I Love Fake Vacation

I have been on a fake vacation the past week.  In consultant language, it's called being "on the bench." Without  a project. My project in Dallas ended last week, and now I have to wait to be re-assigned.  Until then... I hang out. It gets old pretty fast, but a paid vacation, planned or otherwise, is always good.  So, of course, I've been cooking!  I don't have much time (will get to the reason in a minute), but I wanted to do a quickie post because this recipe is perfect for being stuck inside.

Ilene really loves Heidi, but I hadn't yet tried anything of hers.  Sometimes there are a lot of ingredients, and sometimes I think that maybe our flavor profiles just don't quite match up.  But regardless, I knew I had seen a lentil soup on her site recently, so I hunted it down and ended up with this beauty!

Oh, how I wish I had better lighting for photos!  Anyway, I made her lentil soups as directed, and it was AWESOME.  So hearty.  Katie came over and we ate it with some amazing multi grain baguette and it filled me for hours.  What's on top my yellow mountain of fiber, you ask? Chopped black oil cured olives (Gourmet Garage called them Moroccan olives), and the tzatziki style sauce from this recipe.  That's right, I merged Heidis.

So, the reason I am off and away is because we are going on a family CRUISE today!  Cape Canaveral and then the Bahamas.  We are running around like lunatics, as per usual.  What would a family vacation be without a little threat of being incredibly late?  No internet, no blog, no cooking, but good god, I can only imagine way too much food.  It will be photographed.  Off I go!  See ya in a week.

The Breakfast Post

In looking through my photos from the past couple of weeks, I have noticed an overwhelming trend.  That's right, friends -- the most important meal of the day is also the most important feature of my photo collection.  I'm not sure if it's the beautiful lighting I get in the morning that I can't get other times of day, but my breakfast photos are the best.

And so, instead of keeping with any sort of chronology or consistency, I give you: BREAKFAST.

Numero uno is a glimpse into the life of my alter-ego: Starbucks oatmeal eater.

I am simply not a fan of Starbucks oatmeal because it's essentially oaty mush, but I have deemed it my best option while traveling.  And if you've been reading all along, you know I got down and dirty in the trenches to  research this topic.  In order to make this oatmeal tolerable, however, I have to go beyond their offered toppings.  Step aside, brown sugar, dried fruit, and nuts!  Enter blueberries, spiced fig granola, and ok, fine, I used their nuts.  I started buying little containers of whatever berries are on sale at Whole Foods, washing them all at once, and taking them back and forth with me during the week to add to my oatmeal.  I really find that adding a good amount of fresh fruit (or frozen) goes a LOT farther in keeping me full than the dried stuff.  And more calorie friendly, too.

Believe it or not, I do sometimes get sick of oats.  It happens oh so rarely, but I'd be remiss not to include an oat-free breakfast.

Stonyfield plain FF yogurt, strawberries (leftover from a fruit plate from Diane's holiday party -- jackpot!), banana, and Kashi Heart to Heart!  I LOVE Kashi cereals, but especially Heart to Heart.  It happens to be healthy and delicious, but mostly the hearts make me smile.  And good god is that a feat in the mornings.

Somewhere along the way, Chaunkah happened, and I got the best present a girl could ask for: a French press!!!!  My parents got me a food processor/blender for my birthday this year, which was a tough act to follow, but the French press was perfect.  I'm a big coffee drinker (big in spirit, not in quantity), so I was delighted to have a new foodie toy.  Here she is, hard at work.

Cool moose, dude. I'm still playing around with proportions, but so far I'm loving the new coffee maker.  I feel expert and elitist all at once.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!  I've also been drinking a Spanish roast from my favorite little coffee shop, Java Girl.  It's so yummy.  Although maybe it's just my inner longing to be back in Spain?

This bowl of oats was an ode to my overflowing kitchen cabinet.  Steel cut oats cooked with banana, then topped with dried cranberries, leftover trail mix (I literally had about a tbsp left in a baggie... and now I have 1/2 tbsp.  I'm a hoarder), and a sprinkle of Fiona's cinnamon almond granola.  Wheat and soy free and loaded with sesame seeds!  A new fave.

