Vegan Week, Day 1

Holla! I made it through Day 1, and without a scratch. That doesn't count my raw, blistered palms from asphalt pushups in boot camp. That was a rough hour. Now I'm avoiding homework by watching Tivo'd Desperate Housewives. Don't judge.

Breakfast: Have you ever tried Oat Bran?! It's crazy awesome. If Oat Bran and oatmeal got in a scuffle in the alley behind the gymnasium, Oat Bran would totally kick oatmeal's hiney. And this combo will blow your mind with the additional bonus of tiding you over until lunch.

- Oat bran
- "Melted banana" - try this: microwave a banana for 30 seconds. It slightly caramelizes and stirs right into the Oat Bran.
- Kingslake and Crane Mahalo Granola Mix. Holy amazing. And California-made.
- Dash o'brown sugar. Or maybe 1/4 cup. Whatevs.


Lunch: this documentation is going to give you a pretty good view of my office. Especially since I tend to work through lunch.

- Pita, filled with spinach, mushrooms, snap peas, cilantro-lime hummus and Tofurkey. Hell naw to the Tofurkey. That stuff will not enter mi boca ever again.
- Wholesoy & Co. Yogurt: YES, YES, YES! I think I like this more than milk-based yogurt! It's richer and not as thick. A-ma-zing.

Snack: Nugget brand trail mix and a Starbucks VIA instant coffee. Have you tried VIA yet? It's great. Dissolves more easily. Stronger than usual instant coffees. Rock on.

Pre-boot camp snack: buy these NOW. Clif Mojo bars in Peanut Butter Pretzel.

Dinner: I totally rocked dinner! I went low-key since I'll be doing some heavy-lifting cooking for the next few days.

- Amy's Lowfat Split-pea soup. Ok, so this was the last chance I was giving Amy. I've tried several of the products and I've wanted to vomit in my mouth with each bite. This soup is dee-LI-cious.

- Salad with OrganicGirl lettuce blend (California lovin'! OrganicGirl is in Salinas), mushrooms, snap peas, cucumber and Trader Joe's Meatless Meatballs.

- Sweet potato fries! Cut a sweet potato into 1/2" disks and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minuts on a baking sheet sprayed with veggie spray. Dip in sumpin'.

Today was a good day. I do not yet miss cheese, although I'm dyin' for some half and half. Is it bad I'm already looking forward to tomorrow morning's oat bran? I'm lame.

Feast of San Gennaro

Head on over to my friend, Sarah's, amazing little blog, The Undercover Caterer, to see the scrump-diddly-umptious dinner we had the pleasure of experiencing on Monday night.

It was in stark contrast to the Chipotle burrito I scarfed down last night while attempting to watch Biggest Loser, write a term paper, and keep Klaster from getting too jealous that a boy was sitting next to me. That dang dog has THE trickiest ways of smuggling himself in the middle of me and whoever else is on my couch.

picture courtesy of Sarah of The Undercover Caterer

Barefoot Bloggers: White Pizza with Arugula and Mango Banana Daiquiris

I'm pretty sure Barefoot Bloggers is going to force me to try things I normally wouldn't (precisely why I joined), because there is no way in hey-ell I would have attempted this pizza otherwise. I HATE making pizzas. It's not that they're difficult. It's that I really, a whole lotta-like, love pizza when it's ordered and shows up on my doorstep. Was this pizza worth it? It was worth trying. It's a healthy alternative to the Meat Lovers situation you find yourself in on a Friday evening, chasing with beer.

Thing is...I like the cheesy, greasy fattiness of chasing cheesy, greasy pizza with beer.

But if you want to lighten things up a bit, I say go for it.* I followed the recipe mostly, but I diverged at some points to throw in some Faith Flair. I tried to get Kim, Tina and Tim to give me their honest opinions - they said they liked it, so I'm going to just have to trust that they weren't feeding me a line.

P.S. The daiquiris were FABULOUS.

*Here's what I don't recommend: staying up until 1:43am afterward, watching an incredibly freaky movie and then lying on a hard sidewalk waiting for a meteor shower to show itself. Just my two cents.

White Pizza with Arugula
adapted from Ina Garten's Back to Basics

For the dough:
1 1/4 cups warm (100 to 110) water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
Good olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
Kosher salt
4 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

For the topping:
3 cups grated Italian fontina cheese (8 ounces)
1 1/2 cups grated fresh mozzarella cheese (7 ounces)
11 ounces creamy goat cheese
Grape tomatoes (I used mini-heirloom), halved

For the vinaigrette:
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces baby arugula
1 lemon, sliced

Mix the dough.

Combine the water, yeast, honey and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour, then 2 teaspoons salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add up to 1 more cup of flour, or just enough to make a soft dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes until smooth, sprinkling it with the flour as necessary to keep it from sticking to the bowl.


