coming up for air

Should I cry about being a bad blogger again?  While I always feel a little guilty/bad when I miss a few days (because they always end up being more days than I thought), sometimes I think it's better just to be quiet.  After all, nothing is more boring that reading about dull, mundane events in someone else's life.

Actually, the past several days have been anything but dull, I just didn't think they really needed to be captured for all time in the pages of this blog.  I haven't been doing anything special with dinner - in case you didn't notice, every item on the current menu is an "old favorite" or at least "past success," so there weren't any ground-breaking discoveries to share.

So, what have I been up to?  Well, I spent the weekend teaching and shopping.  Food shopping, clothes shopping, shoe shopping - you name it.  As a result, I had plenty to say on Pretty Woman in an Ugly World, so if you have some time, why don't you read about my experiences?

• Macy's: The Good
• Macy's: Part 2, subtitle: Cross-Dressing is not Good Customer Service

Yesterday, I started my new job!  So that's fun, right?  Absolutely exhausting, too.  See, it's funny - for the last several years, I have been the one standing up in front of a group of new hires and teaching them about the company, processes, products, etc.  Now, I'm in the learner's seat and it's fun to see the other side - the side that is slightly bewildered, not by the information, but the speed at which it is delivered.  I'm learning quickly, though, which is good since we have a special event this weekend and need all hands on deck, so to speak.

I actually had intended to post last night, but was quite exhausted after all that learning and could not even focus on the screen so I just went to bed after convincing myself to wash the pots and knives so I could just come home and cook tonight without having to clean up.  That's another thing:

I get home when it's still light out.  You may or may not realize how incredible this is, but it is rare that I need my sunglasses on the way home from work, since I usually got home around 9pm.  Today, I was sitting on the bus for my 15 minute commute home (can I tell you how much I love that??) an hour and a half earlier than I would have been leaving my old job.  It was such an incredible feeling that I found myself grinning like a fool and the other folks must have thought I'd lost it.

Tonight, I made and ate dinner, cleaned up leftovers and started this blog before the time I would have even been putting dinner on the table two weeks ago.  Again, I cannot express (and I have a lot of words) how wonderful that realization was.  Not only are we eating dinner closer to times that "normal" people eat dinner, but I also don't have to start dinner the very moment I walk in the door to ensure that we can eat and I can clean up before bedtime.  I'm still getting used to that - four years of walking in the door and immediately starting dinner is a tough habit to break.

Enough about all that - let's have a food parade!

The last meal I made before starting my new job - Rotini with Spicy Vegetable Ragu from Vegan on the Cheap, at Mister's request.  If you haven't noticed that he always gets what he asks for, just keep reading.

It was tasty and pleasantly spicy, but I think I must have overcooked the rotini because it kept falling apart.  I feel like that happened last time I made it, though, so I might experiment with a more stable pasta shape in the future.  

I hate having an open package of Tofurky sausage lying around for very long, so the very next meal I made was the delightful and hearty Savory Sausage and Peppers, also from Vegan on the Cheap.

Depending on where you live or how much you care about the weather in other places, you may or may not know that it was miserable here in Philadelphia yesterday.  The temperatures didn't quite make it past 65 and it was pouring rain - in fact, it was the most opportune time possible for me to learn about the leak in my umbrella, as I was standing in the rain, in pumps, waiting for the bus...and then walking through a 2-3" puddle to get into the bus....poor shoes, poor feet.

Needless to say, after Mister finished coddling me and petting me and telling me what a cute little drowned rat I was, I stripped off my shoes, soaked stockings, wet clothes, and put on my "comfy clothes."  All I could think of cooking was something warm and slow and hearty...

Today, on the other hand, started out quite grim and foreboding, but by lunchtime the sky was clear and sunny and the weather turned out to be beautiful.  It almost seemed a shame to be inside a training room, and once again, I could feel sympathy for the hundreds of new hires I taught over the last few years, especially when the training room had no windows.  Nevertheless, preferring to see opportunity rather than obstacle, I just thought of how lovely it will be to take picnics in Rittenhouse Square this fall.

