Note to Self

…. or whoever happens to be reading this. If you have some cooked quinoa lying around and you want to eat something healthy and tasty (so often those are mutually exclusive, at least in my mind…) you could throw a couple handfuls of shredded kale (or any salady green, really) and carrots into a bowl, then heat some coconut oil in a pan and toss in the cooked quinoa, just to warm it up. Once it's warm, scrape it right from the pan into the bowl with the kale and carrots. I threw some raw sunflower seeds and coconut flakes into the pan and toasted them in the coconut oil, and added them into the bowl. I chopped up the half an apple that was in my fridge and added a good heap of goat cheese. Finally, I squeezed copious (always) amounts of lemon and drizzled some olive oil and a little fish sauce (yep) over the whole thing and tossed it all together. Finished it off with a little squeeze of orange for some sweetness (you could definitely do without, I just happened to have it). This went - completely unplanned - from a vague idea for a salad to a bona fide meal in a bowl that is totally healthy (because I just went for my first run in 3 weeks) and light-ish so you won't feel like you need to lie down for the next two hours (not that that ever happens to me).

To be honest, I have not been eating all that well lately. I mean, I eat salad as a meal at least once a week, sometimes more - but I have also been eating pizza at least once a week, sometimes more. There are days when I struggle to think of a vegetable I have consumed in the last 24 hours. Sometimes it's exhaustion (which accounted for both the Chipotle and pizza delivery that I ordered last week), and sometimes it's just circumstantial - I'm out for drinks and end up ordering chips, guacamole, queso fundido (purely hypothetical…) and suddenly that becomes dinner. I believe everything in life ebbs and flows, including my own eating habits, and I'm not one for extremes nor do I think it's productive to rake oneself over the coals for not eating well. I find eating poorly is often a byproduct of something else in my life that is out of balance or requiring attention. But the simple fact is that I FEEL better when I eat better. So I figured I would jot down this little quinoa bowl so I can refer back to it when inspiration is lacking. Really, if you have these things in the refrigerator already, it comes together in about five minutes. Which is a lot quicker than waiting for pizza delivery.

If you wanted to follow this salad with some Jasper Hill Farm Willoughby cheese on warm baguette, that would not be a bad idea at all….

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (I used red quinoa but any kind is fine)
1 tbsp coconut oil
small handful raw sunflower seeds (or any other seed or nut you like)
small handful raw coconut chips
1/2 apple, chopped
juicy piece of goat cheese
couple handfuls of any salad green (I used green kale)
1/4 cup shredded carrots
lemon and/or orange (I used both)
olive oil
Optional: maple syrup and/or minced ginger

Toss the carrots, apple, and salad greens in a bowl. Heat coconut oil in a skillet and toss in the cooked quinoa. Fry it in the coconut oil just until it is warm. Toss it into the bowl with the greens and carrots. Put sunflower seeds or nuts and coconut into skillet and heat just until lightly toasted. Add into bowl. Add the juicy piece of goat cheese and dress with lemon and/or orange (using all orange will make a sweeter dressing), olive oil, and if you wish, a drizzle of maple syrup (for a sweeter dressing) and/or some minced ginger. Dress it immediately so the goat cheese will melt a little bit from the hot quinoa and seeds and the greens will wilt a tiny bit.

Note: Adding ginger to the dressing will give it a delicious spicy kick. I also added fish sauce for a bit of depth (and because I am a weirdo and add fish sauce to most things) but you certainly need not.

Bon appétit!

Breakfast in Bed

This morning's meal is an ode to a clean room. Of which I've spent quite a bit of the last few days bringing order from chaos. Though the comforter did befell the minor setback during the photo shoot of chocolate on the sheets... oh oo whoa oo whoa oh! (simultaneous shout out to Chef Beth)

Pancake with Puss in Boots, in Bed, though not my best work, its safe to say Brilliant nonetheless: Blueberry, chocolate chips, flax, and sunflower seed buckwheat pancakes.... a touch of nutritious wheat and some special kind of uber vegetarian oil (only because the girl who sublet the apartment last summer left it behind and I gotta get rids of it somehow. Yeah, I know, hello January).. Speaking of which any of you peep yesterday's release from Apple? And I'd been hoping for a digital sketchbook.

Side of yougurt, raisons and granola all atop a bed of maple syrup and enough butter to saturate the pancakes like a second skin. The glass at the time filled with OJ was subterfuged during a lost night from Kiki. Always a friend, once a colleague now little more than a memory. I smoke a cigarette while writing this entry and ash in his empty glass.

Cheers foodies... Jahtzee

P.S. Incidentally, though this may be of most interest to those in the ford of hearts: the author of those fairy tales, who was employed as a secretary for Louis 14, began his career in law school...

Gee-ross!

Can I just say ... no wonder my stomach hurts!?!

Breakfast:
coffee, McDonald's bacon egg & cheese biscuit, hash brown.

Lunch: Trader Joe's chocolate croissant, water.

Dinner: Whole Foods white pizza (garlic, olive oil, mozzarella, ricotta, parsley), 4 rolls of tuna and salmon sushi, one whoopie pie (disappointing), small portion of Ciao Bella pistachio gelato. All good things, just NOT. ALL. TOGETHER.

