A Week Without Fiber

Fine, maybe I'm being melodramatic with this post title, but Passover started on Monday night, and I'm already feeling that major lack of fiber in my life.  For those of you unfamiliar with the holiday, let me just say that matzoh is not known for its digestive benefits.  It's more like eating glue in cracker form.  Actually, I kind of enjoy the taste, especially egg matzoh and, well, chocolate-covered matzoh, but I've already got a hankering for oatmeal and BREAD.  I mean, toast is probably my favorite food.

As many of you know, this blog started with a challenge.  I think it would be fair to say that keeping Kosher for Passover is a food challenge in and of itself, so I am returning to my roots to bring you a week(ish) of daily posts about my Passover meals.  I hope that this can be some inspiration to those of you keeping Kosher, and a glimpse into the holiday for the rest!

I spent a couple of days at my parents' house for the start of the holiday and our "seder" (I use the term loosely), so I was well-fed and have leftovers that will make an appearance in a later post.  Score!

My biggest problem during Passover is usually breakfast.  That and protein.  Beans and all other legumes are out, which means protein has to come from nuts, dairy, eggs, fish, and meat.  You've probably noticed I love me some legumes (peanuts, lentils, and chickpeas, oh my!), and they tend to be the basis of my diet.  So I've had to adapt, mostly by way of yogurt, fish, and mooching brisket from my mama!

On day 1 I had lemon yogurt with banana, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries at home.  I missed having some crunch, but the variety of flavors helped.  I've had some variation of that breakfast for the past 2 days also, just with plain yogurt.  Yesterday I added trail mix, and today I added flax seed, which I contemplated for a while, deciding finally that it's probably kosher.  I went against my seasonal shopping rules and bought strawberries because they were on sale and I thought I deserved it.

Whilst at home, I also employed my brother to make macaroons with me.  These were a cinch, and so delicious!  I literally just used the first recipe I found online for almond macaroons, but it was a success.  I mean, the recipe is from Gourmet, after all.

Almond Macaroons

from Gourmet magazine

Ingredients:

1 cup blanched whole almonds (I used slivered, since I was grinding them up anyway)

2/3 cup sugar (I used somewhere between 1/2 cup and 2/3)

1 large egg white

1/4 tsp almond extract (we didn't have that, so we used vanilla)

confectioners sugar for dusting

16 whole almonds (to press into the tops... I tried a couple with the slivered almonds but gave up)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. and lightly butter a baking sheet.

2. In a food processor pulse 1 cup almonds with granulated sugar until ground fine. Add egg white, almond extract, and a pinch salt and pulse until combined. Roll mixture into 16 balls, about 1 inch in diameter, and arrange about 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Slightly flatten balls and dust lightly with confectioners' sugar. Gently press 1 almond into each cookie

3. Bake macaroons in middle of oven 10 minutes, or until pale golden (more like 15 mins). Transfer macaroons to a rack and cool completely. Macaroons keep 4 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

All right, so I'm good with breakfast and dessert.  Now on to lunch!

Canned salmon!  I was really glad I thought of this one.  It's such a fast protein.  I mashed it up with some canola oil mayo, dijon mustard, horseradish, diced carrots, celery, red onion, and green bell pepper.  Over spinach, with mushrooms, avocado, and a homemade vinaigrette of olive oil, balsamic, and more mustard.

When I was home, my mom and I made chicken salad with mayo, celery, walnuts, and dried cranberries (if you're looking for more ideas!).  Will blog some leftovers later!

Especias Surtidas

Happy Thursday!

I started my work week off on the wrong foot by not going into the office, and I think it set me up for epic productivity failure.  As much as I'm not a huge fan of being out in Dallas, I at least have structure to my days when I'm there.  I enjoy the freedom of working from home, but I think I abuse it a little sometimes.  I get distracted with personal stuff I need to do when I work from home (by home I mean my apt), and 1 hour turns into 4.  I managed to really waste a lot of time today, and I'm frustrated by it.  Blah.  I should know better by now, but working from the apt was just too tempting today.

