The Wine-y Tomato

Oakland Getting Hyphy (also: Turkey Burgers)

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:33:00 +0000

Oakland is an exciting place to be right now. Not only are we in the spotlight of the Occupy movement right now (If you don't know what I'm talking about*, just google "Occupy Oakland," and read up on what's been happening here lately. And if you're marching/striking/occupying as I type this, please stay safe**), but about two weeks ago, we had two nicely unsettling earthquakes in one day. The first happened while my coworkers and I were in a meeting, and everyone promptly scooted away from the table in preparation to jump underneath it if the earthquake got bigger / continued. Glad to know we were all on the same page there. The second earthquake apparently heard me discussing the first one with my roommate when I came home from work that evening, and as if to say "Ha, that was nothing," shook my apartment building with enough force that I'm now convinced that when/if "the big one" comes along, I will not be anywhere near my apartment.

We had another, smaller quake, a few days ago (on my mom's birthday, actually) around 5 in the morning. It woke me out of what had been, up until that point, a very peaceful and deep sleep. However, I had to send my boyfriend the link to earthquake.usgs.gov later that day to prove that it actually happened*** and it wasn't just a big truck rolling by or the upstairs neighbors stomping around, because he slept.straight.through it. Go figure. My mom informed me that my dad used to do the same thing when they lived in Southern California and earthquakes happened in the middle of the night. "What earthquake?"

Of course Facebook blows up with people going crazy every time there's a significant earthquake, but perhaps my favorite favorite favorite earthquake update of the day read as follows (name left out in the interest of not invading anyone's privacy:

‎....of course i'm trying to put eyeliner on when the entire building decides to go hyphy.

October 20 at 2:50pm · · 3

Follow the asterisks**** at the end of this post if you don't know what hyphy means, but for now let's just say that it's a totally accurate description. Both my office building and apartment building decided to go hyphy for those quakes. Let's just hope the the next time Oakland goes hyphy, I'm not in my apartment building, because I'm now pretty sure that it's not earthquake safe.

Even with all the crazy, I'm still finding time to cook yummy things, and especially so when I'm having a crazy day and know my boyfriend is too. It just makes everything better to come home to a home-cooked meal, right? One of my boyfriend's staples when he is cooking for himself (which has earned him the nickname "The Carnivore" from me), is to buy some ground beef and slap together a big, greasy burger. Or I guess I should make the plural - burgers. Dude eats 2 burgers at a time, 3 if he's hungry. I wish I were kidding. So recently I decided that if I made a delicious turkey burger, I could get him to switch up that routine a little - and guess what? These were so filling (in a healthy way) that he only ate one.

(more after the jump)

I realized that I had never really made a turkey burger in planning these, so I went with common sense and cobbled together a recipe from several other various sources - one of which was my mom, who informed me that she mixes the ground turkey with Fantastic World Foods' Nature Burger - a dry veggie burger mix. D'oh. I didn't feel like tracking down a box of Nature Burger, and I'm trying to steer myself away from soy somewhat, so I improvised. The thing about making turkey burgers is that ground turkey can be dry and bland, so I wanted to add plenty of moisture, texture, and flavor to make these into something that The Carnivore would actually eat. So to start with, I added a healthy handful of this:

That is gremolata, and while it's nothing more than a finely diced mixture of garlic, lemon zest, and parsley, it adds a huge kick of flavor. Life lessons y'all: Garlic will never disappoint you.

I decided to kick up the veggie factor by also adding finely chopped onion and celery, and grated carrot. The Carnivore was not happy to see that I was adding carrots - he friggin' HATES carrots (unless I sneak them into something, which I was trying to do here until he came into the kitchen and saw the mixing bowl...*sigh*). But it was too late, the carrots were already in the bowl, so that was that. I also added an egg and a splash of milk for moisture and binding, and panko bread crumbs for more binding and texture (the cashier at Trader Joe's when I was buying ingredients for this meal: "You're not going to coat the ground turkey in panko, are you?!"):

I know no one really wants to see a picture of a bowl of raw ground turkey, but I took a picture so here it is anyway - what the mixture looks like after you smush it together with your hands (yes, your hands, don't be a wimp):

The rest is pretty simple: form a few burger patties and drop them into a pan (preferably one with deep sides for minimal splattering) pre-heated with oil:

Cook until browned on the bottom, flip, and cook until finished. Top with cheese (optional, obviously, but I wanted to make sure The Carnivore would forget that there were carrots involved):

Oh, I made some roasted beets, too. I forgot about them in the oven and pretty much ruined them with overcooking, but we ate them anyway. Here they are all pretty pre-oven:

And guess what? The Carnivore actually liked the inclusion of carrots once he tasted what turned out to be literally the best turkey burger anyone has ever had. Juicy, super tasty, veggie-packed and filling (after only *one*). Final score: Carrots - 1, Picky Eating Habits - 0.

*Here is some info on Occupy Oakland, but really, do you live in a cave?
**Stay safe! Here's how.
***There was an earthquake at 5 a.m. October 27th, I'm not crazy, REALLY.
****Hyphy. Also: Hyphy.

Pasta as far as the eye can see

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 00:40:00 +0000

My CSA box had really bad timing this month. It showed up at the front door of my building as usual, and at the time I expected, and with a little bit of a discount because they messed up last time and left out a few items which were on the list. Really guys - Farm Fresh to You is awesome (I've raved about them before) and their customer service kicks ass. If you need fresh and tasty produce delivered to you weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, these are the people you need to talk to.

The bad timing was based on the fact that the box showed up a few days before I was scheduled to leave for Montana for a quick Labor Day weekend getaway. Oops. Suddenly I had a giant bag of green beans, an eggplant, a watermelon, etc to somehow deal with before it went bad. For a couple days, my boyfriend and I consumed fruits + veggies like nobody's business. Then we realized that we could not comfortably eat a pound of green beans at every meal. So I risked the freezer for the few things I knew he wouldn't eat while I was gone (the eggplant, sadly, didn't make it, but I discovered that green beans freeze perfectly). I also had a TON of tomatoes - which I was pretty sure I couldn't freeze raw and knew would not get used before I left (apparently I was wrong about freezing them raw).

So I did what anyone would do - I spiced, oiled, and roasted those tomatoes until they submitted into a melty awesomeness, and when I came back, I turned them into pasta.

(More after the jump)

Look at this:

Now imagine a refrigerator overflowing with it. That's pretty much what my fridge looks like right now. Pasta as far as the eye can see. On Sunday, my boyfriend and I decided to make something that we could stretch out / live on for a few days, and we definitely accomplished that. He made pasta his way - spaghetti with some standard marinara from Trader Joe's, beef, cheddar cheese, and veggies. I had a forkful and it was definitely tasty, but I needed something a little lighter if I was going to live on it for a few days. So I made pasta my way - penne, veggies all over the place, chicken, pecorino, and a very light sauce of roasted tomatoes, lemon juice, and white wine.

Oh, and a ton of garlic.

I'm not even kidding - way more garlic than you might regularly add to a vat of pasta:

I need to get over my garlic addiction. Or do I? Is it really a bad thing?

This pasta has multiple components, so I multi-tasked. While thawing the roasted tomatoes:

I seasoned and roasted a few frozen chicken breast pieces in a mixture of vegetable broth, olive oil, and white wine (because I can):

And while those things were thawing/roasting, I chopped up some veggies (specifically, broccoli, bell pepper, and carrot):

And boiled the pasta (no pic, because really, boiling pasta is not all that interesting).

Then it was time for the garlic to get tasty - I tried something new and sautéed it in vegetable broth instead of olive oil. Works great, but watch it closely so it doesn't burn:

And after that, the veggies got tasty with it (for just a few minutes, because overcooked veggies are gross, yes?) When the tomatoes finally liquefied:

It was time to mix everything together:

Finally, I threw a few splashes of lemon juice and two buck chuck chardonnay into the mix (also not pictured because they're boring). And a couple more cloves of garlic. Then I let everything simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes...

And YUM:

Pasta perfection. I threw a little pecorino on top, because while I may not get to have mounds of cheddar in my pasta like *some* people, I can still enjoy a little cheesy goodness.

Recipe:

~Ingredients~

4-8 tomatoes, roasted or raw

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, or 4-5 boneless skinless chicken breast tenderloins

Garlic -as much as you want (preferably lots)

1 qt of any chopped veggies you want (broccoli, green bell pepper, and carrot recommended)

Juice of 1 lemon

Several splashes of white wine (chardonnay is best)

Pecorino romano or preferred cheese -again, to your preference

Extra virgin olive oil - a few tablespoons for roasting the chicken

Vegetable or chicken broth - a few tablespoons again, for roasting the chicken and sautéing the veggies.

Spices/seasoning of your choice for use throughout the dish (I used: South African Smoke from Trader Joe's on the tomatoes, poultry seasoning on the chicken, and a small amount of basil and white pepper in the final dish)

~Directions~

1. Multitask. If your tomatoes are frozen, thaw them in a saucepan over low heat. If not, chop/roast them. Season as desired. Roast chicken breast at roughly 400 degrees in desired seasoning, equal amounts broth and wine, and a slightly smaller amount of olive oil - decide on the amount according to how much chicken you're roasting.

2. While tomatoes and chicken are thawing/roasting, chop veggies roughly and mince garlic, and set each aside. Boil pasta according to package directions.

3. While pasta is boiling, sauté garlic on medium heat in 2-3 tablespoons broth. When you can smell the garlic, add veggies and sauté for 5 minutes. Set aside.

4. Drain pasta and add to a large pot. Add tomatoes, veggies/garlic, any desired seasoning, and stir. When the chicken has finished cooking (times will vary depending on whether or not your chicken is fresh or frozen), chop chicken, add it to the pot and stir. Add lemon juice and wine (and more garlic, if desired) stir, and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes covered.

5. Plate pasta and grate pecorino on top.

6. Enjoy!

whoa

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 20:07:00 +0000

Excuse the impromptu nature of this post and somewhat crappy cell phone picture because I was rushed and Oakland is ugly-gray today. But I had to post about the sandwich I just made for lunch.

That, my friends, is a German Beer-Brat/Kale/Cheddar/Dijon/Crushed Garlic sandwich. (yes, the garlic was necessary, do you know me at all?!) Also known as the Happy German Sandwich.

I didn't take pics while making the sandwich because I honestly didn't realize how good it would be. My thought process was more along the lines of "Meh, this is me just throwing the stuff that I have in the fridge on some bread and calling it a sandwich."
But then I bit into it and realized I just created the best sandwich ever. I'm definitely not pretending that this is healthy. I soaked the beer brats (which, yes, are already made with beer) in yet more beer while cooking them, and added the kale to the same pan, so that major components of this sandwich are beer soaked. The slices of cheese were thin but just enough to add some melty goodness to the sandwich. So it's probably not healthy. The health benefits of the kale are probably outweighed by the pork/beer/cheese. But it's GOOD. And for Sunday lunch, I think that's okay.

I'm calling this one the Happy German Sandwich, because that's what I am right now, typing in between delicious bites of this sandwich.

How to make a Happy German Sandwich:

Ingredients:

2 bratwurst (Best if they're beer brats. I used Trader Joes' Hofbrau Brats, but use whatever you can find)
1 beer (I used Blue Moon, because that's what was handy in our fridge, but German beer would be even better / use whatever you have handy)
2 handfuls of chopped and cleaned kale
2 thin slices of cheddar (I used medium, but sharp cheddar would be awesome)
about 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic (I took the easy way out with the jarred stuff, but if you have a garlic press, you can of course make your own)
about 1/2 teaspoon mustard (Dijon, again because it's what I had but if you have German mustard this sandwich will be exactly what it's meant to be)
2 slices of bread (whole wheat, because really you're doing enough damage with the sandwich contents already)

Directions:

1. Cook your wurst. I started them off in a pan with a tiny drizzle of olive oil, and then I got smart and poured beer over them. Continue pouring until you think there's enough in the pan to give the brats some flavor. You could also soak them in beer for an hour or two and then grill them (I wish I had a barbecue grill...)

2. Add the kale to the pan after the brats have been cooking for a few minutes. Cover and let everything get nice and steamy/beer-y/crispy (near the end of cooking, the edges of the kale will crisp and the brats will get that awesome browned exterior)

3. Spread mustard and garlic on one slice of bread. Layer two thin slices of cheese on the other and broil this slice in the oven until the cheese gets melty.

4. Slice the brats in half, layer the kale on the mustard/garlic slice of bread, then the brats over that (you might have half a brat left over. Just eat it).

5. Top off with the cheesy slice of bread and smush together.

6. Eat. Be happy. Have visions of Oktoberfest dancing through your head.

"Will be blogging this"

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:15:00 +0000

I'm such a loser when it comes to this blog sometimes.

When I started the blog (well, hey there March 2010) I was alllllllllll excited about my shiny pretty new blog o' foods and then.... well, y'know...life happened. School and more school and graduating and most recently, diving nosefirst into the real world. And now I feel like every time I write a blog post, it begins with an apology for not blogging in a while. So here I am doing the same thing again, and really, honestly, going to try to get better at this, because apparently it's carried onto my Facebook as well - I'm all excuses. On the Winey Tomato's Facebook Page recently, I wrote the following:

"Apparently today is National Raspberry Cream Pie Day. I'm going to attempt a raw/vegan version of a raspberry cream pie tonight. First attempt at raw desserts...we will see how this goes *fingers crossed*"

That pie never happened. I got pretty scared of the raw pie idea and made excuses and it just never happened. I still really want that pie though.