Oy.....

Asian Invasion (Yeah, I Said It)

Dinner, last night: Restaurant week prix fixe at BondSt. Started off with a glass of very mediocre sake (my fault for ordering the cheapest one) at the bar. Sat down, began with a perfectly dressed salad of greens and literally ONE, paper-thin slice of radish, topped with with these very fine, crispy noodles. Followed by steamed, salted edamame. Then, a bento box-like plate with: crispy tempura shrimp glazed in a spicy mayo. Good, but the flavor and bright orange color made reminded me of something I couldn't quite put my finger on--Doritos, perhaps? "Steamed Yuba dumpling" turned out to be chicken "dumpling,"which resembled a small, limp eggroll, and tasted of lukewarm mushed cabbage. Braised hijiki. Half of a salmon-avocado roll, half of a spicy tuna roll--very good. Sliced steak over steamed greens, drizzled with, supposedly, 12-year-old balsamic vinegar.

Elisa had elected for the sea bass, instead, which was out of this world. The most flavorful piece of fish I have ever had--it was positively infused with moisture and sweet miso. Dessert was lychee panna cotta, served with an elegant twist of edible gold and a strawberry-rhubard compote. All washed down with a "sake flight." Three half glasses of complex flavor: one cloudy and citrusy, one with distinct pear overtones, and one more traditional, less fruity, deftly twisting sharp and smooth as it sits in your mouth. I love the idea of a flight; franny's does one with three amaros (or amari, for those Italophiles among us).

Breakfast, this morning: Cornflakes with milk, blueberry green tea.

Snack: Aloha Recipe Early Bird granola

Lunch: Andrea and I hoofed it up to the Chambers Hotel on 56th Street, in which has recently opened a new Momofuku outpost called Ma Peche. They have a $10 lunch special, which includes an entree and a soda. My dish was exemplary: wide rice noodles, rolled up into little noodle-cigars, in a slightly soupy, rich pork ragu, with tender leaves of baby bok-choy, crispy fried onions, lots of saw leaf herb. Diet Coke in a glass with ice, which always makes it more exciting. Andrea got the squid salad, which I only had a tiny bite of, because I didn't want to share mine with her. We shared a Milk Bar peanut butter cookie.

Here's a picture I found on the interweb.


Dinner tonight can't possibly compare, but I am making cacio e pepe, from a recipe in the most recent issue of Cook's Illustrated.

Me Too

I'm with you, Nene!

Breakfast: Cara Cara orange, blueberry green tea
Snack: several handfuls of Early Bird granola, Aloha Recipe. This granola is made by my former manager at franny's and while a bit pricey it is damn good, made with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and toasted coconut, among other ingredients. The Aloha Recipe features macadamia nuts and dried mango.
Lunch: Some homemade vegetarian chili from a Food and Wine recipe. Carrots, peppers, kidney beans, hominy, parsnips, onions, garlic, chili, cumin. Absolutely delicious, especially topped with sour cream and cilantro. I ran out of the brown rice I've been eating it with for the past few days.
Dinner: Will be enjoyed (I hope) at BondSt, for restaurant week. Menu found here, report to come.

Daily Eats

I'm taking this blog back to its beginnings by posting what I eat every day, because it helps me to be more attentive to my eating habits and hold myself accountable for what I actually put in my body. And, since we all know that food is one of my favorite topics of conversation, I hope some of you will also be inspired to comment or post what you are eating in response so that we can share. It's a way of keeping in touch!

Monday is my loooooooong day with six hours of work followed by six hours of class. I literally leave home at 8:30 am and get back at 9:30 pm. Since the semester is just getting started, I'm just beginning to figure out how this is going to work and what kinds of food I can bring to sustain me throughout the day. So, Monday:

Breakfast: coffee, glazed donut stick, banana.
Snack/Lunch: tangerine and half a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Snack: mini-Twix and mini-Milky Way, chex mix.
Dinner: Vegetable soup - a total hodgepodge of vegetables (including potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, celery, parsnip, and carrot greens) with quinoa and soba noodles for bulk and cilantro, lime, and tomatillo salsa for flavor/heat. Sounds bizarre but it was soooo good! And a glorious piece of Whole Foods Seeduction bread rubbed with garlic, topped with Gruyere cheese, and toasted. Heaven.

So far today:
Breakfast: coffee and a mini-donut muffin from a nearby bakery that I just discovered.
Breakfast #2: oatmeal with golden raisins and banana, water.
Lunch: half a smoked turkey and cheddar sandwich on wheat bread with lettuce, avocado, and some SPICY dijon mustard from Trader Joe's. Beware!
Snack: a lemon wafer (from above-mentioned bakery), and some of a chocolate peanut butter brownie (frosted with chocolate icing and peanut butter AND peanut butter chips....oh my) and a chocolate mint brownie (frosted with a layer of mint frosting and a layer of chocolate frosting... OH MY)
Dinner: whole wheat pizza with bbq sauce, spinach, mushrooms, cheese, avocado, and cilantro. Sounds like a flavor explosion, and it was! Oh and a Long Trail.

Sick

Happy Holidays, y'all!

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/12/steamed-fried-cod-milt-kiku-shirako-tachi-recipes.html