Bahama Mamas

Yes, it is true. I am back. The trip was absolutely amazing! Everything was just so beautiful and so much fun and so relaxing. Tiffany and I almost stowed ourselves away on the boat to continue on to wherever its next destination is, but didn't. We figured our parents would be pretty angry if we didn't graduate.

If anyone is thinking of going on a cruise in the near future, I highly recommend Norwegian. For many reasons. First off the food. They have this freestyle dining policy where you can eat as much or as little as you want, whenever you want. There are two buffets and two restaurants that are entirely free of charge. Then there are three fancier restaurants (a French place, an Italian place, and a steak place) at which you pay a cover fee (10 dollars) but again can eat however much you want for that fee. The roomie and I ate at the buffets for breakfast and lunch. I kept it pretty healthy most of the time but still indulged - oatmeal with tons of dried fruit mix-ins for breakfast, a small amount of meat and tons of veggies for lunch (they had a sweet potato/butternut squash/pecan casserole one day - I was in heaven). Then, we ate at the free dinner restaurants most nights and went to the French place for a high class meal one night. The cruise company had a deal with cooking light so all of the restaurant's recipes were from cooking light! The portions were very normal sized, probably even less than what I usually have for dinner and so I never felt stuffed and also didn't feel guilty about having dessert every night! It was my vacation, I HAD to live it up. The best dinner was the French dinner though. I got a salad with roquefort, pancetta, and walnuts to start. Followed by roasted rack of lamb with cherry tomatoes and artichokes, and the best creme brulee ever for dessert. It was amazing!

Then we have the excursions. Tiffany and I kayaked on the first full day in Freeport. The kayaking extravaganza lasted for 90 minutes and led us through a forest of mangroves! The tour ended with a light lunch of sandwiches and landed us on a private and secluded beach where we relaxed for a while before heading back to the boat. The water was so clear and beautiful, and the perfect temperature.

The second day was spent in Nassau. Tiffany and I went snorkeling over a coral reef. It was so weird to see fish swimming just a foot below me! They were so many different colors and absolutely beautiful. It was all entirely breathtaking. Then, we walked around Nassau for a bit, where I picked up some local rum for my brother, and Bahamian spices and coffee for myself. (I'm a typical foodie what can I say).

On the third day we got to go to a private island owned by the cruise company! We spent most of this day laying on the beach but also ended up going for a two mile hike to the island's lighthouse. We had gotten up pretty late this morning due to some partying the night before, so we kept it pretty low-key.

Finally, the nightlife. There was party every night on board but we kept it low-key drinking wise until Wednesday night. We started out the evening with Pub Crawl, which consisted of going to five different bars with a group of people to try five different drinks. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I am pretty small and so I can't really hold too many drinks. Three of these drinks were pretty low-alcohol content (at least I think so) but two were basically pure shots. Pub crawl ended with us playing flip cup with the other crawlers. We ended up making some friends on pub crawl who we danced the night away with. After pub crawl, we decided we still weren't feeling the alcohol and so preceded to have another drink. THEN, as if this wasn't enough, one of the guys who we'd just met ordered a round of vanilla vodka for all of us. And that my friends was the shot that pushed me over the edge. The night was absolutely amazing though and completely absurd, filled with tons of laughs and ridiculousness. It definitely made my trip. Even though it didn't end as well as it began. Shockingly, however, I woke up the next morning feeling fine! As we hit the breakfast buffet, I was dancing to the songs that were playing in the background and Tiffany said, in shock, "Are you dancing? You are possibly the best hungover person I have ever met!"

Anyway, now we are back in Boston and even though I will NOT be drinking for a while, we are quite ready to party it up with our friends for Senior Week before graduation on Friday. I can't believe that in a week I will be leaving this place. Especially Tiffany. We have been roommates for three years now and I have spent close to 24 hours a day with her, almost every day. How I will be able to live without her when she moves to San Francisco, I do not know. But I'm not going to think about that now. I'll worry about it on Saturday.

All in all, this was the best vacation I have EVER had.

When we got back from our zillion hour plane rides last night, we were both starving and so I whipped up some grilled cheese sandwiches! But not just any grilled cheese. This was grilled cheese with artichoke hearts and red bell peppers. So delicious and just the kind of simple dinner I needed after so many nights of decadence. The sandwich is pretty easy to throw together - between two slices of bread, place some provolone, sliced bell pepper and artichoke hearts. Toast on the George Foreman grill (or a panini press or broiler).

I am submitting this to Deb of Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sundays!

Now I am off for a run. I gotta take advantage of the Charles while I still have it.

Also, thanks to everyone for your sweet comments about my race. They were much appreciated!

Boston's Run To Remember - AKA I'm A REAL Runner Now!

Just as I couldn't go and leave you without a sweet potato recipe before I left, I also couldn't leave without a recap of the race! I mean for WEEKS now I've bored you with my training schedule and times and so to just leave for a week without any details on the BIG DAY would be like foreplay without the climax, and I'm just not the blue-balling type (I've got a little Donna in me today, I guess).