This Monday, I wrote the following on my personal Facebook:

"making squash chowder / will be blogging this :)"

I actually made that one, but "will be blogging this"? I didn't mean right away, clearly, but it has to be done RIGHT NOW. Why?

Because this chowder is magical.

(More after the jump)

Say this five times fast:

South African Smoke Seasoned Summer Squash Soup

Okay, it's more chowder than just soup, but I like the tongue-twister name so we'll call it soup. Magical chowder/magical soup, all the same thing. Clearly, you will need to start with some squash. The 1-2 pounds of summer squash from my CSA box prompted the need to make squash soup, and over a couple days of thinking about how I wanted to make that happen, it evolved into squash chowder. The squash from my box was somewhere between 1-2 pounds / about 5 cups all chopped up:

Because squash is so thick, it's an awesome base for a pureed vegetable soup / chowder, but these squash were also very crisp, bright, and summery. That crispness gets lost a little in cooking, so I added two ears of corn to bring out the summery flavor and add a little sweetness. I think this step accounts for a lot of the magic:

As well as two yellow bell peppers and one sweet onion:

Once this is all done you should have a bowl 'o veggies that looks like this:

I was so tempted to throw a minced clove of garlic on top of everything, but I actually didn't put garlic on everything for once (I'm trying to get my head out of the space that garlic is the only flavor there is).

Next, I drizzled a little olive oil into the bottom of my largest pot, tossed in the veggies, mixed it all up and turned it up to medium-high. I let these cook for about 5 minutes, just enough to calm the onions' sharpness a little.

Then the vegetable broth. I used my homemade vegetable stock, but you can really use any 'ol veggie stock as long as it's not super salty - some storebought brands try to compensate for the lack of meaty flavor in vegetable stock by oversalting, and it just leads to disaster. I wouldn't recommend a chicken or beef stock with this soup - I think the flavor of the veggies shines most when layered over more veggie flavors.

I brought everything up to a boil just for a moment, and then covered the pot and let it simmer on very low heat for about 30 min, so that nothing got mushy or overcooked, just cooked through to a softness. After that, it was just a matter of ladleing 1-2 cups into the blender at a time, and pureeing the mixture until it was completely smooth:

I can't stress enough how important it is to not fill a blender to the top with hot liquids. Hot liquids will expand in the blender and burn your face/hands off if you overfill it. It varies depending on how big your blender is, but with my smallish Oster blender, I never blend more than 2 cups of hot liquids at a time. The patience is worth it, believe me.

The last step was simply to return the puree to the pot, stir in 2 cups of milk (any milk will do, really. I used 1% cow's milk for a more classic chowder taste, but I've also been successful with soy milk in chowders which means that I can eat the soup more often - I'm not entirely lactose intolerant but cow's milk is hard on my stomach in anything more than very small amounts), and cook the chowder over low heat until it's warmed through.

The subtle spices are where it really gets magical, so hold on to your britches* for what's coming.
I didn't add any salt but I did add a pinch of white pepper and grind a small amount of Trader Joe's South African Smoke Seasoning (paprika, smoked sea salt, garlic**, and basil) on top of my individual bowl and the smokey, savory flavor was a PERFECT contrast with the slightly sweet soup - so I decided to toss a little of this seasoning in the pot as well.

As a result I've just been eating this soup for days, and it's come in especially handy now that it's very very cold in the mornings around here (brr). Soup for breakfast? Why not?

*Britches? Who says that? (Me, apparently)
**I know I said I was going to *not* put garlic on everything here, but really, does the tiny amount in a spice mix even count?

Lemons, both as metaphor and as food, part 2.

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 05:04:00 +0000

So I just logged into Blogger to see this:

"Last post: April 22 2011."

...whoops.

Sorry guys. That's only like, a full two months+ of no whining and no tomatoes.*

Truth is, I just plain forgot. Life got chaotic again, and not in the "I have too much homework and too many part-time jobs" kinda way.

Well, a little bit in that way.

The first month after I stopped blogging was filled with finals and theses and various senior celebratory events. Oh, and GRADUATION.

me + my parents after the ceremony.

Yeah. I graduated from college. With two Bachelor of Arts degrees, surprisingly.** I'm still sort of reeling with excitement/nausea over that fact. I did still have to hobble across the stage as I received my diploma, as some of you will remember from the post about my horrific foot sprain two months ago that sent me into a cast for several weeks and a walking boot for a month after that, and pretty much couch potato state for an entire two months (I literally *just* stopped wearing the boot, and literally *just* started going for light jogs again last week. It still hurts when I run for a while or walk long distances, but dammit, I'm HEALING).

So my parents and sister were here for about a week and that time was spent eating many a free meal (thanks mom and dad!), having fun in various parts of SF/Oakland, and a trip to Livermore to visit friends of my parents who provided us with yet more delicious meals*** and a cozy place to stay (thanks, Rod and Angela!).

Then, immediately after my parents left, I was let go from my job. Nothing to fret over really, it was one of my part-time jobs and there were no hard feelings or anything, it just wasn't the right place for me.

However, that meant I got really really poor for a minute. Which was also okay. It's kind of obligatory to be living on pennies when you've just graduated university anyway, right? (That's what I kept telling myself). I applied for an Americorps job which I really really wanted and which turned out to be a month-long hiring process, only to find out that I did not, in fact, get the job. (Also okay. It's kind of obligatory to be turned down for your dream job when you've just graduated too, right?.... RIGHT?!)

And then I realized that my boyfriend and I had to start THE ROOMMATE SEARCH.

We were originally going to move me out of my current apartment, him out of his very crowded house, and find a place of our own, but after some discussions on finances etc, realized that it was not really going to happen.**** So we decided to find a new roommate/s to fill the extra space in this apartment.
We posted ads, like mad (hey that rhymed) EVERYWHERE. We serendipitously***** found another couple with whom we clicked really really well, and asked them to move in and they said yes. And then... all the plans unfortunately fell through and they were unable to move in. It was totally not their fault, and we were all disappointed that it wasn't going to work, but it was a situation in which nothing more could be done.

So we cried for a night (well, I did, telling Jon through sniffles that WE WERE GOING TO BE HOMELESS OH NOOO) and then got back on the horse, posting ads like mad yet again.

We met a few people in person. Some of them were incredibly NOT compatible with us. Some of them were just meh. Some of them seemed really great. There were a few more who we invited who also declined for various reasons (we were assured it was not us).

And then something finally started to go right (I was starting to believe that my parents' visit over a month ago was seriously the last good thing that happened to me):

I got a job.
Like, a full-time job, yo.******

And honestly, it's great. Everyone in the office is super nice and friendly and I'm encouraged to ask questions because I still don't know anything and they feed us with a well-stocked snack area and lunch on Fridays******* and it's a super relaxed but productive atmosphere, which is what I wanted: something where I don't feel like I'm twiddling my thumbs constantly but where it's possible to not be stressing out over this or that task every second either. BAM. Something finally going right: check

The roommate thing is still really, really bad. After an upswing of hopefulness it all went to hell again this morning. But the optimism lent to me by being gainfully employed again is seeping over into the roommate finding area of my life, and so after freaking out a little, things had started to look up a little by the end of the day. The fact that we couldn't afford the full rent by ourselves, the worry that we would have to find a new place, etc. We have a place to live for at least the next month, the landlord will not kick me out because the couple we had originally invited to move in heroically offered to help us pay for the portion of July that we could not afford (we are so, so grateful to them), and with some interest being shown by a few people already it looks like we will likely have a roommate who can move in around Aug 1 and all will be well. *knock on wood*

So that's why the title of this post. My life has kind of sucked for the last couple of months. But it always gets sweeter. Which is something that lemons also do, if you use them the right way.

And man, have I learned to use them the right way:

What's that you ask? Oh, it's just some quick, homemade lemon curd (no, not made in a microwave), on top of a piece of cinnamon vanilla whole wheat french toast. It's probably not the most appetizing picture. I won't win any blogging awards for my photography, that's for sure. But trust me, it's delicious.

You know, just some of the most delicious pale yellow stuff you will ever spread on a piece of toast. No big deal or anything.

(Recipe after the jump)

So, even though I'm employed full-time, I am keeping the two very part time jobs from which I was not let go. Yeah, I could support myself with out working these jobs, but these women are also my friends and I would even say family, so I wouldn't even consider it, and the extra cash is going to help when those student loan payments start rolling in. One of these ladies provides me with a few spare Meyer lemons whenever she has more than she can use, and I usually just use them to sweeten up a glass of water or use in place of regular lemons because I'm lazy, but this time I decided to make lemon curd. Yes, I try to eat mostly raw and super healthy and I still have fruit and vegetable smoothies for breakfast and dinner, but I like my occasional sweet and lemon curd is worth every calorie.

My first step was to look it up online. There are a billion different methods of making lemon curd on the web-verse, and you don't want to screw it up, so don't just trust anything. So after a read-through of David Lebovitz's version, I did what any self-respecting extra -amateur chef would do in times of trouble -

I called my momma.

because she made a BOMB batch of lemon curd last time I came home (with lemons in hand) and sent some back to California with me. I scraped every last drop out of the jar.

And y'know, because she's my mom. So she taught me how to cook and stuff.

After carefully observing what she sent me (not just a recipe, but freakin' knowledge) and Lebovitz' recipe, I took to my kitchen armed and ready:

The first step is to juice and zest the lemons (duh):

Hot tip: for goodness' sake zest the lemons BEFORE YOU CUT THEM IN HALF. I had an idiot moment and did it the opposite way, which made for some tedious zesting of the very ripe lemon halves. I made it happen though.
Next, whisk together the juice and zest with some sugar, egg yolks, eggs, and a pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan. Don't put any heat under the pan yet, just use it as a receptacle in which to whisk like mad. Whisk, fellow curd-lovers, whisk! You want it to look as smooth as possible.

And a little bit frothy.
If the sound of metal on metal makes your teeth hurt (like me), shut up and keep whisking. Sing the equally annoying "Friday" by Rebecca Black in your head to distract yourself. Your lemon curd's awesome smooth texture will be worth all the scrape-y noises.
Next, add the butter, and turn on some LOW heat under the pan. Keep whisking and gritting your teeth to deal with the fact that the metal on metal sound now feels like it's reverberating throughout your TMJ-ridden jaws.

At this point you may think you're done whisking, but you're not, and your teeth may feel like they're falling apart by now. Increase the heat to somewhere in between low and medium, and keep on whisking until your curd looks like this:

Yum. At this point, make sure to take it off the heat so that it doesn't burn. Lebovitz says to press the curd through a strainer, but if you've whisked diligently through the entire process, you shouldn't have to. Mine looked plenty smooth when I bottled it up.

It will keep in the fridge for about a week, and longer, of course, in the freezer.

If you're like me, all that whisking will leave your teeth seriously grind-y for the rest of the day but it's so worth it. If you don't whisk properly, you'll get little cooked egg-y strands in your lemon curd (ew).

So there you have it folks. I may not be able to give you much advice about life's lemons (because I'm having enough trouble with my own) but at least you now know what to do with actual lemons (of the actual citrus variety).

Yum.

~Homemade Lemon Curd~

As David Lebovitz says, this is a "dare-devil" method of making lemon curd but with enough whisking it will work out!

Ingredients:
3/4 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
zest from as many lemons as it takes to get the 3/4 cup of juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cubed

Directions:
1. Whisk together the juice and zest with some sugar, egg yolks, eggs, and a pinch of salt in a heavy saucepan. Don't put any heat under the pan yet, just use it as a receptacle in which to whisk like mad. Whisk, fellow curd-lovers, whisk! You want it to look as smooth as possible.
2. Add the butter, and turn on some LOW heat under the pan. Keep whisking and gritting your teeth to deal with the fact that the metal on metal sound now feels like it's reverberating throughout your TMJ-ridden jaws (if you're me).
3. Increase the heat to somewhere in between low and medium, and keep on whisking until your curd looks jelly-like and when you can lift your whisk and the mixture holds its shape when it falls back into the pan.
4. At this point, make sure to take it off the heat so that it doesn't burn! Let it cool a little and spoon it into a glass jar or other storage container. Will keep in the fridge for up to one week.

*There are rarely tomatoes on this blog. There is, however, a lot of whining.
**Yeah, I was really worried that I was actually not going to pull this off because it was HELLA CLASSES. Those degrees are English and Art History, if anyone's wondering what totally useless liberal arts degrees I opted for. Okay, let's clarify - *I* do not think they are totally useless. But I'm pretty sure a good portion of the rest of the world does.
***We're talking dinner at a winery. Melt-in-your-mouth-good food and great wine too.
****Security deposits and the poor selection of not-crappy one-bedrooms and studios in areas of Oakland that we would actually want to live in FOR THE LOSE.
*****It appears this is not actually a word. But hell with it, I'm using it anyway because "serendipity" is one of my favorite words. Ever. Also, if you haven't seen the movie "Serendipity," go watch it now. It's a bad rom-com, but bad in the way that it's so bad it's good / worth it.
****** I don't know why I said this. I would sound ridiculous saying this out loud, what with being a white country girl and all. Somehow, saying things in a blog makes them look less ridiculous than they would sound.
*******Last week, it was plentiful and delicious Chinese food. Tomorrow it will be pizza.

Friday Five, the Can't-Leave-the-Couch Edition.

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 01:34:00 +0000

Friday Five, or:
Five Things I Would Really Really Like to Have in my Hands Right Now:

1) Olive Oil Gelato

Photo courtesy of food52.