Speaking of lunch, from the rumors the seasoned employees are spreading and the way we've been treated so far, it seems the boss knows quite the way of "wining and dining" his new employees - we've been taken out to lunch or had lunch ordered for us and there will be a big grand opening party this weekend with food, fun, and open bar.... what a great introduction to the company!  From what I can tell, people are their primary focus and I'm completely on board with that - it is evident that every employee is valued, and because they feel appreciated, morale is high enough that everyone is completely pleasant and invested in passing on those "good vibes" to the customers.  What a great place to work.

Tonight, I made Kedgeree from The Accidental Vegan because if I didn't, Mister was going to eat all the kalamatas I bought for the recipe.  The recipe actually calls for mushrooms, but we don't do mushrooms, and long ago I decided that the earthy flavor of kalamata olives was an adequate substitute for them.  Regardless, Mister loves kalamatas, so though he knew he wasn't supposed to eat them, I could see the level in the clear plastic container dropping...

I love how dark emerald green the kale is...it's really gorgeous.  I used lacinto kale because it's a little easier to work with than curly kale and I think it went well in this recipe.

Shortly after dinner, Mister started poking around in the freezer and then the cupboards.  He did the same thing a few nights ago, so I asked him if he wanted something and this time, he told me.

So I made him cupcakes.  He didn't know whether he wanted cookies or cupcakes, so I gave him a few choices.  He chose Peanut Butter Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, but I didn't feel like making the ganache-drizzle topping, so I just plopped 4 chocolate chips onto each cupcake while they were baking.

Nom.

bonus round: VIP BBQ dinner

I know I only posted a little more than 5 hours ago, but I wanted to devote the whole post to the farewell to Horizons and not spread it out into a mega-post also detailing last night's dinner adventures and the super-awesome BBQ skillet I threw together to celebrate our country's independence.  Aside from obvious cultural norms, I don't know why July 4th food needs to be slathered in BBQ sauce, but I figured it was as good an excuse as any to use more of my gourmet VIP BBQ sauce.

Let's take a step or two back, though.  I thought about posting earlier yesterday afternoon about our fabulous finale at Horizons, but I got distracted by iTunes being a pain in my butt about importing the new Symphony X CD and then my computer promptly crashed. Horribly.  So much so that Mister and I were not completely certain it was going to come back to us.  Fortunately, my little Mac paramedic spent several hours last night in emergency surgery while I played solitaire on my old laptop and drank the last of the Riesling so now we're back in business.  Also while Mister was administering some form of human-machine CPR and the equivalent of a brain transplant (probably a little prayer and voodoo mixed in for good measure), I cooked up a long lost favorite for dinner.

The last time I made Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook I was trying to remember where I had a similar recipe.  I knew there were some subtle differences, such as the actual presence of kalamata olives in one recipe and the imagined/substituted presence of them in the other.  I found that other recipe when I was poking through The Accidental Vegan while creating our menu on Saturday afternoon, so I made Kedgeree for dinner last night.

Instead of chopping the carrots, I thought it might be more fun to julienne them (especially since I have that neat toy to help) and in place of the mushrooms Mister can't stand (and I don't exactly have a taste for either), I chopped up some kalamata olives.  The kedgeree itself was made up of brown rice and lentils, which I cooked together to save space (three pots on this smaller stove was not in the cards), resulting in a creamier dish, spiked with cumin and mustard, dotted with the charmingly contrasted colors of green (kale), orange (carrot), and purple (kalamata).

Angst was not at all impressed, electing to take a nap on the bathroom floor (a nice, cool, summertime nap spot) rather than watch his favorite food show, "the Mommy show."  I think he was just mad at me for changing my mind last minute about making the Jerk Seitan from VwaV.  By changing my mind, what I really mean is that I picked up the seitan at Whole Foods, put it down to pick up Tofurky sausages and smoked tofu and completely forgot to pick it back up and deposit in my cart.  Missing a vital ingredient (you know, the one in the recipe title?), I thought I should probably make something else.

Speaking of making something else, I had that same inclination after I finished the last little droplets of Riesling (insert sad face here) and Mister was still poking away at my computer on life-support.  I have had a recent hankering for tropical cocktails, and I figured a bottle of rum, which which I would mix things, will probably last a little longer in this house that a bottle of wine (which I feel compelled to drink quickly so it doesn't spoil), thereby stretching our budget a little until I get some figuring done.

