midweek mediterranean

If you're into words, you might find the timing of my mediterranean menu a bit amusing - if you just use words and don't find their make-up particularly fascinating, feel free to jump down a paragraph 'cause I'm about to geek out and get super boring.  Medi means "middle" (terra means land/earth, so terranean is just another form that complements the prefix) - Lord of the Rings geeks are overjoyed at this moment, I imagine, but the point I'm trying to make is that this geek thinks it's funny my three-day fest of Mediterranean dishes starts in the middle of the week.

Okay, Geek-Out over.  On to the food!  When I got home from work last night, Mister was feeling ill, so we took a short but welcome nap on the couch together, then he got up and played his video games for a little while and I ate what was left of the Fusilli with Lentil Sauce with a side of Hummamole on Bread. That gave me plenty of time to think about what I wanted to cook tonight.

I had determined by the time I got home that I was going to make pasta, since there were two pasta dishes left and I'd prefer to put the one rice dish in between them.  Moderation, you know...  Anyway, as is usually the case as Friday nears and I still have "fresh" vegetables living in my crisper drawers, I inspected them to see whether the escarole or the broccoli was closer to sliminess.  Escarole won, so we had Penne with Cannellini Beans and Escarole from Vegan Italiano tonight:

It is just as delicious as it looks and I'm glad I made this tonight.  I've made it once before and it was my first encounter with escarole, so I was caught a little off-guard by the crunchy, toothsome texture of the escarole.  This time around, I knew what to expect from the greens so I could just enjoy the whole experience - the green (escarole) + red (tomatoes) + white (cannellini beans) palette of the dinner is delightful enough - just as the colors echo an Italian flag flapping in an arid Mediterranean breeze, the taste of those ingredients transports me to the terra cotta villa in which I've never dined (but hope to in about a year!).  Regretfully, since it is Wednesday and not Friday, I did not have a nice, deep glass of red wine to help me through dinner, but the water and olives were quite appropriate accompaniments.

dangerous salads

Sometimes Mister and I get a little silly.  Such was the case tonight, following what logically should have been a light dinner.

I mean, for heaven's sake - it's SALAD; the Mediterranean Chopped Salad from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook to be exact.  Doesn't it look tasty?  Thus the source of our silliness.  After we'd each polished off two healthy bowls of salad, Mister puffed out his belly and said he was all fat.  I put my hands around my little pooch and said I was fat, too.

Fat from salad???  Clearly, we're insane.  Yet, it was undeniable that we both felt very full and somewhat bloated.  I know cabbage can cause a bloaty, gassy belly, but there was none in this salad, so now I'm filtering through the other ingredients for the source of our "fatness."  One of the things I did differently this time around was using a spring mix of baby lettuces - I wonder if some of those have the same bloating character as cabbage?  If anyone knows, I'd love some insight.

On the other hand, it's not like we were just eating lettuce - there is a lot of "stuff" on the salad, and at least two of those things have a decent amount of [heart-healthy, Mediterranean] fat in them; oil-cured olives, hearts of palm, and chickpeas are among the culprits, but let's not forget about the 1/3 cup of olive oil I mixed with red wine vinegar and poured all over the place.  Also, for protein and fun, I diced 4 oz of smoked tofu, which obviously added some substance to the salad.

Salads are dangerous!  Now that you are certain I'm off my rocker searching for my marbles out in left field, let me explain.  For one, salad bars are Satan's Playground.  When I say Satan I actually mean Germs, but sometimes they seem the same.  Assuming you can squeeze your germaphobic little self past that obstacle, though, let's talk about America's Pasttime: Over-Eating.

Look at this salad!

