may your days be merry and bright

Okay, so clearly (in Philadelphia, at least) we did not have a White Christmas.  No, definitely not - it was gorgeous, though - around 50 degrees and sunny!  Nevetheless, I felt like the title displayed a nice blessing to begin a new year.  One which, according to some conspiracy theorists/history-ignorant human beings will be our very last one.

I say "Live it up!" then.  What better way to do so than another thrilling and incidental collaboration between my mother and husband?  I continue to be astonished by my new saute pan and am counting the days until I can comfortably add another piece of this addicting cookware to my small-but-adequate urban kitchen.

I'm fairly well convinced that food even looks more attractive in this pan.  I mean, a load of sliced red peppers sauteing with garlic, olive oil, basil, and two big bay leaves is always a beautiful sight, but I believe the reflective nature of my new pan illuminates the beauty, enhancing it even further (I know, it's difficult, but try it!)  To say I'm in love is putting it lightly.

The scent of my red peppers softening and getting all sweet and garlicky was enough to get Angst into the kitchen to be the live studio audience for The Cooking Show with Mommy...

Though I failed to be exciting enough to keep him awake.  I appreciated his support and company, though.  He appreciates warm, squishy things upon which to sleep.  Tonight's dinner was a Red Pepper Risotto, taken from the book Mister gave me for Christmas.  I'd tell you which book, but it's pretty non-descript: the title is Vegetarian and it's a compilation of recipes, so there is no author.  If it's really, really important to anyone still reading after my excessive absence, I will post the editor's name so you can try to dig it up, but it's an older book (I love how Mister knows his way around thrift stores and the store we traded a bunch of books to, for credit toward more books, when we moved last February).

This picture shows again how fortunate I am to have my new, beautiful, easy to cook with, easy to clean All-Clad saute pan.  Although I cooked the rice separately (more on why in a minute) and then added it to the pan, there is NO WAY I would have pulled that off with my 3-qt saute pan.  I would have had to cut the recipe in half to make it fit, especially since I cooked 2 cups of rice to add to that.  Rice tends to triple in volume when cooked, so that's about 6 cups of rice mixed into 3 red peppers and a 28-oz can of diced tomatoes.

By the time everything was cooked and combined, even Angst had grown more interested in dinner.  Saint that he is, Mister scooped up the sleepy kitty to show him what was on the stove.  Angst hates the stove and he hates hot food - it bites him.  That picture was snapped right before he struggled free of the Evil Man carrying him.

Anyway, as you can see, this doesn't look much like a "traditional" risotto, and if you know anything about risotto, you know I committed a cardinal culinary sin by cooking the rice by itself and just adding it to the cooked peppers and tomatoes at the last minute.  Let me explain.

Last night as we were finishing our very tasty dinner, long somen noodles sauteed with tofu, carrots, and asparagus with a homemade teriyaki sauce that didn't suck (following a New Years tradition of our Asian neighbors), Mister and I got into a discussion about his food preferences.  We were discussing the innovative but limiting fixed menu being offered by Vedge for the holiday.  I nearly choked on my noodles when Mister said, "there aren't a lot of foods I don't like, but the ones I don't like I really hate."

So I said:

• mushrooms
• squash
• eggplant
• whole wheat pasta
• tempeh
• quinoa
• "squishy wheat"
• prunes
• raisins
• pretty much any dried fruit, actually
• gnocchi
• ricotta
• sweet potatoes

I could go on.  For heaven's sake, I even have a label on the blog for "Things Mister Hates."

So, there were two reasons I cooked the rice separately.  First, risotto takes a very long time and my hands have typing to do, so I didn't feel like wearing them out by continuously stirring rice for about an hour.  Second, and more important, another Thing Mister Hates is Risotto, so I wanted to make this as un-risotto-like as possible and it seems to have worked since he had two bowls. 