I love this picture because it looks like my little baby Murloc is either trying to steal it or guard it.  That pretty little glass contains about one ounce of Malibu Pineapple Rum and a few more ounces of Santa Cruz organic Cherry Lemonade - delightful combination, by the way.  It made Solitaire a little more fun than usual.

So, tonight with dinner, I decided to make another little cocktail, this time using the last pouch of Honest Kids Berry Lemonade.  I'll admit, there's something a little twisted about using a children-oriented juice pouch product as a mixer, but we don't have kids, so someone's got to drink it.

Epic Cocktail

So, tropical drink prepared, I set to work on our BBQ dinner to celebrate the nation's birthday.

BBQ Tofu-Veggie Skillet
serves 4-6 (depending on portion size)


Ingredients:
14 oz extra-firm tofu, pressed and cubed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 cup frozen/fresh corn
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup BBQ sauce


white basmati rice to serve over (1 cup rice to 2 cups water)
broccoli slaw, optional garnish


Heat the oil in a deep-sided skillet/sauteuse.  Add tofu and toss gently to coat with oil, then cover and cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tofu is golden-brown on most sides.  Remove lid and add celery and peppers; saute 2-3 minutes.

Add zucchini, corn, and salt; mix well and cover.

Saute 3-5 more minutes, then stir in BBQ sauce.  Cook, uncovered, until heated through and mixture is evenly coated with BBQ sauce.

To serve, lay a bed of rice on the bottom of a bowl or plate, sprinkle with broccoli slaw, if using, then cover with a few spoonfuls of the tofu-veggie BBQ mixture.

It was very good - every component played well with the others - the sweetness of the corn and peppers stood out within the pungent BBQ sauce, which the tofu and zucchini readily absorbed.  The lightness of the basmati rice provided a gentle foil to the intense flavors represented in the tofu-veggie mixture, calming the fire of the Ancho Chili BBQ sauce just enough but not too much.

Happy July 4th all!  I'm going to watch a movie with my mister to finish off a lovely long weekend of time spent together.

get 'em while they're fresh

I wish I could remember the first time I ate an apricot.  Obviously, it wasn't any kind of unforgettable experience, but I'm curious now as to how exactly that happened.  Growing up, we were big fans of raisins in my household, but as far as I can remember, those little, wrinkled, purple nuggets were the only dried fruit in my life.

Regardless of when I first ate an apricot, I do know that it was dried.  Most of the time that you eat an apricot, unless you actually live in Turkey, it will be dried because they don't travel well or stay fresh long.  So, imagine my delight when I walked into Whole Foods on Sunday to be greeted by a big bin of perfectly peachy fresh apricots!  I picked one up, running my thumb over its soft, fuzzy flesh like it would go home to be my new pet apricot, then I pressed gently to see how close to edible it was.  Content that they were actually ripe (nothing is sadder than an unripe fresh apricot), I picked out three and narrowly avoided the temptation presented by a second bin of ne'er-seen-before red apricots!

You know if they're still there and not rotten on Saturday, they will be mine.

Anyway, I did not believe they were completely ready to be eaten yesterday, but as I was cleaning up after dinner, I saw little soft spots beginning to appear, so I made sure they would be breakfast this morning.

They were most certainly ripe and ready for eating - I probably could have split them with my fingernails, but that seemed like a foolishly messy undertaking, so I used a paring knife instead.  The pits released themselves with the slightest tug and they were easily eaten in a few little bites each.

What a happy, sunny, Mediterranean breakfast... there was only one thing that kept it from perfection.  Spoiled by years of dried fruit, I forget that the dried apricots will always be substantially sweeter due to the concentrated nature of drying the fruit.  Since even dried apricots aren't that sweet, you can imagine that fresh apricots are extremely mild, which was at least slightly disappointing.

Fortunately for me, another Turkish-inspired meal of my day would be far less disappointing.

I love, love, love Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  I can't say it enough.  I have another recipe somewhere (I am forever forgetting where) that is nearly identical and almost as good.  Every little component of this dish works so well with the others - the nuttiness of the bulgur with the creaminess of the red lentils; the chewy kale against melt-in-your-mouth oil-cured black olives.  Usually, I use kalamatas, but I had some black olives leftover from something I made last week, so I used those instead.  I also had 1/4 cup less bulgur than I thought I did, which resulted in a slightly quicker cooking, creamier dish.