Don't you just want to eat it until it's all gone?  I know, me, too!  If you could have tasted it, you would definitely be with me on this because the combination of all the little elements takes this salad over the top.  The problem is, we attach this magical word - Salad - and all of a sudden, a meal has no calories.  This is simply not true, but you think Salad = Lettuce and a few tomatoes thrown in for color.  All of a sudden, you have a great big bowl full of pretty lettuce, dotted with crunchy grape tomatoes, pleasantly bland chickpeas, tangy artichoke hearts and astringent hearts of palm, alongside the perfect overbearing saltiness of oil-cured black olives balanced by the subtle, smoky sweetness of the prepared tofu.  That's actually a huge amount of food, but don't forget the bowlful of orzo and more than 1/2 cup of vinaigrette mixed in for good measure.

But it tastes so good!  So you plow through a bowl or two, just like me and Mister, completely ignoring that each serving has 480 calories and 28 g of [good] fat.  Then you wonder why you feel all fat and bloaty afterwards...  I'm telling you - salads are dangerous.

how low can you go?

[note: Blogger crapped out on me mid-post last night, so "Part I" will be last night's post, leading to "Part II" which is tonight's dinner adventures.  Look it as a bonus post!]

I have pretty low blood pressure.  I have since I was a young teenager.  The same way that some people (ahem, Mister) need to eat a certain way to manage their blood sugar levels, I sometimes have to eat to manage my blood pressure.  It's actually a fairly enviable position in which to find oneself - I fear, though, for the day Mister's family history of heart disease threatens our little family because we love salt.  Although I am good at enhancing the flavor of foods without adding salt, I would not be as happy a little chef if I couldn't add my precious Mediterranean Sea Salt to roasted vegetables.  In fact, my world might stop turning if I couldn't sprinkle roasting broccoli or asparagus or potatoes with this magical mixture.

I don't have any pictures because Mister and I were in quite a rush to eat (hungry, hungry hippos), but dinner really wasn't anything especially attractive tonight anyway.  I made Pasta Puttanesca from Vegan Express and roasted some broccoli with olive oil and the sea salt blend as a side dish (gotta get some green in there, right?).  For you to truly understand why I love this blend so much, I want to clarify that there are plenty of other flavor elements besides just the incredible chunks of sea salt that catch themselves in a floret to deliver a satisfying crunch when you bite down.  The ingredients on my blend are: sea salt (really?), garlic, basil, oregano, lemon peel, red bell pepper, and the ever ubiquitous "natural flavor."

Speaking of red bell peppers, I don't know what happened to the one I was supposed to slice for tonight's dinner!  I know I got one, but I'm wondering if I accidentally used it for a different recipe.  In any case, I ended up substituting my orange bell pepper for it and I don't think it mucked up the flavor too much.  The pasta was good, but not as good as I wanted it to be and not as incredibly tasty as the roasted broccoli.

Speaking of broccoli....  When I was at Trader Joe's, I saw a bag of broccoli florets for what looked like a pretty decent price - probably a better deal than anything but frozen.  I looked around a bit and discovered that I would get a lot more broccoli for my buck if I bought the convenient pre-cut bag of broccoli than if I got a couple of spears and spent all that time separating the little florets from one another.  Score one for convenience!

[Part II]

Ever since our "celebrity chefs" came to visit and put on a little show a couple of weeks ago, I've been craving chickpea burgers.  Chef Michael Solomonov (Zahav, etc), made turkey burgers, served on the burger thins I love.  They looked so much like chickpea burgers, I kept hoping that if I wished hard enough, they would be.  Alas, they remained little beige patties of ground-up birds, so I had to DIMyself.

I didn't take a picture of the burgers because a) they were not even close to as attractive as Chef Solomonov's turkey burgers and b) burgers just aren't all that exciting to photograph.  Even though the turkey burgers looked very tasty, I would not have whipped out my camera if I'd had it with me.  I might have just had a small inspiration, though.  We'll get back to that later.

