whataya want from me?

If I could start from a decidedly non-culinary direction, I don't think I've made any secret of my love of two female vocalists.

Amy Lee of Evanescence

the incomparable P!nk

I realized something sometime in the last 48ish hours - I love them completely, equally, and for totally disparate reasons.  They each represent something I love or want to love about myself - a glorified, famous part of me.  I love Amy Lee for the ethereal beauty that she is - she looks a lot like me :) and we are both classically trained musicians.  She is rumored to be a domineering perfectionist... no comment.  P!nk, on the other hand, is the badass I want to be.  I love how raw she is and how passionately she makes each poignant point, yet with enough fire that she doesn't normally allow for the same otherworldly wallowing I find so comforting in Evanescence's music.

It all made a lot more sense in my head, so let me wrap all that up by saying that Amy Lee speaks to the part of me that is aloof, mysterious, and all too in touch with the heartbreak of this world while P!nk pulls me up by my bootstraps, kicks me in the butt and reminds me that we can take this on, as long as it's worth fighting for.

Believe it or not, this really is leading up to dinner (kind of).

Tonight I made Rice Island Casserole from Vegan on the Cheap.  

This is definitely not the first time I've made this, but sometimes, I spread my repeats so far apart that Mister forgets we've had something before.  Also, I think he somewhat depends on me taking so darn long to remake a recipe so that he doesn't have to tell me when he doesn't like dinner.

Don't get me wrong - he went back for seconds.  It might have been the second bowl that reminded him this wasn't his "favorite dinner," which is his cute little euphemistic way of saying, "I'd rather you didn't make this again."  It's also possible that he ruined his own second bowl by thinking hot sauce would be a good addition.  Either way, he got halfway through his second bowl before giving up.

I can probably take a lesson from a Sweet-n-Sour dish I made a few months ago which he helped me choose and then forgot when I served it, making a comment that he would never eat something sweet-n-sour "on purpose."  I might have even caught on by his almost violent reaction to my suggestion that I might make pineapple cupcakes for his birthday and some derogatory comment about pineapple.  I didn't, though, or I ignored it because sometimes, dinner is about what I want to eat.

In case you didn't know, P!nk actually wrote Adam Lambert's hit single "Whataya Want From Me?" and this is an incredible mash-up of the two of them singing it.  It just seemed an appropriate song considering our dinner adventures...

homemade harissa with a chance of showers

Since I failed to say a single thing about dinner last night, why don't we pick up there and then wade through the shower?  I was too in love with the gala to talk about our sunny, tropical dinner (on a darn cold night, too) - I still haven't completely come down, but I haven't seen the ballet in nearly 5 years and it's probably been about that long since I've seen the orchestra, too, so let me live on my cloud a little longer.

Anyway, I made Rice Island Casserole from Vegan on the Cheap last night.

I feel like it's a little more colorful this time, but maybe that's my heightened senses, peering desperately for one more glimpse of the tangerine dream lingering from the gala.  In any case, it appears that our moving, in granting a new and different stove, has cured my inability to cook brown rice.  I haven't had trouble yet, although I am still cautiously optimistic and not quite foolhardy enough to cook it any other way than alone in water or broth.

I've determined that for now, at least, any "casserole" that involves cooking rice in the oven will magically transform (like a pumpkin into a beautiful horse-drawn carriage) into a stovetop skillet supper.  I do not completely trust the oven yet, so there will be no baking of rice unless it's already been cooked completely on the stovetop first.

Nevertheless, this is such a good dinner.  The combination of sweet (pineapple) and salty (tamari) keeps your tastebuds alert while you taste the different textures of creamy, soft kidney beans against toothsome brown basmati and coconut.

I did do one thing differently, which was fun: I had a shallot left over from the other night, so in place of the green onions, I chopped that up.  It offered a surprising crunch against all the other textures and definitely enhanced the already heavenly scents wafting from my kitchen.