I have to admit, my favorite thing about him hating risotto is how he had forgotten and at what an inconvenient time he remembered.  Two years ago at Christmas, his father took us and his wife to Lacroix, a very fancy and very expensive French restaurant overlooking Rittenhouse Square.  For our side dishes, I selected sweet potatoes, since I never get to have them at home (see the list ^ ) and Mister chose Chestnut Risotto (to my great surprise, having avoided cooking risotto at home for this specific reason).  It came, it looked delicious, and after he picked at it for a few minutes I asked if I could try a bite.  He pretty much told me I could have it all if I wanted, revealing that he had forgotten what risotto was until it arrived.  Ahh.... adventures in fine dining.

So, anyway, Happy New year to any faithful friend who is still reading after my nearly month-long absence.  I haven't resolved to write more frequently, but I do anticipate having more to say going forward, so thank you for your patience - I hope to reward it richly this new year.  Even if it all ends on the Winter Solstice like the Mayans said it would.

stiiiilllll going...powered by smoothies & espresso

I'm not sure there are words strong enough to express my longing, yearning, pining even, for Friday.  Once I have safely made it to and through Friday, I have a glorious, much needed, and much deserved 3-day weekend.  I do mean 3 days, too - I'm not teaching on Saturday and I don't have to go back to Diet Land until Tuesday.  Nevertheless, powered by three things that are becoming steadfast favorites, I am powering on, pushing myself to endure every day that stands between me and Friday night.

What three things?

• Espresso (say what you want about Starbucks, but I will not apologize for my iced caramel americanos - they taste like iced heaven in a cup)
• More Italian food - old habits die hard, especially when I can't think of a terribly good reason to stop this addiction.
• Smoothies!  Tasty, frothy, drinkable nutrition!  If I got enough sleep at night, I could probably easily sub out a smoothie for my espresso.  But I don't get enough sleep.  I love you, Starbucks.

I really don't think anyone wants to read my Ode to Caffeine and besides, I am well aware that this is not a healthy way to go about life.  Like I said, I don't get enough sleep.  It's a long story.  I'm pretty sure any faithful readers are also growing quite weary of my pasta-worship, too, but let me just share for a moment before moving on to the "good stuff."

Last night, I finally made Italian-Style Rice Casserole from Vegan Italiano because I finally bought peas.  In the course of preparing it, I realized I was woefully short of carrots, a fact that did not truly "hit home" until I started to prepare dinner tonight.

I love this risotto-like dish.  I love it because it's hearty and creamy and fully of veggie goodness (the peas nearly outnumber the rice!) with a few spikes of salty mixed in from the chopped kalamatas.  I love that even though it's supposed to be a baked dish, it comes together stovetop in approximately 30 minutes - I think that is at least partially owed to my use of the not-so-indigenous-to-Italy Jasmine rice.  After a ton of pasta dishes, I was happy to let go of my Italian fetish with a rice dish.  Or so I thought.

Tonight, I started to get everything together for Naked Burritos, and then remembered that I used the last four pitiful carrots for dinner last night, leaving me no carrots for the burritos.  Stop asking yourself what kind of sick person puts carrots in burritos and follow me back down the path to Il Belpaese.

So, I opened up my little gold book of magic and started to assemble ingredients and found myself lacking a fairly important one, so I looked at my menu for a quick-cooking one, as my stomach was trying to eat itself, and decided upon a recipe from Appetite for Reduction.  Broccoli Con Pasta, to be precise.  I made Dynise's version of this recipe not long ago, but I think I prefer Isa's.  It has a hot little kick from the red pepper flakes which can be at least partially dimmed by balsamic vinegar and wine, or left to simmer on your tongue and lips a bit.  It also does not involve trying to dissolve miso in hot oil with a flat whisk.  It also fits into that wonderful and welcome category of Perfect Portions/no leftovers.

With my continuing tribute to Italy out of the way, we can get to the real fun: Smoothies.  A few weeks ago, I posted about my smoothie virginity.  At least one daring and caring soul stepped forward to help me overcome my scarcity of smoothies: Kelly from Living on the Vedge.  She offered to meet up with me for a smoothie date, which we did on Saturday and it was delightful.  Prior to our meeting, though, I decided to dabble a bit - test the chunky, fruit-filled waters, if you will.