So let's see, where to begin. The picture above is me after the race was over. But that is not where the story begins. Instead, the story begins at 5:45 AM which is when I woke up to my usual breakfast (oatmeal, an egg, and an english muffin). I had some issues sleeping the night before from nervousness but after a cup of coffee, I felt fine. By fine I mean not sleep-deprived but still nervous. It didn't help that it was thundering and lightening outside. BUT weather.com claimed it was supposed to clear up by 7, so I closed my eyes, clicked my ruby slippers three times and prayed for blue skies.

My cab picked me up at 7 and I arrived at the Seaport World Trade Center in South Boston at 7:20. Plenty of time to hit the ladies room twice, stretch, check my bags, hide a Gu energy gel in my sports bra, and make myself sufficiently nervous/hyped. We lined up by the start at approximately 7:50. I chose to stand with the 9:30 min/mile people since I figured it would be best to start off slow and then settle into whatever pace my body deemed appropriate. I could have sworn I was standing right next to Tina of Carrots N Cake, but I wasn't sure it was her so I didn't say anything. And now that I've looked at Tina's blog, I realize it WAS her. Oy, I should have just said something, oh well. There's always next year. ;).

The race started pretty much on time but I was kind of in the back so it took a while to get to the start time. I was so excited as I passed. This is it, I thought - it's showtime! The first few miles were slow for me but I actually speeded up as I went along, with my fastest miles being towards the end. I grabbed a gatorade slurp at the first water station (mile 4) and that fueled me for a bit. I started to hit a bit of a block around then, when my knee started irritating me. I just kept on trucking though, trying to focus on my music. It worked and soon I was in a zone. My speed really started to pick up around mile 7/8 and I knew I wanted to keep it going to reach my goal of an average 7mph pace, so when I got hungry around mile 9, I pulled the Gu gel out of my sports bra and slurped it! That definitely gave me the extra push I needed. After mile 11, I could tell things were going well when I kept passing the people around me, with energy left to spare. I was so proud that I was going to do even better than I intended. Then, hearing my name as I crossed the finish line with a time of 1:48:54, a pace of 8:19, and finishing 1010 out of 4033 males and females, and 158 out of 1088 females aged 19-29 was absolutely priceless. If you had told me a year ago that I was going to run a half marathon, I never would have believed you and so I am just amazed that I have come this far. Now I can't stop thinking about how I can't wait for the next one!

A huge part of race preparation is in what you eat the night before (i.e. carb loading). I knew I wanted to eat pasta (DUH - no brainer) and also thought I kind of wanted some stuffed pasta (ravioli or tortellini). But at the same time, I wanted the dish to be simple to ensure that it wouldn't upset my stomach. Where does one go for simple - Real Simple magazine! I found a recipe for Ravioli with Roasted Eggplant on myrecipes.com, but replaced the ravioli with tortelloni since that was what appealed to me at the supermarket. It was perfect and so easy. It obviously filled my glycogen stores up as well!
Spinach and Ricotta Tortelloni with Roasted Eggplant
Serves 2, adapted from Real Simple

9 oz tortelloni (or ravioli)
1 lb eggplant, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed and diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 cup parmesan

Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the eggplant into dice, toss with garlic, olive oil, and red pepper flakes, and roast for 20 minutes, tossing once (at 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, cook the tortellini. When everything is done, mix the tortellini with the eggplant and parmesan.

I am submitting this to this week's Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted by Sara of I'm A Food Blog.

Alright guys, its official - I'm off to the Bahamas with a 6:30AM flight to Florida in the morning. I will miss you all dearly but I will be back on Friday to catch up. Don't forget me while I'm gone!

I Walked a Mile in My Shoes

It is obscenely hot here today in Boston. We're talking 90 degree weather. I feel like I'm in a sauna. Which sounds nice until you consider the fact that I'm in my room and not a day spa. Oh well, I guess it's preparing me for the Bahamas. I can't believe I'm leaving for that in three days, not to mention the fact that the half marathon is in TWO DAYS. That's right. Two. As in one plus one. As in two minus zero. I will be sitting on my butt all day tomorrow eating pasta in preparation.

In contrast, I spent the entirety of today so far NOT sitting on my butt. My roommate and I started out our morning by going to this bakery called Flour. It was on a Throwdown with Bobby Flay episode that my roommate saw and so we knew we needed to go before we graduate. She got a sticky bun and I got a berry vanilla muffin. The sticky bun was good but VERY rich and I don't think I could have eaten more than the bite that she gave me. My muffin was much more palatable. It was a shot but wide muffin, which I liked because it was mostly muffin top and we all know those are the best part anyway (except the fat-women-in-too-tight-jeans kind - those I could live without).

Afterwards, Tiffany went off to work and I went to the gym for a quick workout, had lunch, and headed back out again to take care of some pre-Bahama girly issues at a salon in Boston. Of course, I also stopped in Borders and picked up two cookbooks that were on sale - a Thai cookbook for $8 (it reminded me of Pam and her love for Thai) and Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld for $10, which has tons of recipes that sneak veggies into unlikely places (like brownies). In short, Borders is a dangerous place and I really shouldn't be allowed in without first having my debit card confiscated. The same with Urban Outfitters, which I went into also. I bought a dress and a shirt that were on sale. I figured, it's one of the few places where clothes actually fit me, and so I should take advantage of the sale prices when I can.