Tonight, then, I cooked the final dinner on our menu, Curried Chickpeas and Greens from Appetite for Reduction. 

We hadn't had this yet, at least in part because it takes a loooong time to "finely chop" two pounds of kale.  Kale is not heavy, so two pounds is a whole lot of kale.

I almost titled this post "the little saute pan that could" because my saute pan has a Napolean Complex.  This actually works out quite well for me, as I routinely push the limits of exactly how much food I can fit in my 3-qt pan.  The recipe instructed me to use a 4-qt pan.  My choices are 3qts or 12qts, so I decided to push my luck.

The finished product was incredibly flavorful.  The beginning of the recipe (the part after taking about 30 minutes to chop kale) had me sauteing garlic and ginger with red pepper flakes in oil.  I have decided I need a ginger press.  Do such things exist?  If so, I must have one because mincing ginger sucks, no matter how awesome your new knives may be.

Anyway, after letting the garlic and ginger soften a little, I added about 12 oz crushed tomatoes and stirred it all up.  Through the next few minutes, I added a few more spices, including my dearly beloved McCormick Garam Masala.  As I stirred everything together and the liquid from the tomatoes began to evaporate, I realized that I seemed to be making my very own harissa.  Within a few bites of dinner, I was pretty sure that's exactly what I did.  The rice came in pretty handy.

~*~~*~~*~~*~

Today was a gorgeous Spring day.  It could have been a little warmer (me and my winter-fat will be happy to kiss Stocking Season goodbye), but it was sunny and relatively mild and I wore my new peep-toe pumps to a cousin's bridal shower.  I zoomed up there in a shared car, pumping P!nk through the speakers and shamelessly singing along, enjoying the glint of my bracelet in the sunlight and taking my time getting there.  

Although I still maintain I had the best bridal shower ever (my mom and sister really did a killer job), this was a pretty good one - the food was fabulous, especially the dessert spread, and it was a surprise for the bride, which is always fun.  Shall we finish the night with a picture parade?

pretty lace parasol, hung upside down from the ceiling

sister of the bride and aunt

gorgeous bright pink roses

Apparently, Cousin wanted her wedding color to be pink, but her sister (pictured above) refused to wear a pink dress, so instead, it'll be orange.

totally surprised!

I love these napkins!

Pretty Ribbon Princess!  Cousin was unaware of the old wives' tale about breaking ribbons at your shower.  Since she already has a son and a daughter, I thought I'd save her some future pain and tell her before she broke her way to twins (they do run in the family)!

Now for the real fun.   Not only were the desserts delicious (and plentiful!), they were works of art - It's been awhile since I've seen desserts this beautiful.

HUGE chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with sugared, colored marshmallows to resemble flowers

chocolate and vanilla petits-fours and chocolate covered almonds

I'm actually not sure, but aren't they pretty?

the "stems" of the flowers are green twizzlers.
my nephews happily ate them up so the women could focus on chocolate

Mister picks a winner!

I'm sure I've previously mentioned my countless attempts to involve Mister in the dinner-decision-making process.  I've probably also mentioned his apathetic reticence.  On rare occasion, I have shared a fun story of changing my dinner plans due to an enthusiastic request from a Mister looking at the menu over my shoulder.  As you've probably gathered, if Mister actually participates in choosing dinner, I'm entirely too delighted to turn down whatever request he made.

This is why we did not go out to dinner tonight.

To be honest, today was a real bummer of a last day off from work.  It was grey and miserable in the morning, which I don't mind, but it certainly makes it a little harder to get moving.  I had a pleasant surprise(ish) in the form of my Cali Sister coming to visit.  We wandered over to Cups & Chairs, where I haven't been since Old Faithful died, and met up with Mister for a round of tea and brunch.  I had a blueberry bagel that could have been dessert, accompanied by a Green Tea Soy Latte that was utterly delicious.  Sister had a Caprese sandwich and a Vanilla Latte, while little Nephew pushed pieces of an omelet around a plate.  Mister had the vegetarian omelet with a Detox Tea that he really tried to drink, but didn't.  After some fun conversation, I bid Sister farewell just as a steady rain began to fall, threatening to drown my hopes of completing outdoor chores.