Or, you know, gelato, at all. There are some fantastic gelato spots in the Bay, but I am pretty much confined to the couch now that The Carnivore (my boyfriend) has gone home to L.A. for Easter weekend and I can't lean on him to get around (our grocery shopping adventure the other day was hilarious enough, who knows what a gelato adventure would look like).
If I had an ice cream machine, I would be crutching my way into the kitchen to make this olive oil gelato, but for now I'll just have to drool over the recipe.

2) Mango Lemonade

Photo courtesy of One Ordinary Day.

Wow. I was just going to post a picture of Trader Joe's bottled version, which is very tasty, but then I found an old post I saved from the blog One Ordinary Day for homemade mango lemon goodness.

3) Ginger Ale

Any and all of the above. Reed's ginger ale is deliiiicious.

Okay, I bought some ginger ale yesterday, but I think I need more - like enough to bath in. At least bathing in ginger ale would be more exciting than sitting on a couch. All day. Every day.

4) My own personal Bikram Yoga instructor

I'm getting sick of sitting on the couch (can you tell?), and while I can't quite drag myself to the yoga studio down the street, it's one of the few forms of exercise for which I might be able to do most of the poses with my splint.
Okay, maybe not quite. But almost.

5) A plane ticket home.
I'll admit, the fact that most of my close friends are not around, my family is in another state, and my boyfriend is several hours away on Easter weekend is bumming me out a little. I want someone to decorate eggs with, dress up on Sunday morning with, and go to a ridiculous brunch with. For now, I'll just have to reminisce on the awesome Easter eggs I made last year. (Click here for some gorgeous/silly eggs plus a delicious roasted potato recipe).

Lemons (and how to use them)

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:27:00 +0000

Sometimes life gives you lemons.
No, this is not going to be post on microwave lemon curd, the best lemonade ever, homemade limoncello, or a delicious whole lemon tart. Sorry to disappoint you, but you can click on the links for posts on *those* sorts of things from a bunch of bloggers I adore.

No, this is a post about life giving us the more metaphorical sort of lemons. The kind that really mess things up at extremely inopportune moments.
Thursday was a big lemon day. And as a result of Thursday, so is today.
I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past couple of weeks, thesis/final paper writing, planning for graduation, helping my mom gather info to file my taxes (love you mom), etc. I didn't really anticipate this last semester being so crazy - in fact, I thought it would be a breeze. Y'know, second semester of senior year and all. It's supposed to breeze right by, all my professors are supposed to give me breaks, I'm supposed to be able to enjoy some senioritis in peace, right?
Right.

Guess who was really, really wrong about that? (Hint: me).
So I haven't been blogging lately, and I miss it. And on Thursday, the biggest lemon of all the little lemons I've seen was thrown at me:

Yes, that's my leg. And my pretty red toenails. And a small portion of my computer screen.
That splint was actually just put on today. After I ~~fell over a pair of sneakers~~ *cough*hurt myself doing an awesome backflip-roundhouse kick-combo while fighting ninjas in my living room on Thursday *cough*... my doctor saw me pretty much last minute, and so I got an ace bandage and a pair of crutches thrown at me on my way out the door. Today, when I went to a podiatrist, it didn't take them long to look at my giant swollen bruise of a foot, and put it in a splint. Not broken, but badly sprained, and painful. And the splint has to dry for about 24 hours, so the way my leg is positioned in that picture up there? Pretty much where it's been all day, except for the grueling 20 minutes I spent cooking up some garlic and broccoli in the kitchen, somehow managing to not hurt myself further...even if I did almost drop a knife on my foot.

Okay, maybe I unintentionally help life throw those lemons with my klutziness.

Anyway. I realized that cooking is beyond my sense of balance right now. So I'm going to stick to foods I don't have to cook. Or, y'know...delivery. But if I could cook, I would make my favorite comfort food, which contains a lemon...but this time I actually mean the fruit, which I enjoy very much, not a metaphorical lemon, which you can probably guess I enjoy a little less:

Green.
Garlic.
Hummus.
(Recipe and more after the jump).

This is something I probably actually *could* manage right now, if I had a non-shattered bowl for my food processor. Which I really should replace, as it was broken almost a year ago. But I say I could manage because it's really a "throw it in the bowl and mash it up" sort of recipe, or, to make it really easy on yourself, a "throw it in the food processor and mash it up" recipe. The only hard part may be starting with these:

And I only say that because those particular garbanzo beans are dried. Which means you'll have to soak them overnight first. But you could also use canned beans. Either way, when you have beans that are full of moisture, gather them with the rest of your ingredients:

Beans, tahini, salt and pepper, a lemon, plenty of garlic, olive oil, and spinach (not pictured)

Throw the beans and tahini in a food processor:

Pulse for a moment or two and then throw in everything else:

It should look something like this:

If the texture isn't quite right, feel free to add more beans/oil/tahini/whatever is needed:

And season as needed. I added a little smoked paprika, and used dulse flakes instead of salt, to make it even healthier (because really, this is the healthiest snack/dip most college students will probably ever eat).

Give it one final whir:

Serve, and enjoy.

I like hummus with blue corn chips. Or carrot sticks. Or by the spoonful...

Perfect snack food for elevating your injured limbs on a pillow while sitting on the couch listening to the Moulin Rouge soundtrack for the 45th time. If I've learned anything since Thursday though, it's that you can use life's lemons to get some work done, should they land you half-immobilized on your living room couch for days. This has been some very productive couch-sitting...I just don't know how to scrounge together dinner right now :/

~Green Garlic Hummus:~

Ingredients:

4-5 cloves mashed garlic

2 generous handfuls of spinach

2 drained and rinsed 15 oz cans of garbanzo beans, or equivalent amount soaked overnight.

2/3 cup tahini

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp dulse flakes, or salt to taste

2 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

water, as needed, to even the consistency

Directions:

1. Add beans and tahini to food processor. Pulse several times until combined.
2. Add remaining ingredients except for spices. Process until smooth.
3. Add extra water, oil, or beans if necessary.
4. Add spices.
5. Process one final time. Serve, preferably in a bowl, olive oil drizzled on top, a little paprika sprinkled on top of that, along with some toasted pine nuts. Serve with dippers of choice (chips, pita bread, veggies, etc).

Friday 5 - Of Food Porn, Pies, Interrobangs, etc.

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 02:45:00 +0000

Oh look! It's actually on time this week! And it's quick because my thesis is turning my brain to mush.

1) Really Strange Ingredients in Smoothies
Here's what I'm drinking for dinner right now - a smoothie made with:

a grapefruit
a pink lady apple
lettuce
red chard
a beet
hemp protein
a handful of raw cashews
coconut water

Yeah. It's really pretty, very red from the beets even though it's a "green" smoothie technically. And it tastes pretty good too (though a little bitter from the grapefruit). My explanation for this list of extremely strange ingredients: it's leftover detox mode from Alejandro Junger MD's book/detoxing cleanse, "Clean." My appetite is much smaller (still healthy, but little) after doing the cleanse in February, and so sometimes (like on days when I had a big lunch, which I did today) all I want for dinner is a veggie-packed smoothie. And these smoothies are my usual breakfast these days. What can I say. I'm a bit of a freak. But I'm healthy, so...there.

The other four after the jump.

2) Brownies

See my most recent recipe post for these, which I'm craving right now:

Ugh. I really wish I had time to bake. Curse you, thesis.
3) Foodgawker
I have long been a fan of this website. Also, FoodPornDaily. Why? Delicious things to waste time drooling over because you don't have the money/time/room in your diet to make them. But the pictures are so pretty! Like this:

Crispy roasted chickpeas. Wait - these actually ARE cheap/quick/healthy. Win for FoodGawker!

And these:

Citronge Orange Liquered Macarons - Yeah...these are more on the unhealthy/expensive/time consuming side.

3) Spaghetti Squash

I haven't had spaghetti squash in an unacceptably long time, but damn I'm craving some right now. It's a great substitute for anywhere one would use, well, spaghetti, and so yummy. And kinda fun to cook. Check out this recipe from White on Rice Couple:

Click the pic for a link. Doesn't that look delicious?

4) Tiny/Jar Pies

From The Boastful Baker

I've seen this one making it's way through food blogs a lot lately, and I cannot get over how freaking ADORABLE they are. These were used for a bridal shower, but imagine the endless possibilities of individual serving pies in jars! Everywhere and anywhere! Weddings! Birthdays! Graduations! Tuesdays! Whatever flavor you want!!! Rhubarb! Apple! Peach! Cherry! HUCKLEBERRY! Lots of cute tiny shapes on crust! Hearts (as seen above)! Stars! Flowers! Interrobangs! Less work to make a couple tiny pies than a whole freaking pie!

Clearly, the tiny pie phenomenon is something that drives me to many exclamation points. But come on, isn't it obvious why?!

5) Interrobangs

Since I mentioned it in my pie excitement, I'll explain: the interrobang is probably the oddest looking punctuation mark out there:

...but it's my favorite. See Wikipedia (research tool of champions) for a full explanation. I love it because I tend to do this:

a lot, and an interrobang makes it look so much more...sophisticated.

(Sophisticated?!...Uh, sure. I'll get my beat-up brain back to thesis-writing now).

~Kat

Montana Huckleberry Brownies

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:46:00 +0000

I'm too busy to bake because I'm putting the finishing touches on the first draft of my thesis this week, but secretly I'm daydreaming of whipping up a batch of these perfect brownies made with Ghirardelli chocolate and fresh-picked huckleberries. My mom and I made these with huckleberries we picked near my parents' house this past summer, and they were worth turning on the oven in the warm temperatures. I still have some huckleberries in my freezer - I think these will be the first thing I make Monday after the first draft is turned in :)

So without further ado (so I can get back to writing many, many pages of poetry):

~Huckleberry Brownies~

First, gather your ingredients:

4 oz Ghirardelli Unsweetened Chocolate (semi-sweet is also okay, I just like my brownies a little bittersweet)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar (I used white sugar but brown sugar is even better!)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1 cup huckleberries

3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

Instructions after the jump.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Chop the chocolate into pieces and melt on low heat in a saucepan or in a double boiler with the butter

Add the sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the melted butter and chocolate

And then my favorite part:

The Carnivore would never go for these brownies, as he is allergic to nuts. So if I do make them my first-draft-turned-in-celebration-brownies, I'll have to skip the walnuts *grumble* Transfer the chocolate mixture into a large mixing bowl and stir in walnuts, flour, baking powder and salt.

Prepare a pan with shortening and dust with cocoa powder. You could dust it with flour, but cocoa powder is tastier.

Pour the batter into the pan...

And add the huckleberries on top. Smooth the batter out with a rubber spatula so that it is evenly distributed in the pan...

Put the brownies into the oven for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Let them cool for at least 10 minutes (if you can)....

....and enjoy.

...and now I have to finish my thesis.
And think about brownies.
A lot.

~Kat

Friday Five (late, but with a reason)

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 21:25:00 +0000

My Friday Five is late again this week, but with a purpose this time.

Yesterday I participated in the Bloggers' Day of Silence for Japan. I hadn't heard about it until yesterday, so I didn't have a chance to post about it before, but bloggers all over the web took a day of silence to encourage readers to do something to help Japan - that something is the first of my Friday Five:

1) ShelterBox

Click the link above to read more and donate - every little bit helps. Donating to the Red Cross, etc, is helpful, but it can take a while for funds to reach disasters and get put to use where most needed. Doctors without Borders is another great way to help by donating as well.
But ShelterBox stands out to me. Here's a little info from the link I provided above:

"So far, the death toll is estimated to be 2,800. In just one town, 9,500 are missing. Not only do the survivors have to suffer the loss of loved ones, but as temperatures fall, electricity, water and food are now scarce to none....Convenience stores have lines hours long and a limit of 10 items to each person.

...ShelterBox provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it most. Each large green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage, and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children's activity pack and other vital items. A whole box costs $1,000 (US), so we're hoping to raise enough to send 5 boxes."

So far they have raised $50,000 - enough for 50 boxes. Human generosity is an amazing thing, and I hope they can continue to raise money to send these boxes to as many people as possible. Every little bit helps, so if you want to help out with Japan relief efforts, I suggest donating to this ShelterBox fundraiser here.

2) Food + Art!

Every food blogging art historian's dream, right? I'm in love with this post on GOOD today. Actually, their entire food section is just amazing. The finalists are in after they gave readers this assignment:

"the OBJECTIVE

Inspire a new generation of cooks and non-cooks with clear, simple, easy-to-understand graphic recipes.

the ASSIGNMENT

Redesign a recipe. It can be hand-drawn or hand-printed. Photographic or typographic. Wordy or wordless. Vegetarian, pescatarian, or omnivorous. Just make it original, interesting, and—above all—appealing."

And here are a few of my favorites:

Megan Fizell of Feasting on Art. She is an art historian from Australia, and I am in LOOOOVE with her blog. She posts art featuring or related to food, gives you some art history for your mind to chew on, and then a recipe inspired by the art for your face to chew on. This.is.GENIUS. And I'll admit it - I'm crazy jealous of her because I'm so annoyed that I didn't think of it first (translation: expect some Feasting on Art inspired posts in the future?) She even featured Mills studio art professor Hung Liu, accompanied by a rhubarb tart (yummm).

Katie Shelly did an entire series called Picture Cook. Again, genius. I'm especially in love with Crispy Kale - The secret is out, folks! Crispy kale is the best replacement for potato chips you will find.