Anyway, now I'm back home and am EXHAUSTED. It was so hot out and the walk was SO long (about 2 miles). Luckily, my brother was willing to chat with me on the phone the whole way (ain't he great).

All this hot weather has had me craving lighter foods and fresher flavors. It really is just too warm for me to be standing in front of a hot stove for an hour. What is a better source for fresh flavors than Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh of course! Zucchini was still on sale and so I decided to make this zucchini salad with chili-garlic dressing. I liked it because it called for roasted instead of raw zucchini and also because it added honey into the dressing, which gave everything a nice zest. Really, the dressing was the best part of this and I would definitely use it for other salads. Next time I make this, I think I will use cherry tomatoes though instead of large heirlooms, they're just so much fun to pop in your mouth and they're sweeter.

I am submitting this to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by Cinzia of Cindystar.


Zucchini and Tomato Salad with Garlic-Chili Dressing
Serves 2, adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh

2 medium zucchini
2 large tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup cilantro
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
2/3 tsp chili powder
1/3 tsp cumin
1 tsp honey

Preheat the oven to 400. Arrange the zucchini on a baking sheet, spraying with cooking spray and sprinkling with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, garlic (minced), chili powder, cumin, honey, and cilantro together. Season with salt and pepper.

Cut the tomato into chunks. Toss the tomato, zucchini, and dressing together.

Never Say Never...

Not so very long ago, I told the world (via my blog) that I am not such a fan of soup. But then again, I also said that I was going to cook my way through Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh. And that book has a whole chapter on soups. So I was left in a moral quandary. But I didn't really think about it much because there were so many other recipes to try that I figured I would worry about it later rather than sooner.

Later was actually this week.

I needed a side dish to go with the black bean burgers. Okay, I said, what veggies are on sale at the supermarket this week. Summer squash. 99 cents a pound. Hmmm, that's a really good deal, can't do better than that. Let me check my bible aka fast/easy/fresh and see what side dishes they have for summer squash. Blah blah blah, something that involves potatoes - potato salad? Nah, don't really feel like potatoes, blah blah blah. There's gotta be SOMETHING in here?!?!? Frittata, orzo, eh, soup, nah I don't do soup.

Wait. Maybe I can do soup.

As it turns out, I can do soup and not only that but I can like it as well. I guess Deb was right after all.

Chilled Summer Squash Soup with Curry
Serves 2, adapted from Bon Appetit Fast/Easy/Fresh

2 tbsp butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 1/4 lb summer squash
2 cups broth
mint, for garnish

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute the shallots, garlic, and curry powder for 3 minutes. Add the summer squash, cover and cook until squash is tender, stirring every once in a while. Add the broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Puree in a food processor or with an immersion blender.

2. Season to taste with salt and pepper and chill. Garnish with mint when serving.

This soup was very tasty and the mint was absolute integral to making it so very delicoius. I ate it hot the first day since I didn't feel like waiting for it to chill and then cold the second day. It was actually good either way so don't feel bad if you can't wait for it to get cold to eat it. You won't be alone.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays, an event hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

Sweet Potato Carbonara

First and foremost, happy birthday to my little brother who is 20 today! Oh my god I can't believe I just wrote that, I didn't realize he would be out of his teens this year. Sheesh. Imagine how I'll feel when my little sister, who is 9 years younger than me, gets to be in her twenties. Talk about a mind-fuck. Unfortunately, I can't be around to celebrate with him today but he and I will be attending a Third Eye Blind concert on June 16 (one of our favorite bands) and you can bet I'll also be baking him a cake when I get home (probably pound cake since he is obsessed with it right now - keep in mind this is the boy who has the metabolism of a horse, he could eat Tex-Mex and Chinese food every day and not gain an ounce. Trust me, he's tried it.). My brother and I shared a room for our entire lives, so suffice it to say I couldn't live without him - hope you have a great day Daniel!

Now, however, I have some very solemn news for you. I have made my last batch of Pappardelle's Pasta. It was hard parting with it, but it had to be done. The flavor for this one was...wait for it....wait for it....SWEET POTATO PAPPARDELLE. That is right, you didn't think the sweet potato queen was going to leave for her vacation in a week without leaving you with some sweet potatoes to savor, did you? Trying to figure out what to make with this pasta was hard, very hard, probably because I was so partial to it. I could have gone in so many directions and had ideas continuously running through my mind - I could have done some sort of tequila lime cilantro cream sauce, some kind of pesto, some kind of alfredo, or a simple garlic and oil.

