opinions. Even if you are an omnivore. Although I realized I'm more of a flexitarian, meaning that I do eat meat but eat veggie meals more often. Thus I am a flexible vegetarian.

So then, affected as I was with my good mood, I embarked on a day of baby-sitting, went out for a great meal at Redline in Cambridge with my roomie, where I ordered the vegetarian paella (avocado and broccoli rabe in ONE dish...I couldn't have been in more heaven), and then went back home to watch the two hours of 24 that we missed this week. And THEN (yes it gets better) I checked my email and found that I had won a Tyler Florence cookbook this month for being a part of Tyler Florence Fridays! Thanks to Megan, Deb, and Natashya for this! I am so excited and plan to be Tyler-ing it up for a good while.

As for today, I have a 6.6 mile run planned in accordance with my half marathon training program. This program is entirely self-invented, by the way. The half is in August and so I have ample time to slowly build my way up to 13 miles. I plan on adding a few miles every week while I'm still in Boston by adding another bridge to my Charles River loop. Today I will go from the Western Ave bridge to Longfellow. Wish me luck! I will post my times and such sometime this weekend in case anyone is interested, and also as a way to record it for myself.

Anyway, onto the food. I saw a recipe for cajun chickpea cakes on Happy Herbivore a week or so ago, and knew that I wanted to try them. I LOVE veggie burgers (the homemade kind, not the salt-laden store bought ones) and thought that this one would go great with the overabundance of sweet potatoes that I have (since they were on sale last week). As such, I decided to make her mashed sweet potatoes recipe as well. The chickpea cakes were great. The only changes that I made were that I made them on the George Foreman grill instead of baking them and I mixed up the spices a bit based on what I had available. The sweet potatoes were okay. I think they needed a bit more kick somewhere, so I will think about what I should add to them to make them better. After seeing the recipe, if you have any suggestions, let me know! As a side note, as the chickpea cakes were smelling up my room while they were cooking, my roommate said, "Maybe I'll just become a vegetarian and eat chickpeas and sweet potatoes and pancakes for the rest of my life." But then I reminded her about the pulled pork from earlier this week. And she rescinded her statement.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Serves 2, adapted from Happy Herbivore

1 lb sweet potatoes

1/8 cup almond milk

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Heat up a pot of boiling water. Dice the sweet potatoes and then add them to the water until soft. Drain the sweet potatoes. Using a hand masher, add in the pumpkin pie spice and almond milk to taste.

Cajun Chickpea Cakes

Serves 2, adapted from Happy Herbivore

1 can chickpeas

1 tbsp cajun seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp tabasco
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup flour

Place all ingredients except the flour in a food processor. Pulse a few times until the chickpeas are coarsely chopped. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and stir in the flour. Roll into two burger-like patties. Cook on the George Foreman grill for 10-15 minutes.

I served these on Trader Joe's Soy Pitas. I will also be submitting these to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted this week by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. Chickpeas or garbanzo beans, as they are alternatively called (Deb of Kahakai Kitchen can commiserate on this alternative naming phenomenon that is particular to beans) are a great source of lean protein. They used to be ground and used as an alternative coffee source in Europe during WWI. They are also a great source of zinc, folate, and calcium, so eat up!

I am now off to enjoy the beautiful weather. Wish me luck on my run!

A Taste of Mexico

Even though we are poor(ish), starving (ha yeah right) college students, my roommate and I make it a point to go out to eat every weekend. We figure, you only get to live in Boston once and so we should take advantage of all of the great restaurant options that surround us. One of our favorite cuisines is Mexican food. However, my roommate is from Phoenix, AZ and so she is pretty darn picky about the Mexican food that she puts in her mouth. I guess it's the same for me and pizza or cannolis...Boston's just can't measure up to even the worst versions you will find in New York, so why should I even bother? Anyway, we have found two places in Boston that are really good - Sol Azteca which is on Beacon Street near BU and Zocalo's which is way out in Allston. The past two times we have gone to these places, I have had a dish called Huachinango Veracruzano, which is basically snapper sauteed in a tomato sauce of capers and green olives. The flavors tasted so fresh to me and melded really well, kind of like a Mexican version of a puttanesca sauce. It was a really light and refreshing dish, especially after the bowl of guacamole that we consumed as an appetizer, and especially considering the fact that most Mexican restaurants have a tendency to drown their entrees in cheese. I liked it so much that I decided to recreate it at home (with a little help from Bobby Flay)! After doing a bit of research, I discovered that is a dish that is traditionally served in coastal areas of Mexico, and so I am going to submit it to this month's Regional Recipes, which is being hosted at Wandering Chopsticks. In addition, because I am a pasta addict, I thought that this sauce would be great over some spaghetti, so I am submitting it to Ruth for her Presto Pasta Nights!