Along with the Lemony Garlic Chickpea Patties from Vegan on the Cheap I made the Middle Eastern Chopped Salad from Vegan Express.  This was most definitely worth photographing:

Local cucumber, tomatoes, and a yellow bell pepper came together to make a colorful and festive looking salad, sprinkled with fresh parsley and lemon juice, enriched with olive oil and oil-cured black olives.  I love cucumber-tomato salads dressed with lemon juice and olive oil.  I think I would have been happy to include some garlic as well, so I'll keep that in my mind for the next time I make this salad, but I will freely admit that I am sorry I've never made this before.  It's a lot of chopping, so between that and the made-from-scratch burgers, dinner took well over an hour to prepare, but it's nearly Friday, right?  A little sleep deprivation never hurt anyone, right?

double-decker leftovers

That is a lot of leftovers.  Unless Mister goes on some kind of pasta binge tomorrow/this weekend, I will bet we're still wading through these a week from now.  You know a dish yields a lot when you can portion out some above-average dinner portions and still have so many leftovers that one of your biggest containers won't hold it all, so you have to get a second container to fit them all and you're still smushing the lids on.

It started out simply enough, with a wish for Tuscany and a willingness to "settle" for Montepulciano and mixed olives, alongside homemade (albeit primarily canned) Italian dinner.

There's something so heart-warmingly rustic about a pot of white beans simmering with crushed tomatoes, garlic, and marjoram.  My mouth is watering just looking at that.  Also, I anticipate a similar picture later next week (menu foreshadowing, anyone?) and I'm already excited about it.  And yes, for reasons that will be revealed when I unveil the new menu, I do already have next week's menu planned.

Anyway, tonight was the magical night that I reprised Clara's Pasta e Fagioli from The Urban Vegan.  I neglected to add a cup of broth and I'm wondering if that's why it wasn't as flavorful as I remembered it.  Either way, it was still good.  The main reason Isa's recipe surpassed this one as my favorite is due primarily to the fact that the recipe in Veganomicon actually involves dicing my own fresh tomatoes.

But dear Lord, it sure does make enough to feed a Greek family.  And I mean the whole family.  And still send them home with leftovers, probably.  Good to know for future cooking events...

everyone deserves a second chance

So, I really wasn't that thrilled with how last night's dinner came out, in case you couldn't tell.  By the time I got home from work today, amazed that Friday snuck up again so quickly, I was even less excited about tonight's dinner.

The plan was to make Chili and Polenta Casserole from Vegetarian Times: Fast and Easy, and although I've made it before, with some success, I just was not feeling it tonight.  In fact, when Mister asked me what I was making for dinner, my first impulse was to answer, "Reservations."

However, in this particular battle, FrugalMe won, so instead of doling out $12+ for a plate of pasta I know only cost $1 (tops) to make, I decided to get creative.  I issued myself the Basket Challenge.

my "basket"

I'm sure you can imagine we ended up with a mediterranean-themed dinner with those ingredients, but that was pretty much what I was going for anyway - that was what I had my tastebuds set on when I was searching urbanspoon for newly sprouted restaurants in Queen Village.  As I was gathering all of those items for their family photo, a plot started to hatch in my head.  So, hoping for a second chance to share with you a good recipe, as well as giving the canned tomatoes and beans, along with the polenta and nearly-freezer-burnt broccoli a second chance to be tasty, I made dinner.

Easy Vegetable Ragout on Mediterranean Polenta
4 servings

24 oz tube of prepared polenta
olive oil spray
Mediterranean sea salt blend (* I use McCormick brand)

2 Tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 Tbsp dried organic basil
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth
14.5 oz can of Fire Roasted diced tomatoes
15 oz can kidney/cannellini beans
2 cups [frozen] broccoli florets