Mister and I each wolfed down two bowls (okay, that's kind of a relative term - I eat slower than molasses in January pours).  I shared a couple of funny stories about a hate mail we got at work that was actually typed on a typewriter.  Remember those?  5 points if you've ever seen one, 10 if you've used one.  Also, we had another fun building evacuation - heck of a way to start the day.  With all the fun, it's a miracle I got anything accomplished!  Now, on to conquer some home-chores...

worst thing ever

Frozen Kale.  That's it.  That is the worst thing ever.  Wanna know the second worst thing ever?  Frozen beans.  Yup, frozen beans.

I may be exaggerating slightly, as there are probably worse things, like war, famine, tornadoes eating the entire southeastern part of the country, Japan being swallowed up by the Pacific ocean, and the possibility that Obama really does possess an American birth certificate (sorry, couldn't resist).  Yet, as far as culinary experiences go (and aside from The Saffron Incident), frozen kale is absolutely the most disappointing.

Tonight was the second experience I've had with frozen kale and it was even more disappointing than the first.  I love kale so much fresh that I thought I'd hit a goldmine when frozen kale started popping up all over the freezers in Whole Foods...but it was more like a landmine, causing two recipes to more or less blow up in my face.  Not literally, thank heavens.  Story time!

A little while ago, can't remember just when, I was in the frozen foods aisle of Whole Foods and as I extracted whichever bag of organic goodness I had originally sought out, I noticed something different out the corner of my eye.  I looked closer and saw a little flat box with kale, kidney beans, and navy beans.  I thought to myself, "Hey, this might come in handy some night when I'm feeling lazy pressed for time!" and dropped it into my basket.  Well, tonight was that night, and I thought I would make a cheater version of my already pretty quick-cooking Easy Tuscan Linguini by subbing the frozen kale-n-beans side dish for the shredded kale and can of navy/cannellini beans in the original recipe.  Also, for a little added flavor (and to use up the other two Tofurky from Tuesday's Cajun Rice and Beans), I sliced the sausages and sauteed them lightly in olive oil before adding the frozen stuff.

I was so sad when the bag open and spilled kale stems and hard-looking beans into the pan...I had really hoped for a more substantial presence from the kale...and some leafy bits, I might add.  Nevertheless, I heated everything through, mixed it together with the marinara sauce and linguini and hoped for the best.  It was "decent" as long as you ignored that the kidney beans were not thoroughly cooked before being frozen or they don't freeze well, because they were crunchy and that is not a quality I seek out in my kidney beans.  However, I still believe this has a lot of potential as a fast-and-easy weeknight recipe, as long as you substitute organic frozen spinach or fresh kale - not frozen kale; it's gross.  So, I promised you a recipe and a recipe you get (modified, so there's a chance you'll actually enjoy it):

Pasta Marinara with Kale and Beans
* about 4 servings *
Ingredients:
24 oz prepared marinara of your choice
1 cup canned kidney beans
1 cup canned navy/great northern beans
2 Tofurky sausages, flavor of your choice (I used Kielbasa)
2-3 cups fresh kale, finely chopped or 10 oz block of frozen chopped organic spinach 
8 oz linguini (whole wheat if your loved one will eat it - mine won't)
2-3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 Tbsp olive oil

Boil water for pasta, then cook according to package directions, about 10-11 minutes.  Drain.

Meanwhile, cut each "sausage" in half lengthwise, then slice into 1/2" pieces.  If using fresh kale, chiffonade or chop finely and set aside.  When the pasta is halfway through cooking time, heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the garlic about 30 seconds, until fragrant and slightly golden.  Add sausage and stir to coat with oil.  Saute on medium for 2-3 minutes, stirring once, then reduce heat to medium-low.  Add kale, beans, and marinara; stir to combine, then cover and cook 2-3 minutes, until heated through and kale is lightly wilted. [if using frozen spinach, you'll want to thaw and drain it first, then add with the beans and marinara.]

Add drained pasta to the pot and toss to combine.  Remove from heat and serve immediately, preferably accompanied by a small bowl of mixed olives and a generous glass of red wine.