Federica Oronti created a fantastic little recipe card that has holes cut out for the ingredients, so you can see exactly how much of each you will need (I love the clove of garlic sitting comfortably in its little slot)

Kara Kopp's design is simple but gorgeous. I love the green gradient, the single stalk of asparagus, and the formatting of the recipe with the ingredients listed on one side (patience not forgotten!) and the directions on the other. If I ever feel the need to try my artistic hand at visual recipes, I will probably follow her example.

3) Chocolate Mint Brownies - these ones from the Brown Eyed Baker:

Click the picture for the recipe. Seriously, just do it.
When I was in middle school, there were two things that my friend Jamie and I often did in our free time:

1: Go to the mall and spend all of our cash on cheap jewelry and cheaper makeup at Claire's.
2: Cook. To be specific, bake.

One day we decided to try our hand at some brownies with minty frosting, or something like that. Mind you, we were thirteen and prone to making ridiculous mistakes. We thought we were pros, going about our baking business in her mom's kitchen, mixing and measuring and frosting. When we were done, we took our gleeful first bites into our creations, ready to taste their minty chocolate-y goodness.

And then we screwed up our faces in disgust.

We had made one of those ridiculous mistakes I mentioned, an especially ridiculous one involving cream of tartar or something similar. The frosting was SOUR. And I'm not talking good, gummi worms sour, I'm talking sour milk sour. It was really, really bad.

To this day, I haven't made mint brownies. But maybe I'll give this recipe a chance to be the one that changes that ;)

4) Theater

Not to brag, but my boyfriend is in Berkeley Playhouse's production of "Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" for the next several weekends and it's going to be awesome. I'll get to see it next Sunday, when I'm ushering the show. Those in the Bay Area should get tickets here.

5) Mac and Cheese

Different versions of this comfort food are all over food blogs right now, and as a result, I'm craving it. My favorite is the version pictured above, from the blog Bell'alimento. Her recipes uses Mozzarella, Emmenthal, Grana Padano, and Parmigiano Reggiano - yum. I'll definitely be making this one soon.

Until next time -
~Kat

Friday...er... Sunday Five, and Garlicky Shrimp Spring Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:55:00 +0000

My Friday five didn't quite happen on Friday this week, but that is sometimes how it goes in the land of thesis-writing. My first draft is due in two weeks and I'm officially in crunch mode. I'll try avoid words with the *Sunday* list of my five favorite things right now and keep it mostly pictorial, so we can skip straight to the good stuff - the spring rolls I made for lunch today.

A Preview... :)

1) Blood Oranges:

2) Za'atar Seasoning

I bought this particular giant bag for only $4 at a Palestinian Arts Bazaar in December. Usually it costs about this much for a teeny tiny spice container in a grocery store (!)

3) Spinach

In this case, stir-fried with za'atar and served alongside vegan "sausage" patties and blood oranges.

5) Books (and bookshelves!)

I am in love with my new bookshelves.

4) Tea

My new bookshelves gave me an excuse to use this old one for organizing my tea stash instead :)

A Close-Up

But now for the recipe - Garlicky Shrimp Spring Rolls.

(More after the jump)

When your parents grew up in Southern California with pretty much any cuisine they could want within walking distance, and you grew up in small-town Montana...where pretty much no restaurant delivers and international cuisines are limited.... you find yourself in a weird place of knowing all the delicious foods you want but having mostly limited access to them.
My mom is a great cook and can whip up pretty much anything from her own memorized recipes and her varied cookbooks, a lot of which are themed around Asian food. So even in our rural surroundings, my sister and I grew up eating shrimp tempura, seared ahi tuna, varied and delicious stir-fry dishes, etc. Our grocery stores were kind of limited but my mom still manages to keep a healthy stock of seaweed and bamboo mats for sushi-making, mirin, furikake, wasabi, etc.
So while other kids were snacking on fruit roll-ups after school, I was tearing flat sheets of seaweed into pieces for a snack and helping my mom shell shrimp so that she could make shrimp tempura for dinner. Whenever we went on a roadtrip through Washington, Oregon, California etc to visit family, the nearest sushi bar was pretty much our first stop. And when our small town finally started to get some variety in restaurants with a Thai place and couple dependable Chinese restaurants, we found new options for dinner after ballet and tap classes. Long story short, I was raised on Asian food but never got quite enough to satisfy my hunger.
When I moved back to California for college, it was a different story. I live near places where I can get *affordable sushi*. I got to try Vietnamese and Korean food, which I had never had a chance to before. Pretty much any food I want is only a short bus trip or walk away. Of course, eating out can get expensive on a college student's budget, so like my mom I started to turn to my own kitchen for my own reincarnations of my favorite restaurant dishes.
These spring rolls are one of those reincarnations. They're similar to the Vietnamese style rolls wrapped in fresh rice paper, but in order to use what I already had on hand and involve more veggies and less carbs, mine are wrapped in large romaine lettuce leaves.

I used these shrimp from Trader Joe's - because they were the cheapest at the time. The nice thing was that they were already shelled and deveined, so I didn't have to put in that work. When using frozen shrimp, you want to soak them in a bowl of cold water for about 10-15 minutes until they've thawed.

While waiting for the shrimp, mince several cloves of garlic. I used seven cloves because I love garlic, and that's what makes these rolls garlicky. Use as many as you need to. Also mince several leaves of bok choy - separate the stems from the leaves and chop in separate piles. Set the garlic and bok choy aside, keeping all three piles separate.

When the shrimp are ready, heat about a tablespoon of oil over medium heat and once it's heated add the shrimp. While those are cooking, add some soy sauce and rice vinegar to the pan - don't drown the shrimp in them but add enough to coat all of the shrimp. Toss the shrimp in the sauce and continue to cook.

After a few minutes, when the shrimp are about 75% cooked, add the chopped bok choy stems and cook for several more minutes until they've softened a little. Then add the leaves.

Stir the leaves in for a moment and add the garlic. You now have two options - you can serve the spring rolls warm or put the mixture into the fridge until it's cool and assemble the spring rolls afterward.

Either way, wash your lettuce leaves and lay them flat on a cutting board...

...And spoon a small amount of the mixture into the center of each leaf. Roll the leaves up, and serve!

A roll cut in half to show the yummy inside :

These are sooo addicting. I ate several for lunch today and need to go buy more lettuce and bok choy now so that I can make them again. They're quick, too! I would recommend making the mixture ahead and serving them with the mixture chilled but if you're in a hurry you can serve it hot. You can serve them with a dipping sauce (peanut sauce? soy sauce? your choice?) but the mixture inside has a ton of flavor on its own - I opted to eat them just as they were.
Happy Sunday, everyone - have a yummy week!
~Kat

Friday Five, and a Quick, Raw, "Clean" dessert

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:42:00 +0000

So even though I made some delicious food over the last week, I haven't posted since...Last Friday. Bad Kat.

But my first of the Friday Five is a recipe, so I guess it counts, in a way, right?
Either way, here are the five things distracting me from thesis-writing this Friday.

1) When I was detoxing my body for 21 days with the book "Clean" by Alejandro Junger, MD (I will never stop testifying to the genius of this man. I feel and look so much healthier thanks to this book), I still had my sugar cravings. The rules of the program are that the sweet taste is meant to be consumed in small amounts, and so most sugars are prohibited - however, small amounts of agave syrup are allowed.

Berries and nuts were allowed as a snack, and in a desperate need for something "dessert-y" during my first week, I found it: raw, clean, slightly sweet but nutritious perfection:

Raw.Cinnamon.Blueberry.Crisp.

(Read more after the jump)

Isn't it beautiful? Recipe:

Raw Cinnamon Blueberry Crisp

~Serves 1~

Ingredients:

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I prefer fresh)

1/4 cup pine nuts, raw or toasted

2 tsp raw Agave syrup

As much cinnamon as you want (I'm way into cinnamon, so I use a lot)

Directions:

If you want the nuts crunchier, toast them lightly either in the oven or on the stovetop. Once you have your pine nuts ready, either raw or crunchy, combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Eat.

That's it.

Yes, it is the most simple dessert known to mankind. But it's hella versatile - really, the possibilities are endless. I've used raspberries and chopped cashews, huckleberries and chopped almonds, blackberries and chopped brazil nuts, etc. You can even use some powdered ginger to add a spicy kick. And if you're really not into agave syrup, honey is cool too, but agave is better for you and just as yummy. And I always shake on loads of cinnamon (not cinnamon sugar; just plain ground cinnamon), because I really really love cinnamon.

Overall, it adds up to a dessert that is simple but weirdly complex in flavors, and DELICIOUS.

2) My new earrings, and local art in general.

Um, I am in LOVE with these spiral-y blue copper light-as-a-feather earrings I bought last Sunday at the Art of Living Black art show that originated at the Richmond Art Center, but travels around the Bay during the exhibition period as well. Here for more info.

3) Gummy Vitamins

I'm not joking. Sometimes the only way to get your boyfriend to take his vitamins is to ask him to take them in gummy bear form. I found these ones at Trader Joe's, and they're not loaded with extra sugar or artificial flavors, so it's a good choice for picky kids and adults alike.

4) Dr. Seuss

I spent this Wednesday morning reading The Lorax to fifth graders at Sequioa Elementary here in Oakland, in honor of Dr. Suess' birthday as well as their Drop Everything And Read day and Read Across America. All the kids got to wear pajamas (I used to love pajama days at school) and a bunch of volunteer readers, like me and my friend Kristen Caven (a Mills alum!), got to read our favorite picture books to the kids. Appropriately, it seems I was assigned the most environmentally conscious and socially aware group of fifth graders EVER. That day the teachers were outside with protest signs and many honks of agreement from passing cars to draw awareness to the state's current education crisis. Later that day, at work, I saw a group of kids from the same school marching through the neighborhood in protest. Way to be, Bay Area kiddos. Fighting for the right to learn is always the way to go.

Also, Kristen introduced me to a fantastic Dr. Seuss book that day that I had never read: The Tough Coughs as He Ploughs the Dough. It's a kind of memoir-y collection of cartoons and essays before he was a famous children's book author (not unlike Kristen's own collection of cartoons, etc: Perfectly Revolting).

5) Lemon Curd.

This is my mom's homemade lemon curd on a whole-grain English muffin.

'Nuff said.

Five Things I Love Friday

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:44:00 +0000

First - I want to welcome any Mills students reading this on The Campanil's website! For those who don't know - I've been invited to join the team of my school newspaper as a food blogger for their online edition. So anything that goes on my blog can also be seen there! Check out my author profile: http://www.thecampanil.com/author/katgaines/

With the newfound attention I've decided to start a Friday post series, something that many of my fellow foodies do on their blogs for some consistency and accountability :) There's even a vintage fashion blog I follow that does something similar. Here, the weekly series is going to be a quick snapshot of five things I'm into at the moment, 95% foodie related but sometimes it might just be ... whatever, like my green precise v7 pen (so pretty, I love green things) or mocha-flavored chapstick (which I guess is still semi-foodie). It will also be a relief from my weekly thesis class, because inevitably every Friday I go to class totally fired up about my poetry and talking about it and leave with mixed feelings of "YEE-HAH for poetry!" right next to "who am I kidding - I can't write worth beans."

I'm from Montana, guys. We say yee-hah sometimes. I apologize in advance for any future appearances the word may make on this blog.
Long story short - putting all my mixed feelings about creative words aside to just write down the facts (I love these 5 things), will be therapeutic every Friday afternoon.

So here you have it: this week's Friday Five!

1. Nutella. Nutella is blowing up in the world of food blogging right now. There's a new blog up recently that I'm in love with, called Bella Nutella, about (you guessed it) anything and everything Nutella related. I mean, for goodness' sake, look at these Nutella scones, just LOOK AT THEM.

Photo from Kitchen Konfidence, another fantastic blog. Click here for a link to the recipe.

And then, y'know. make them. Because I'm going to.

2. My polka-dot rainboots.

That's right, folks. I have been in the Bay Area since Fall 2006 and *just* decided to invest in a pair of rainboots 6 days ago. It's kind of lame. But I think I've redeemed myself with the hella cute polka dot rainboots, and I sometimes wear them when it's not raining... which is embarrassing, but I think we're about to hit mega-rain season, so I probably won't have to worry about that for a while.

3. Kale.

I recently put myself through a 21 day cleanse based off of a book called, appropriately, "Clean" by Alejandro Junger, MD. You can read past posts about it (I believe I created a "Clean" tag), but basically, it consisted of a liquid breakfast, solid lunch, liquid dinner, and the foods I could eat were uber-limited (but still yummy). I drank a lot of kale during this period, and for any Grey's fans, Callie's recent episode with a shake containing kale in which she looked like she was going to vomit made me defensively yell at my laptop screen "HEY! KALE IS TASTY, DON'T MAKE THAT FACE!" I'm truly into a leafy green vegetable right now. Which I even think is a little weird, but hey, I won't closet my kale-lovin' ways.

4. THESE:

My mom led our girl scout troop and I remember being totally intimidated going door to door selling cookies. These days, it seems the scouts are more organized and have an online cookie locator to help you found a public location where Samoas and Thin Mints can be purchased near you. I've already planned my several possible dates and times.

5. Garlic.

I've always been a big garlic freak. But while I was cleansing, I ate 99.9% raw foods, so garlic didn't find its way into my diet much, except in one very tasty batch of pesto (grilled salmon with pesto was allowed on this cleanse. I'm telling you, best.cleanse.ever). So now that I can actually, y'know, cook things once in a while, hella garlic is my motto once again.