But no. It struck me (eventually) that something that goes really well with sweet potatoes is bacon. The intense salt of the bacon combined with the sweetness of the sweet potatoes is every sweet/savory lover's dream. Therefore, the obvious recourse was to make a carbonara sauce, which is something that I've never had before let alone made (my parents are kind of skittish about raw eggs). So who did I turn to, none other than the meat and potatoes man himself - Mr. Tyler Florence! I got this recipe from the Food Network's website and so it's slightly different from the one in his cookbook. I changed it by using turkey bacon instead of pancetta, adding broccoli for some color and volume and vitamin C, adding in some cream to the egg/parmesan sauce, and tempering the egg mixture with 3/4 cup of pasta water before mixing it with the pasta to avoid scrambling. Trust me, if you make this you will want to add some pasta water otherwise there will not be enough sauce to go around! The bacon and broccoli were so good with the sweet potato pasta and creamy sauce. I will definitely be making this again (albeit with regular pasta) and will maybe even try the recipe from his cookbook for comparison.

I am submitting this to Tyler Florence Fridays as well as to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by kitchenetta of Got No Milk (a favorite blog of mine).

Sweet Potato Carbonara
Serves 4, adapted from Tyler Florence

1 lb sweet potato pappardelle (or any other stringy pasta)
1/4 lb extra lean turkey bacon, cut into small pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb broccoli
2 eggs
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup half and half
salt and pepper to taste

1. Start boiling the pasta water before anything. Then, set up the broccoli to steam.

2. Heat a non-stick pan, spraying with some PAM olive oil spray (or just use some olive oil). Saute the turkey bacon until crisp. This takes longer than regular bacon for some reason. Once it is crisp, add in the garlic and saute for 1 min. When the broccoli is done, add that as well.

3. While the bacon cooks, in a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, parmesan cheese, and half and half. Once the pasta water boils, slowly add some of it to this mixture, stirring all the while so that the eggs don't scramble. Add in some black pepper.

4. Once the pasta is cooked and drained, toss it with the broccoli, bacon, and garlic mixture. Slowly pour in the sauce, attempting to stir while you do this. From all the pasta water you just added, scrambling really shouldn't be a problem so don't worry too much. Really, stirring it is much easier said than done.

Voila!

Move Over Morningstar Farms, There's A New Burger In Town

So let me start off by saying I just got back from Dim Sum with my friends (our last trip in Boston's Chinatown). Dim Sum is definitely one of my favorite types of Chinese food and is really the only type I don't mind buying out since I will probably never be able to recreate a steamed bbq pork bun in my own kitchen. Beef and broccoli I can handle, but delicacies like fried taro - just not gonna happen. Plus Dim Sum is all about the experience - the carts milling around, the incredible variety, its just amazing. Not to mention the obligatory stop at the Asian bakery afterwards. I had a delicious mango mousse cake to follow up my brunch and also bought a red bean paste puff to have for later. The other good thing about Dim Sum is that its CHEAP. We spent $11 a piece and considering that it will hold me for breakfast and lunch, that's pretty good. A seriously worthwhile meal. I can't wait to explore the dim sum options back in NY, I'm sure there are some great ones there as well! The trick will be getting my parents to try it. I'm going to have to con them into thinking we're going to some pasta-laden Italian place, blindfold them, and relish their shocked expressions when chicken feet appear in front of them. Mwahahaha.


So now we're going to switch gears, totally and completely, from the meat and carb heavy world of dim sum to this fabulous concoction I have below:



I used to really like Gardenburgers or Morningstar Farms veggie burgers. And they really do have some good options, but they're kind of salty and kind of expensive. And then there was Reeni. She is the awesome blogger over at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice. If you haven't checked out her site then go. Now. But maybe not on an empty stomach because even if you're stuffed when you arrive, you will leave starving that is how good her food is.

She posted a recipe for black bean swiss burgers with bbq onions a WHILE ago, but I'm kind of back-logged on my bookmarked recipes (who isn't) so I only just got around to making them. And honestly, I will never buy another frozen veggie burger again. That is how good these are. Plus they call for tons of bbq sauce. And you all know how I feel about bbq sauce. The only thing I changed from her recipe was to use muenster instead of swiss and to puree the bell peppers and red onions in the burgers before mixing. I was just too lazy to chop them really small.


Black Bean Swiss Burgers with BBQ Onions
Serves 4, adapted from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice



1/2 cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked the crockpot way or 1 can black beans
3/4 flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1/2 red onion
1 green bell pepper
1/2 cup bbq sauce (I used Annie's Organics Smoky Maple - its amazing)
1/4 cup egg beaters or 1 egg
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 large vidalia onions
2 tbsp bbq sauce

Either chop really small or puree in a food processor the bell pepper, red onions, and garlic. Either process or mash the black beans. Mix together the ingredients from the black beans through the cayenne pepper. Heat a griddle on medium or 350. Spray with cooking spray. Split the mixture into 4 patties (or lumps) and griddle, flipping once only after the bottom is firm enough to do so.

For the Vidalia onions, saute them in a non-stick pan with salt and pepper until caramelized (15-20 minutes). Mix in the bbq sauce and heat through.

Layer a burger, a piece of cheese, and onions.

I am submitting this to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by Marija from Palachinka.