Open polenta over sink - a decent bit of water will squirt out when the plastic is pierced.  Unwrap and discard puckered ends.  Cut polenta into 12 equal rounds.  Spray a square skillet with olive oil and preheat on medium-high for at least one minute before adding polenta.  Cook polenta 12-15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes and re-spraying.  After the first flip (@ 5 minutes), sprinkle Mediterranean salt blend over polenta, then spray with oil.  After the second flip (@10 minutes), sprinkle this side of the polenta with the salt blend, spray with a bit more oil.  You'll flip it once more for a few minutes to make sure the salt blend "rubs in," so to speak.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add garlic and saute a minute or two, taking care not to burn it.  Add undrained tomatoes, vinegar, tomato paste, and basil; stir to combine.  Increase heat and bring to a lively simmer, then reduce to medium low and allow to simmer gently 2-3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup vegetable broth and broccoli florets; stir to combine, then cover and allow to simmer about 5 minutes, stirring once.  Add another 1/4 cup of broth with the beans if the ragout seems too dry, stirring well to mix into the tomato mixture. 

Once all ragout ingredients are in the pot, cover and simmer a minute or two more while removing polenta from the skillet.  Place three polenta rounds on each plate, then top each plate with a quarter of the ragout.  Serve immediately, with mixed meze olives and a spicy red wine (for example, a pinotage or superTuscan) for a light, yet flavorful meal.

Enjoy!  We certainly did - the polenta was the most flavorful I've ever made it, owed completely to the salt enhancing the other spices/herbs in the blend and being complemented by the tomato sauce.  The balsamic vinegar was a total afterthought, but I'm so glad I included it - you can pick it out in the final product - it adds just the right amount of oomph.  The tomatoes were also delightful - the sweetness of the organic basil really enhanced the flavor of the roasted tomatoes and the crunch of broccoli, soaked with semi-sweet sauce was a good addition.  In the future, I'll use cannellini beans because they are far creamier than kidney beans and I think that will take this dish completely over the edge into hedonism territory.

As always, if you decide to give this a whirl, please let me know what you think!

reviving the classics

There are certain things we hold in higher esteem purely because we consider them to be "classic."  What does that mean, though?  How does, say, a recipe come to hold that special place in our hearts?  Is it a tradition behind the recipe?  Is it the author of the recipe?  Is it the publisher of the cookbook?  Also, what makes a cocktail a classic?  Philadelphia has seen a huge trend in "Old-School" bartending in recent years - everyone wants the "classic" cocktails.  Maybe it lends a certain sophistication?  But how did we decide which combinations of spirits were worthy of that title?  Is there something special about a gimlet or a martini or a manhattan that makes them stand out against a vanilla vodka & ginger ale?

The past two dinners have fit a classic-with-a-twist mold:

Everything about that picture makes me smile a big, Mediterranean smile - grape tomatoes, kalamata olives, and a bowlful of basil... you know it has to be good.  Last night, I made Mediterranean Pasta with Artichokes, Olives, and Tomatoes, from the April/May 2007 Body+Soul magazine, which should give you a hint as to why I consider this a classic.

Well, you know, besides the hint of how incredibly mouth-watering that looks.  This recipe comes to us courtesy of my dear Martha Stewart (I cannot believe she is nearly 70 years old - she looks terrific).  Martha is kind of like Betty Crocker, Donna Reed, and a little Dale Carnegie all rolled into one very successful woman.  She has built an empire around the many things she is good at and has earned the respect of many, so I consider things I learn from her to be classic.  Of course, the twist here is that it's hard for someone to be the inventor of "classic" things (it seems) when the person is still living. 

Tonight's dinner came to us originally from a classic red-and-white-checkered-tablecloth-covered Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, and by cookbook, I mean a three-ring binder with dividers for the different kinds of pilafs and puddings and pasta salads.  I really don't know how you expect to get much more Old School than that.  Anyway, I updated the culturally insensitive recipe for Spicy Black Beans and Rice and made Spicy Black Bean Burritos.  After sauteing my black beans and "mexican-style" tomatoes (AKA diced tomatoes with zesty jalapenos) for about 10 minutes, I added in the rice upon which I was supposed to serve this culinary treasure, along with a healthy dose of unspecified salt.  After allowing as much of the liquid to boil off as I could without testing the non-stick nature of my pan, I plopped the mixture onto a couple of whole wheat tortillas and handed Mister the hot sauce.