Also, just for today, a 6th thing, since there may be a Mills woman or two reading this: art on campus. There are at least two things I know of that are happening this weekend: Saturday's "The Art of Living Black" show featuring one of our awesome professors, Ajuan Mance, as well as a couple Mills students and other artists, and all weekend (though I'll be there on Sunday): The Vagina Monologues, which all think all Mills Women are actually required to attend at least once in their Mills career to graduate - it's kind of like the theatre version of COLL 005.
I jest. But seriously, you should go to both.
~Kat

Valentines Day :)

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 02:47:00 +0000

I'm one of those people who always tries to plan things meticulously, and yet I'm never surprised when it all comes crashing down on my head at the last minute in spite of all of my planning. I end up running for the bus bogged down with more groceries than I can carry, various frozen items melting, stranded outside late at night with a container of chicken soup spilling all over my backpack waiting 30 minutes for a cab because a BART train broke down (this actually happened to me on my way to housesitting a couple days ago, I had to wash the backpack later and lost half of my soup), or missing half of class to donate blood, even though I scheduled my donation appointment an hour before class was supposed to start specifically so that I would *not* miss class.

The last was the most frustrating incident in the past week. Last time that I donated blood it was easy. It didn't hurt much, and thanks to my tendency to bleed rivers if I get so much as a small scrape, it was over fast.
This time was different. Somehow the woman taking my donation missed the vein almost entirely. Which hurt. Then she couldn't get the blood to flow (not surprising), so someone else was called over to help. He was not supposed to take a needle out after it had already been inserted, so his solution was to "move the needle over" and for me to tell him "if it's unbearably painful."
Unbearable wouldn't quite describe it, but let's just say it hurt like hell and I made sad little whimpering noises for a long time. Because the first person ruined the whole thing in such an epic way, they had to keep moving the needle and massaging the area to get my blood to flow at all. All in all, it took about an hour to donate a pint of blood, and I missed most of my class.

I'll donate again. But I will make sure to tell them to be extra sure that they're putting the needle in correctly the next time, because that whole experience really sucked.
I'm always worried, too, because I'm a little bit anemic. Lucky for me, my donation was the day after Valentine's Day, and thanks to the dinner I had prepared for The Carnivore (I've decided that's my blog nickname for my other half), I had plenty of iron in my blood.
(my other half and our yummy Valentine's feast after the jump)

This is my other half:

Yes, my other half is Batman.
I call him The Carnivore because I keep a 90% vegetarian diet. 90% meaning I'll eat fish from time to time, and on rare occasions chicken or sustainably raised beef.
I will eat buffalo whenever I can get it. Little known fact: bison meat *is* a vegetable. If you're me.
So between the two of us, he is the carnivore. If a meal doesn't have an overcooked (oops - I mean "well-done") piece of meat as the main attraction, it's not going to satisfy him.
So last Valentine's Day I wanted to do fondue as our dinner. It's romantic and yummy. The trouble is, your standard gruyere + emmenthaler french-style fondue is *gasp* vegetarian, and dippers are usually bread and veggies. So I made a "german" fondue, using a hearty German beer instead of wine in the fondue itself, and bavarian-style beer brats as one dipper option (with plenty of veggies on the side). It was a hit with The Carnivore, and I put a lot of love into it, so it was a great V-Day dinner.

But I couldn't repeat the same thing this year. So I was scratching my head until I picked up a cookbook I received from my parents for Christmas:

This is the second cookbook of hers in my collection, and she's still awesome. I flipped through the pages to find a recipe for Steak Involtini - little bundles of steak rolled and filled with parmesan cheese and herbs, breaded and cooked in marinara sauce.

Definitely something for my guy.
And I knew I had to sneak a vegetable in there somewhere, so I accompanied it with my own twist on the traditional Italian prosciutto e melone - prosciutto wrapped around asparagus, with cantaloupe and fresh mozzarella.
The trouble with Valentine's Day this year is that it was on a freaking MONDAY. Which meant that after being at work from 8 - 1, I had to rush to campus for our weekly Art History Society meeting. On the way I stopped by the store for most of my ingredients plus some snacks for the meeting. Then I was in our meeting until 5 p.m., and stopped by another store on the way home for a meat pounder - the steak recipe required the steak to be pounded to 1/8 inch thick. At home, I put groceries away, took a shower, got dressed, and did my hair and makeup while waiting for The Carnivore to get back from grad school auditions (he came back about halfway through this process, so I ended up having a conversation with him / preparing an appetizer of spinach dip and pretzel sticks / running around like crazy with my hair half-dry. We had a nice little romantic moment on my balcony, and then...
it was time to leave for the concert.
It was okay, I had planned not to have dinner until after the concert (hence the appetizer), but time was already moving way faster than I was. I finished drying my hair and we headed off to Oakland's beautiful Fox Theater to see these people:

"These People" = The Decemberists

The concert was fantastic. They played some favorites of crazed fans like myself, and plenty from their new album as well (which is the inspiration for that super pretty tree backdrop in the pic). And you know what they say.... time flies when you're having fun.

After the concert we ran through the rain to catch a bus back to my apartment, and when we were there I started on dinner. It didn't take an incredibly long time to cook, but when we sat down to eat I happened to look at the clock -

it was 1:45 a.m.

The only thing we could do was eat and enjoy dinner anyway. And dessert, too - which I didn't feel the need to change, so just like last year we had a chocolate fondue with strawberries and blackberries as dippers. I did add a little flavor twist on this year's fondue, though.

But first the food:

Steak Involtini (Recipe from Giada de Laurentiis' Giada at Home)

~Ingredients~

Breading:

1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmesan

Filling:

3/4 cup grated parmesan

3/4 cup shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup olive oil (plus 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

2 cloves garlic, minced

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 (8 oz) London broil steaks, trimmed and pounded 1/8 inch thick

1 26 oz jar marinara sauce

~Directions~

1. For the breading: In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Set aside.

2. For the filling: In a large bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of parmesan, the mozzarella cheese, 1/4 cup olive oil, basil, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In the event that the universe is working against you, dried basil is okay in place of fresh.

3. Cut the steaks in half crosswise and place on a work surface. Spread the mixture evenly over the steaks. Roll up the steaks and secure with skewers.

And if you can't get the steaks to 1/8 inch thick (not for lack of trying), that's okay too.

4. In a medium skillet, heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil over medium heat. Roll the steaks in the bread crumb mixture until coated and add to the skillet. Cook the steaks until brown on all sides, about 6 to 8 minutes.

If you forget to roll the steaks in the bread crumbs and have to sprinkle them on afterward - really, it's okay. You're cooking a fancy meal at one in the morning and a few screwups are inevitable.

5. Add the marinara sauce to the pan. Bring the sauce to a simmer and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Simmer, turning occasionally, for 10 to 15 minutes for medium-well.

6. Remove the skewers, place the steaks on a cutting board and slice thinly. Arrange the steak slices on plates and serve with the marinara sauce.

Mine did not retain their pretty circular stuffed with cheese shape. But it was still yummy.

My side dish was much more simple:

Prosciutto-wrapped Asparagus with Melon and Mozzarella

~Ingredients~

1 bunch asparagus
Several slices of prosciutto
1/2 cantaloupe, cut into chunks
1 ball fresh mozzarella, torn into pieces

~Directions~

1. Tear prosciutto into long thin strips and wrap around the asparagus.

2. Grill, or (if you don't have a grill or it's just plain too cold), place under a broiler for about 5 minutes, until the prosciutto is crispy and the asparagus is perfectly grilled.

3. Serve in a salad bowl with melon and mozzarella.

I know steak usually calls for red wine, but I hardly ever like red wine, so we had this with dinner:

Which gave me an excuse to use some super cute glasses found in a thrift store:

And then we had dessert - fondue can be made easily with good quality chocolate and cream, and instead of serving in my giant fondue pot, I made it in a saucepot and served it in a bowl while it was still hot. But first I stirred in a little bit of this for flavor:

Yum. This is super thick, and so drinking it is a little...eh. It's a great flavor but too thick for wine - kind of syrupy. I would mix it with sparkling water or champagne. But in the fondue - it was perfect.

Next time I'll up the raspberry factor by having fresh raspberries as dippers.

We probably didn't finish eating until around 2:30 a.m. But it was still an awesome Valentine's Day and meal and The Carnivore was happy :)

And I had kale for breakfast the next morning...er... 6ish hours later...to make up for it :)

Wow.

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:04:00 +0000

I've been trying to decide whether or not to share this piece of my thoughts and whether or not to be so open and frank about it... but I think that I will listen to Audre Lorde on this one: "Your silence will not protect you." Ultimately it is important that those who struggle share their stories, so that others who go through similar struggles can find hope and allies in those who have succeeded.

Weight can be a sensitive topic. It certainly is for me. Over the years I've struggled with my weight in various ways, both as a result of and leading to unhealthy relationships with food and even as far as unhealthy relationships with others and with myself. As much as I envision some kind of crazy perfect society where fashion magazines, supermodels, etc don't exist and we can all just be comfortable in our bodies, that's just not the way it is. The pressure to look a certain way from the media is enormous, and though we're supposed to have grown out of being weighed down by that pressure after our teen years, I think a lot of women simply mask what they feel with humor and other devices. There are women who do not possess the "ideal" body put forth by the media, and who are totally comfortable in their bodies. And that's awesome. Confidence is sexy. But there are so many more of us who still aren't quite there.

And then there's the other aspect of one's physical state that isn't even about self-esteem, but just plain health. Being overweight can be dangerous, leading to high blood pressure, diabetes, and a number of other health concerns which I don't have to list here, because the dangers I avoided are not really my point, and we all know them anyway.

I think I can pin my latest personal struggle with my weight down to about the last 2-3 years. As I've noted, I was quite fit in 2007. I know this because I recently looked at a picture of myself from that summer, standing at Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, Italy (the square overlooks the city and second to being on top of the duomo, it's one of the more thrilling places to take a picture). I was wearing a brown stretchy tank top. That's it. No bulky sweater or vest over it like I tend to do these days. And not to toot my own horn, but I looked GOOD.

I haven't felt that comfortable in so little clothing since then, really. I think I had been in a kind of depression, which I am just now starting to pull myself out of, and I masked that/"dealt" with it through not taking care of myself: overeating, eating crappy food, and not exercising more than a sporadic few days here and there until I got tired. I had a couple relationships that ended very badly. I also had a couple of traumatic experiences in which I lost close friends and family, not to death but some to total betrayal of what it means to be a friend and/or family member and others to simply deciding they did not want me to be part of their lives anymore. I have a hard time trusting and getting close to people as a result. These kinds of things will take a toll on anyone, no matter how strong you are, and some of us "cope" with our loneliness, depression, etc. by eating and/or neglecting our emotional and physical well-being.

I'm not saying I'm "cured" by this program. On the emotional side of things, I think it would be beneficial for me to use the Mills healthcare to get some free counseling while I still have it. On the physical side of things, I still have some weight to lose to feel as comfortable in my own skin as I did in 2007, and keeping my eating and exercise habits on par with my vision of a better me is going to take some work. I'm not delusional, I know that. It's a hard thing to do, saving yourself from...yourself.

But I know that I am the only person who can do that for myself - no one else can or will do it for me - and that this program was a step in that direction. I stepped on the scale this morning before I got in the shower. I had held off doing so until I was "done" with my 21 day cleanse (quotations because "done" is a little misleading - I mean done with the strict two liquid meals per day regimen for now, not done improving my diet and relationship to food), and since yesterday was day 21 I went to bed last night with the resolve of checking my weight first thing in the morning.
I had predicted may 5-8 pounds, which is what I had read of many people following the program. Luckily, I knew my starting weight because I had been to the doctor shortly before I started the program.

I lost twelve pounds.
I couldn't believe it at first. I was totally bewildered and thought the scale must be wrong. But I stepped off, and then on again, and the number was the same.

It was a huge self-esteem boost, to say the least. I immediately messaged my mother on Facebook to tell her the news. Then I got dressed, went to class, and was scared s***less by a discussion on what to do post-grad, post-thesis, about MFA programs, Ph.D programs, teaching jobs in the world of writing, etc. But that's another story.

The important thing for me is that this weight was lost in a healthy way. I haven't been starving myself or doing anything even remotely similar. I haven't exercised myself to unhealthy exhaustion with little results while not changing my diet at all(exercise on the Clean program is recommended in moderate amounts, resuming to regular amounts when you're done). Dr. Junger doesn't even promote it as a "weight loss program," because that's not what he wants people to get fixated on - he wants a focus on your health and well-being, inside and out, instead. So you focus on taking care of your body, and I think excess weight naturally leaves you as a side perk.

I didn't do a number of things that I've done previously in schemes to lose weight which have all, unsurprisingly, failed and/or risked my health. I was simply taking care of my body from the inside out and giving it the nutrition it needed, nothing more, nothing less.

So this newfound energy and healthy feeling, along with the twelve pounds lost, is a huge step. I don't look like a supermodel. I am not stick thin, I don't have huge boobs or perfect legs and I'm not very tall. I'm average height, I'm curvy, I have decidedly German thighs and I think my arms are kinda weird.
But that's okay. I don't need a supermodel body. What I need is to feel comfortable in my own skin, to feel like me, like that young woman in the picture from Florence, 2007 who felt like a rockstar because she was comfortable in her own skin. And today, I'm twelve pounds and bucket of energy closer to that step than I was three weeks ago

Day 21

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:20:00 +0000

I'm sitting on my couch eating lunch. Lunch today is a repetition of a common theme over the last three weeks - a variation on a quinoa salad: quinoa, celery, carrots, cucumber, mixed salad greens, a little lemon juice and olive oil, and steamed chopped chicken breast. No salt to be found, but plenty of pepper (I love pepper). The only cooked items are the quinoa and chicken.
This morning I drank a kale, avocado, almond milk, coconut water, mango and blueberry shake.