In said cabinet you will find no less than 10 varieties of nuts/seeds.  Overkill?  I think not.  But my cabinet begs to differ.  Every time I open it, I am met with a nutty avalanche. For your viewing pleasure:

By my count, we have pine nuts, pumpkin seeds, raw whole almonds, slivered almonds, roasted cashew pieces, raw cashews, spicy and tangy roasted almonds (a TJ's buy... a little weird), pecans, about 4 salty peanuts, and the almond/peanut/berry mix I got from TJ's.  I also have walnuts in the fridge and several bags of trail mix I've collected from Whole Foods and Central Market in Dallas.  Did I mention my new favorite grocery store yet?  I think I did.  But I'm not over it yet.  Central Market is AMAZING.  Stew Leonards meets Wegmans meets Whole Foods.  Man, it's like grocery porn.

Lastly, a proud concoction.  I have been making apple cinnamon oats for a while, and it's amazing.  Steel cut oats, apple chunks added halfway through, lotsa cinnamon,TJ's almond butter (the best kind?!), and a sprinkle of Fiona's for texture.

Ahhh, oatmeal.  Thank you for making mornings tolerable.

I would also like to give a shout out to Maggie and Natalia, whose birthdays were yesterday!  Happy birthday, dear friends!  Mag, I wish I could have been in China to celebrate with you, but I did dedicate the above oatmeal to you on Sunday, and you know that's an honor in my book.  You are dearly missed on this side of the globe!  xoxo

Photographically Challenged Eating

I have very few photos to share, because I keep forgetting I have a blog!  Unless I'm cooking, I often forget my camera.  But I can't let two amazing meals from this past weekend go unmentioned.  That would just be wrong.

Friday night: Moustache Pitza.  Katie and I went on an adventure to the West Village on a very, very cold night to check out this restaurant and then to go to a friend's birthday party in the neighborhood.  Let me just say that we had a legume FEAST, which expanded in my stomach later and rendered me incapable of finishing even a single beer.  A Blue Moon, at that.  Pathetic.  Anyway, dinner was worth it.  Amazing.  Check out the menu -- we ordered hummus, a spinach and chickpea salad, the chicken kebab plate (with the most incredible lentil puree), and a seafood pitza.  Sound like way too much food for 2 people?  It probably was.  I kid you not, my coworker asked, "So were you there with a big group?  Like 10 people?"  Er, yeah... But we had no problem polishing off every last morsel.  SO GOOD.  I think my favorites were the  spinach and chickpea salad (ah, memories of Espana) and the pitza, plus the lentil puree!

Saturday night: Foodie event at Buttermilk Channel!  

[photos from www.buttermilkchannelnyc.com]

Alex and I have a laundry list of foodie restaurants to visit, so we've started trying to do one every weekend.  I loved everything about Buttermilk Channel from the space to the decor to the popovers.  It was such a lovely dining experience.  Maybe I could live without the wait and the sketchy subway station.  They focus on fresh and seasonal ingredients, which always makes me happy.  Alex, Joanna, Katie, and I all ordered different things, which is so rare for us!  We shared baby turnips and brussels sprouts with mustard and bacon as an appetizer (with popovers! drool!), and I had a perfect Kelso Honey Nut Brown beer.  I love sweet dark beers.  For my entree, I had the duck meatloaf, which is just totally out of character.  But I've gotten into the habit of asking for waiter/waitress recommendations, especially if a restaurant is well known for a certain dish.  This was a much appreciated recommendation.  The jus (Joanna's word of the night) was outrageous.  My friends ordered the scallops (my runner up), the lamb salad, and a soup/salad combo.  We're good sharers, so I had a bite of everything. Delicious!  We decided to go nuts and ordered dessert too!  Bread pudding, pecan pie sundae (GAH!), and 4 spoons.  And not a drop left behind.  Alex, do you have my duck photo?  [As a side note, I adore ducks.  Not sure why, but they're just the best animal.  I felt a little sad eating one.  But not that sad.]

Two of the things we ordered were featured in the website gallery!  My duck on the left (except replace the green stuff with parsnip puree and a darker jus), and the pecan pie sundae on the right.

  

After dinner we waddled back to my apt, where my roommate was having people over for a holiday party. We continued to eat (oops), although in our defense we only attacked the fresh fruit.  Sooo, I ate a lot this weekend.  It was amazing.

Sunday I continued the foodfest at my parents' house, where we celebrated Chanukah with brisket and latkes!  Brisket is not a photogenic dish, but here is my dad manning the latke pan.

Blackberry photo.  Blech.  But awesome latkes!  These were classics: potato, onion, matzo meal, and a horrifying amount of canola oil.  Mmmm tastes like Chanukah.

This weekend may include a visit to  Locanda Verde as the foodie adventure of the week.  CANNOT WAIT!  It's Robert DeNiro's newest and Alex and I are pumped.  Hopefully it will fit into the plans!