It's an easy "classic" and tastes so good that I had to force myself to stop after two so Mister and I can enjoy snacks with our movie tonight.  I did customize one last classic - the margarita.  I thought it would be Mexican fun to have a margarita with dinner, so I mixed together a bit of Skinnygirl Margarita with a Berry Lemonade Honest Kids juice drink - classic and classy.

It's pretty, though - pale pink with a bit of mist around the glass and a clear, small straw to help me be moderate...

Speaking of pink (the color of every Easter dress I wore for the first 15 years of my life), have a beautiful and blessed holiday tomorrow!

KISS: keeping it short & sweet

I feel like I am forever offering this excuse, but I have just been so busy both physically and mentally this week that I can barely process the steps of making dinner much less thinking of a witty way to share it.  I was doing alright earlier in the week, but the last couple of days have just been the worst.

Last night, my boss and I wrapped up early so he could go see Tommy James & The Shondells at the Keswick and I could do my best to say farewell to a special young man who should have had more time.  It was one of the most difficult experiences I've had in a long time and didn't exactly put me in the mood to be creative.  Fortunately, there was only one dinner left on my menu, so I didn't have to think much.  As always, in the most amazing way, making our dinner of Seitan Gyros and Crash Hot Potatoes brought me joy and I was able to enjoy dining with my dear husband.  Now for a brief photo essay:

Whole Foods miraculously came into some not-yet-expired Ray's Seitan and I happily deposited one tub into my basket.  I had forgotten how amazing this stuff is.  It smells incredible when it's cooking, and even managed to brown a little on the edges, despite being sauteed in a nonstick pan.  I sprinkled it with lemon juice, some dried dill, and sea salt and it was astonishingly moist and tender.  If I weren't about to embark on several days of exclusively eating other people's food, I would have insisted that Mister and I go to Horizons tonight.

These are the amazing Crash Hot Potatoes I found on VeganYumYum and knew it was my destiny to make.  "Lorraine, I am your destiny!"  Does anyone recognize that line?

A couple of weeks ago, while scanning the spice shelves at Superfresh and hoping against hope that my favorite Garam Masala would magically appear before my eyes, I found a different treasure: 

McCormick Gourmet Mediterranean Spiced Sea Salt.  It looked like fun and it was SO GOOD sprinkled [generously] over the potatoes.  They were actually far simpler to make than I thought they would be. 

Tonight I made Blessed Broccoli and Tofu Stirfry from La Dolce Vegan.  I hadn't made this previously so I decided to give it a whirl.  It was very tasty, but a little tofu-heavy for the Mister.  Actually, I think the problem wasn't as much the quantity of the tofu as it was the complete lack of flavor in the tofu.  Perhaps if I season/marinate the tofu next time I'll have better results.  Of course, I don't know how much better we could have done since we finished every last bite.

If I could just toot my own horn for a New-York-minute, I am extremely pleased with this picture.  I am not a photographer - when my father got me [and Mister] a digital camera as a wedding gift, he asked what features I wanted - my answer resulted in him getting what he called a "point and click."  At the time, I did not have any camera, and the last time I had a camera that wasn't a disposable, it was definitely one of those deals where you put film in and have to give that film to someone else in order to see what you took pictures of.  What I'm trying to say is this: my sister has a talent for photography and I'm art-retarded, so I'm really pleased with the perspective in this picture.  It looks like someone else took it, but I swear it was me!

Now, minus my artsy-fartsy horn-tooting, that's what dinner looked like.  We had fun salads with mixed greens, cubed jicama, diced tomatoes (leftover from the gyros), sliced orange pepper, and sliced kalamata olives.

We even had dessert!  Blondies a la mode (the mode was Chocolate Fudge Tempt).

So, obviously the Broccoli and Tofu stirfry was item #1 on this week's menu.  Here are tomorrow and Monday:

Broccoli Pasta with Savory Sauce - new recipe...I'll let you know how it goes.