Knead by hand.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured board and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be smooth and elastic.

Let it rise.

Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and turn it to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Make garlic oil.

Place 1/2 cup of olive oil, the garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook for 10 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Dump the dough onto a board . Place the dough on sheet pans lined with parchment paper and cover them with a damp towel. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or refrigerate for up to 4 hours.

Stretch the dough.

Press and stretch dough into a large circle and place sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (If you've chilled the dough, take it out of the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes ahead to let it come to room temperature.)

Top the dough.

Brush the pizzas with the garlic oil, and sprinkle each one liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the pizzas evenly with fontina, mozzarella and goat cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon more of the garlic oil and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crusts are crisp and the cheeses begin to brown.

Make the vinaigrette.

Meanwhile, whisk together 1/2 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

Add the greens.

When the pizzas are done, place the arugula in a large bowl and toss with just enough lemon vinaigrette to moisten. Place a large bunch of arugula on each pizza and a slice of lemon and serve immediately.

Mango Banana Daiquiris
from Ina Garten

2 cups chopped ripe mango (1 to 2 mangos, peeled and seeded)
1 ripe banana, chopped
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice (4 limes)
1/4 cup sugar syrup*
1 1/4 cups dark rum
Mango slices, for serving

Place the mango, banana, lime juice, sugar syrup, and rum in a blender and process until smooth. Add 2 cups of ice and process again until smooth and thick. Serve ice-cold in highball glasses with the mango slices.

*To make simple syrup, heat 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Chill.

Grilled Ratatouille - Or So She Calls It.

So...life has changed for me. In a good way. Some people may look at this change as bad, or depressing, but those are generally people who don't know me very well. Those who do now see me as a happier, sunshiny-er, driven person. I'm just minus a spouse. Has life been perfect for the past six months as I've ridden this ride? Naturally, no. Am I headed toward more of life's adventures? Most definitely, yes.

That put me at a cooking crossroads. My previous cooking escapades involved another person I was experimenting with, creating for and sharing with. And when things ended, so did my zest for cooking.

Then I woke up and realized I have WAY too many friends to not bring back this hobby that had previously brought me so much joy, accomplishment and a sense of self-worth. WTF was I thinking? Being surrounded by friendship, food and wine is pretty much my most favorite thing. Ever. So hop back on the ride with me as I now show them what I've got.

Last night, my neighbors, Kim and Luna came over for a deeeelicious dinner of roasted veggies and chicken over couscous with pita wedges I toasted and served with goat cheese. I adapted this from Rachael Ray, who tried to call it ratatouille. I think Rachael Ray is full of poop on this one and has never had the real stuff in France.

Roasted "Ratatouille" over CousCous
adapted from Everyday Rachael Ray

3 large tomatoes, halved crosswise
2 bell peppers, quartered
2 zucchini, thickly sliced lengthwise
1 eggplant, thickly sliced lengthwise
1 onion, thickly sliced crosswise
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Cut veggies into wedges (leave garlic cloves whole) and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast for 25 minutes.
2. After roasting, toss veggies with red wine vinegar and additional salt and pepper.

I served the veggies over couscous and tossed in pre-cooked chicken strips. I then cut pitas into wedges and baked them in the preheated oven for 10 minutes and served with a soft chevre.

Food Post from Paris: Potato Gnocchi with Thyme Vinaigrette and Lemon Cashew Cream Sauce

Paris is such a Faith city. Bustling streets, apartment buildings from the 1500s, a cozy cafe on every corner and people who are more interested in enjoying each hour of every day rather than rushing through it. I came to Paris not for the Tour de Eiffel, the Louvre or Versaille, but to experience the culture of a people who sit and enjoy an espresso or fromage with friends without worrying about tight schedules or how much money they put in the meter. And I've been able to get my full experience in this amazing French city.

So here I sit in my apartment in Les Halles, doing one of my fave things - food blogging!

This is a recipe my friend, Jennifer and I made on New Year's Eve. Jennifer is vegan, and I must say that the sound of this recipe sent a tiny shiver down my spine when I first heard of it. Amazingly, however, this gnocchi dish is phenomenal. It's a little bit of work, but fun to do and even more fun to eat.

Potato Gnocchi with Thyme Vinaigrette and Lemon Cashew Cream Sauce
Serves 2-3

For Gnocchi:

2 Russet Potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1 Scant Cup Bread Flour (No salt!)

For Thyme Vinaigrette

2 Tbs Fresh Thyme, leaves only
1-2 Pinches Salt, to taste
4 Tbs Olive Oil
1 tsp White Wine Vinegar

For Lemon Cashew Cream

1 Cup Water
1 1/4 Cups Roasted, Salted Cashews (or raw)
Zest of 1 Lemon
1/2-1 tsp Lemon Juice

For the specific cooking directions, head on over to Vegan YumYum...