My Weekend in the Metroplex

Dallas and Fort Worth are referred to as "The Metroplex," which I think is a great word, although I don't actually know what it means.  Wait, Wikipedia to the rescue: "A metroplex is large metropolitan area containing several cities and their suburbs. It is also sometimes used as an alternative to metropolis or megalopolis, which is a chain of continuous metropolitan areas. The term was coined for, and is still commonly used to describe, the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex."  Well, look at that!  It's named for this metroplex!  Cool.  Dallas and Fort Worth are actually kind of far apart.  It took me a solid 45 minutes to get from the center of one to the other.

Yes, it's true: this past weekend I was forced to stay in the metroplex for a weekend!  I was not looking forward to it at all, but I ended up having a really great time.  No cooking, of course, but I did enjoy expensing a weekend's worth of meals!  It was nice not to be trucking myself back and forth across the country every weekend, but I'm SO ready to be going home tomorrow after a full 10 days here.  Here's an overview of how I spent my time here...

Friday: Joanna can be officially named as the person that saved me from eternal boredom in Dallas, as she introduced me to her friend David, who has been far more generous to me than any person should be.  I think he's just gregarious by nature, but I really appreciated having someone as fun as he is to hang out with.  He invited me to Friday night services, which were held in possibly the most beautiful sanctuary I have ever seen.  Truly, it was gorgeous.  Then there was a young adult chili dinner afterward!  (You know you're in Texas when...)  Everyone I met was incredibly friendly, and people kept asking me when I'd be back.  After a while I couldn't break it to people that I didn't actually live in Dallas.

Saturday: I got up early on Saturday for a lovely (free) breakfast at the hotel of steel cut oats and fresh berries with mascarpone.  I had trouble deciding between that and the buffet, but I made the right choice.  Then I met David at his gym for Turbo Kick, which, quite frankly, kicked my butt.  My glutes were sore for DAYS!  But it felt good.  After a much-needed shower, I headed off to Fort Worth in search of The Lonesome Dove.  I saw Chef Tim Love on Top Chef Masters, so when I realized he had a restaurant in Fort Worth, I made it my number one priority for places to eat in the D/FW area.  I've been talking about it for months, so it felt like the culmination of something special when I finally walked in the door, barely making the 2:30 lunch cutoff (I had a whole sob story planned about how I had come all the way from NYC, wah wah wah, if they didn't want to seat me).  IT.WAS.AMAZING.  I didn't take photos because it was really dark and I was already a little self conscious about eating at a nice restaurant alone, so I didn't want the extra attention.  But I went all out.  I had an iced tea, the most incredible summer squash soup with shaved gruyere and the perfect amount of fresh black pepper, and a shaved tenderloin sandwich with horseradish cream, caramelized onions, and sweet potato fries.  I knew I needed to eat some steak before I left Texas, even if it's not my favorite food group, and I was determined to get it at The Lonesome Dove because Chef Love uses local beef.  I thought it was grass-fed too, but now I can't find confirmation of that online.  The beef was so delicious and fresh and buttery (as was the potato bread roll), but the highlight of the meal was really the soup.  The fries were literally like shoestrings, which looked pretty but were unpleasant to eat.  Overall, wonderful meal that lived up to the hype.  Side note: Tim Love opened a burger place around the corner called Love Shack.  Too cute!

I walked around historic Fort Worth for a little while and saw some longhorns.

And some other farm animals.

I also saw lots of fun signs that reminded me I was definitely in Texas.

(Can you see the blue sign that says Rodeo Plaza?  I got such a kick out of that.)

After I strolled around here for a while, I drove over to the itty bitty, but very lovely, Kimbell Art Museum.  They have a couple of Picassos and a couple of Matisses, and a Miro that I really liked.  Also some stuff by Piet Mondrian, who I don't think I've ever heard of.  It was very blocky and geometric but pleasing to the eye.

I really had a lovely day by myself in Fort Worth and didn't get lost once!  OK, once I thought I was lost, but it turned out I was right in front of the museum. I will continue the weekend recap in a later post.  Getting a little hefty here!  Off to go brave the crazy Dallas weather... it's colder here than at home!  And I am totally unprepared!  BRRRRRRR.