Who am I?
I never thought I would consume kale or avocado as a liquid. I only recently took to liking avocados in the past year, and kale is one of those items to be cooked down to wilt-y with lots and lots of garlic, in my experience. But this morning there I was, drinking both kale and avocado completely raw, mixed with fruit, almond milk, and coconut water. Again, not the first time I've done this during the program, but somewhere I never would have seen myself three weeks ago.

Three weeks ago I was miserable. I was tired all the time, constantly plagued with headaches, and I knew something was wrong in my body. I've let myself gain some weight in the past two years that I absolutely did not mean to, because I was neglecting my health for everything else - school, work, etc, with the mindset of "I'm too busy to take care of myself."
I am very, very busy. But it has really been a lot easier than expected to "take care of myself" over the past 21 days. Raw or near-raw lunches take less time (duh), and smoothies and juices take hardly anytime at all. The biggest time-sucker in my cleansing adventures has been grocery shopping, but mostly because I spend a lot of time in the frozen foods aisle at trader joe's, lusting over the flatbreads and chocolate joe-joe cookies that I can't have (my trader joe's keeps their cookies with the frozen foods, just to make life a little more torturous for those of us in a hurry for a quick dinner).

But I really was miserable three weeks ago. Then everything changed. I read an article in Outside magazine, written by a journalist who had tried this "crazy cult cleanse" (how he saw it at the beginning, and, I'll admit, a little bit what I was thinking while reading the article) for the purpose of writing about it and reporting on his results. He started with a lot of skepticism, then found himself exactly where I am today. And that's what prompted me to buy the book and give it a go.

Today I couldn't even try to describe myself as miserable. I am still bogged down with homework (I'm writing my creative writing thesis this semester, and to say it's time-consuming would be an understatement) and work, but that's about the only thing that hasn't changed. I am freakishly energetic. I had one or two days of low energy during the program (oddly, that didn't happen until this week) but most mornings I am wide awake at 8 a.m, and not in the groggy, I don't want to get out of bed sort of way that I was previously used to. Now I'm more like that annoying peppy morning person (we all know at least one of these people) who ruins it for those who like to sleep in with all of the peppy bouncing around. I've only had one headache. In three weeks. One.lone.migraine. And it was a migraine. But it was only ONE.

And I feel so so good. I know I'm not at my goal weight yet, and I've yet to step on a scale, but I know I've lost weight, thanks to last week's belt incident and the way my clothes fit in general. I feel stronger, like my body is just so much more stable now. And my skin is glowing, and much more clear.

I feel like my relationship with food is so much healthier, now, too. I realize that I don't have to be *stuffed* to be satisfied or full. Smaller portion sizes are okay, and when I let it just sit with me and recognize that my body has received the nutrition it needed, I don't feel the need to eat outside of hunger, for boredom, emotional gratification, etc. The foods I crave are also very different. I won't lie - I would still really like a slice of pizza sometimes, but I don't *crave* foods outside of Clean rules the way I used to. Instead I'm craving celery, quinoa, pineapple, brazil nuts, ginger, carrots, avocados, kale, broccoli, spinach. Apples and raspberries taste like candy. I don't think I really even crave candy or sugar anymore, which is crazy, because I have the biggest sweet tooth on the planet. Or...had. Salt doesn't even feel necessary 90% of the time, because all of these foods have their own naturally built in amazing flavors. And lemon juice is one of the best seasonings to me now. I don't feel the need for caffeine the way I used to, though I still enjoy a cup of green tea (allowed on the program).

Bottom line - I am so glad I did this. And it doesn't end here. I think I will still continue to have juices and smoothies for breakfast every day - after all, I hardly ever even ate breakfast before. Why not replace a lack of nutrition with a Clean juice or smoothie, rather than a big heavy breakfast or boring bowl of cereal? I'll go back to solid dinners but keep the ingredients in them as Clean as possible. When I have a day where my food consumption is too much outside of the Clean rules, I'll spend the next day or two completely "Clean" to make up for it. There is an entire chapter on "maintenance" in the book that I have yet to read, but I'll do that tonight. I just know that I do want to stay this way, I want to keep feeling energetic and healthy and light.

I think that anyone who is feeling the way I did three weeks ago should do this program. You don't have to go with the expensive kit version - I didn't. You can get the book version cheaply (check out Amazon) and as long as you shop at the right places, the ingredients won't cost much. And at the end of it all, you'll feel like a goddess of health and energy.

Weaknesses, Nightmares, and Victories

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 19:38:00 +0000

So I cheated again yesterday.
With five more days left on the program.
But this cheat was, thankfully, not in the form of a brownie or anything equally as bad. I went to a local farmer's market with the good intention of buying some kale that wasn't at a Whole Foods price (I'm starting to hate Whole Foods more and more). And I did buy a beautiful bunch of dark green kale.

But then my boyfriend and I decided to walk around and explore what else was at the farmer's market. I did very well avoiding free samples, while he got to sample kettle corn, garlic cheese, and a multitude of other delicious things. I was able to sample two things:
1. a fuji apple.
2. protein powder made from quinoa, maca, and amaranth. which I may actually purchase at some point. it tasted way better than my hemp powder.

But then we came to the stands of various restauranty type prepared foods. And among these was Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Foods, a Bay Area business for boxed, canned, fresh etc Indian foods that actually taste good (i.e. not like they're from a box). I'd seen the brand in a few stores around here and tried it once or twice, but at the stand they had a giant.
pile.
of.
SAMOSAS.
(whether or not I gave in to the samosas, and more after the jump)

Which I successfully avoided, because there were no free samosa samples, they were just for sale. But they were the key thing to draw me over, right in front of the samples of parathas and chutneys.

And the guy behind the table just handed me a piece of spinach paratha with some kind of amazing eggplant spread on top of it. For those who don't know, a paratha is a flatbread, and this one was filled with spinach and spices. They look something like this:

photo borrowed from manjulaskitchen.com

I couldn't not eat it.
It was already in my hand.

So I did.

Then he handed me a piece of a pumpkin paratha, topped with jalapeno chutney.
I had to stop the madness.

So I ate that sample too.
(they were small pieces).

But then I turned to my boyfriend and said "this is the only bad thing I will do today." and he just kind of threw his hands up in the air like "hey, it's your diet fail, not mine."

The guy behind the table informed me that the parathas keep in the fridge for 10 days, and longer in the freezer, and the chutneys have a super long unopened shelf life.

So now I have two spinach parathas in my freezer, and a jar of jalapeno chutney in my pantry (and the kale, of course, in my produce drawer).
But it was a much more acceptable cheat than the brownie. And I ate the healthiest quinoa salad EVER when I came home for lunch. And I will not touch those parathas and chutney again until I'm done with the program, and it will be in moderation.
I even made myself drink my two tablespoons of olive oil followed by lemon water last night. I'll admit that I haven't done the olive oil thing every night, because I really, really hate it.

But ohmygod that bite of paratha was GOOD.
Maybe this cheat was a partial cause of the the nightmare I had last night. I also purchased a scale yesterday, on a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond after the farmer's market, and I made a rule of not using it until I'm done with the program. But last night I dreamed that I took it out of the box and weighed myself anyway, before I was done, and I had gained an extra 30 pounds.

THIRTY POUNDS.
I woke up and quickly ran to the bathroom to look at myself in the mirror and confirm that there was no way I had gained 30 pounds, in fact there's no way I've gained anything. Yesterday I put on a belt that I bought three and a half years ago when I was in Florence, Italy during a summer study abroad. I had bought the belt from a street vendor and she had to punch two extra holes in the belt so that it would be tight enough - I was skinny in 2007, half thanks to walking all over Florence every day.
So yesterday when I put the belt on, I was able to reach the second to last hole - one of the ones the belt vendor had needed to punch into the belt to make it tight enough for me - for the first time in, well, an epically long time.

So I'm not beating myself up about my little "cheat" yesterday. Because the belt thing is a huge victory. And it's just going to keep going uphill from there :)

Adapting

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:27:00 +0000

So I should note that after yesterday's epic brownie fail, I came home last night with the intent of writing some poetry for my thesis and instead ended up in bed for several hours immobilized with a headache and very nauseated stomach, after which I got up and stayed up writing until 2 a.m. I got some good writing done, but class this morning wasn't the easiest thing to do - I've been trying to get healthy (read: not my usual...) amounts of sleep while on the Cleanse.

I blame the sugar for the aches and pains. Let's think on this: I haven't had sugar for two weeks (elimination diet week + cleanse week 1) and then I go for a brownie (sugar, dairy, chocolate, probably eggs too) in the middle of it all? Bad move, Miss Tomato. Bad move. Of course my body went into full blown instant karma mode on me. So I waited it out with a couple glasses of water and a couple hours in bed, and by the time I was sitting at my computer writing again it had mostly blown over, and I had learned a lesson:
DON'T CHEAT ON THE CLEANSE. It's not worth it.

That said, I had to do some adapting today. One of the rules is that dinners and breakfasts should be liquid and lunch should be solid, but if a solid dinner is really needed at some point, a liquid lunch may be had that day instead. Tonight the Mills College Art History Society had an important retreat/dinner/meet + greet event at a new burger place that opened up (near the office I work at, actually - the restaurant's back patio is in my office's front yard) and so I had juice for breakfast, an AMAAAAZING mango/pineapple/coconut milk/agave syrup/hemp protein smoothie for lunch (I'll dream about that smoothie for a while, and probably make it again tomorrow) and for dinner I had grilled teriyaki chicken with a side salad, oil and vinegar in place of dressing. It was good adapting. I asked them to go light on the teriyaki sauce (technically not supposed to have any) so they just put it on the side like a salad dressing, I didn't have to eat it at all. The chicken was perfectly grilled, and the salad was fresh and yummy - I simply put my tomatoes to the side, because tomatoes are on the "no" list for the cleanse, and practiced my awesome newfound self-control by not eating the garlic bread provided, as well as the rice pilaf and coleslawish type dish that came with the chicken.

Everyone at dinner was asking me about the cleanse and how it works, what it does, what I can eat (because what I can't eat is a much longer list), etc. The topic led to general health, cleanses, things like the master cleanse, etc (for those who don't know: the master cleanse is a mixture of water, lemon, grade b maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. That is all you ingest for 3-5 days, or more if you're insane). I would not personally do something like that because I don't feel that it provides the nutrients needed to be healthy, and the "cleansing" factor is the cayenne irritating your insides and forcing things out. The Clean Program does not do that. You get a full spectrum of nutritional value, you can still have one solid meal a day, you aren't hungry (I'm serious. I'm totally satisfied in how much I eat on this program), you detox your insides intensely but gently, and it acts as a basis to change your eating habits to healthier ones even after the cleanse is over. This isn't a fad diet, do it for a few days and drop a few pounds, then gain it all back once the cleanse is over kind of thing. This is a program that provides building blocks to maintain a healthier lifestyle throughout the rest of your life.

That is not to say that I will not go back to indulging in chocolate, spinach and mushroom pizza, and garlic bread when I'm done. But those types of food items will be much more occasional, and my daily diet will be smarter and healthier. I feel very strong and healthy right now, and I've only finished my first week of Clean. I have an amount of energy that I can't even handle sometimes (a little diminished today after my 2 a.m. bedtime), and I haven't stepped on a scale, but I think I've lost weight - I feel lighter, and my waist looks slimmer.

So, setbacks happen. But we learn from them, and how to adapt even in tempting environments (i.e. burger joints - the Niman ranch beef burgers with amazing toppings like cheese and avocado looked delicious, as did the fries). I'm feeling positive and hopeful about my future health tonight :)

I'll leave you with my favorite snack during this cleanse - raspberries. I've felt the need to snack less and less, but when I do, you bet it will be either these babies or a couple brazil nuts...

1 Week! Or: Because I'm Being Totally Honest...

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:38:00 +0000

...I'm going to tell you all that I cheated on the Cleanse. Exactly a week after I started it (ugh).

I'm Co-President of the Art History Society here at Mills, which is a budding student organization that a fellow senior and I started back in October in the hopes of there being a real community of people who love art on this campus who would be inspired to get together and be active in the art world/discuss it, outside of Danforth (our trusty old Art History lecture hall).

Today was the Mills "Block Party," an opportunity for clubs and organizations to set up tables on Adams Plaza and coerce passing students into joining their ranks, usually with a combination of free food and candy. The treasurer for AHS was fabulous and brought books to set on our table, as well as an extra poster and a wonderfully kitschy pair of big red plastic air filled lips. She also brought brownies.
And cookies.
And frosting.
And peanut butter.
And sprinkles.

....

It's been a pretty warm day (mid 70s, I'm guessing?) and so the sun was shining on all of the baked goods.
Carrying the scent of sugar cookies and chocolate chips through the air.
Melting the chocolate on the brownies just a little bit, so that the smell of those also became torturous.

After a while, I broke. Sitting there giving "the sell" to every person who showed a vague interest, having already finished the rather disappointing salad I had thrown together from the salad bar on campus (I forgot to pack a lunch today!), my stomach a little bit growly... I just broke.
I ate a brownie.
And it was delicious.