One of the pluses, though, was that I got to make all my meals, and I didn't have to plan ahead.  I used to buy my lunch about half the times I went into the office, but lately I've been avoiding it.  I find that I'm just more satisfied by the lunches (and planned hourly snacks...) that I make at home.  And it saves moolah, of cour$e!

I experimented this morning with putting cottage cheese (I buy the whipped, spreadable kind because I don't like how runny the other is) on my challah as a pre-gym snack.  It was definitely not bad, but I'm not running back to it.  It only tasted good on the raisin-heavy bites.  At the gym today, I tried to keep up my speed on the treadmill, inspired by last weekend's race time, but it was HARD!  The race atmosphere must really be a bigger factor than I thought.  I did 1 mile at 8:00 and it was too hard!  I had to slow down.  I also find that I don't do a great workout unless I've been awake for at least an hour... but since I'm not waking up at 5am anytime soon, I will just continue to save hard workouts for the weekend when I have more time.

For my actual breakfast, I used up the rest of my MojaMix, which at this point was mostly cacao nibs and chia seeds with a few oats in there somewhere.  I combined that with some regular oats.  The result was very flavorful, although I wish the little seeds hadn't sunk to the bottom of the bag.  What is a chia seed, you ask?  Excellent question.  In my expert seed opinion, I have deemed chia to be the next flax.  They're an ancient Aztec thing, packed with omega-3s and amino acids.  They're the little black specks in my oats.  Very up-and-coming in the natural foods world.  Mark my words, you heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen.

Lunch was a highlight for me, and something that is very versatile.  I give you: my signature potato salad!  Based on a potato salad my host mom used to make, and reinterpreted based on what I remember it tasting like.  I change it up a little every time I make it, but today's salad included:

- several small varied potatoes from the farmers market (I just pick ones that are said to hold up to boiling), chunked
- 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced (but I think I prefer them quartered)
- ~2 tbsp EVOO
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tsp minced shallot (red onion is good too)
- 1 tsp capers
- 1/2 tsp "especias surtidas" (A secret Spanish blend I bought in Sevilla -- uh-oh, just realized that means it's 3 years old... bad?  I think paprika and oregano would work ok instead.  Unless you're going to Espana this week.)
- salt and pepper to taste
- red pepper flakes to taste

Mix it all up, and it's GREAT.  I like adding fresh or roasted bell peppers for a little texture and moisture, but the capers were surprisingly good at filling that role.  I love this stuff, and it really cooks up quickly.  I cut the potatoes first, so they only boil about 10 mins, and I do the eggs way ahead of time.  They're better cold than hot, and I actually like this salad best at room temperature.  And it travels well!  It will be tomorrow's lunch at the office.

I got hungry while I was waiting for the potatoes to cool, so I cooked up some leftover baked eggplant with fresh basil and chili paste.  I REALLY wished I had had coconut milk to cook it in, but no such luck.  It's funny -- I forgot to add salt and pepper, and the first few bites were just so bland.  After I added just a little of each, the whole thing turned around!  I would really love to learn how to season foods appropriately.  I'm very hit or miss.

Dinner was a very delicious and un-photogenic noodle kugel and some super sweet honeydew, a la Mommy.  Just as good the 2nd time around!  I think that one of my favorite add-ins to anything is cooked raisins.  Mmmm plump and juicy.  So good.  Maybe I can snag the recipe for that one?

Conclusion for the day: Working from home gives me more flexibility in terms of being able to wake up late and still go to the gym (I got back to the apt at 8:40, then showered, then bfast, etc. etc.).  I can also cook what I want when I want it, but it's a huge distraction.  And I ended up snacking a lot with my friends Vinny Chase, Lloyd Lee, and Blair Waldorf.  And so, as much as I hate to say it, the office is better.  Back I go. Le sigh.