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So the last time I posted something new, I was getting ready to go back to Buenos Aires. Hope you weren't expecting me to keep up the blog while I was enjoying some summer weather in February :)
I've also been cooking a lot of my older recipes, so I don't have as much new material for the blog. But I have a file full of pictures, and I'm going to start chipping away at them... I just hope I can remember the recipes :)
Ready? Here we go.
I got a juicer, as a gift.. thank you (you know who you are).
The juicer is perfect for when I go out of town because I can juice all the produce left in my fridge and not let anything go to waste. I've been going out of town a lot.. so the little juicer has proved it's worth already.
When I'm not making random I'm-leaving-town juices, I like to make a version of Main Squeeze's "ginger tonic."
Celery
Apple
Lemon
Ginger
Carrot
I'm not going to put amounts, because I change it up depending on my mood. Don't be afraid. There's no wrong way. :)
Sometimes I add other things.. like kale, parsley, beets, oranges, or pineapple. Anything goes...
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.
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.
Sorry for the lack of posts, so prepare for a little flood here. Lately, I've been traveling, and cooking a lot of dishes that I've already posted. And, I don't feel the same pride after "creating" a "new" dish, that I used to. Now, it's just cooking. It's still fun and delicious, of course, but it's become... normal. Nothing to "blog" about.
So what, I take whatever is fresh and in season, and I use some olive oil or schmaltz, heat it up in my iron skillet, sauté the veggies with a little salt and whichever spices I feel like, and maybe I add a little homemade broth to steam them too. Big deal.
BIG DEAL? It's delicious. And when I look back, not even a whole two years ago, it's such a huge change in my life, that it deserves some recognition. I'm patting myself on the back, publicly. I know :) Thanks for reading my blog. Hope it's been as enjoyable for you to read as it has been for me to create.
Photo: Sautéed maitake mushroom, onion, and spinach.
Photo 1: Deborah Madison's Lentil Soup with cumin, cilantro, and chard. Just as I made it before.. straight from her cookbook. But this time, I used chard instead of kale. It was delicious.
Photo 2: I can make this soup last longer, I thought. (I'm going through an intense frugal period in life. Only spending money on traveling.. if I can help it. And at this rate - it looks as though I will travel until there is none left. Time is more difficult to get than money, I think.)
Anyway! I added chicken broth and rice to the soup.. and it was quite delicious. The taste kind of reminded me of stuffed grape leaves. Probably because of the lemon juice.
I don't really have restaurant reviews for my town in Missouri. Guess I should start! Here are a couple photos from Bleu. I think some of their meat and produce is locally grown.. but the place isn't what I would call an organic-y restaurant. It's just a nice restaurant. There aren't many things I can order there.. but I succeeded with with side of sautéed brussel sprouts (san the bacon) and their signature fish tacos (san the grilled taco and the crème fraiche). Pan-seared cod, spicy Asian slaw, avocado puree, mango relish and honey chili sauce. Yum!!
Just days after returning from the southern hemisphere.. I was in a nostalgic mood, and concocted this salad with my aunt Allie. One thing I found interesting was, in Argentina, carrots were almost always eaten in the grated form, and usually in a salad. They were always very finely grated there.. and it makes me want to get a special blade for my food processor.
Here's what we threw together:
We had no hearts of palm, but we had artichoke hearts.. and quartered them
Grated carrots
Random salad mix from the fridge, which included celery and little broccoli trees
Sprouts of some kind
And an avocado that was too mushy to cut, so we each got a half to spoon ourselves.
Dressing: Olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and a pinch of salt
My aunt's kitchen is a fun place.. later that night I got to help as she made some salve for her organic and super healing skin care line, madre tierra. It's still in the works - as far as getting products on shelves in different shops - but if you're interested in ordering things from her, just contact her through the website :)
For the first couple of weeks, my cooking in Buenos Aires was pretty simple. Mostly just sautéed, or steamed veggies pared with leftovers from one of the many restaurants my grandparents and I visited. During the month there, I missed my friends back home.. but when I was in the kitchen, I missed my knives. Maybe I'll travel with them like a real chef next time I go. I see it causing a problem at the airport though...
One day I found rice paper and rice noodles at a Chinese market and decided to make spring rolls! But.. they didn't turn out the way I wanted. So I decided it would be better to try to make new food, as to not let down my expectation-ful taste buds.
My view from Deby's.
After a visit with Deby, my personal guide into milonga* land, I went to lunch at a place she recommended. Spring Restaurante is a vegetarian place in Palermo, Buenos Aires. The food was surprisingly good for a buffet, and the price is 30 pesos for all you can eat. (Including dessert.. which I decided to leave for another trip.) So in dollars.. that's about $7.50 with the current exchange rate. :)
As I was bringing my mountain of food back to the table, (avocado, fresh greens, steamed carrots and mushrooms, hearts of palm, lentil salad, and rice noodles) another couple stopped to look at my plate. "Wow, we should eat like that," they said (in spanish). It was a nice compliment... I didn't even realize that my new-ish healthy eating habits had become second nature.
*Milonga is the term for a place or an event where tango is danced.