I stood in my kitchen with my coat buttoned up and my grocery list tucked in my purse, glancing out the window and trying to determine how much rain was actually falling.  I eventually decided that despite my disposition, I am not made of salt and ventured out into the rain.  I made it to Whole Foods, filled my bags with goodies and got about halfway home before the heavier rain started.  I opened my umbrella and hastened my steps, then took my time unloading the groceries in hope the rain would die down so I could go to Superfresh.  Eventually, that did occur.

What does any of this have to do with not going out to dinner?  Well, after traipsing through the rain for groceries and a horrendously unsuccessfully shoe-shopping attempt, I sat in my kitchen by half-light, since one of the bulbs blew out again last night, and could not muster the desire to cook.  I wanted to go to dinner just around the corner, have pasta with rich, garlicky sauce, and at least a glass or two of Montepulciano.  Mister was totally on board, by the way, until I had to go and derail the whole thing by showing him the menu...at which point he commenced to drool.

Can you blame him?  I constructed this week's menu completely from Appetite for Reduction, so his reaction should be testimony that you can eat mouth-watering things while trying to lose weight.  No, Mom, I'm not trying to lose weight.  It's good to know, though, that if I did want to lose weight, I wouldn't feel deprived! (I sound like a commercial for my company). 

Anyway, why don't I share the menu with you so you can see why Mister didn't want to go out to dinner anymore (and why I couldn't help but agree, on second glance):

1. Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens - I had completely forgotten about the New Years tradition of eating black-eyed peas and collards for good luck until everyone I knew posted about it in some social media.  So, I figure, good luck is better late than never, right??

2. Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli - I'll be honest: this recipe alone was the reason I wanted this cookbook.  I was fortunate to get a sneak peek when Jess from Get Sconed! was testing for the cookbook and I was hooked from that moment.

3. Pasta Con Broccoli - hey! Broccoli finally got Not-Gross.  I'm taking advantage.  Besides, after reading the recipe through twice, I was in love.

4. Ginger Bok Choy and Soba - pushing my luck with the bok choy situation, but the adult variety is usually available, so I figured I'd take my chances.

5. Pasta e Fagioli with Spinach - because apparently, a girl can never have too many pasta fagioli recipes... it's like the Italian answer to Rice-n-Beans.

6. Braised Cabbage with Seitan accompanied (hopefully) by Jerk Asparagus.  When I got the book on Christmas, I was glancing through the food porn section in the middle of the cookbook and saw the Jerk Asparagus.  Mister and I love the jerk spices, so I wanted to make this ASAP.  Of course, there is no asparagus to be found now.  I selected the cabbage-n-seitan because I needed a recipe to help me use the rest of my New Years Seitan.

So, the recipe that got Mister over the prospect of bruschetta, pizza, and possibly tiramisu (some of his absolute favorite foods)?  Not surprisingly, Forty-Clove Chickpeas and Broccoli.  I served it on top of homemade mashed potatoes, creating another holy trinity of Mister's favorite foods: broccoli, chickpeas, (garlic) and mashed potatoes.  It was super simple to prep, and then it just sits in the oven, stinking up your kitchen in the most delightful way for about 45 minutes.  It was amazing and I'm so glad we ate at home after all (plus, I listened to my new CD while prepping) - we just about licked our bowls clean.

Go, right now, and get Appetite for Reduction.  Make this recipe.  Angst says so.

Okay, you're right.  He didn't say a thing, but he sure is a persuasive napper, isn't he?

'cuz I can

I wonder how many titles I've "stolen" from P!nk.  Despite the success that dinner was tonight, it's probably better to refrain from using one of her newest songs, "F**kin' Perfect." 

Thanks for the new CD, Mom!

