restaurant review - urban solace. and my visit to san diego

1. I got the quinoa burger at Urban Solace in San Diego. No bun, cheese, or fries of course.. so I got sautéed mushrooms, half of an avocado, and a side of greens instead. That's how I usually replace everything on the menu. It's getting easier! Anyway, it was delicious, and I'd recommend that beautiful restaurant to anyone :)

2. What was I doing in San Diego? Visiting my cousin! And, I decided.. that I like it there.

3. For dinner later that night, we made:
- Roasted butternut squash: oven! 350. Cut squash into pieces, top generously with cinnamon and honey. 45 mintues.
-Monkfish: oven! 350. cubed. marinated in lemon juice and olive oil. sprinkled with red pepper and other spicy things. 20 minutes.
-Roasted veggies: oven! 350. Brussels sprouts, zucchini, mushrooms, and onion. Tossed in evoo, with salt, pepper, and herbs. 45 minutes.

4. Taking the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak back to LA. A beautiful, beautiful train ride.

'twas a sweet, rare day of leftovers

I was in LA for the holidays, and my siblings were in town too (this is rare). The three of us were at home (also rare) so I whipped up a little lunch. And we all ate the same thing (rare) together, in a row on the couch.

We had some leftover cedar smoked salmon on a bed of lettuce with leftover some brown rice and sautéed onions. :) Yum.

grilled veggies and swordfish

I've been in St Louis just about every weekend that I'm in Missouri.. for? Tango dancing, of course. But I don't drive 4 hours just to dance.. I also get to make yummy dinners with my friend Kelly :) Here was our meal a couple weeks ago. Marinated and grilled swordfish kabobs, grilled mushroom kabobs, and foil wrapped grilled asparagus.

I know I've posted about grilled swordfish before - but now you don't have to search for the old post.

1 swordfish steak per person, cut into cubes
Marinated in white wine with honey. We didn't measure out the marinade.. but as long as the cuts of fish are covered.. you should be fine. For a sweeter meal, add more honey... for less sweetness.. you know what to do.

Wipe (not wash) with a damp cloth, the mushrooms clean. Then toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and.. that's it. Put on kabobs and grill.

We prepared the asparagus in the same way - evoo, salt, pepper.. and wrapped them in a foil pouch.

The veggies need more time than the fish.. so in the meanwhile, set the table because grilling doesn't take too long!

restaurant review - la posada

So, there is this restaurant, La Posada.. that was 3 blocks from my apartment in Buenos Aires, and I went there a bunch. I think the kitchen was open til around 1am.. so, as long as you got there before midnight, they'd serve you anything on the menu. Quite the shock I had when landing at the St Louis airport at 11pm and only having 1 option for dinner.. on a Friday night! In a city! (besides fast food anyway.. which.. isn't an option.)

Back to the story. They would start by bringing six little ramekins, each with different appetizers. Sometimes liver pâté, or a fruit jam, or a cucumber salad, or steamed carrots with garlic, or potatoes.. and I'd always be able to enjoy at least one of them. Don't you love the wooden plates? I have to say.. I miss them.
The food here was delicious. The salad.. the salmon.. the skirt steak..

After dinner, I'd usually leave my family early, and catch a cab to a milonga for a night full of tango dancing. sigh....
Honestly, it's too late for me to be awake (in the United States, anyway. In Buenos Aires, my night would just be beginning) so I'm going to cut this short, and stop blogging for the night.

Buenas noches.

veggie cod bake - a picnic :)

The weather is starting to get cool.. and bearable. So I enjoyed my dinner at the park just across from my house :) Yummy, filling, healthy, about $10 for 2 dinners, and all in 1 dish - this meal is common in my house. (Cutting down on dishes is important if one doesn't have a dishwasher!)

Oven! 350.
About 1 lb cod
2 tbsp Lemon juice
2 tbsp Olive oil
2-4 carrots, peeled and cut
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 crown broccoli, cut into little trees
2 tbsp fresh parsley and thyme
couple pinches of sea salt

First marinate the fish in lemon juice and olive oil in a baking dish. In the meanwhile, preheat the oven and prepare the vegetables. Toss the carrots into the dish and sprinkle the fish with salt, then cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.

Take the fish out of the oven, cover it in the fresh herbs, and add the onion and broccoli. Then recover it with foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!!

salmon and mango chutney with a view

While pet sitting at my uncle's house, my boyfriend made me this delicious dinner, of cedar smoked salmon with mango chutney.
Here's how he made the seriously amazing mango chutney:

1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped
1/2 1 leek, sliced and sautéed in olive oil with salt
1 big handful of cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix and mash all ingredients together and enjoy on just about anything!

cashew cheese and my new favorite snack

Cashew cheese recipe here. It was was too salty for my tongue. So.. be careful! And salt to taste.