Thanksgiving Lives On

I love Thanksgiving so much that I decided it wasn't over yet.  Or that I at least wasn't going to let it slip by unnoticed, since I did make my dad stop carving so I could take pictures of the turkey.  Above is Mr. Turkey, all golden brown and fresh from the oven.  I was surprised by my squeamishness, but I really had some issues with my parents discussing the handling of various turkey parts and, er, fluids.  Turkeys look a lot more like birds than chickens do, and I did not like that one bit.  I really believe that if you're going to eat meat, you should be aware of what it goes through to get to your plate.  I don't know that it means I need to go hunting like Michael Pollan, but it does feel a little hypocritical that I was so uncomfortable with turkey parts.

I hung around the kitchen taking pictures anyway.  Here's daddy-o, starting to carve away, and my mom handling turkey juices.  Ick.

Here is Mr. Turkey-Barracuda, post carving.

Can you tell why I named him Turkey-Barracuda?  Do you see the crazy barracuda face, open jaw, and pointy fin?  It's like a Magic Eye poster... you probably either see it or you don't.

On to less gruesome pictures, my mom and I made our annual cheesecake!  It came out a little more jiggly than usual, but still delicious.  Mom managed to lose a chunk from the top in a Saran wrap incident.

Maybe I can get the recipe from her?  We've been using the same one for years and it never fails us!  I'll see if she'll read it to me over the phone.  Seriously, cheesecake is pretty easy to make.  You'd never think so, but it is.  Well, maybe not this cheesecake.  (HOLY DESSERT, BATMAN!)

I have many favorite things about being at home, including meals being made for me, a bedroom that stays really dark in the morning so I can sleep late, and hanging out with the fam.   But one of the BEST things about being in Larchmont is the luxurious Trader Joe's shopping experience!  It's such a pain in the butt to go to the one on 14th Street because of the crowds and then my long commute back uptown, so I don't do it as much as I'd like.  But going to the store at home is GREAT.  It's never that crowded (except right around 3pm when Central School lets out), and I can actually browse without being swept along by the masses.  The only problem is that I sometimes go overboard and end up with tons of food to drag home with me on the train, which is never fun.  But usually worth it.  :)  This time, while searching for my favorite banana bonanza trek mix (obviously discontinued, like so many of my TJ's favorites to come before it), I stumbled upon this crazy looking bag of nuts!

It's made with peanuts, almonds, brown sugar, freeze dried fruits, and berry juices.  It sounded a lot better than it was, but I still enjoyed it.  I put a sprinkling in my oatmeal the morning after Thanksgiving.  I was trying to keep it light...

Look at how dark and cloudy it was!  The kitchen at my parents' house gets so much sunlight (my number one priority in a home), so shadowy morning pictures are really unusual.

I think that closes the book on Thanksgiving.  I was so sad that we didn't get to take back any leftovers (except for the cheesecake).  Leftovers are the best part of the holiday!  It's ok.  My waistline is grateful.

Get excited for a recap of my weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex!

Awards, part deux

Best Brussels Sprouts (and yes, I've made them a lot): Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Cranberries

As promised, Allison makes her online debut with... BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

I even got her to taste some when it was done!  I promised her that I had used enough butter that she wouldn't even notice there were veggies involved.  I was inspired by this recipe, care of Alton Brown:

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh Brussels sprouts, rinsed and trimmed
• 3 ounces coarsely chopped pecans
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 4 ounces coarsely chopped dried cranberries

Directions

Slice the Brussels sprouts using the thinnest slicing disk of a food processor. If you do not have a food processor, you may slice thinly with a knife or a mandoline.

Set a 10-inch straight-sided saute pan over medium-high heat and add the pecans. Cook, stirring continually, until the pecans darken in color and begin to give off a toasted aroma, approximately 2 minutes. Add the butter to the pan and stir to combine. Once the butter has melted, add the Brussels sprouts, salt and pepper and cook, stirring continually, until the color brightens and the sprouts are just tender, approximately 6 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, add the cranberries, toss and serve.

I was oh-so pleased that I was able to employ my new brussels sprout slicing technique that I learned from cooking guru Rebecca when Alex and I went to a cooking class (highly recommended!).  I used fresh cranberries instead of dried because I wanted to use them up, and it made the whole thing a little fruit-juicier than it otherwise might have been.  I was also too lazy to chop the pecans, which resulted in a little burning, but they didn't taste charred once mixed in with all that buttah and co.  This was so seasonal and lovely!  Shaved brussels sprouts resemble a bowl of, well, grass, but I thought that the butter really helped make it rich and not grassy.  Note: I almost never use butter in cooking, but I'm always happy when I do.