Grilled Snapper Vera Cruz with Spaghetti
Serves 4, adapted from Bobby Flay

Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp EVOO
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup dry white wine
28 oz canned diced tomatoes
60 g green olives (I used ones that were stuffed with pimientos)
2 tbsp capers
1 serrano chili pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 lb snapper (I got it frozen from Trader Joe's)
14 oz whole wheat spaghetti

1. Get the water boiling for your pasta.
2. Chop the garlic and onion and saute in the olive oil until the onions start to soften, about 3-5 minutes.
3. While this is going, cut the olives in to quarters and chop the pepper into very small pieces.
4. Add the wine to the pan and reduce it.
5. Add the tomatoes, green olives, capers, pepper, and sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, cooking until the sauce reaches the desired amount of thickness.
6. At this point the water should be boiling, so add in the pasta.
7. While all this was going on, I heated up my George Foreman grill, salt and peppered a snapper fillet and cooked it for four minutes. Then I removed the skin. Since I was only cooking for myself, I decided to grill the fillets fresh each night but if you are cooking for more people, I would imagine that you could also bake or saute all four of them at once, or grill them all at once.
8. Mix together the pasta and tomato sauce. Place a snapper fillet on top of each dish.

Crockpot Pulled Pork

Honestly, I wish I could tell you where my love of barbecue sauce came from. Because honestly, I never had it before about a year ago. I've always had a dislike for condiments. I hate mayo, can only barely tolerate mustard and can't even smell ketchup without gagging. Granted, it's probably better for me that I avoid these things anyway, but people always look at me crazy when I tell them I like my sandwiches and burgers dry. So I guess it makes sense that I just never thought to try barbecue sauce, as I assumed that I would dislike it. And then my roommate and I went to Redbones last year, which is a barbecue joint in Davis Square, right near Tufts University. And then I was sold. I also forced my parents to take me to Dinosaur BBQ this summer, which is probably one of the most renowned restaurants in NYC. And then we were all sold. Since then I've been craving pulled pork, but shied away from it because of all the time it took to cook. Until now. I saw a recipe for crockpot pulled pork on Elizabeth's Cooking Experiments just a few weeks ago that I bookmarked to make once the crockpot arrived. It was so easy and the recipe came out way better than even I could have hoped. I've been enjoying the pork on soy pitas from Trader Joe's for the past few days and have been loving every second of it...a good old dose of southern bbq right here in my own house (err room)! It's a great way to warm up in the middle of such a cold spell.

Crockpot Pulled Pork
Serves 4, adapted from Elizabeth's Cooking Experiments

1.5 lb pork tenderloin
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I used Kraft's honey roasted garlic bbq sauce)
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp buffalo sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp parpika
1 tsp sugar

1. Mix together the spice rub and rub it all over the meat. Let it marinate overnight.

2. Place the meat in the crockpot with the water and buffalo sauce and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

This is a sonogram of my pork baby. No really I'm not sure how it happened that this looked so much like a fetus. I felt a little guilty eating it. Kind of barbaric. But then I got over it.

3. Transfer to a cutting board and shred it with two forks. I thought this was going to be difficult, but the meat was so tender it started to shred by itself when I took it out of the crockpot.

4. Discard the fat and liquid from the crockpot, reserving 1Tbsp.

5. Put the meat back in the slowcooker and add the barbecue sauce. Mix together and cook on low for another 40-50 minutes.