This is my new favorite snack: red grapes and lox :) mmm.

Lox. cashew cheese. chives... Fancy! This is really missing a cracker or some bread. Seriously. Or a bagel! Anna! No! That was your old life...

feast!! there was a cod sale

The sea food counter man said he'd give Molly and I a low price on the cod if we bought 3 pounds of it. So we did :) (only 2 lbs are shown in the photo!) And we thought we'd have more leftovers than we did.. but it was a feast, after all.

Mexican spiced cod: Oven! 350.
cod
cilantro
cumin, ground
smoked paprika
lemon juice
olive oil

Place cod in a baking dish with lemon juice and olive oil. Make sure the dish is an appropriate size for the amount of fish you have, this way you can use less olive oil and lemon juice, and the fish will still be surrounded by plenty of liquid.

Sprinkle fish with spices and bake for 20-30 minutes depending on the amount of fish you have. It should flake apart with a fork easily.

Our feast was accompanied with a yellow squash and a green onion, chopped and sautéed with herbs of all kinds and more random spices from my spice collection.

SURPRISE!

It just so happens that in Minneapolis lives one of the allergic hedonist's biggest fans! Since I was randomly in her town, my friends and I decided to surprise her and her family with a dinner party! (We set it all up before hand with her husband of course) My friends in the 1st photo (Jenn, Erin, myself, and Parker - the photographer) showed up with bags of groceries and an ice cream maker and introduced ourselves at the front door.

Once all the introductions were made, and the hand painted aprons bestowed, 14 hands got to work in the kitchen making swordfish kabobs, wild rice with almonds and currants (I started soaking the rice that morning), and a Minneapolis inspired dessert, Mini-Raw-Ha's.

We made the same kabobs that I made on my camping trip (but oh so comfortable this time!) Swordfish marinated in wine and honey, with mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, and red onion.

For the wild rice:
2 cups rice
4 cups water
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp olive oil
a bunch of herbs, fresh or dried.
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup currants

Soak the rice in 4 cups of warm water plus the lemon juice for 7 hours in a pot. Then bring to a boil, skim the top, reduce heat and stir in the salt, oil, and some of the herbs. Without removing lid, cook over lowest possible heat for about 45 minutes. Once the rice is done, add some more fresh herbs, and toss in the almonds and the currents. Done :)

A few days before the big surprise, Parker took Jenn and I to see the Minnehaha Falls. That is pretty much the only connection between the Mini-Raw-Ha's and Minneapolis, other than the fact that we created it there :)

A Mini-Raw-Ha is a single serving dessert. (I guess a Raw-Ha would be the same thing but in a pie dish, that people would share) So, begin with little bowls, or coffee cups, or ramekins. Then add the crust (coarsely processed dates, walnuts, and coconut flakes) to the bottom of the dish. The next layer is thinly sliced apples (as many as you want) sprinkled with ground nutmeg.

Ice cream is next: We had two frozen ice cream maker bowls (thanks to Parker's mom!) and made two different flavors.
1. cinnamon honey ice cream: 1 can whole coconut milk, 1 banana, 1/4 cup honey, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla.
2. chocolate mint ice cream: 1 can whole coconut milk, 1 banana, 1/4-1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 tsp vanilla, handful of fresh mint leaves finely chopped.
Place ingredients in a blender or food processor then follow your ice cream maker's instructions.

Lastly, we topped the Mini-Raw-Ha's with blueberries. Have fun making this recipe your own raw dessert by adding, subtracting, multiplying, or completely changing the layers. Desserts prepared in personal sized dishes are great, because then you don't have to worry about someone else (I'll use myself as an example) taking more than their fair share :)

Enjoy! And thank you to Cathy and her family for letting us into their home and sharing this amazing meal with us, and to Parker for the b-e-a-utiful photos!

jews don't go camping, but I tried (a swordfish kabob recipe)

I just went on a camping trip.. just a short 2 night-er, and only a 3 hour car ride away. Lets just say, it didn't go like we planned. First we couldn't find our campsite.. and drove around lost for an hour (in the pouring rain). By the time we found it, it was getting dark, and had just stopped pouring, so we had to set up in a dark drizzle. I was prepared for a gourmet camping experience, so there was a lot of food prep to be done - well, it wasn't actually a lot for what I'm used to, but it felt like it because I was outside of my comfort zone/kitchen.