But then my conscience got the better of me. I didn't even LOOK at the sweets the rest of the time I was sitting there, and then when my shift at the table was over, I immediately ran off to the library, as far away from all the sugar as I could possibly get.

But I'm still a little pissed off at myself. I survived one week, and now THIS? Weak.

But also human.

So I'm going to forgive myself.
I snacked on a little mixed fruit (no syrups or anything, just pure, fresh fruit) and I think that will hold me over until dinner, which will not be until 10 p.m. when I get home (I forgot to pack dinner too, where was my head today?!) and will definitely be a green juice.

But I'm not going to beat myself up about it. Everyone makes mistakes. I heard about "Clean" from an article in Outside magazine, in which the writer had tested out the cleanse to write a feedback article. He had a breaking point one night, in which he went over to a friend's house and decided he would have "just one beer" which, by the end of the night had turned into three. He called Dr. Junger to ask if he had ruined everything by doing this and he said something to the effect of "Well, when you're cleaning your house, you don't stop to throw a bunch of lard around, but just don't do it again - life goes on."

So now I'm thinking of brownie-shaped pieces of lard bouncing off the walls of my insides, and that's where the guilt trip is kicking in. But again, everyone makes mistakes, and if I continue on like nothing happened, I'll succeed with this thing. I happen to often take classes with two professors who like to provide us with snacks for breaks during exceedingly long art history classes, and often the snacks are not exactly healthy (butter biscuit waffle cookies are a favorite of a certain professor who taught my senior seminar). So I am going to have to learn to say no, while I'm doing this, and sometimes after the cleanse is over as well.

But I really hope no one offers me more chocolate today.

Day 5

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 04:36:00 +0000

Well, I'm five days (almost a week!) into my 3-week cleanse following the Clean Program by Alejandro Junger M.D.
Quick recap: Before I started, I did a quick week of the "elimination diet", which is still three solid meals a day, just following a set of rules on what one can and can't eat. There's a huge list of foods I can't eat, including but not limited to:

Dairy (I'm the queen of cheese. I may or may not have teared up a little at the thought of no sharp cheddar over for the next month).
Eggs (that's okay, my allergy to eggs thanks to dad's genes seems to get more intense the older I get)
Oranges, grapefruit, strawberries, grapes, and bananas (I LOVE grapefruit. So this one has me a bit annoyed).
Basically any grain that is not quinoa, buckwheat, or brown rice. I can also eat millet and amaranth, but I've never eaten either one and am not entirely sure that I know what they are.
Raw fish (no sushi, boo.) And basically most meats. I can eat cold water fish (no shellfish either), wild game (which means buffalo is a go?), lean lamb, duck, chicken, and turkey (but no cold cuts). I'm allowing myself to eat allowed meats while I'm doing this, because I don't want to feel weak.
Soy. NO SOY.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

At least, that was my first thought. Soy means no tofu. I love tofu. I also love soybeans, boiled and salted edamame-style or roasted until crunchy for a snack. And I drink gallons of soymilk on a regular basis. I can have tiny amounts of wheat-free tamari as a seasoning, but haven't had to utilize that yet. but really, no soy. Which is weird for me. Soy kind of rules my life. But that may come to an end. The benefits of soy don't always outweigh the negative effects (yes, there are negative effects. Do some research).
Peanuts. But I can eat almost any other nut I want, excluding pistachios and macadamia nuts. I've already made gallons of Brazil Nut Milk to use in smoothies and replace the soymilk I can't drink.
Corn, tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers. * sigh * This one is hard for me. I live on roasted bell peppers. And potatoes, though I know they're some of the cause of my weight gain, are something I find myself hard-pressed to separate from.
Butter, processed oils, salad dressings, mayo, and other crap like that. So I've been using mostly cold-pressed olive oil and lemon juice where needed. Not a problem.
Any beverage (outside of my liquid meals) that is not water, green tea, herbal tea, or yerba mate. Goodbye early morning visits to Peet's before work, the occasional glass of wine, and the epic amounts of Lady Grey tea that I used to drink.
any sweetener that is not stevia, agave nectar, or brown rice syrup.
I can have a lot of condiments (mustard and honey are even on the go list, meaning awesome homemade honey-mustard dressings in small amounts are okay), but no ketchup, relish, soy sauce, bbq sauce, etc. and no chocolate (EVIL).

So that seems like an overwhelming "no" list, right? That's what I thought too. I freaked out, actually, standing in front of the cheese aisle in trader joe's and realizing I would have to totally walk past it as though it isn't there for the next month. But the elimination diet week presented me with a lot of yummy options, and four days ago, Thursday January 20th (which was also my birthday), I started the cleanse, which consists of a liquid meal in the morning, a solid meal according to elimination diet rules for lunch, and a liquid meal in the evening. I'm also taking probiotics everyday, psyllium husks (extra fiber to get the best benefits from the program), and garlic pills as an antimicrobrial to "eliminate bad bacteria, regulate blood sugar levals, enchance fat burning, reduce hunger sensations, lower cholesterol, relieve arthritic pain and reduce bowel gas" (quoted from the book).

Another thing the book recommends is two tablespoons of olive oil taken before bed every night and followed with water and lemon. I've found this really quite hard to do. The benefits of this listed in the book make sense: "will lubricate your intestines, improve bowel elimination, provide anti-inflammatory fats, kill germs and enhance fat burning, stimulate the gallbladder and liver to move bile clearing the liver system, promote bone formation, inhibit blood clot formation and promote hormonal balance"... but straight olive oil is...

the worst thing ever.
It's not the taste, it's the texture.

It's oil.
Straight.
Oil.

Just digest that for a second (ha, digest...)

I've found the best way to do it is to swallow a tablespoon at a time, quickly, and follow immediately with lemon water. More tolerable that way, but still my least favorite part of the program.

And of course, I have to drink plenty of water to help flush out the toxins.

My juices and smoothies have been pretty great. I've really fallen in love with the combination of apples, fennel, ginger, lemon and spinach as a juice. Today I added a little kale and a carrot to the juice as well, just for some variety. There are also other juices that I'm eager to try in the book - like the pineapple, lime, and fresh mint! (though I'm allergic to pineapple, so it will have to be in moderate amounts) Liquid meals also include soups (made in a blender, and they can be warmed a little but not cooked), which is good because soup feels more like a meal to me. The last two nights I've had the zucchini and basil soup, and it was pretty good. A little thin for a soup, but the combination of zucchini, basil, avocado and celery was a winner on taste.

The lunches are definitely going to be the highlight of my day, though. They've been amazing so far. Sesame crusted seared tuna over a salad of greens, avocado, cucumber, and radishes with honey-mustard dressing (made with raw honey, dijon, lemon juice and olive oil), lots of quinoa salads with diced vegetables and nuts and topped with sliced steamed or grilled chicken (I mean, look at the quinoa salad. just look at it. it's amazing:

and meals like this one:

Grilled salmon and asparagus over a salad of arugula tossed with olive oil and lemon juice. Salmon is topped with homemade, cheese-free pesto. The first day I ate it at school, in a tupperware container, as shown, but the second day I ate it, I realized it would work for me better if I shredded the salmon a little with a fork first.

I just came back from the store with two very heavy grocery bags of veggies. Tomorrow I plan on a yummy berry smoothie for breakfast, a seared tuna and salad dish for lunch, and pineapple and avocado gazpacho for dinner (my allergies will just have to deal - I want pineapple!!)

I have, however, realized that one should not peruse Saveur.com while cleansing. It will only remind you of what you *can't* eat (FANCY CHEESE).

* sings * I will survive...

Living Clean

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:54:00 +0000

So my last few months have been nothing less than insanity, and yet again have resulted in neglect of this blog. This time, though, I'm not going to let that happen. I've got a purpose this time.

I'm embarking on one of those crazy cleanses - you know the kind, health cults who swear by living on only water or similar - but this isn't quite that extreme. I'm using "Clean" a book by Alejandro Junger, and contrary to living on only water and cayenne pepper like some insane cleanses we may have all heard of, Dr. Junger suggests we actually nourish our bodies during a cleanse. So right now I'm starting Day 1 of Week 1 - the elimination diet. I get to eat three solid meals a day, but only containing foods on the book's "yes" list - which is mostly raw, organic, and vegan (except that there are some recipes where sustainable chicken, fish, and other lean meat proteins are allowed. No dairy though). I'm supposed to drink about 2 quarts of pure water per day, and after this week is over, I'll embark on three weeks of liquid only (soups, smoothies, or juices) breakfasts and dinners, and solid lunches still according to the elimination diet's rules. And if needed, small snacks like almonds or berries in between.

So far, it's not bad. I used the "Green power juice" recipe provided in the book for breakfast, and it was pretty tasty. Lots of veggies, a little sweetness from apples and lemon, and a little kick from a couple slices of ginger. Right now I'm eating a bowl of quinoa (rice and couscous' healthier, protein-packed cousin) with diced vegetables, and a little olive oil, lemon and a pinch of salt to taste. Not a bad start, I think.

So I'm going to use my blog primarily to track progress over the next month. I've got some recipes stored up to post from pre-Clean days and I will, but while I'm on my quest to lose a little weight and look and feel healthier, I'm going to try to avoid thinking about all the yummy foods I *can't* eat while cleansing.
Which is also what I'm going to do while my boyfriend sits next to me eating a bowl of Trader Joe's ice cream *eyeroll *

Wish me luck!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Vintage Hats.

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:56:00 +0000

At almost 23, I've realized that I am a woman of many (maybe too many) hats. Some of these hats wear themselves with little effort from me necessary to keep them on straight: I'm a daughter, a sister, a lover, a friend and a roommate and with the exception of the little hiccup here and there, every one of these hats are somewhat like a nice snug hand-knit beanie that doesn't require much on my part in the way of maintenance.

They're something like this one, my first knitting project from 2008

Other hats, however, are a little more like vintage hats that you find in vintage clothing stores or if you're lucky, a good thrift store - they're impossibly cute and might even have the little black net veil built in, but they're hell to keep on your head because they're usually strangely shaped, and require all sorts of hairpins so that they won't slip too far forward or backward or twist around in the wrong direction.

like this. really cute but a bit precarious on the head and very involved with the veil and whatnot.

Let's recap:

Way back in March I was at the end of my junior year at Mills and life was much more simple. So I thought, "Hey, I'll start a cooking blog in my TRUCKLOADS of free time." I had one job and zero theses to write, so truckloads was actually a fairly accurate measure of said time. Same deal this summer. Truckloads. My vintage hats were limited to:
1. college junior with a manageable homework load, and
2. very part-time personal assistant.
The hairpins were cooperative and for the most part, the hats stayed on.

Then August rolled around. Suddenly I had a second job, it was senior year, and my art history thesis decided to crash into my life. The now many vintage hats were suddenly piled on top of one another on my head in a most unflattering fashion and the hairpins for:
1. part-time personal assistant,
2. college senior writing a thesis,
3. college senior thinking about her second thesis,
4. co-president of the newly founded Mills Art History Society, and
5. office manager at a local chiropractic office...
..were the kind of hairpins that were constantly getting lost and falling out, leaving the hats askew in every direction.

And since August, I haven't had even a second to breathe, let alone:
A - check my Wine-y Tomato email (thewineytomato@gmail.com), which I just checked to see that there are 2,198 new emails, thanks to the various food blogs and blogger communities that I subscribe to. If anyone tried to email me something that doesn't fall into one of those two categories, I apologize in advance for the fact that it probably will not reach me until mid-December.
and B - post. Or cook anything worth posting about.
I've been trying to whip up the actual meal here and there when I can, but for the most part it's been a lot quick things thrown together and prepared frozen meals from Trader Joe's. I did make a delicious dinner of panko crusted mahi mahi, quinoa, and roasted asparagus for my partner, Jon, and a new friend of ours a week ago, but pictures of said meal just didn't happen, so blogging didn't happen.

Instead I've been absorbing myself in the work of four phenomenal women artists from India for my art history thesis, writing about the work of three OTHER phenomenal women artists from India for another Art History seminar, trying to write some poetry in preparation for my writing thesis NEXT semester, writing lots of analyses of other people's poetry for the two poetry lit classes I'm taking, going to work, doing work for job #2, and watching my immune system repeatedly give up on me in the midst of everything else.

Long story short, I'm exhausted. But this week I finished the first draft of my thesis (yay!) and the final draft will leave my hands this Wednesday (!!!) And today, I'm going to cook something. Now, for reasons I will eventually divulge (just not today), I have to keep the nature of this dish and the people it's destined to feed a secret for now. But I will say that I am off to the store for ingredients and absolutely thrilled that I won't even need to walk through the frozen aisle once as part of this journey. So expect a new post in the next few days, and until then, send some energy and health my way, 'k?

Dear Chef'n: You rock (and other miscellany).

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 03:50:00 +0000

Before I start into my trip home:
A few weeks ago, I realized something. Months ago, I won a contest on Chef'n's Facebook page for a Sleekslice mandoline, which is an awesome little tool of theirs. However, my point is that it had been a couple months. The timeframe and fact that I hadn't gotten anything from Chef'n in the mail didn't compute. I checked when I won the contest, checked to make sure I had sent them the correct address, and everything checked out, except that there was no mandoline in sight.
So I shot a quick email to customer service, explaining the situation and expressing my confusion. It was around 10 pm on a Friday night, and to my surprise, I got an email back within 20 minutes, from an employee's email app on her mobile phone! On the Fourth of July weekend, nonetheless. She apologized and said they would send me some extra "goodies" in the mail, along with the Sleekslice. I thought "eh, goodies means magnets or something," but I was happy that they were so prompt in getting back to me and that I would be getting the mandoline.

