This morning brought some sort of gummy bear hangover and I felt like crap. Luckily, I didn't have to work. I'm taking this week off. I had a slew of things planned but only got to a few. An unexciting trip to Costco and then a stop at the AT&T store to pick up a new mobile phone. I found a shoe store in my neighborhood and bought a great pair of much needed black boots. I spent some time this morning thinking about what some folks call 'primary foods'. They are those things that make up our lives outside of the actual food we eat. For those of us living in places of abundance, where we don't have to wonder where our next meal will come from, we can think about all the other things that we need to nourish ourselves. These 'primary foods' can be fulfilling relationships, creative endeavors, work that stimulates us, etc. I also thought a lot about what my vision was with regards to cooking, physical activity and my overall health. Then, I spent my evening reading a cookbook written for single women called The Little Black Apron. Suddenly, its midnight.
As for my health vision, which sounds corny but I think it needs to be done, someday I would like cooking to not stress me out. In this future vision, I enjoy cooking and am good at it. My purpose is to cook so that I can eventually feed myself and my future family, healthy food rather than take-out or frozen dinners. I'm not there yet, but this is my cooking fantasy. Somehow I will manage to be hip and cool and work full time, but also cook decent meals most days of the week. I believe this is possible, but will take a major mind shift for me. Exercising on the other hand has never been a major problem for me. I would like to get in 5 or 6 days a week rather than 3 or 4 days. Ultimately though, it has to be fun which means sticking to activities I enjoy. So this year and in my vision of the future, it means more dance classes, skiing, swimming and maybe a few new things.
I did eat some home cooked food today. Before heading out to Costco, I finished off the last of my favorite vegetable stew which I had made Sunday night when my boyfriend was here. After years of dating, I have found a near-perfect man for me. He doesn't live in New York City and, unfortunately, he doesnt cook either. However, he is trying out a few things at home and is helpful in the kitchen when I attempt to cook us a meal. He loves the stew as much as I do. Maybe I should give him the receipe so he can cook it for me the next time I'm visting him in Philly? The stew is easy and really flavorful. If you live alone it can last about a week. It gets better the longer it sits in the pot. I've included the recipe below.
I did eat a hot dog at Costco. They are THE BEST hot dogs, nice amount of sweetness to what seems to be all beef and a little juicy. I'm sure you can buy them and cook them at home, but I only eat one when I'm there which thankfully is not often. Not only because I could easily eat way too many Costco hot dogs, but also because the Costco in Brooklyn is a freaking nightmare. It is always over-crowded. And let's face it, you inevitably end up spending $200 on things that you really didn't need. I picked up some nice non-stick pans with hope that they will inspire more cooking. I almost, almost, bought a crock pot. Seriously, I thought it could help with my new cooking adventures. Isn't the slow food movement a thing now? In the end, I put it back.
This evening I cooked some quinoa pasta for dinner. I love this stuff and it's so much better for you than regular pasta. Quinoa is a miracle grain, it has protein as well as fiber and is gluten-free. The world has finally discovered this ancient super grain and now you can get quinoa everything: pasta, bread, English muffins, salads... I heated up some Rao's homemade tomato sauce to go with the Ancient Harvest Quinoa rotelle. Rao's is expensive, but it's the only sauce in a jar that doesn't have sugar as well as a multitude of ingredients that I can't pronounce. To Rao's eggplant sauce, I added some zucchini and red pepper, which I just stir-fried in olive oil. Not a bad meal. I'm on vacation so I also ate dessert. I polished off some of the remaining key-lime pie that one of my New Year's Eve guests had made. He made everything from scratch including the meringue and used fresh limes. It was superb and particularly impressive that he brought everything and made it here after dinner. I didn't have a pie pan so he made the graham cracker crust in a small frying pan. I'm not sure what he was up to with the gummy bears though? Some sort of German New Year's decorations on top of the pie? (He lives in Germany.) Now I know why there were leftover gummy bears. Skipping those tonight though and heading to bed. In addition to cooking more, I need to work on getting more sleep.
Vegetable Stifado from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (page 218)
My favorite recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks. What I love about this cookbook is that it tells you how long it takes to prepare the dishes i.e. chopping the vegetables in addition to the cooking time. Why doesn't EVERY cookbook do this? It is so helpful to those of us who dread getting into some sort of two hour prep for a meal that 'cooks' in 15 minutes.
Total Time - 40 minutes
1 med onion
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large potato (abt 2 cups cubed)
1 med eggplant
3 cups undrained canned tomatos (28 oz can)
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 sprig rosemary (1 tsp dried)
1 med zucchini or yellow squash
1 bell pepper (red or green)
1 cup frozen sliced okra (optional)
juice of 1 lemon (or to taste)
1 tbsp chopped dill (1 tsp dried)
ground black pepper to taste
grated feta cheese
In large stewpot, sute the onions and garlic in olive oil over med heat until just softened. Cut the potato into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the pot. Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Add the eggplant and the juice from the tomatoes, setting aside the tomatoes. Stir in the water, salt, and rosemary. Bring stew to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 10 minutes. After the first 10 minutes the stew can be simmered uncovered.
While the stew simmers, cut the squash into 1 inch cubes and the bell pepper into 1 inch pieces. When the potatoes are just begining to soften, add the squash and bell pepper and contine to cook for 5 minutes. Coarsely chop the reserved tomatos and add them to the pot along with the okra, lemon juice and dill. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add black pepper to taste and remove rosemary sprig if you used the fresh herb.