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

creative cooking with Natalie

Because sometimes, when a recipe says "spinach" what it really means is "kale."  As in, the bag of frozen Blue Curly Kale that I've had in the freezer since we moved in.  I bought it at Whole Foods because I'd never seen frozen kale before and I was more than just a little curious about the Blue nature of it.  The one thing I did not get while food shopping this past weekend was a bag of fresh spinach and the weather was far too cold, rainy, and all around miserable for me to stop on the way home from work tonight, so it turned out to be quite serendipitous that I had the bag of frozen greens.

And I do mean green.  Not blue.  That was profoundly disappointing.  Apparently, kale is either green or red, but not blue.  Also, there were a ton of chopped stems in the bag - I would guess almost half the contents of the bag were stems.  As such, it wasn't all that attractive.

So, instead of Garlicky Tofu with Spinach over Pasta from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy, we had garlicky tofu with frozen green curly kale.  It was pretty good, although I think the frozen kale left a bit to be desired and in the future I'll be sure to have fresh spinach, or at least some kind of fresh green.  The key word here is fresh.

captain multi-tasking

If Catherine Zeta-Jones can be Commander of the British Empire, I can be some kind of home-making superhero, can't I?  I feel quite accomplished even if I didn't get everything on my [always excessive] to-do list done.  My secret?  Slow-simmered food.

I slept a little later than I had planned, but once I had two cups of Chocolate Cappuccino coffee in me, I was in and out of the shower and painting my face in preparation for my exciting trips to Essene and CVS.  After loading up on apples and razors (yes, I know I'm early/late for Halloween, but Easter is on its way), I headed home and got to work on my first two projects.

I've never had Muhammara before but I've heard of it and thought it was fascinating.  It kind of looks like red pepper hummus but it's all hopped up with spiciness.  Today, I tested a recipe for UV2, despite my hatred for onions.

Honestly, although the red peppers and onions look very pretty together, this image made my blood run cold.  When I read the recipe, it called for one small onion, so I thought, "How bad can it be? I can handle one little onion."  I didn't realize how big onions got when you diced them - all of a sudden, my little bitty onion was all over the place.

Anyway, part of the charming parts of the recipe and one of the reasons I made it today is that the longer it cooks, the better it is, or so Dynise said in her introduction to the recipe.  While the peppers and onion were sauteing, I was unpacking one of the last boxes and setting up my bathroom.

After about 40 minutes, the onions were finally that magical state of translucent that I've always heard of but never seen since I don't commonly cook onions.  It was pretty neat to see, actually.  Meanwhile, I was industriously emptying a box full of makeup and bandaids and sunscreen and cottonballs and figuring out how to put together the puzzle of my strangely shaped and possibly smaller bathroom.

one of the most esoteric and fabulous ingredients in my cupboard: pomegranate molasses

  

After letting the peppers and onions swim together in boiling oil for about an hour, I poured the melange into my food processor and covered it with walnuts and pomegranate molasses and a few other things (you need to buy this book!).  I was really looking forward to seeing how a dip that didn't involve beans or anything else I could see holding it together was going to look.

It came out looking exactly like it was supposed to - kind of like red pepper hummus, or maybe Martha's sweet potato hummus, and it didn't taste all too different.  I look at it as a slightly healthier and much spicier hummus.  It had a definite kick to it, thanks to one of the things I sauteed with the peppers and onion being more red pepper flakes than I've ever used in a recipe. 

It was a great accompaniment to our dinner: Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  When I was at Whole Foods, I was pleased to find red kale, which is a fun color - dark, hunter green with wine-red edges and veins.  I make this dish as often as I remember to because I absolutely love it and the flavors in it, so the way I introduce a little variety is by using different kinds of kale - the first time, I just used regular ol' kale 'cause I didn't know any better (and plain ol' kale is delicious).  The last time I made it, I used lacinto (dinosaur) kale because it's easier to chop, being all not-curly and whatnot.  Also, I think the red kale was a fun addition to the deep purple kalamatas and the creamy red lentils and beige bulgur.  I wish this cookbook had more recipes I enjoyed making, but honestly, this recipe alone is worth the price of the book.

Well, time to clean up and get ready for bed so I can dream of all the fun that awaits me tomorrow through Friday...

ooohhh....the colors....