The Countdown Begins

Today marks my last day of school. Ever. As a college student. Ignoring the fact that I have 8+ years more to go, it feels kind of liberating. Ever since I can remember, going to and graduating from college was what I worked towards. It was THE ultimate goal. And now, with just one paper and two finals left to go, I will have completed it. There will be MUCH champagne-drinking tonight, let me tell you (as soon as I finish the last paragraph of my paper). My roomie and I stole some Andre` from that formal we attended a few weeks ago and it is sitting in the fridge as we speak.

When I first started cooking, I made very simple dishes that consisted mostly, to be honest, of veggies and pasta. Keep in mind I was in super-diet mode at the time so this made sense. Then, once I reached my goal weight and started maintaining, I begin to incorporate more intense dishes into my repertoire (i.e. gorgonzola cream sauce) while still keeping up the theme of including tons of veggies, of course! However, there is just something about the warm summer weather that calls for a lighter pasta dish, filled with fresh flavors. I had bookmarked a recipe a while ago from Happy Herbivore for Indian-Spiced Chickpeas and Kale that I thought would go great over pasta. Plus, it helped that kale was on sale this week. Kale is one of those superfoods that you're probably not eating. I had never heard of it a year and a half ago and, admittedly, I haven't had it in a while but it is definitely a good thing. Kind of like spinach, but tougher and heartier. It's the muscleman of the leafy greens. There's no messing with kale.

My opinion about this pasta dish: it was good in that simple, light-hearted kind of way. If I made it again, I would probably double the tomatoes because they end up soaking up most of the Indian spices, and really you can never have too much of those. Also, I used bionaturae's organic pasta (after reading Omnivore's Dilemma, I've been trying to go organic and/or local whenever possible) and it was incredibly good. I liked that it had only one ingredient. I've been looking a lot at ingredient labels lately and if I can't picture the ingredients in my head (and I've taken organic chemistry so I can picture a good many more than the average shopper) then it is NOT going in my shopping cart. Not that I want to get all heavy/controversial/political on you, but I will concede that if I could afford to eat all grass-fed meat and local/organic veggies then I would.

In the meantime, there's always pasta.

Indian-Spiced Chickpeas and Kale Over Fusilli
Serves 4, adapted from Happy Herbivore

1 lb whole wheat fusilli
1/2 cup dried chickpeas, cooked the crockpot way (or 1 can)
14 oz fire roasted tomatoes (I used Muir Glen, for the record)
1 lb kale
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp garlic powder
4 cloves garlic

Set up the water for pasta. In a separate pan, steam the kale for about 20 minutes (I'm telling you kale is TOUGH) or until dark green and wilted.

In yet ANOTHER pan, saute the tomatoes and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add in the various spices and chickpeas and cook on low heat, mostly just to keep warm until the pasta is done and the kale is cooked but also so that the flavors can meld. When the kale is done, add it in.

Mix with the pasta and serve with some parmesan cheese, if desired. Now how's THAT for a 30 minute meal!

I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Patsy of Family, Friends, and Food.

Artichoke and Kalamata Olive Tapenade

I have been obsessed with dips and spreads lately (think hummus, cranberry sauce, that guacamole cream cheese spread). I don't know what it is, but probably that I LOVE sandwiches and you can put dips and spreads on sandwiches. And I don't like regular condiments (aside from bbq sauce). So therefore, I have to make my own.

A tapenade is a Provencal dish traditionally consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives, capers, anchovies, and olive oil (thank you Wikipedia). It is not photogenic:

I saw a recipe for this artichoke tapenade on Fat Free Vegan Kitchen probably about three weeks back. Susan V advertised as being not only lower in fat than the traditional kind, but also less expensive since it doesn't use pine nuts or very many olives. Needless to say, I immediately bookmarked it. The tapenade itself was very salty and briny in flavor, which I loved but if you don't like the salty/sour flavor of capers then you definitely won't like this. I enjoyed it on sandwiches with some canned tuna and/or canned salmon. Although it can also be eaten in the traditional manner, which would be on a thick hunk of bread with some good smelly cheese while wearing a beret and standing in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays which is a lovely event hosted and created by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

Artichoke and Kalamata Olive Tapenade

Serves 4, adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

1 14 oz can of artichoke hearts

1 tbsp capers

1 1/2 oz kalamata olives

1/2 tsp dried basil

2 tbsp fresh parsley or 1 tsp dried parsley

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 clove garlic

1 tsp lemon juice

Put all ingredients except for lemon juice into food processor and process. Add lemon juice and process some more. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Roasted Haddock with Green Beans and Asian Cilantro Sauce

First and foremost, happy mother's day to all the women out there, whether you are an actual mom, an amazing aunt, a great older sister, or the mommy of a cute little canine/feline/etc. creature.

Unfortunately, I cannot be home with my mom today but if I were I would be cooking up a storm for her. I was trying to think of what her favorite dish is on my walk to Trader Joe's yesterday and I was hard put to come up with anything. For my dad, it's easy - Osso Buco (and yes, I plan on attempting to make this for his birthday in July - so stay tuned). But my mom, not so much. I think she just spends so much time catering to everyone else's preferences that she never really gets to eat what she wants and so I just can't place what that would be. Actually, now that I think about it some more I bet she would really like a simply flavored caprese pasta salad with some stuffed artichokes on the side. She's a veggie lover like me and the fresh flavors in this with the tomatoes and the basil would probably make her very happy. And a nice ricotta cheesecake for dessert probably wouldn't hurt. Well, at least now I know what to make for her birthday in about a month!

