Beef Stew with Root Vegetables
The last few weeks have been exceptionally busy here; I feel like I hardly spend any time at home, and I love being home. But I did manage to make a really rustic, hearty, and healthy beef stew. It is tender and flavorful and just fantastic. This stew just hit the spot during those cold winter days we’ve had lately. Just complete satisfaction. Warm, like a blanket; bursting with flavor like summer. Feeds your belly and your soul. The potatoes and sweet potatoes are actually still from one of the winter shares of the CSA. I couldn’t believe it that they’re still good. But sure enough, if you store them properly (cool, dark place), they’re...
Read MoreHappy 2012 Everyone
I know, I know, it’s a week into this year already, and I feel behind. But there’s a reason for that; it doesn’t feel like a new year to me because I didn’t really get a chance to relax at the end of the year or to reflect on things.. You see, I like New Year’s because it’s a clean slate, new notebook, new pens and pencils, new chances, new beginnings, new attitude, etc. Just new. I need “new” every once in a while in certain things and a time of the year to renew, recommit, and reassess is much needed and very welcomed. So mentally, for me, it’s still sometime in early November. Yes, I’m a bit slow...
Read MoreStuffed Shells
I have always wanted to make a stuffed pasta dish but was always intimidated by it. Not quite sure why, because it’s so easy. Easier than lasagna, and I consider lasagna to be easy. And when I found a recipe in a magazine (Whole Living, March 2011 edition) and realized I had all the ingredients, I knew I had to try it. I was also surprised at how quick this came together. It is also healthy and very satisfying. The spinach, the low-fat farmer’s cheese (I noticed it’s lower fat than the ricotta the original recipe called for), the mushrooms in the sauce (another one of my tweaks) all contributed to the guilt-free satisfaction of this cheesy...
Read MoreLeek and Cabbage Soup
Take a look at this soup. It’s not photogenic. It’s not sexy. But it’s first and foremost delicious. Of course, it’s also healthy and incredibly easy to make. And on cold autumn or winter days, it really hits the spot. How could it not? The other fabulous feature of this soup is that it features veggies from the CSA (Highcross Farms), and home made chicken stock (chicken was from Grassway Organics). If you think that this combination is a little odd, I wouldn’t blame you. But then again, I think anything with peanut butter is strange. Just think about it, there is a leak and potato soup, and cabbage and potato soup. I just...
Read MoreRoasted Acorn Squash
It’s true, I’ve never had acorn squash before. “How can that happen?”, you ask. Simple. I thought I didn’t like it. It looked foreign (which it really is, to me), and hard to figure out, and since I’ve never had it before, I never knew what I’d ever do with it. But as I mentioned in some of my earlier posts, one of the benefits of joining a CSA is that you get veggies you might not have picked out on your own. Just check out the pumpkins/squash in the picture for an example of what I got in the last few CSA boxes. The folks at Highcross Farm do a great job with getting fantastic food to us and I take these...
Read MoreSeville, Spain – Day 6
Oh what a magnificent city! It’s sophisticated, romantic, passionate, modern, and ancient at the same time, and all these things seem to fit together perfectly. Though I’ve visited this city (does one day count as “visiting”?), it’s still on my list to visit again, and definitely spend more time here. This is the city where Flamenco reigns supreme, history goes back more than two thousand years, and architecture never fails to take your breath away. And since this is a food blog, I have to mention the oranges. You’ve heard of Seville oranges, right? No? Then let me tell you about them. They’re bitter. That’s it. ...
Stay tuned for the rest from Seville!
Puff Pastry with Honey and Nuts – Pseudo Baklava
I love this dessert. It’s easy, quick, and most importantly, delicious. This dessert has enjoyed a successful introduction to my family, co-workers, and a CSA pot luck. There are several things that make this recipe extra easy. One, is that I use store-bought puff pastry. As you know, I have no room for working with dough (see my kitchen), so these shortcuts become more of a necessity. But I don’t mind, it makes my life easier, and that’s a much welcomed thing. (However, if you’d like to try your hand at home-made puff pastry, check out Sofya’s version.) I wish everything was as easily simplified as puff pastry dough. But...
Read MoreCodroba, Seville, Spain – Day 5
Well, it’s been a while since my last post about Spain, so I thought it’s time to get back to that. (Otherwise, at this rate, I’ll finish up Spain after my next vacation, which isn’t even anywhere on the horizon.) Puerto Lapice Today, we had an early wake-up call. We typically have an early wake-up call, so it wasn’t anything new. Our first stop was in a tiny little village called Puerto Lapice. If you’ve read Cervantes, you’d recognize this location as he tended to use real places. This is where the fictional Don Quixote was knighted by the innkeeper. Today, this is a good roadway stop where we used the lavatories and...
Read MoreTea, Uzbek Style
All great tea cultures have their own traditions for brewing and serving tea. Uzbekistan has quite a long history of tea consumption, and as such, has specific ways of brewing and serving tea. Though Uzbekistan was part of the Soviet Union, don’t confuse Uzbek tea culture with that of Russia as they’re distinct enough. When I was growing up in Uzbekistan, I remember drinking tea just about every time we drank anything; I don’t remember drinking milk with dinner as is common here in America, and I don’t remember drinking a lot of water, though I’m sure I did. But the memories of tea, at each and every occasion, are what stick out in my...
Read MoreChickpea and Tomato Salad
I was completely struck by the simplicity and deliciousness of this salad when I saw it at an event about a month or so ago. Of course, it was also one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments. I mean, it’s tomatoes and chickpeas, both of which I love. But perhaps my experimenting with food stopped the moment it started when I decided to put salt in my tea when I in kindergarten. Quite traumatized by that still. LOL. Anyway, this salad is incredibly easy, especially if you use cherry tomatoes, which is how this salad was made when I first saw it. But I didn’t have cherry tomatoes and I didn’t see anything wrong with...