Best Repeat Recipe: Chickpea and Arugula Salad
This, of course, is another Mark Bittman specialty from How to Cook Everything.  I made it a couple months ago when I had a big dinner party at my apartment, and it was just as delicious this time.

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced, peeled fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
salt & freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 c. cooked or drained, canned chickpeas
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. honey
4 c. arugula leaves, chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced


Put the olive oil in a deep skillet over med. heat. When hot, add the ginger, garlic, and cumin seeds and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and the ginger and garlic are soft, 1-2 min. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then stir in the chickpeas until hot and coated in the oil and seasonings, about 3 min. Remove from heat. With a fork, stir in the vinegar, honey, and 1 Tbsp. water. Mash a few of the chickpeas as you stir to add texture to the dressing. Put the arugula and onion in a large bowl and toss with the warm chickpea dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve immediately, warm.

I had never used cumin seeds before, but they are sooo fragrant and have a really unique flavor.  This recipe is such a winner.  Do it.

Best Comfort Food: Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

This one is now a classic for me.  I make a huge pot of it and freeze most of it to have throughout the winter. The recipe is from Nava Atlas's The Vegetarian Family Cookbook, which was kind of my bible in college. 

2 medium-large sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons light or extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 to 3 garlic cloves
1 medium red bell pepper, diced
1 can (32 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 or 2 small fresh hot chilies, minced
OR
1 can (4 ounces) chopped mild green chilies
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt to taste

1. Bake or microwave the sweet potatoes on high until just firm, about 3 to 4 minutes per potato. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 3/4-inch dice. Set aside.


2. Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and sauté over medium heat until golden. Add the bell pepper, beans, tomatoes, chilies, cumin, and oregano. Bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and continue tosimmer until the vegetables are tender -- about 10 to 15 minutes.


3. Season lightly with salt. If time allows, let stand off the heat for 1 or 2 hours, then heat through as needed.


Embellish it: Pass a bowl of chopped fresh cilantro for sprinkling over the top of individual portions.

Make it a Meal: For an easy meal, serve this with purchased cornbread or other hearty whole-grain bread and a bountiful tossed salad.

A couple of notes on this: I accidentally bought only half of the beans that it called for, but I actually thought the proportion was right on.  So, if you wanted to go light in the beans (let's say you have a social situation to attend later?), you would be just fine.  Also, I tried it a couple days later topped with pecan chunks, and it brought it to a whole new level.  WHY have pecans not been on my radar until now???  Nuts, nuts, nuts!

Best Dessert Derived from Laziness: Frozen Banana with Melted Chocolate and Almond Butter

I've been totally into banana soft serve lately, but food processors are maybe the least fun thing to wash EVER.  Not mention my incredible clumsiness.  So I dug into my stash of frozen bananas and went the lazy route.

I kind of wished I had a popsicle stick or something for the bananas because my hands got cold holding them to dip, but OMG this was way too delicious.  I know it's totally weird to just eat plain old frozen bananas, but don't judge.   Try it for the sake of warm AB and dark chocolate, at the very least!
And now, your lightning round is complete!  Will try really hard to get back on a post-a-day schedule (with fewer than 5 recipes...) soon!  
Happy Friday!  I'm spending the weekend in Dallas, so social life should be minimal and posting will be maximal.

The Twilight Zone

Yesterday it was 53 and sunny in New York City and it was snowing in Dallas.  I may have 24 years of snow experience under my belt, but I was as giddy as a little kid (or a teenager, in Joanna's case) seeing snow for the first time.  Just a hoot and a holler, this state of Texas is!

Today it's sunny and in the 40s, which is a little more normal, although still colder than NYC?  Craziness.

As promised, here is my lightning round of cooking adventures, in award show format, in honor of the awesome Beyonce and Taylor Swift, who are leading the Grammy nominations.

Best New Snack: "Baked" Apples and AB

A while ago, my mom told me how she had made her own applesauce by peeling, coring, and slicing apples and then microwaving them for 2 minutes.  I was really into it for a while, until I decided I didn't like washing the vegetable peeler.  So I figured I'd give it a shot without the peeling, and... AWESOME!  I just did a minute since I wanted the apple chunks to keep their form, and then I dug in with some TJ's almond butter on a spoon.  Perfect for the fall/winter apple season!  And even though my roommates say that our apartment is sweltering, I still (always) need to be warmed up.