Punjabi Peppers and Tofu also from La Dolce Vegan.  I wanted to do my best to avoid leftovers these next few days, since we'll be winging out to Arizona on Tuesday morning (shhh....don't tell Mister we're leaving in the single-digits part!) and we're good enough at cultivating science experiments when we're home.  Were you aware of the fascinating speed with which the peanuts in chunky peanut butter can grow hair when separated from the butter part, cooked, then left on the counter for a day or two? You learn something new every day.

By the way - the menu is short and sweet, not the post...obviously.

sweet potato? sweet tomato!

Can I start by saying that I still can't get over the fact that bananas melt? I love that little chocolate-covered blog for many reasons, but I think one of my favorites is that it opened my eyes to a whole new world of banana-eating.

Needless to say, I had a melted banana in my oatmeal this morning.

On my way to work I indulged in a rare treat - I got a peppermint Americano from Starbucks. I always remember why these treats are rare at the cash register... but it was worth every penny! Say what you want about Starbucks, but I appreciate their effort to promote fair trade and local farming.

Speaking of farming...we slaughtered us some chickpeas and olives tonight, while ripping out the hearts of palm and artichoke hearts...okay, that was a little graphic. I made the Mediterranean Chopped Salad for dinner tonight because it was 70 degrees in Philadelphia today. Yes, it's November. No, I don't think anyone told the weather. Anyway, it was fast, easy, and beautiful:
I'll admit, I cheated a little - those beautiful mixed greens came from one of those ready-to-eat salad bags. I opened the cans of artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and hearts of palm myself, though! There were two things that really stood out to me about this salad - the oil-cured black olives and the grape tomatoes.

By November, it's pretty safe to say tomato season is over. These little grape tomatoes would beg to differ, though, and they'd probably win. I was not expecting the honest-to-God sweet taste that filled my mouth when I bit down on one. Add to that the amazing contrast of dark, salty olives and it was an incredible salad. I also love the briny taste of the artichoke hearts and the chompy texture of the palmitos. This salad is so good with just these simple adornments, you wouldn't even notice that I left off the cubed mozzarella...I know Mister didn't!

wheat is out to get you

Shhh...don't make any noise or sudden movements - it will find you.

I made Mediterranean Risotto for dinner tonight, but I'm not posting any pictures because it didn't look any different than it did when I made it with barley. Here are the main changes:
1 cup of arborio rice (vs. 1 cup pearled barley), cooked in 2.5 cups broth added 1/2 cup at a time and allowed to absorb before adding more. 1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (packed dry, no oil, vs. 3/4 cup) added with the third addition of broth. I also completely left out the white pepper and didn't add the chopped peppers and olives until the last addition of broth.

The thing about wheat is this: Despite my alterations, this risotto is still way too intensely flavored, so we ate it with bread as scoops. Wheat bread. But we might not have known that wheat bread contains wheat if it weren't for the very helpful label on the back, letting us know that there is wheat in the wheat bread.

It's blurry, but the little white tag at the bottom says:
"Allergan Information: This product contains wheat."

What I want to know is this: are there really people that stupid? What did you think would be in wheat bread?

In other news... today I gave in to myself and ate my beloved Clif Nectar bar, flavor: lemon, vanilla & cashew. Again, the packaging itself makes me happy - it's a very mellow shade of yellow...one I can imagine painting a future kitchen.

This bar is absolutely sublime. I could just sniff it (and normally do, just before nibbling tenderly at it) and be happy because it smells SO good. All 5 ingredients (dates, cashews, goji berries, lemon juice concentrate, and vanilla) are certified organic. That may or may not mean something, but it makes me feel more like I'm ingesting pure sunshine.