Serve topped with feta cheese.
This is surprisingly easy and sooo tasty as well as healthy. How many vegetables can you get in there? I have never met anyone who didn't love this and want to eat at least two bowls of it. Great for a crowd or if you live alone and want to cook something on a Sunday that you eat for the rest of the week. I like this on it's own, but you can always serve with rice, Quinoa, or pita bread.
As for my health vision, which sounds corny but I think it needs to be done, someday I would like cooking to not stress me out. In this future vision, I enjoy cooking and am good at it. My purpose is to cook so that I can eventually feed myself and my future family, healthy food rather than take-out or frozen dinners. I'm not there yet, but this is my cooking fantasy. Somehow I will manage to be hip and cool and work full time, but also cook decent meals most days of the week. I believe this is possible, but will take a major mind shift for me. Exercising on the other hand has never been a major problem for me. I would like to get in 5 or 6 days a week rather than 3 or 4 days. Ultimately though, it has to be fun which means sticking to activities I enjoy. So this year and in my vision of the future, it means more dance classes, skiing, swimming and maybe a few new things.
I did eat some home cooked food today. Before heading out to Costco, I finished off the last of my favorite vegetable stew which I had made Sunday night when my boyfriend was here. After years of dating, I have found a near-perfect man for me. He doesn't live in New York City and, unfortunately, he doesnt cook either. However, he is trying out a few things at home and is helpful in the kitchen when I attempt to cook us a meal. He loves the stew as much as I do. Maybe I should give him the receipe so he can cook it for me the next time I'm visting him in Philly? The stew is easy and really flavorful. If you live alone it can last about a week. It gets better the longer it sits in the pot. I've included the recipe below.
I did eat a hot dog at Costco. They are THE BEST hot dogs, nice amount of sweetness to what seems to be all beef and a little juicy. I'm sure you can buy them and cook them at home, but I only eat one when I'm there which thankfully is not often. Not only because I could easily eat way too many Costco hot dogs, but also because the Costco in Brooklyn is a freaking nightmare. It is always over-crowded. And let's face it, you inevitably end up spending $200 on things that you really didn't need. I picked up some nice non-stick pans with hope that they will inspire more cooking. I almost, almost, bought a crock pot. Seriously, I thought it could help with my new cooking adventures. Isn't the slow food movement a thing now? In the end, I put it back.
This evening I cooked some quinoa pasta for dinner. I love this stuff and it's so much better for you than regular pasta. Quinoa is a miracle grain, it has protein as well as fiber and is gluten-free. The world has finally discovered this ancient super grain and now you can get quinoa everything: pasta, bread, English muffins, salads... I heated up some Rao's homemade tomato sauce to go with the Ancient Harvest Quinoa rotelle. Rao's is expensive, but it's the only sauce in a jar that doesn't have sugar as well as a multitude of ingredients that I can't pronounce. To Rao's eggplant sauce, I added some zucchini and red pepper, which I just stir-fried in olive oil. Not a bad meal. I'm on vacation so I also ate dessert. I polished off some of the remaining key-lime pie that one of my New Year's Eve guests had made. He made everything from scratch including the meringue and used fresh limes. It was superb and particularly impressive that he brought everything and made it here after dinner. I didn't have a pie pan so he made the graham cracker crust in a small frying pan. I'm not sure what he was up to with the gummy bears though? Some sort of German New Year's decorations on top of the pie? (He lives in Germany.) Now I know why there were leftover gummy bears. Skipping those tonight though and heading to bed. In addition to cooking more, I need to work on getting more sleep.
Vegetable Stifado from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home (page 218)
My favorite recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks. What I love about this cookbook is that it tells you how long it takes to prepare the dishes i.e. chopping the vegetables in addition to the cooking time. Why doesn't EVERY cookbook do this? It is so helpful to those of us who dread getting into some sort of two hour prep for a meal that 'cooks' in 15 minutes.
Total Time - 40 minutes
1 med onion
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large potato (abt 2 cups cubed)
1 med eggplant
3 cups undrained canned tomatos (28 oz can)
1 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 sprig rosemary (1 tsp dried)
1 med zucchini or yellow squash
1 bell pepper (red or green)
1 cup frozen sliced okra (optional)
juice of 1 lemon (or to taste)
1 tbsp chopped dill (1 tsp dried)
ground black pepper to taste
grated feta cheese
In large stewpot, sute the onions and garlic in olive oil over med heat until just softened. Cut the potato into 1/2 inch cubes and add to the pot. Cut the eggplant into 1 inch cubes. Add the eggplant and the juice from the tomatoes, setting aside the tomatoes. Stir in the water, salt, and rosemary. Bring stew to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 10 minutes. After the first 10 minutes the stew can be simmered uncovered.
While the stew simmers, cut the squash into 1 inch cubes and the bell pepper into 1 inch pieces. When the potatoes are just begining to soften, add the squash and bell pepper and contine to cook for 5 minutes. Coarsely chop the reserved tomatos and add them to the pot along with the okra, lemon juice and dill. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Add black pepper to taste and remove rosemary sprig if you used the fresh herb.
Serve topped with feta cheese.
This is surprisingly easy and sooo tasty as well as healthy. How many vegetables can you get in there? I have never met anyone who didn't love this and want to eat at least two bowls of it. Great for a crowd or if you live alone and want to cook something on a Sunday that you eat for the rest of the week. I like this on it's own, but you can always serve with rice, Quinoa, or pita bread.
No comments:
Post a Comment