On the second day we woke up to sunshine, and we set up a hammock, which was pretty much exactly how I imagine heaven. We went fishing, and fed the fish instead of ourselves.. then went for a walk in a different part of the campground. Across the bridge came wandering toward me a little gray kitten.. and then another.. and then another! Some one had just dumped them there, I even saw the shady white van drive away. :( We had to take them with us, or they'd be tasty little owl snacks, so back to our campsite we went.

Then the temperature dropped.. and the rain started coming down again. We tried to stick it out - eating our roasted veggies under a little covering.. but the rain started coming at us from all directions, so we snatched up the kittens and all sat in the car playing rummikub for an hour. When it looked like it would never stop pre-tornado style pouring (which of course it did soon after), we left for a motel. We hid the kittens in the bathtub for the night, and got as many phone numbers for animal shelters in the area. Turns out kittens get dumped all the time in those parts, and no one wanted any. :(

The next day, we cleaned up our poor post-storm camp site, and took the kittens with us all the way home. I set them up in a tent in the shade on my downstairs neighbor's front porch, and tried to keep them happy for two more days. Then thanks to craigslist, I found a family with two little girls, who happily took them off my hands. I must say, that I miss them a little bit, but it's nice to have my life back, with one less responsibility. Ready for the photos? Keep scrolling down for the mouthwatering swordfish kabob recipe.

Swordfish kabob recipe:
I'm not sure is swordfish is one of those sustainable, Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified, kinds of fish.. But incase it's not - I don't eat it that often. Maybe once a year. But now that I know how deliscious this is.. it may be hard to wait another year. Anyone know about swordfish? Is it ok? Ok. Here's the recipe already.

2 tbsp honey
1 cup dry white wine
1-2 lbs swordfish steaks
cherry, or mini pear tomatoes
1 bell pepper, color of your choosing, seeded and cut into 1" squares
1 small red onion, cut into 1" chunks
as many mushrooms as your want (don't be shy)
olive oil (or oil blend - of coconut, olive, and sesame) for brushing over kabobs
salt and pepper
long wooden skewers, soaked in water for 20 minutes (or metal skewers)

Prep fire or preheat gas grill. Mix the honey and wine in a bowl. Cut the fish into 1.5" cubes and add to the bowl, turn, coat, and let stand at room temp for 20 minutes. (Make sure to soak the wooden skewers at this time too).

Then drain the fish. To make the kabobs, alternate threading the tomatoes, peppers, onion, mushrooms, and fish. Brush the threaded kabob with oil, then top with salt and pepper.

Place kabobs on grill, over direct heat and cook.. turning occasionally, until the fish is opaque all the way through. Enjoy!!

friends+farm+feast - and 2 recipes

I totally shouldn't be blogging right now. Sorry other jobs of mine.. this.. is important.
Here are some photos from a trip out to my friend Paul's farm. We feasted, of course, on salmon with fennel and apple salsa, watermelon, basil cucumber and tomato salad, and on Paul's home made pickles. They are my favorite pickles ever. Better than Bubbies, and better than the ones at the Carnegie Hall Deli in NYC.

1. freshly picked cucumbers and tomatoes
2. salad made from fresh cucumber, tomato, and basil.. with a little oil salt and pepper.
3. salmon with fennel and apple salsa
4. here's the recipe: (thank you Williams-Sonoma fish cookbook)

For the salsa:
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped, fronds reserved for garnish
1 granny smith apple, cored and diced
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

For the fish:
4 salmon fillets (or 1.5 lbs of salmon)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp honey (they say sugar.. but they're so silly)
1/4 cup bbq sauce.. (I use a super organic and healthy brand.. or you can make your own)
2 tbsp fennel seeds plus extra for garnish

Step 1. Make salsa by combining all salsa ingredients. Cover and set aside.

Step 2. Prep fire in charcoal grill or preheat gas grill. Score the skin side with 2 shallow crisscross cuts. In a large bowl, stir together 1/2 cup lemon juice, honey, and bbq sauce. Add salmon, turn to coat, and let stand for only 10 minutes.

Step 3. Just before cooking salmon, through 2 tbsp of fennel seeds onto the coals. Lift salmon from marinade (and save the drips and the left over marinade!) Lay salmon on the grill over direct heat and cook until browned on 1st side (~5 minutes). Using a wide metal spatula, turn and cook on the 2nd side until opaque throughout (~3 minutes longer).

