Posts from — August 2009

Tonight I made Heidi Swanson’s Arugula Pesto Wheat Berryrecipe and my verdict is “meh.”  My husband’s verdict is two-thumbs-down with a pouty face.  That’s pretty bad.

There’re a few things that were going on here.  I absolutely do not think that this recipe was a dog.  I think I put too much pesto on my wheat berries, for starters.  So if you do make this, go easy at first and add more, which Heidi does encourage you to do.  I just thought the pesto was delicious and so I was in a “if some if good, hell, more is better!” place, and, well, I overdid it.

Second.  I did add the fried seitan, and although I’ve been wanting to like seitan forever now, I just don’t.  The texture is too weird for me – if you’re a seitan lover, put it in and you’ll have a tasty, protein-packed meal.

Third.  Wheat berries are chewy.  They have a great, sort of nutty flavor, but they are work.  I like this, actually, but they are not for everyone – for instance, my poor husband.  I think these pushed him over the edge of his whole-foods tolerance.  He said “I like quinoa soooo much better.”

Fourth.  The pesto.  I love arugula – it’s peppery and fresh.  This pesto is an electric green color, toasty from the pine nuts, zesty from the fresh Parmesan.  I thought it was great.  Husband pronounced it “too green,” both in color and flavor.  I tried some on our daughter’s plain udon noodles and it was terrific.

I’m not giving up on this!  I have the leftovers in the fridge and tomorrow for lunch I’m going to try them again – the flavors will have melded well by then, and if it’s still too much, I might put a mound of wheat berries, etc. on a bed of arugula and eat it that way.  Some chopped tomato might be great with it too. 

I’ll let you know.

For those of you who’ve followed me on Facebook until now, you might remember that my 6-year-old daughter is in love with Giada De Laurentiis.  She will watch “Everyday Italian” with rapt attention, and comment on everything from the food Giada is making (“oooh, I could eat the t.v.!”) to her outfit (“I like Giada’s clothes mom, and her jewelry, and her eye makeup is sparkly today!”).  It’s really very funny.

When I’m not watching with her, L. will often pause the t.v. and run from the room yelling “mom! mom!  you have to come here and SEE this, it’s amazing!”  In which case I have to run in to witness the tasty-looking vittles for myself.

Anyway.  We were watching the “Bake Sale” episode at the end of last week, and amongst the many sweets Giada showcased were these Marscapone Mini Cupcakes- replete with a pink strawberry glaze.  What six-year-old could resist those?

We whipped them up yesterday and they are terrific.  So easy to make (cake mix is easy), light, cute and yes, very pink.  Perfect for a fairy tea party or a princess-palooza of some kind, or just to eat with friends on what was a gorgeous summer Saturday.

Enjoy!

I like a quick lunch.  I’ve got stuff to accomplish, and not much time.  And then there are those days when I want something fancier for lunch, but I don’t want to take the time to go out.  Nothing in the fridge appeals, and I don’t want to make something from scratch – I do a lot of cooking later in the day, right?

This week I found a new solution at Trader Joe’s.  Their frozen Mini Cilantro Chicken Wontons and Chicken Shumai are tasty and not crazy for calories. To prepare them, I put a damp paper towel on a microwave safe plate, add the dumplings and the shumai, and then cover them with another damp paper towel – microwave for 2-3 minutes.  The wetter your towel, the less chance of the wrappers on the wontons getting dry and chewy.

Now folks, I realize that frozen mass-marketed dumplings are a poor cousin of homemade.  But the TJ’s  dumplings are pretty good, and compared to other convenience foods that are loaded with artificial preservatives and ingredients, these are made from relatively wholesome ingredients.  And when you’re feeling lazy but in need of an Asian fix, they’ll meet the need.

There is dipping sauce included with the shumai, but I’ve never tried it – I make my own, very easy sauce and use it on both the shumai and the wontons:

Stir.  Dip.

I also steam up some edamame (did you know you can microwave the shelled beans?  Yes – put them in a Pyrex bowl with a lid, and zap ‘em for a minute.  Stir, zap until tender).  The sauce is good on these, too.

Enjoy!

Ahhh, “balance.”  It means different things to different people, but most of you would probably say you’re continually striving to achieve it, right?  That its state is an ever-elusive destination?  It is for me. I know it when I feel it, but I don’t feel as regularly as I’d like.