So if you remember, my roomie and I went to our first (but hopefully not last) Red Sox game last week! We felt like we couldn't go through four years living in Boston without ever seeing the inside of Fenway Park or our beloved Sox, so we sucked it up and bought some tickets off of StubHub. Now, I know what you're thinking - Joanne, you're a New Yorker, don't you have any Yankee pride!?!?!? The thing is, my family has always been Mets fans (even though my dad grew up in the Bronx - go figure) so I'm actually a default Red Sox fan by birth.

And don't tell my dad this, but I'm pretty sure I actually like the Sox better than the Mets. They just seem to be a much more down-to-earth fun-loving group of guys. How can you not love a team where the closing pitcher is renowned for doing Irish jigs around the field after a win (love you Papelbon).

Fenway is actually a really small stadium, which turned out to be good for us since it was raining/misting throughout the whole game and our seats were under an overhang. I would have much rather been in our cheap seats than in one of the boxes! Another thing I love about the Red Sox is the atmosphere that they create. Bostonians just have so much pride for their team, calling themselves the Red Sox Nation (of which I can now say I am a card-carrying member). They have certain songs that they play during every game (i.e. Sweet Caroline and anything by the Dropkick Murphys) and everyone knows all the words and sings along. All in all it was a great experience.
And because we know that no baseball game is complete without a beer:

Okay, so for the food. For mother's day, I got my mom a copy of my favorite cookbook. That is right - Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh. The recipes in here really do take no time at all and I thought they might inspire her to get creative in the kitchen. It was only fitting, then, that I make something from the book to provoke her to do the same. Green beans were on sale this week at the supermarket so I headed straight for the index and the first recipe I saw was one for roasted halibut with green beans and Asian cilantro sauce. Perfect! The store didn't have any halibut so I used haddock instead (also on sale). The cilantro sauce reminded me of chimichurri with a sesame oil kick. All in all, a good, filling meal that I will be submitting to this week's Weekend Herb Blogging which is being hosted by Chris of Mele Cotte.

Roasted Haddock with Green Beans and Asian Cilantro Sauce

Serves 2, adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh

Cilantro Sauce:

1 large bunch cilantro (about 2 cups)

2 tbsp chicken broth

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 jalapeno pepper

1 scallion

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp soy sauce

Process in a food processor until pureed. Add salt to taste. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Fish:

1 lb haddock

1/2 lb string beans

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

2 tbsp chicken broth

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 450. Toss the string beans and mushrooms with the liquid ingredients. Place the haddock in a greased roasting pan. Pour the green beans and mushrooms on top. Roast for 10 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice. (I mixed some of the cilantro sauce in with the rice to give it a kick.)

A Tale of Two Burgers

Once upon a time there was a girl (HINT - that's me). And one day many moons ago, she decided to revamp her life. She was tired of eating meals that consisted entirely of double stuffed oreos, jars of Nutella, and bad-tasting dining hall macaroni and cheese. So she started eating fruits and vegetables (GASP) and running (let's hear it for 11.15 miles today in 1:34:18 - 7.09 mph). She also started cooking and "healthifying" recipes so that she could still enjoy her old favorite foods without feeling like a lump of bone marrow afterwards. One of the many things she did along this vein was to switch out beef for extra lean turkey. And thus she was able to still enjoy burgers and lived happily ever after. Right?

WRONG. What really happened next was that she went to Trader Joe's and happened upon a package of 96/4 extra lean ground beef! And THEN she made these beef and gorgonzola burgers from Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh. And it was only after that, while sitting down to a juicy cheese-stuffed burger that was hot off the George Foreman Grill, that she was able to live happily ever after. In a castle. By the sea. (Or a dorm by the Charles River).

Beef and Gorgonzola Burgers
Serves 4, adapted from Bon Appetit's Fast/Easy/Fresh

1.2 lb extra lean ground beef (I know it's a weird amount, but that's how much came in the package)
4 oz gorgonzola
1 bunch arugula
1 tomato
4 english muffins/rolls/whatever you have on hand

Split the beef into 4 patties. Split each patty in half (so now you have 8 small patties). Cut the gorgonola into 4 chunks. Place one chunk on top of each small patty. Place a non-cheesed patty on top of these, sealing the edges so that you have what looks like a regular hamburger stuffed with a chunk of gorgonzola in the middle. Grill.

Take whatever carbohydrate you are using and cut it in half. Place some arugula and sliced tomato onto each half. Top it off with a burger and enjoy!

And now, seeing as how I am still me, I couldn't leave you with just a burger recipe. Maybe some of you out there are still more strictly committed to not clogging your arteries. Maybe you are a vegetarian. Either way there's something here for everyone. From the instant I saw these chickpea pumpkin burgers on Lisa's Kitchen (a great vegetarian blog) I knew I would have to make them imminently. That was many months ago, but I finally got around to it and boy were they worth it! They were kind of like the cajun chickpea patties I blogged about not so long ago, but a bit sweeter from pumpkin which was really nice. In the end, I think I would choose these over the ones I made earlier.