Step 4. Spoon salsa onto individual plates or serving platter. Lay fish on salsa. In a small sauce pan, boil reserved marinade for 2 minutes. Pour over salmon, garnish with fennel seeds and fronds, and serve.


Back to the photos:
5. One of the shelters on Paul's farm
6. Enjoy!

dinner tonight

1. Peach guacamole + rice chips, salmon burger + tomato and red onion, on arugula and other salad greens, and some perfectly ripe, you-can-smell-it-through-the-rind-cantaloupe.
-The Guac = 2 avocados, 1 tomato - seeded and diced, 1/2 yellow onion - diced, a few cloves of garlic - minced, fresh cilantro - chopped, lime and lemon juice, salt
-The Salmon burger (is store bought! AH! shoot me. It wasn't very good.. I learned my lesson.. I was just so curious!)

2. Mushrooms + olive oil + rosemary + garlic, all in some foil and put on the grill :) yummy

3. Local strawberries + dark dark chocolate.

baked salmon steaks with capers

Serves 2-4
Gather:
4 fresh salmon steaks
1 yellow onion, diced
2 lemon, (one cut into wedges, the other for juicing before serving)
as many capers as you're into
salt and pepper
1/4 cup-ish olive oil

Prep:
Oven! 350.
Wash and dry the salmon
In a glass baking dish, mix the olive oil and the onions.
Place salmon on top and sprinkle with salt and pepper, and rub in the olive oil.
Add the capers, and lemon wedges around the salmon, and squeeze the lemon juice from 1 lemon over the dish.
Cover with top or foil, and cook for 30 minutes.
Done. Serve . Enjoy :)

cilantro lime cod

I didn't get a clear photo of the fish after it was done cooking.. It's too difficult to make everyone wait while I take the perfect picture for the blog. Here's how I've been preparing my fish lately..

You'll need:
cod, or other white fish.. ok, or maybe any fish.
olive oil
lime juice
garlic
cumin
salt & pepper
and fresh cilantro (yeay spring and fresh herbs!)

I prepared this dish for a barbecue, so it's shown in foil.. but you can also bake it in a baking dish.

So.. pour olive oil and lime juice all over the fish. Rub on plenty of fresh garlic, cumin, salt and pepper, then sprinkle with some cilantro (save some cilantro to garnish with after it's cooked)
Either cover the pan with foil and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or wrap in foil and barbecue for 30-40 minutes.

Enjoy!!

simple salmon

If you're not comfortable cooking fish yet.. please just try this recipe. It's too easy.

Ingredients:
wild caught salmon
lemon juice
olive oil
salt & pepper
fresh rosemary

Oven! 350. Pour lemon juice and olive oil over salmon generously in a baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and rosemary. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes (well.. ok, this depends on the amount of fish and the size of your oven. (I have a small oven and cooked almost 1 lb of salmon.)
Done :) Serve with something green.. like steamed asparagus.. mm

last minute dinner parties & vegan chocolate mousse

I invited a friend and she invited a friend and then he invited a friend.. and before I knew it there were 6 people coming! This is a big deal in my tiny attic apartment. We had such a healthy meal - totally put together at the last minute. (besides the vegan mousse.. mmmmm. which I will get to at the end). We roasted a couple spaghetti squash. One probably would've been enough, but I'm enjoying the leftovers. I made some couscous (for my guests.. just in case there wasn't enough food)! There was sauteed zucchini, onion, and red bell pepper with lemon pepper and salt, and another pan full of sauteed mushrooms, kale, and garlic. We also baked some ocean perch in olive oil and lemon juice.. Besides the couscous - it was a hunt + gather dinner party :) Which is getting to be easier and easier as I become more comfortable with the ingredients.
Now for dessert.. the only part I made in advance. This recipe is a take on the Spunky Coconut's pudding.

The Spunky Coconut says, "A word about this pudding: It is so healthy. I made this video about the ingredients in this pudding, which are full of essential fatty acids, omega 3 & 6, plus protein, iron, zinc, magnesium, and antioxidants. Raw-inspired & vegan to boot :-)"

Allergic Hedonist style:

1 can organic coconut milk (not "light")

1/2 cup water

3 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp hemp seeds

3 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder

1/2 a banana (or a full one.. I only had 1/2 a banana left)
2 tbsp honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

Puree.

Refrigerate about 8 hours (or more). The last two hours I moved it to the freezer.

Then puree it again.. (I added vegan chocolate chips to this part.. for a little extra chocolate and sweetness)

I need to make this again so I can take a nicer photo... or so I can eat it again :) Enjoy!