The last few days have found me quite impressed with a few accidentally gorgeous color combinations.  Because I dress primarily in black, a lot of people mistakenly believe I have something against color, but that couldn't be further from the truth.  I just don't want to wear it.  I love the way some colors work together effortlessly, one completing the other, like pale blue and yellow, jade green into hunter green, fuschia fading to a sparkling pink, even an overcast silver melding with snow white.

I also love colors that seem to be in complete juxtaposition, yet bring out the better qualities in one another by enhancing the other's "other-ness."  Marigold yellow and pewter grey, robin's egg blue with chocolate brown, and the understated standby, Black and White.  Although I enjoy the harmony created by like colors, or even multiple shades of one color, I revel in the competition between two colors that just should not be together, yet provide the proverbial yin to the other's yang.

This still life was far more fetching before I ate two of the tangelos, but can you see it?  Aside from knowing it's a bowl of citrus, there is no good reason (outside of some daring 1980s fashion) to combine lime green (lime green) and tangerine.  When I placed my citrus in the bowl, though, I was fascinated (and I think I'm about to bust into a Cure medley).  Last night, while I was prepping our dinner, I was similarly struck by the orange carrot and green pepper confetti in my saute pan before I added the sauce.

Tonight, we had Bulgur and Red Lentil Pilaf with Kale and Olives from The Complete Vegan Cookbook.  I love this dish every time I make it, which is why it found its way into our bowls again tonight.

You can't see it too well, but since I used deep purple kalamata olives with dark green lacinto kale, I got to play with another favored color combination.  Fortunately, the flavors and textures of these two foods show that their beauty goes far deeper than the surface.  By the way, I divide the blame for this love of color (in decorating and still life) between Martha Stewart and my Mother-in-law, who kind of worked together, inadvertently, on this.

Soon I will drift to sleep with visions of sugarplums and anticipation for the coming snowfall.  Nothing brings out the starkness of urban monotone like a blanket of pure white snow and it takes longer than you might imagine to dirty it.

luck of the iri....southern?

So today was my first day back at work after 10 beautiful days off.  When I sat down at my computer, I found over 600 emails awaiting my attention, including one from my boss requesting my presence more or less immediately in the training room.  Welcome back, Natalie!

I felt pretty lucky by the end of the day.  Like last year, the company is providing food for the staff for the first two weeks of the year, in order to ensure we have adequate staffing at all times to handle the influx of busyness we're still waiting on.  We're in a new building with a new dining/catering staff, so this year the food is presented buffet style, rather than being hand-delivered by the CEO himself.  They sent a menu around and although I still think it's a kind gesture to feed us and whatnot, it appears tomorrow is the only day there will actually be food I can eat.  Last year, I had the great fortune of a contrite Vice President bringing me my special veggie lunches; today I made the most of some sad, white iceberg lettuce, wilting cucumber slices, and dried out shredded carrot... tomorrow there will be pasta.

Fortunately, I have a fridge full of vacation leftovers!  I finished off the tabbouleh today while listening to my boss tell me of the praise conveyed to him by the aforementioned VP and the Director of our department, regarding my recent [insane] efforts, in his absence.  The most skilled table-side violinist couldn't have played a sweeter song than the words my boss weaved: "Exceeded all their expectations" are probably my favorite words in this language.

Despite the many lucky turns today took (even though I really didn't want to go back to work, I'll be honest), I felt like I needed to share all that good fortune with my mister...

I feel like it's truly 2011, now that we've had the fortune-bringing Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens from Appetite for Reduction.   It was good - in place of the 1 Tbsp of hot sauce, I used a generous, tablespoon-sized dollop of harissa.  All of our hot sauce terrifies me - if it's spicy enough that Mister uses it sparingly, a whole tablespoon of it has no business near my mouth.  It packed just the right amount of heat to keep Mister happy and prevent my mouth from flaming.

So, here's to a lucky, fortunate, and fruitful new year!

Mister said something else at the conclusion of dinner.
"Fergie is a hot Black-Eyed Pea."

I don't know what he's talking about...

testing, testing, 123?

What a day!  I should sleep just fine tonight for all the excitement and running around I did.  Normally, on my lazy Sundays, I'll just kind of eat throughout the day...breakfast, then breakfast snack, then pre-lunch appetizer, and finally lunch, then maybe some lunch dessert a little bit later, and finally dinner...and probably dinner dessert (you really can't have too much dessert - I'm always the one in the dessert buffet holding a dinner plate and trying to look casual about it).  Today, though, I was too busy running all over center city and relishing my city-dwellerness to eat more than two substantial and delicious meals.