Chickpea Pumpkin Burgers
Serves 2, adapted from Lisa's Kitchen

1/2 cup dry chickpeas
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno pepper
1/8 cup egg beaters - it was easier than halving an egg
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup bread crumbs

I soaked the chickpeas overnight and then made them in the crockpot on high for 2 hours. They were perfect. I may never go back to canned.

Put the pumpkin, chickpeas, spices, onion, garlic, jalapeno, and egg into a food processor and process until smooth. Stir in the flour and breadcrumbs. Stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Make on a grill (I used the George Foreman) or bake or fry them. Whatever floats your boat.
Rejoice in the fact that it's officially summer and burger season.

TFF With A Twist - Crunchy Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

The sun here in Boston is just starting to peek through again after many. Many. MANY days of rain. Which is definitely good, as I was beginning to get depressed by the dark and dreariness. My hairdresser is from Denver, Colorado, which just happens to be one of the healthiest and happiest cities to live in. We got to talking about weather during one of my appointments (I mean, really, what else are you going to talk about with someone who you only seen once every six months) and he claims that in Colorado, the sun shines all the time, even through rain and snow showers, and that it makes all the difference. Up here in the northeast that is obviously NOT the case, but think about how much nicer it would be if it were. I just hope that the weather holds up through tomorrow night since my roommate and I are scheduled to go to a Red Sox game. We bought the tickets off StubHub a while back since they are IMPOSSIBLE to get from the box office and really, it would be horrible to live four years in Boston without seeing a single game. I also hope it's warm enough for me to get a nice cold beer...I'm envisioning a cup full of Miller Lite in my near future.

I must give a HUGE thank you to Donna of My Tasty Treasures who is not only one of my FAVORITE bloggers out there, but who also happened to bestow on me the Passionate Blogger Award as well as the Queen of ALLLL Things Award (isn't she great).

For each of these awards, I am supposed to write 7 things I am passionate about or awesome at, so here goes: running, music/playing the piano, sweet potatoes, my friends/family, passion (yes I think you can be passionate about passion), ice cream from J.P. Licks, the first sunny days of spring.

I am passing these on to Sophia of Burp and Slurp, Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies, Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, Shannon of Tri2Cook, Reeni of Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice, Pam of Sidewalk Shoes, and Ashlee of A Year In The Kitchen.

Now for Tyler. He is a good man and I wouldn't change him for the world. But I did. Just a little. You see, he really likes regular old "white" potatoes. The number of recipes he has that include them are endless. Now, I can't argue with that - everyone likes a good potato recipe. But I like a good sweet potato recipe even more. So I took his recipe for crunchy roasted rosemary potatoes and I thought about it and I decided that rosemary and sweet potatoes go just as well together as rosemary and white potatoes. And so I switched them, and roasted up some asparagus as well. The roasting brought out the sweetness of both the rosemary and the sweet potatoes REALLY well, so I was incredibly pleased. They were even better cold the next day. I really like eating sweet potatoes cold. Is that weird?

Crunchy Roasted Rosemary Sweet Potatoes (with Asparagus to boot!)

Serves 2, adapted from Tyler Florence

1 lb sweet potato

1 bunch asparagus, ends removed

salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch rosemary

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the sweet potato into coins and place on a roasting pan. Spray with cooking spray, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Roast for 30 minutes.

After the thirty minutes is up, add the asparagus. Roast for 10 minutes.

I am submitting this to Tyler Florence Fridays, an outlet for those of us who can't get enough of this great man.

Autumn Harvest Orzo with Gorgonzola and Broccoli Sauce

And with this another weekend comes to a close. There has been so much talk of graduation and packing lately (really, that's all my parents can think about) that I keep being reminded that in less than a month I will have (a) run a half marathon, (b) been on a cruise to the Bahamas, and (c) be 24 hours away from being an MIT graduate. It's just ridiculous how quickly time has passed, it feels like yesterday that my parents left me here, in this strange city, alone for the first time. And now it's gotten to the point that I just don't want to leave. Not that I'm not excited about being with my new classmates, who I LOVED, but I just can't imagine life without my roommate who I have spend the past 4 years with, every day, almost 24 hours a day. It's going to be weird having her be across the country (she's moving to the Bay Area) and to not be able to talk to her whenever I want or know that she'll be waiting for me at home after a long, trying day of classes. So in many ways, graduation will be one of the happiest days of my life. But in a lot of others, it will also be one of the saddest.

Anyways, I know misery is not becoming on anyone, so I will move on. Gotta appreciate the month we have left! And appreciate we did at senior ball. Here are some pictures of us taken at the Boston Public Gardens.