In the beginning of my 1 month in Argentina, it was a little difficult adjusting to the food situation. Luckily, I stayed in a nice apartment with a usable kitchen. The vegetables all tasted different, of course.. and so did the olive oil, the salt.. and even the different water made me miss the taste of home. I got over it, don't worry :) But when I found this little place downtown during my first week there, I was so excited! I think I missed organic-y people.
PuraVida Juice Bar is on Reconquista, at Tucumán. They serve salads, sandwiches, wraps, muffins, juices, smoothies, and wheatgrass. I enjoyed their Todo Verde Salad: organic mixed greens, avocado, parsley, alfalfa sprouts, green onion, celery, and cucumber, with a tahini based dressing. And, the drink I went back for, a few different times, was the anti-resfrío: made with pineapple, apple, ginger, and wheatgrass.
I'm no scientist - but I'm pretty sure wheatgrass is gluten free. Incase you were wondering.
Follow Your Heart is a sweet little, well, not that little, vegetarian health food shop and cafe in Canoga Park, California. If I'm in LA and need a specialty health food or supplement or medicine, or anything item - I can find it at this place. In the back of the store is a cramped (not because it's small, but because it's crowded) café. They had a gluten free menu.. which I'm pretty sure is becoming more and more popular, even in non-healthy restaurants. I had the wok stir fry, of fresh vegetables and organic tofu, stir fried with garlic, ginger and tamari on a bed of brown rice.
A little while later, my aunt and I ventured to Juicy Ladies.. a cute little place on Ventura in Woodland Hills. They serve lunch, snacks, desserts, juices, and smoothies. I had them make my favorite juice of red apple, celery, ginger, and lemon (the ginger tonic from Main Squeeze) and my aunt got a carrot.. apple, ginger, lemon? I can't remeber now.. but they were delicious. Don't let the tasteless logo throw you off.. the food at this place is great. :)
Chicken broth + sautéed summer squash, carrots, onions, and kale + leftover kasha(buckwheat) made this meal in my parent's backyard a loving and nourishing treat.
I haven't been doing much cooking for other people lately.. Just quick-ish meals for myself, meals with one dish. I'm getting ready to go on a 6 week trip to Los Angeles and Buenos Aires.. so I've been working a lot, and not focusing my energy on pretty entrées.
1. Sautéed leek, tempeh, and spinach in olive oil with gluten free tamari sauce. Add leaks to heated oil, then add the tempeh and tamari, then a little water and the spinach leaves (so they will steam a bit).
2. Spinach salad with avocado, tempeh, and red onion. Dressing: olive oil, flax seed oil, lemon juice, honey, and a tiny pinch o'salt.
Sorry for the lack of posts lately.. I've been out of town a couple more times, and when I do make meals at home - they have been really really simple. Sautéed, steamed, or roasted veggies. In olive oil. I added a bit of soy back into my diet now, mainly through tempeh and soy sauce.. but in this case I ran out of tempeh and had a block of tofu that needed using up.
This dish is everything green: (1-2 servings)
1/2 of one zucchini sliced
1 handful of okra, sliced
1/4-1/2 of one leek, sliced
1 handful of spinach
1 small serving of tofu, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp curry powder
pinch of salt
Sauté the zucchini, okra, and leek in 1 tbsp olive oil. Cover a few minutes. Add the curry powder, salt, and the rest of the oil. Let sauté a few more minutes. Add the tofu, then a little water if it's sticking to the pan, and top with the spinach. Cover and let steam. Then, once spinach is to your liking, serve :)
I just got home from camping this weekend.. and luckily it was way more comfortable and enjoyable than the last camping trip I blogged about :) We enjoyed swordfish kabobs (again) and I brought a whole bunch of soaked and dehydrated walnuts, fresh peaches and nectarines, some buckwheat cookies, and some dried fruit. The weather was perfect and we basically had the camp grounds to ourselves. But in the end, I still missed my kitchen.. here's the first thing I made when I got home.
Okra Maitake Soup - Makes 2 bowls (or 3-4 small servings)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1/3 cup dried maitake mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes in about 2/3 cup lukewarm water (keep the water)
1 handful of okra, washed and cut into pieces
1 handful of spinach leaves
1 small serving of tempeh(and brand of kind you like), cut into cubes
1 cup chicken broth (or veggie broth
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
Soak maitake mushrooms in lukewarm water for about 30 minutes and save the water.
Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté onions for a few minutes, then add the okra and sauté a few minutes more. Add the tamari and then about 1/3 cup of the chicken broth with the spinach leaves and the tempe. Let steam for a couple minutes. Finally add the mushrooms and their soaking water and the rest of the chicken broth. Cook until thourouly heated and serve :)
Enjoy!
I didn't feel like eating much of a dinner yesterday - so this is what I made. Simple and delicious, but can you ever go wrong with a whole lot of garlic?
zucchini, speared
olive oil
garlic, minced, a lot of it
savory
salt, just a pinch
Oven! 350. Mix oil, garlic, savory and salt in a bowl. Toss zucchini spears in mixture and place in a safe baking dish. Cook in oven for around 30 minutes. Then enjoy :)
So the last time I posted something new, I was getting ready to go back to Buenos Aires. Hope you weren't expecting me to keep up the blog while I was enjoying some summer weather in February :)
I got a juicer, as a gift.. thank you (you know who you are).
Sometimes I add other things.. like kale, parsley, beets, oranges, or pineapple. Anything goes...