Nutritionally, the price is right for a snack - 160 calories, only 6g fat, yet providing an equal 6g of dietary fiber and 4g protein (which isn't much, but you look for stuff like this after too many people ask how on earth you can possibly get enough protein without eating animal corpses *gasp!*). Also, this little 1.6 oz bar claims to provide 2 fruit servings in its delectable little self. The thing that really gets me about this bar is how creamy it is in texture, which I think is primarily owed to the velvety cashews. The ratio of vanilla to lemon is also perfect. I can't recommend this bar enough - I love, love, love it!

But here is my puzzle:
A Nectar bar is 1.6 oz.
A Larabar is also 1.6 oz.
A Nectar bar lays claim to 2 servings of fruit,
but A Larabar only claims 1 serving of fruit.
Both bars are made up of fruits and nuts.
All I can come up with so far is that Nectar bars are more concentrated on the fruit aspect of the bar, where Larabars depend heavily on nuts to texture their bars, therefore leaving less room for fruit. If you have a better answer, though, I'd love to know it - leave me a comment!

Lebanese red is akin to Chianti (but not quite as good)

In celebration of our final night off together, Mister and I treated ourselves to a nice dinner at our favorite Lebanese restaurant, Cedars, and a movie: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

We had intended to see Underworld in the theater, but to be honest, I'm glad we rented it - I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoy other crappy films noir (for example, my unreasonable love for The Crow: City of Angels), but Mister seemed quite underwhelmed. Whatever - Rhona Mitra was astonishingly beautiful, so I was able to overlook Kate Beckinsale's absence. There were also a lot of great one-liners, primarily delivered by Bill Nighy's character, Viktor.

Our dinner at Cedars was delightful, as it always is. The service there cannot be beat - friendly, intimate, accommodating. Also, the food you get is worth far more than what they charge (don't tell them I said that!). I had mentioned wanting to try the Lebanese red wine they offered, and I decided Monday would be the night I finally made good on my intention. It was dry, had some of the sparkle of Chianti but the darker flavors of Merlot...it was okay, but nothing special and I probably won't get it again. As is our custom, we started with a mixed appetizer plate of falafel, stuffed grape leaves, hummus, baba ganoush, and pita. Mister also got fries with peppers & onions, and for his entree he ordered spanakopita with a side of rice. I believe I have become incapable of ordering something other than the Imam Baldi. It is just so good - roasted eggplant with other roasted/braised veggies - acorn squash, carrots, zucchini, celery, potatoes - sprinkled with raisins and feta cheese...so good. Appropriate, since "Imam Baldi" translates to "the Imam fainted." Legend goes that an Imam visited some folks who prepared this roasted eggplant dish, and the scent of the food alone knocked him out. I would agree!

Today was a long and tiring day, and being a Wednesday, I had a peanut butter sandwich for "dinner" tonight (I finished my cheerios on Monday, too). However, I did make the Mediterranean (Mock) Risotto for dinner last night:Let me tell you - the flavors were very intense. I might even say too intense, and I believe I would have Mister's support in making that statement. He did his best to get through it with the help of some bread to calm the flavors. Honestly, I think there was too much of two ingredients: white pepper and sun-dried tomatoes. I will attempt this again in the future and cut down on those things to see how it turns out, but I will share it with you now. One more note, before I give you my recipe: although I have cooked barley on several occasions now, Mister revealed to me just last night that he doesn't like "squishy wheat."

Mediterranean (mock) Risotto
about 6 servings
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup pearled barley
1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup sliced roasted peppers
1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
1 generous tsp dried basil
pinch of white pepper

Bring vegetable broth to a boil. Stir in barley and basil, cover and simmer on lowest heat 45 minutes. Chop the sun-dried tomatoes and add them with the white pepper in the last 15 minutes of cooking. After 45 minutes, stir in roasted peppers and olives, cook until heated through and most liquid is absorbed - about 5 more minutes.

It's actually pretty simple and doesn't require a whole lot of hands-on time. The recipe above contains the revisions I will make next time regarding the amounts of white pepper and sun-dried tomatoes, so if you want to give it a try, just tell me how yours ended up!