My roommate and I:

And my closest group of friends. From left to right: Dan, his date Ari, me, Tiffany, Jen, and Peter:

The only one missing was my second best friend after Tiffany, my friend Tim, who couldn't make it because of his crew race. It certainly wasn't the same without him there. Luckily, though, Tim and Dan will be staying in Boston next year and I've already made them aware of the fact that I will be crashing on their couches at least once a month so I can come and get my monthly fix of JP Licks ice cream. And also to enjoy some river loop running.

Another sad bit of news is that after this recipe, I only have ONE MORE Pappardelle's Pasta left! What that means is that I HAVE to order more. However, I am not going to do that until after I move into my apartment in the city on July 2. Not that I don't love my family, but I don't think they would really appreciate the often esoteric flavors of the pasta and I just couldn't bear to waste it on them. Plus I'm kind of greedy. I want all four servings to myself!

So this pasta we see here is the Autumn Harvest Orzo, made with a pumpkin/sage blend. In deciding what to make with this, gorgonzola immediately came to mind since it is so often paired with winter squash. I spied some fresh broccoli at the MIT produce stand last week, and thus a dish was born. The autumn harvest orzo has a sweet/spicy taste to it. I was quite pleased.

Autumn Harvest Orzo with Gorgonzola and Broccoli

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil

3 large shallots

3/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup half and half

1/2 cup almond milk (or any milk)

4 oz gorgonzola

2 tbsp pine nuts

1 lb-ish broccoli florets

1 lb autumn harvest orzo

1. Toast the pine nuts on the stove.

2. Start to boil the water for the orzo and put the pasta in once it is sufficiently boiled.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the shallots and cook for4-5 minutes or until slightly brown. Add the wine and broth and boil until reduced by half.

4. In a separate pan, steam the broccoli to desired degree of doneness.

5. Stir the cream and milk into the wine/chicken/shallot mixture and simmer for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat and stir in the Gorgonzola until it has melted. Add in the pine nuts and broccoli. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the orzo, mix, and serve!

I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights, which is being hosted this week by Tigerfish of Teczcape.

Avocado and Barbecue Sauce Sandwiches

Happy Friday everyone! This morning I woke up praying to the rain gods - not to make it rain but to beg them to hold off for a few hours so I could do my 11 mile run. They held off until the last 2-ish miles, at which point it started misting. By then, I was already at the point in my loop at which it was faster to just finish than turn around and head back, plus the rain felt kind of good. In the end, I completed 11.19 miles in 1:38:24, which comes to an average speed of 6.9 mph.

Now you may be concerned about the fact that I burned approximately 933 calories doing this run (according to Runner's World's calculator). I mean, that is actually a LOT of calories to eat back. But have no fear, I am attending not one but TWO formals this weekend, both of which will feature catered three-course meals. Will I be having dessert at these events - you betcha, I think I earned it. The first formal is tonight and it's actually a pretty low key dorm formal. The food will be catered by a local Italian restaurant chain called Bertucci's (they have the BEST rolls in New England) and we will get as much free champagne as we can drink. I love champagne. Definitely my favorite alcoholic beverage aside from Original Sin Cider Ale. And coconut rum. Anyways, the second formal is tomorrow and is my Senior Ball - think prom but for college seniors. I will be wearing this dress:

I bought this in October for my cousin's wedding and haven't put it on since. Hopefully it will still zip up. ;P

So I was watching The Biggest Loser this week (but I was watching the episode from last week, I'm always an episode behind because I watch them online from the NBC website) and Bob had his team videotape everything they ate in a day so he could assess their diet. In the end, he was furious with them because they focused on eating as few calories as possible rather than trying to fuel themselves with good, nutritious, whole foods that would get them through the intense exercise regimens that the show puts them through. I think this is really important and something that many dieters tend to forget. Many times, the lower the calories you eat, the more weight you can GAIN. Your body starts going into starvation mode and stressing out and so it stores everything you eat as fat instead of using the energy as fuel. No female should eat below 1200 calories a day (really, I think all female dieters who exercise can manage to lose weight while still eating at LEAST 1500 calories) and no male should eat under 1500.

Another common pitfall of dieters (and I admit, I was guilty of both of these things but after reading up a lot on nutrition, changed my ways) is to stop eating fats entirely. This is also bad because your body needs fats to make hormones and different structural components of your cells. In addition, all fats are not created equal. It is critical to eat healthy fats like Omega 3's and 6's since your body cannot produce them on it's own. Some great places to find these fats are in salmon, nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, etc.), and avocados.

Speaking of which (haha! what a PERFECT lead-in) I had half of an avocado left in my fridge from my jicama salad, and I thought I would turn it into a sandwich. What would be perfect with avocado, one of my absolute favorite fruits - barbecue sauce! This sandwich was super good and the fats in it kept me full for a very long time. I swear I could feel the Omega 3's coursing through my veins with their superhuman strength. Or maybe I was just delirious from how good it tasted.

Avocado and Barbecue Sauce Sandwich

Serves 1

2 slices whole wheat bread

1/2 avocado

barbecue sauce

1. Layer the bbq sauce and avocado on bread. Eat.

This would probably also be great with some cheese but I didn't have any on hand.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays (now salad/sammy/and soup(er) Sundays), an event created by the lovely and talented Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.