Well, okay, I did have a little pre-brunch snack when Mister brought me a doughnut from his early morning (9am on a Sunday is early) venture out to get an egg sandwich and gatorade.  I ate my Christmas doughnut (red and green sprinkles on chocolate frosting!) with my coffee, then got ready for my brunch date.

Lovely Lady and I each got the Tofu Benedict at Mi-Lah Vegetarian.  It's exactly what I got last time, which I really tried not to do - after all, it's not every day I eat somewhere where nothing is off limits.  I contemplated the beer-battered seitan on Belgian waffles, as well as a couple of other options, but really, I couldn't escape my desire for that big pile of kale on the right as well as the sweet potato homefries on the left.  Plus, the english muffin is awesome and the hollandaise sauce is bizarre enough that I was trying to figure out what made it taste like that.

I ate everything on that plate. 

do you know what this is?

it's a close up of this!

 After brunch, Lovely Lady headed over to DiBruno Brothers for some pre-game provisions (she is originally from NYC and an avid Giants fan.  Her husband is an avid Eagles fan.  There is battle in that household when the two teams play...as they did today.) and I headed to the first stop on my afternoon shopping adventures.  A brief tour of center city's shopping hotspots (at least the ones I can nominally afford) included Urban Outfitters, The Shops at Liberty Place (home of the 3-story-tall Christmas tree pictured above), The Shops at the Bellevue (notably, Williams-Sonoma - gift shopping today, but I'm looking forward to returning next week with a purse full of discretionary funds...or a giftcard or two), Borders, Ten Thousand Villages, Starbucks, Wine and Spirits, and a cigar store.  Can you believe I appear to have finished my Christmas shopping?

Christmas/Winter Scene set up in the Bellevue

After depositing my bags of various treasures at home, I set back out to Whole Foods and Superfresh for our weekly food provisions.  I had intended to make a fairly labor-intensive meal for dinner tonight, but I was foiled by the absence of fresh basil, a key component in the dish I had planned to make.  As such, it will unfortunately have to wait until the end of the week now, because I don't see myself wanting to spend hours on dinner much before Thursday.

Besides, I had some chard taking up space in my packed fridge, so I felt the need to use it, which left me two options: a super spicy dish or a dish I thought might go better with my poor Mister's misbehaving belly.  So, tonight's dinner was Farfalle with Shallots and Chard.

I took a picture of the shallots saute-ing because it's never happened before and I didn't know if it would ever happen again

Between onions and shallots, I'll take shallots any day of the week, but that doesn't mean I'm completely comfortable with them.  This recipe involved more shallots than I've ever used in a recipe before and in a much less minced way.  In other words, there was no way I would be able to avoid actually tasting one.

Here are the shallots welcoming the chard into their little party.  While all this sauteing was occurring, Mister's curiosity replaced his nausea and he came into the kitchen, sniffing at the air like a bloodhound and walked directly over to the pot. 

"What IS it?"
"Shallots."
"It smells good. I want to make them eated."

Considering the man was actually externally ill a few hours before, this was promising.  Fortunately, by the time his hunger kicked in and he made his way into the kitchen, I was only about ten minutes away from putting dinner on the table.

It tasted as delightful as it looks.  Due to the length of time the shallots sauteed in the olive oil before I added the chard, the olive oil took on an amazingly buttery taste.  I kept psyching myself out with the shallots because they looked so much like onions.  Every time I took a bite, I thought to myself, "Oh, no, this is going to be the time I taste them!"  And I did...they were a little bit sweet and ever-so-slightly crunchy; they weren't crunchy the way fried things are, but rather like raw jicama, with a similar taste.  Despite my initial reticence, I found myself seeking them out in the bowl to pile on top of the chard and pasta to be shoveled into my mouth.

The shallots did saute with red pepper flakes, but not that many, which was why the heat of the dish surprised me.  Mister, who was having stomach issues, said I had a sissy mouth and that he was fine, so I'm pretty sure it was just my surprise that intensified the heat.  Like heat usually does, it enhanced the other qualities of this recipe.  We will definitely have this again...when the cookbook I tested it for comes out...