Anyway...thanks once again to my opportunity to test for the Urban Vegan Part Deux (by the way, I'm just making these names up - there is no official title for the new book that I am aware of), our dinner was flavorful, time-consuming (in a good, slow-simmering kind of way), and a little off the wall.

Tonight, I made Chickpeas with Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Kale and served it on top of Rutabaga-Fennel Clapshot.

There are so many things to love about dinner tonight.  Mister and I are huge fans of mashed potatoes - we even ate a whole tub of those microwave-and-eat Country Crock mashed potatoes during our honeymoon...for dinner.  We ate a ton of junk food that week - that might have been one of our healthier indulgences.  In any case, we love mashed potatoes, so the clapshot was right up our alley.  As you can imagine, rutabaga was involved, which was primarily responsible for that lovely hue (no matter how much I want it to be from the Earth Balance).  It made for a lighter version of mashed potatoes.  I actually stole the idea of mashers as the starch base upon which dinner sat from Isa (yes, I did read Appetite for Reduction cover to cover on Sunday).

Although the fennel seeds look pretty cool, kind of like the mashed equivalent of rye bread, it was a little unsettling to bite into one in the midst of pillow-soft clapshot.  Aside from that, these are easily the creamiest Mashed Anything I've ever made.

The Chickpea dish was a decent bit of work, which I enjoyed since I got so many neat culinary toys for Christmas.  I'll tell you, I was holding my own alright before with my play knives, but with only a couple of days under my belt with my shiny, new knives, I am stunned by how much easier it is to prep.  I feel like a pro now and I didn't even realize I was struggling before.  I knew I needed to get better knives, but I had no idea what a huge difference they would make in the time it takes me to prep.

It was time-consuming, between the decent amount of chopping and the luxurious length of time it simmered in my brand new Le Creuset stockpot (LOVE!).  In retrospect, my saute pan would have been of adequate size to contain the ingredients, but I really wanted to use my new pot.

I hemmed and hawed a little bit before selecting this recipe for two reasons.  The first hesitation on my part is that I really don't like onions and Dynise, apparently, really does, since it seems this is the third recipe I've made by her that involved me confronting a member of the onion family I had previously avoided.  Today's sibling was Sweet Onion.  I got over my initial reticence by thoroughly pureeing the onion with a healthy amount of garlic until I could not distinguish one from the other.  It actually set up a sweet-n-savory scented base for the other components I would soon add.

If you even remember the title of this post, you're probably wondering by now just what the heck it has to do with anything.  Here comes your answer: the other ingredient I was a little worried about was the eggplant.  Mister really doesn't like eggplant.  I've fooled him into eating it and liking it before, but it would be a lot easier to work with "secret ingredients" if my kitchen had walls to block his curious glances.  Nevertheless, I did manage to sneak this:

into our dinner and into his belly without complaints.  I had to be sure it was undetectable, so I read the recipe at least three times to ensure that unless he saw it whole, he would never know it was in there.  Once I was assured of its roasted-pulpness, I went for it.  I've never roasted eggplant before, but I was amused by how the insides shrivel away from the skin (which is normally what gives it away).

So, why did I feed Mister eggplant, knowing that he doesn't like it?

'Cuz I can.

a good excuse to be a bad influence

Wind me up and watch me go
Where she stops, nobody knows
It's a good excuse to be a bad influence on you (and you and you and you and you)
(click here for the soundtrack to this post) 

I don't like to drop names (so I won't), but I know a lot of people in the music biz...enough people that other people are sometimes impressed with me, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but makes me feel like the rockstar I was destined to be.  After all, there are at least two CDs sold in music stores across the country where you can hear my voice, so I can feel a little special, can't I?

Regardless, because of these people, I readily recognize that celebrities (generally) are just like us normal folk, they're just more visible.  I'll grant you, not everyone can afford the things they have or the places they go, and no one cares what Mister and I order from the local Chinese place, but They have the same feelings, the same needs, the same desires, for the most part as you and me.  Because of all that, I rarely hold a celebrity in high enough esteem to emulate their behavior/dress/etc.  I have one weakness:  P!nk.

