Saturday, September 24, 2011

Red quinoa and kale pilaf


This recipe kicks ass! It has such texture and flavor. I was inspired by Food 52 to cook it but ended up substituting almost all the ingredients. It is pretty easy, super healthy for you, and very filling without feeling like a piglet. The quinoa is a great source of protein, iron and fiber. Plus it is gluten free so it is easy to digest. I gobbled it up after I went swimming, which is my latest obsession. The dish has more kale than grain in terms of the proportion. I highly recommend making it as a main dish or you can leave out the beans and serve it as a side.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Beet Corn Summer Salad

This salad is very high in fiber, filling and super quick to make. I served it as an appetizer but it would make a nice side served with plain fish or meat. Then I ate the leftovers with a hard boiled egg.
Serves 6.

Bastard Baba Ganoush

If zucchini and eggplant had a bastard son, it would likely taste like this dip.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Cannellini Bean, Sage, and Garlic Dip

We routinely make hummus at home. Or I should say Marc has been making it ever since he learned how to. He is the snack master in this house. But we have all this sage from the CSA that I have been trying to use up. I made sage honey muffins, turkish eggs with fried sage, and now this dip. This dip has a very powerful flavor but it is super healthy and goes great with pita chips.

Chilled Cucumber Patty Pan Soup

The perfect meal for this heat wave we are in the middle of!


Summer Vegetable Pilaf

This is a great summer dish. It could be a main course, a side for a potluck or a good picnic food.
 

Sunday, May 29, 2011

rhubarb compote

It's rhubarb season! I was really craving some pig and rhubarb so I decided to whip this up.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Ostrich Filet in Red Wine Sauce...served with steamed tatsoi and sauteed purple potatoes

 I took a trip to the Union Square Farmer's market the other day and bought a variety of interesting produce. I ended up finding some tatsoi, which is sort of a mix between a bok choy and a mustard green. It is a very mild vegetable and a great way to change things up. I found purple potatoes (where the flesh inside is actually purple). I also was able to buy some ostrich. I never made this before but was feeling very adventurous. Ostrich is very healthy as there is hardly any fat on it. It is mildly gamey like a venison, but it has the texture of steak. 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Roasted Beet and Tatsoi Salad

This is a very light and healthy salad bursting with flavor and color. It can be served at room temperature or prepared in advance and served slightly chilled. It is very easy to make but the beets take some time to cook.


Limoncello! PART 2


Monday, April 4, 2011

Braised Yuba w/Steamed Bok Choy & Sushi Rice

 After going to Spa Castle recently, Marc and I ended up in Hong Kong Supermarket in Flushing. It was a winter wonderland of msg filled products along with random asian specialties. We came home with our arms full for a price way cheaper than many trips to Whole Foods. One of the things I bought was yuba or tofu skin. I had no idea what to do with this until tonight. If you have never had tofu skin before it is very interesting. It doesn't really have much of a taste and therefore will take on the flavor of whatever it is cooked in. It has a chewy texture which may turn some off but I think it has great consistency. I tried to follow Pham Fatale's recipe for it and added on to make it a meal.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Orange Salmon with Chili-Bok Choy

After my gluttonous breakfast, I needed something simple and healthy for dinner, so I decided to prepare fish. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare salmon. There is hardly any prep to this dish and it is delicious. Plus I got to use my new wok! This was another amazing wedding present from marc's family. He spent four hours the other day properly seasoning it! But if you don't have a wok you can certainly just prepare the bok choy in a saute pan.


Fennel Bacon Chiocciole


Saturday, March 12, 2011

winter leftover asian soup


This is great to make with leftover chicken or turkey. You can basically round up what you have in your fridge and throw everything together. That is the beauty of soup! (I actually made this with the turkey leftovers from thanksgiving...this is yet another post I am catching up on!)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Mustard-Pretzle Crusted Chicken

KALE
2 heads kale, cleaned, rough stems removed, and chopped
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
pinch sea salt, red pepper flakes, black pepper
1 t red wine vinegar

1. Boil water in a large pot. Add kale and simmer until just wilted. Rinse in cold water in a colander.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan. Add shallot and cook for a few minutes until clear. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for another minute.
3. Return kale to the pan and heat up. Once hot, toss in red wine vinegar, sea salt and black pepper to taste.

CHICKEN
1 cup pretzels
1/8 c whole grain mustard
1 T brown spicy mustard
1 t red wine vinegar
1/8 cup water
1/8 c olive oil
pinch salt and pepper
4 thin chicken breasts or 2 whole breasts cut in half

1. In a food processor chop the pretzels until they are fine crumbs.
2. Place pretzel crumbs in a bowl and put aside.
3. Add mustards, oil, water and vinegar to the food processor and pulse until combined.
4. Pour half sauce into bowl and reserve rest.
5. Dip chicken in the sauce and then dredge in the pretzel crumbs.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the chicken for 20+ minutes until no longer pink in the center.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Lemon-Olive Potatoes with Poached Eggs

 Mmmm! This is a great alternative breakfast!

there had to be some thanksgiving leftover posts too!

Greek yogurt and cranberry sauce is a great thing to eat for breakfast post turkey feast! i promise!
that's all I have to say about that!

Virtual Turkey

Yes, I know what you are thinking. What do you care about thanksgiving when it is what, March 10th!? I know, I am months behind the times. I actually started this post on November 28th! It has been quite some time since I posted anything. Well, life has kept me rather busy between getting a new job, poof! and getting married! double poof! Yup, marc and I went to the courthouse on Feb 4 to tie the knot!
So I debated even bothering to upload this post. However, this whole site is about my culinary adventures so I figured I might as well throw it up there so I can remember how it was when I cooked my first Thanksgiving bird. So here goes....


I had to work on Turkey day so I decided that Marc and I should have our gobble feast the day before. I didn't want to miss out on traditional food but i never made a turkey before. We had our Colombian friends Catalina and Francisco over as guinnea pigs for our virgin turkey attempt.

I must say I am quite proud of our feast. We had pancetta-sage turkey,  with pancetta sage gravy,  mashed sweet potatoes, fennel salad, shallot string beans, chestnut apple leek stuffing, and pomegranate cranberry sauce, finished with apple pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert. oh and how could I forget, Francisco and I were drinking apple cider with goslings black rum and seltzer for our turkey cocktails.