Best New Oatmeal Variation: Pumpkin Oats

Hey, hey, pumpkin!  Pumpkin has been making appearances in breakfasts all over the blogosphere (here, here, and here, for example), so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I just had to wait for a week when I was working from home so that I had any chance of finishing a can of pumpkin.  And so, I began experimenting with pumpkin oats!

Rule #1: Canned pumpkin on its own is way too vegetably to just stir in.  I find that I need to sweeten a little. So this has raisins, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, and brown sugar in addition to the pumpkin.  Kath uses 1/3 cup of pumpkin in her mix, but I use a lot less.  It gets kinda gloppy otherwise.  But it smells outrageous!

Biggest Small Accomplishment: The Fried Egg Sandwich

Yes, I've been cooking eggs since I was 10, but for whatever reason, only my dad was allowed to make me fried egg sandwiches.  It's his thing.  He does eggs well.  And it's a good way to trick him into making me lunch, since he enjoys it so much.  So this kind of became my comfort food as a kid.  I'm kind of bad at cracking eggs, so imagine my surprise when this beauty began bubbling away on the pan.

But don't tell my dad I know how.  It's better when he makes it.  :)

Best Dinner Made From a Recipe: It's a tie!  Stuffed Acorn Squash and Cranberry Polenta Squares
Oh, Mark Bittman, you never fail me!  Check out this list if you haven't yet.  Both of these dishes came from the list, tweaked slightly.

27. Cranberry Polenta Cakes: Make polenta with half milk, half water; stir in chopped fresh or dried cranberries. When thick, pour onto a sheet tray and let cool. Cut into squares and sauté or broil until slightly crisp. Drizzle with honey. -- I don't keep regular milk in the house, and soy sounded like a less than appealing substitution, so I just used all water for the polenta and threw in a tbsp of butter instead.

And below, browned in a nonstick pan.  I tried this a few ways... cooked in olive oil, in Pam, and just straight on the pan.  The last one worked the best.  Also I'm just reading now that I was supposed to chop the cranberries.  I did not.  Might have helped keep things more topographically even.

49. Halve and seed acorn, butternut or delicata squash and roast until squash begins to soften. Meanwhile, cook bulgur, drain and toss with coarsely chopped pine nuts and currants. Add a bit of the stuffing to each squash half and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake until squash is tender. -- I used an acorn squash, and brown rice instead of bulgur.  Perfectly fine substitution.  I didn't have currants so I used dried cranberries, which I think worked well too.  A single half was SUPER filling.

Ok, post is getting long, so I'll have to finish my dorky awards ceremony a little later.

Stay tuned... Allison will be presenting the award for best green!

Veggie Burger Breakup?

So, I love veggie burgers.  They're so fast and so easy and always in the freezer, and they're just plain GREAT.  Then I read the ingredients.

There's nothing too terrible in there, except for some weird acids and soy lecithin at the end, but that's a LOT of ingredients.  I generally try to avid foods with that many ingredients.  But do I need to break up with my reliable, loyal veggie burger?

This is Gardenburger brand... maybe I just need to try a different type?  Does anyone have a solid veggie burger recommendation?  I guess I could also make my own, but that's not going to be a quick and easy solution.  I think Mark Bittman had a Minimalist article about making your own veggie burgers, and we all know I'd trust anything that came from his kitchen, but let's prepare for a lazy day.

Please leave some frozen, supermarket veggie burger suggestions in the comments!

Also, look at what I pulled out of the freezer a few weeks ago.

At first I thought it was moldy, but then as the realization sunk in that frozen things don't get moldy, I looked closer and saw that it was a giant glob of dried herbs.  Taking over a solid quarter of my burger.  Um, EW.  I tossed this guy pretty quickly.

Next up: a lightning round of my most exciting cooking adventures from the past 2 weeks.  There are some really good ones too!

Car Review #2: Toyota Camry

I really do have fond association with the Camry.  Every day, junior and senior years of HS, Katie would pick me up in her wonderful grey Camry and drive me to school.  School, of course, was about a 6 minute walk from my house, and it took no less than 10 minutes to find a parking spot that was kind of sort of close to school, so you do the math.  But it wasn't about getting to school efficiently; it was about being seen in the lot.  And seen we were.

The Camry served us well back in the day, but I regretfully admit that I did not enjoy driving my rented Camry two weeks ago.  Everything felt fluffy... the steering, the way you don't feel bumps in the road... my dad has trained me to dislike these qualities.  Also, it skidded in a barely-there puddle.  Pathetic!  It looks pretty nice, at least.  But certainly no Buick.