A few days later, I got a big box from Chef'n. I didn't think much of it at first, but as I carried the package upstairs I thought "Wow, how big is this freaking mandoline?!" I opened the box, and instead of the mandoline and a few magnets, I saw this:

And I immediately thought "These people ROCK!"
That package contained:

The mandoline
Chef'n's super handy collapsible measuring cups.
THE CUTEST STRAWBERRY HULLER IN THE WORLD
An equally cute pepper grinder (filled with fresh peppercorns!)
A corn zipper (which wraps conveniently around a few fingers in the same way that their super awesome vegetable peeler, which I already owned, hooks onto one finger.
And last but CERTAINLY not least - A GarlicZoom! I've been lusting after one of these babies for a while. You peel a couple cloves of garlic, throw 'em in, roll the GarlicZoom across the counter, and SHABAM! - minced garlic in a flash. It's possible that I'm even more excited about this than the mandoline.

So I just wanted to give everyone a general FYI - Chef'n ROCKS. Not only in that they make really awesome and cute kitchen tools, but their customer service is outstanding. This was customer service on an item that I won in a giveaway - not even something I paid for. But I'll remain a loyal customer knowing that this is how they will treat you when something goes wrong. They didn't ask me to write this, I don't think they even know I'm a blogger - but I just had to express some gratitude for fantastic customer service in a world that often presents us with the exact opposite. Chef'n, keep up the good work!

In other news, I'm back from Montana, which I have mixed feelings about. I'm happy to be back - Oakland is where my friends are, it's where work and school are, and I can get good, cheap sushi anytime I want here.
But on the other hand, I did not get enough time at home. I got to hang out with my parents, which was great. I got to hang out with my sister, which was REALLY great because we didn't think we were going to see each other until Christmas. I didn't get to see friends because I was too busy, but I did get to see my very fluffy cat, Bella:

And my camera-phobic dog, Frodo:

He is convinced that my camera was sent to ruin his life, so this is the best I could do.
But two of my days home were spent driving the 5 hours to see my sister. So aside from some scenery, those days weren't really "days" that I was home. They were drives. We had a great dinner after driving there, and a great brunch before driving back, but still....
I'm just not used to not being able to spend the whole summer at home, lying in my front yard soaking up the sun. Here, I don't even have a front yard to lie in.
Oh well. I will see my parents again in about a month, and Christmas break will come before you know it.
I don't have time for a recipe or anything right now - I've been very busy since I got back - but I did want to at least add something to the blog until I can write a real post. So I'll just give you some eye-candy from my trip home, starting with some Montana-produced free-range buffalo burgers...

The second picture is kind of blah, but I had to get a pic of the finished product. My mom embedded little chunks of swiss cheese in the burgers and it was SO GOOD. By the way, buffalo is a super low fat protein source. So if you need a burger, it's a very good choice.
...And here is the super-cute way they served toppings for the fajitas I ordered at one of Bozeman's nommiest restaurants, 18 Miles to the Border:

Seriously, if you're in the Bozeman MT area, go to this place. And while you're looking at the link I provided earlier, note that it's a Facebook link and The Wine-y Tomato is also on Facebook.
...And here's a yum snack I made at home. It's very simple: slices of quality bread, low-fat Laughing Cow cheese, and slice strawberries (inspired by my dad purchasing a huge flat of strawberries from Costco and commanding that my mom and I eat them before they went bad):

..And of course, HUCKLEBERRIES. Left to right: My picking bucket with wildflowers on top, a gaggle of huckleberries, and a gaggle of huckleberries on a chair:

Real posts soon, I promise :) But for now, I'll leave you with a different view of those lovely flowers decorating my huckleberry bucket:

Leaving + Something Simple

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Hi readers -
I'm writing this in the Salt Lake City airport (yay for free airport wifi). I'm on my way home, to Montana, for about 9 days, for some relaxation, quality time with family and pets, and presumably some huckleberry picking with my mom. I miss Oakland a little already, specifically in that I miss my friends, my boyfriend, and my new roommates, because they are all pretty fantastic people. But I'm also glad to go home, see my family (because I've had a lot more time to miss them) and not be in a city setting (for a moment, anyway). I may or may not blog while I'm home - it depends on whether or not I have time for exciting culinary adventures! So I may go off the radar until August 2nd.
But before I (maybe) do that, I'll leave you with a very.simple.recipe. Actually, I would call it a tip, more than a recipe. Imaginary prize to the first person to guess what the following photo represents:

(tip/recipe(ish) after the "read more" link!)

I adore soup. I used to be this crazy clam chowder addict, and ordered clam chowder in a bread bowl whenever I could. I've since branched out in my soupy preferences (example: root vegetable chowder!) and of course, I love making giant pots of various soups to eat plenty of and then freeze for a rainy (or empty-wallet) day when I need something to eat. I know it's July and as temperatures get warmer, there's not much soup happening in kitchens. But there are cold soups, too. Gazpacho, for instance (and there are quite a few different and yummy varieties of gazpacho). I might make some cold soup when I get back to Oakland, just to clear up some space in my freezer - because my freezer is mainly a vegetable-stock storage unit at the moment!

Whenever I make soup, I buy cartons of vegetable stock/broth/whatever you want to call it, from Trader Joe's. Actually, let's make that past tense. I used to buy cartons of vegetable stock from Trader Joe's. It's pretty good vegetable stock, and affordable compared to what you would find in many other stores. But it's still a habit that cuts into my paycheck quite a bit, as I try to always have stock around, just in case. And then when you open the carton, you have to use it before it goes bad, and it's all kinds of disaster.
But at some point several months back, I got sick of this routine - the expense, the rush to use it up before it went bad - and realized I could fix both of these problems pretty easily - BY MAKING MY OWN. Oh my goodness. Revolutionary, right?

Actually, I'm pretty embarrassed for not having had this epiphany sooner. But whatever. At least I'm not still wasting money on buying the stuff.

When I finally realized this, I immediately started saving the bits and pieces of vegetables that I would usually discard. I literally saved EVERYTHING: the ends of zucchini, celery, broccoli, and carrots; the tops of onions, whether green, red, white, or yellow; a clove or two of garlic here and there and even the occasional grape tomato that I would set aside for stock while making a salad. I left skin on onion tops and garlic cloves - the skin of onions, especially, enhances the color of the end product. I also crushed the garlic with the flat side of a good knife - skin on - to make sure it would release the flavor well.
I set aside little containers - empty and clean yogurt, salsa, and hummus containers, tupperware, etc - to store the pieces in, and whenever I had something new, I would open the freezer, pull-out an empty, half-full, or mostly full container, and toss in the little piece of vegetable. It wasn't long before I had four good sized containers full of frozen veggie bits:

As you can see, it ended up being mostly celery. I eat a freakish amount of celery.

I decided that these containers would be enough. Look how pretty they are!:

After taking them out of the freezer, I dumped everything in the largest pot I have, along with a few tablespoons of olive oil, and turned on the heat.

After they started to smell really nice, I threw in some herbs, and let everything cook until it was really pretty and nice-smelling:

Then it was time to turn it into stock! A bunch of water, a lid, and a few hours turned this:

into what is now frozen broth-y goodness in my freezer :)

It's super simple to make, if you're willing to save the veggie pieces and spend some time letting it simmer. It's also awesome to not spend the money and not have to throw away any vegetable bits! A great option for those of us who don't have a compost bin :)

Easy-Peasy Vegetable Stock/Broth

~Servings: variable, depending on how you use it!~

Ingredients:

Lots of veggie bits and pieces (at least 4 medium-sized storage containers' worth)

4-5 tbsp olive oil

The spices that strike your fancy (oregano, rosemary, bay leaves, thyme, sage, etc)

Water - enough to fill the pot you're using.

Directions:

Start days, weeks, or months ahead, depending on how many veggies you eat. If you cut anything off of your vegetables, put it in a storage container and then put that container in a freezer. Continue until you have the correct amount of veggie odds and ends.
Dump all of the veggies in your largest pot with a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Let cook 5-10 minutes.
Add spices, stir, and let it sizzle for a few more minutes, until the onions start to turn a very pretty shade of brown.
Add water, fill to the top of the pot (leave an inch or so to allow for boiling).
Bring to a boil, the lower heat to a simmer and cover. Simmer for a very long time. All day or all night, preferably. Check for taste, periodically, and also add more water from time to time if the water level starts to get too low (if this happens often, lower your heat. And make sure the pot is covered at all times!)
Let cool, and strain through a wire mesh strainer into a large bowl. Ladle into storage containers and freeze!

Okay, time for me to sign off. I still have at least two hours before I'll be boarding my last plan home (ugh) and the book in my backpack is calling my name.

(There will probably be huckleberry-related posts while I'm in Montana. It's kind of the huckleberry kingdom, especially at my parents' house. So it would be safe to assume huckleberry yummies will appear on this blog in the near future).

Dumplings, Produce and Lentils, Oh My! (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (The Wine-y Tomato) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:22:00 +0000

Okay, I'm finally writing this post. I've been a little busy with work (which I would whine about, but really, I can't lie - I love my job), lots of Bikram yoga (read: yoga in 105 degree heat. Yes, I must have completely lost my mind, but I love it), and the process of my new roommates moving in (yay!) but busy is good, right?
And now I'm packing for a trip back home, to Montana. That's something which is VERY exciting because I didn't think I would be able to go home at all this summer.

So when I got that lovely package from Farm Fresh to You, I knew I had to do SOMETHING fascinating. I simply gobbled up most of the carrots. I made lots of yummy salads with the lettuce. I ate the celery with peanut butter and in salads, per my usual tradition. And the fruit was all gone very, very fast (I have a sweet tooth). But I was unsure what to do with the baby broccoli. It had to be something fascinating, as I said.
And then I remembered that I had won this wonderful, beautiful, fantastic Ekco-Pao Bamboo Steamer, from another wonderful blog, Words are Food. I read a lot of food blogs, and they're all fantastic, but Words are Food is one of those blogs that really stands out to me. So I was thrilled to win this steamer as a reward for my devoted reader-dom (and relentless contest-entering!):

And then my friend Caitlyn and I went to San Francisco for some dim sum - a place where it's hard to be a vegetarian! As I said in my post about it, I conveniently forget that I'm veggie when it comes to dim sum. I love it too much, and I would be missing out on all of my favorite things, like char siu bao. But even so, after Cait left, I was in need of some serious meat-free meals, while still craving lots and lots of dim sum.

Then I remembered about these beautiful french green lentils I bought at Whole Foods months ago:

...and I realized something: lentils + broccoli + pretty new steamer = delicious adventure!

(Yummy green adventures after the "read more" link!)

Realizing that I could fix my veggie dim sum cravings, I ran out to the store and purchased some won-ton wrappers:

I love Azumaya. They not only make the best tofu, but great won-ton wrappers in many shapes, as well as some pretty awesome Asian-style noodles.

I also had some pesto, leftover rice, a couple carrots from my Farm Fresh to You box, and garlic lying around, so I added those to my broccoli and lentils and began on the filling for my veggie dumplings. After soaking the lentils overnight and rinsing, I chopped up the veggies and garlic, and sautéed everything in olive oil for a few minutes.

Mmm, green and orange noms.

After the veggies were tender, in went about a tablespoon of pesto and a couple of splashes of white wine before I covered the pan and let everything simmer for a few minutes. Then I added a few leaves of basil and simmered for a little longer. While that was happening, I laid out a few wrappers on a cutting board. After the alcohol and most of the moisture had cooked off, it was time to fill the dumplings!

Yummy.

Tempting not to eat them at this stage.

Next was moistening the edges, shaping into dumplings, and steaming!

And then it was dinnertime! I swirled garlic powder into some low-sodium soy sauce to go with the garlic-y theme (garlic in the mix, plus pesto? So much garlic. Yum).

This made a LOT of dumplings. I fried some as well - some as potstickers, some as little wonton tacos.

They were so good. The one in the middle is filled with soaked and uncooked lentils - a refreshing accompaniment to the cooked filling, which was a little heavier tasting. Kind of (not surprisingly) tasted like Italian food. But still went well with the soy sauce. So, success!

Italian-ish/Dim-Sum-ish Lentil Broccoli Dumplings

~Serves probably a gajillion~

Ingredients:

1 cup french green lentils (or, you know, lentils of any kind)

1 bunch baby broccoli, finely chopped

2-4 Nantes carrots, finely chopped

1/2 cup cooked rice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp pesto

1/4 to 1/3 cup white wine

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3-4 large, fresh basil leaves, chopped

Won-ton wrappers

Directions:

Soak the lentils overnight (at least 8 hours), and rinse several times in the morning.
Sauté lentils, chopped vegetables, garlic and rice in olive oil over low-medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Add pesto and wine, cover the pan, and let simmer for a few more minutes. After 2-3 minutes, add basil, cover and simmer again, 5-10 minutes, until alcohol has cooked off and most of the moisture has evaporated.
Spread out won-ton wrappers on a cutting board, put a small amount of filling in the middle of each wrapper, moisten edges, fold, and pinch edges together well.
Cook dumplings however you want - steam or fry.
Serve with soy sauce, or favorite won-ton dipping sauce :)