I would like to believe that I would be cool if I met her, that I wouldn't be starstruck or stupid and I would be able to have an intelligent conversation with her.  Heck, she's even a local girl - raised in the Philadelphia 'burbs.  We share a common ethnic heritage and we both have great cheek bones (toot toot).  So, perhaps it was more out of respect for her than a moment of celebrity worship that I took her advice on wine.

In an interview you can view on her website, P!nk (aka Alecia Moore) describes her favorite wines.  I had heard of Super-Tuscans before and when I googled them I realized why in the same answer she made the comment that she "a very expensive date."  Most Super-Tuscans retail for $175 and up, averaging in the mid $200s for one bottle.  To think I've spent a great deal of my life enthralled by the idea of a $100something bottle of Dom Perignon is shameful in comparison.

I figured I may as well give it a try, since I had been craving a good, new red anyway.  Summertime (or warm weather) usually brings out the part of me that craves a crisp, clean Riesling, or a Pinot Grigio every few years.  I have been drinking almost exclusively Riesling since April, but I prefer reds, so I was happy to give Super-Tuscans a go.

Fortunately for my non-rockstar wallet, I stumbled upon an article on epicurious.com, leading me to more affordable luxuries than those commonly enjoyed by P!nk.  Although I realize that $80 is a bargain on a wine that usually costs upwards of $250, it just isn't something I'm willing to spend when I'm the only one drinking it, so I went with the "most affordable,"  Castello Banfi Centine Toscana (pronounced chen-TEE- nay).

I opened it tonight, to accompany the delightful Italian-inspired dinner Mister chose (more in a minute) and it was just as spectacular as I'd hoped.  We're on the third glass now, so pardon me if I start to lose the thread, I just don't want to waste it and I can tell it's prone to spoil quickly.  How, you ask?  From the one prior experience I had with a Super-Tuscan, I can tell you that they are relatively dry and bold in flavor, and as a result, they do what I call "vinegarizing" fairly quickly after being opened.  Something I noticed about this particular wine is how disparate the first taste is from the one that lingers on your tongue after you swallow.  I could use the technical terms, but sometimes that takes all the fun out of it.  When you pull the wine into your mouth, it is obviously colored with dark berries (by the way, this wine is so dark as to be opaque in the glass) and a hint of subtle spice, not unlike a Pinotage.  However, there is a slight sting at the back of your throat as you swallow and you're left with a slightly vinegary taste, along with some more savory notes.  It was under $20, so please take my word for it and do your best to find this and serve it with your next Italian dinner.

Good segue?

Mister chose from my fridge-posted menu tonight.  I've been trying to involve him more in the process, so I just show him the menu, tell him what we've already eaten (he's not one to remember fancy names), and request his input in selecting dinner.  He chose Orecchiette with Broccoli, Chickpeas, and Tomatoes from Vegan Italiano, not surprisingly.  I'm pretty sure Mister would be perfectly happy if I made 50% (or more) of our dinners Italian-influenced.  After all, he bought that cookbook for me for my birthday a few years ago.  Aside from the cheeses, Italian cooking is very amenable to the vegan lifestyle, so I'm okay with that too, but honestly, cooking pasta annoys me.  It requires the sink to be empty so I can strain the pasta, and frequently, that means I need to either do the dishes before dinner or just have half-nasty dishes on my counter a foot away from where I'm preparing dinner.

Anyway, dinner was wonderful - despite the canned tomatoes and canned chickpeas, there was something about it that just tasted fresh.  The broccoli is finally done being gross, even if it is still a little small.  There is a part of me that wants to make this again tomorrow, but with fresh tomatoes and basil and see what a difference that makes.  I am so pleased with this dinner.  I served it with Sicilian-spiced olives, Kalamatas, and Parmesan for Mister, Centine for me.