I’ve been thinking about balance this week ’cause it’s been a crazy week for me, and yesterday I woke up feeling overwhelmed.  When I’m feeling like that, I try my best to tune in and listen to what I might need to perk me up and chill me out, and yesterday it was to skip working out in the gym and to enjoy the great weather a little bit instead.  So I decided to work in the yard for a while after I did the camp drop-off.

Now, this was not easy for me.  Know this about me, I can get a little bit compulsive about things – you may have guessed this just reading the few entries I’ve posted already.  I’m regimented, dedicated and driven in most things I take on – exercise being one of my biggies.  And when I say “exercise,” I don’t mean a stroll around the block, I mean a heart-pumping, muscle-engaging, sweat-producing ass-kicking workout.  But in the last few months I’ve finally learned that balance in matters related to exercise can be better for me, overall, than killing it every day.

I got here the hard way – again.  I’ve had a series of relatively minor over-use injuries over the years, but since January, I have been dealing with a stubborn case of plantar fasciitis in my left foot, and until recently, I was unable to do any exercise at all that involved my feet.  I had to quit going to my fabulous trainer, who I’d been seeing twice a week.  The arm bike (yawn) was my friend, and even my daily activities had to be very circumscribed.  I was panicked.  I was sure that this would lead me to balloon to proportions I’d never before witnessed.  And you know what?  It didn’t.  I did gain a little weight, and I did spread out a bit from lack of weight training, but I could still wear my clothes . . . albeit with a few extra handles in places they hadn’t been. 

And after doing some soul-searching, what I finally have admitted to myself is that my compulsive exercise ways, although commendable, routinely get me in trouble, and that really what I was doing was abusing my body instead of improving it.  So, in honor of turning 40 recently, I’ve made a resolution.  To take it easier on myself.  To take better care not to pound on my body every single day – each week to incorporate one day of yoga, at least one day of water exercise (have you tried aqua jogging?  It’s a killer workout and zero impact), a little more biking, a little less running.  So I’ll still watch the weight and not allow myself to gain, as I have for the last 18 years, but I’m going to try to stop worrying about the exercise component so much and instead, learn from the experience and move forward in a more gentle way.

I’ve read it before, and I’m reminded of it here again – Pema Chodron has said:

“People get into a heavy-duty sin and guilt trip, feeling that if things are going wrong, that means that they did something bad and they are being punished. That’s not the idea at all . . . you continually get the teachings that you need to open your heart. To the degree that you didn’t understand in the past how to stop protecting your soft spot, how to stop armoring your heart, you’re given this gift of teachings in the form of your life, to give you everything you need to open further.”

Think about it – what freaks you out, what’s going on in your life, and what can it teach you for the future?  Maybe you need to be gentler with yourself, too.

There’s a good article in today’s N.Y. Times about how people who work with food manage their fitness.  Check it out here.

So, a disclaimer . . . these are dishes I haven’t yet tried, but that I’ve flagged in various magazines and on-line.  I’m including links, and I’m going to try to make at least a few in the next week or so.  How ’bout we mix up our routines and expand our repertoires together?  If you try any of these, please post a comment and let everyone know what you tried and how it was!

This delicious Arugula Pesto Wheatberry recipe landed in my in-box today.  If you haven’t checked out Heidi Swanson’s 101 Cookbooks site, get with it!  She is an award-winning, go-to resource for whole food cooking.  There are LOTS of vegetarian options here.

It’s still summer, thank goodness, and many of us love a good burger on the grill.  I flagged this recipe for Grilled Turkey Burgers With Cheddar And Smoky Aioli in August’s Bon Appetit – don’t panic, it’s from their “Fast Easy Fresh” section, so it’s approximately 40 minutes from counter to table – definitely do-able – and you can even make the burgers up to 4 hours ahead and throw ‘em in the fridge ’til you’re ready to grill.  This has one of my favorite ingredients, smoked paprika – I will eat almost anything with smoked paprika in it (that and butter, but that’s for another post).

Also from the August Bon Appetit, a good farmers’ market recipe – Orecchiette With Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes And Garlic Chives.  Instead of the pea-sized mozz. from Trader Joe’s that they suggest, I’d hit up a local farmers’ market and score some uber-fresh mozzarella from Fiore di Nonno Cheese - for the Belmontians reading here, they’re at our market on Thursdays.

Summer’s a great time for super-easy, casual suppers.  Cooking Light’s August issue has a good-looking recipe for a Chicken and Roquefort Sandwich that’d be nice with a cold beer or glass of wine, if you like those sorts of things. Serve it up with some crudites or a quick tossed salad as a side.

More quinoa, please!  Food & Wine’s August issue has a simple Quinoa Salad With Sugar Snap Peas that’d make an interesting side to some grilled tofu or chicken. I’m always looking for new ways to eat quinoa.  This would look especially beautiful if you can find red quinoa.

For a simple, seasonal dessert, the kings of food-porn at Gourmet send our way a delicious-looking Yogurt Cake With Currant Raspberry Sauce - again, don’t get tense, it’s a sheet cake and if you can’t find or don’t want to deal with fresh currants, you can use more raspberries (see Cooks’ Notes in the recipe).  And do you realize how impressed your fans will be when you turn out a from-scratch cake?  They really are worth the effort.  Trust me on this.

Forgive me, people, I keep forgetting to send out an alert on this!

Mark Bittman will be in residence on Chowhound’s Home Cooking board for the week starting Monday, August 3, responding to questions about cooking and his new book, Kitchen Express, which focuses on quick, easy, flexible recipes.  FYI, Kitchen Express looks great, and they have it at Costco right now . . . had to talk myself out of buying it last week (do you realize how many cookbooks I have?  I have a problem.).

For those of you unfamiliar with him, Mark Bittman is known for his no-nonsense style and his simple, approachable recipes. In addition to his award-winning cookbooks How to Cook Everything and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, he also writes “The Minimalist” column and the blog “Bitten” for the New York Times.

Here’s the link to the thread.  Enjoy!

On Monday night we took friends from Toronto to Picco, in the South End.  Have you been?  If you haven’t, you should go . . . especially now while the weather is nice . . . ’cause you can eat outside on their front patio and watch the parade of peeps and pooches go by.

Picco emphasizes fresh, seasonal, housemade ingredients.  They make their own soup stocks, sauces, sausage, meatballs, salad dressings, ice cream, and baked desserts on site, and their pizza dough is divine - they use a slow, cold rising and fermentation process to make it, which allows the dough to develop a wonderful structure a very rich, toasty flavor.  I actually think it’s the best I’ve had, anywhere.

“Picco” stands for Pizza & Ice Cream Company, and while there are a few other things on Picco’s menu, I’d say those items are the standouts.  Their salads are nice, fresh and simple.  The warm spinach salad with bacon is always a hit, as is the minimalist but satisfying arugula salad with Parmigiano Reggiano, lemon juice and olive oil, which we ordered Monday.

For a starter, we also ordered the Caprese Bruschetta, with local cherry tomatoes in basil oil, tiny slivers of red onion, Lioni fresh mozzarella and balsamic vinaigrette.  I’m assuming it was made on Clear Flour Bakery bread, as Picco’s sandwiches are all made with Clear Flour loaves and rolls.  The bruschetta was delicious – bread was toasty from the oven, slathered with nice olive oil, topped with the fresh toppings.

We ordered our absolute, to-die-for favorite on the pizza list:  the Alsatian, Picco’s pizza-fied version of a tarte flambe.  This creamy, crispy disk of deliciousness is covered in sautéed onions, shallots, garlic, creme fraiche, bacon and Gruyere cheese.  It is rich.  It is luscious.  The saltiness of the bacon offsets all the butteriness of the creme fraiche and Gruyere.  The onions add flavor, but no harsh bite.  I know it’s a lot of ingredients, but as our friend raved, “mmm, they all just work so well together.”   I’m salivating now, just writing about it.

Ice cream is the star of the dessert menu, and they also have a selection of sorbets. There are various ice-creamy drink desserts, a brownie sundae and so forth, but the dessert I love the most is the warm gingerbread cake.  It’s the real deal – made from scratch with real ginger and served with raspberry sauce (which I actually do not like – I get it on the side), whipped cream and a scoop of their fabulous ice cream.

And here’s the really interesting and fun thing about Picco – it is a perfect kid-friendly destination (and you will have company even if you’re there at 5 p.m. on a Saturday night), but it is also a place you and your adult friends would like to meet, later-night, for some delicious informal food in a fun neighborhood.  How many places can boast that versatility?

Get all the specifics here.