I began my Smoothie Odyssey on my way to work one morning.  I had an unintentionally light breakfast, leaving me quite ravenous by the time I got to the train station.  As luck would have it, there is a delightful little corner joint right where the Gallery meets Market East.  I have stopped a few times in the past for one of their abundant and varied fruit salads.  I noticed they had fresh-pressed juices, so I thought maybe I'd give one a try, but as I drew closer, I noticed a smoothie menu.  I shrugged a little to myself, then smiled at the waiting countergirl and ordered the Pink Lady: banana, strawberry, and carrot, blended with ice.

isn't she pretty?

I tried to reserve my judgment a little as I had nothing, really, to which I could compare my pretty pink smoothie, but it was darn good.  There was enough ice to give it texture, and I'm pretty sure they used a frozen banana, too, but it was totally drinkable as well.  I can't deny I was a little bit attracted to the color, especially since I thought the carrot would make it a little more orange...kind of like the Pineapple-Carrot Smoothie I got at Pure Fare on Saturday (the prettiest little Judgment Day there ever was!):

However, lest you believe that was all carrot turning it that amazing shade of orange, I think it was more the orange juice than anything else.  It was a tasty smoothie, profuse with citrus flavor between the OJ and the pineapple.  It was obvious there was carrot, though, as the blender did not completely pulverize it, resulting in the occasional chunk lodging itself in either the straw or my teeth.  Hot, I know - it's a good thing I wasn't trying to charm Kelly with my good looks and graceful smoothie consumption.  It was very thick but there was a certain comfort to be derived from drinking something that was clearly whole fruits and vegetables only moments before.  Kelly sipped on the Detoxifying Green Juice - she had been in a few days earlier and fell in love.  I think I am destined to return and try the Kale-Apple Smoothie and the green juice...and possibly one of the brownies I was assured is vegan!

Finally, when I got my hair touched up a few weeks ago for BIL's wedding, I stopped into Cups & Chairs to pay a long-overdue visit.  I had my detox tea for the first time since I finished Mister's this winter and could have kicked myself for forgetting how refreshing and addicting they are.  While I was waiting, I glanced up at the newly revamped drink menu and noticed something I hadn't seen in the past (probably because it wasn't there): a Matchanana Smoothie.

I correctly assumed it was matcha and bananas, as well as some plain soymilk and ice.  I headed over to Salon Sugar with my detox tea, but returned the following morning for a Matchanana to sip on my way to work.  By the time I made it to the train station, I'd sipped through half of it.  It was okay, but a little strange - first of all, it was way more soymilk than anything else.  Since she used a fresh banana, it didn't really stand out the way the texture of a frozen banana would have.  The matcha added a unique grassy-green flavor, but overall, it was not outstanding.  It was kind of like green milk.  Which doesn't sound that good.  It wasn't bad, but I won't get it again.

I wanted to try a Starbucks (anyone surprised?) Vivanno Smoothie, but the whole focal point is a blend of fiber and whey protein they add to promote energy and satiety.  Considering whey is a milk protein, that kind of went out the window.  I have my smoothie-eyes open wider now, so if I find anything exceptional, I'll report back, but for now, I'm going to sign off and dream of kale-apple smoothies and maybe treat myself to another smoothie from the corner place at Market East tomorrow...if there's time and space after my SBUX run ;)

like a well tuned instrument

So, last night I took another go-around with making Monk Bowls from 30 Minute Vegan.  I also made the Tahini Mustard Dressing from another part of the book.  I'm not a big fan of mustard at all, but since it was actually one of the smallest quantities in the ingredient list, I figured I was pretty safe.  It was a unique, surprising, and very tasty sauce, once you adjusted to....something.  Honestly, I'm still not sure what.  There is an unexpected tanginess which probably comes from the vinegar, but the tahini (sesame paste, for the uninitiated) has a stronger flavor than I anticipated.  By the way - does anyone know if you have to refrigerate tahini after you open it?  Mine is still sitting in the cupboard at room temperature, so if I need to move it, please tell me sooner than later!

Anyway, this adventure with the Monk Bowls ended up being a far more harmonious experience than the first one, which I had expected.  I made it a lot easier on myself.  I re-steamed some of the Coconut Rice that was leftover from our Jerk Seitan dinner in place of the quinoa in the recipe.  I am somewhat ambivalent about quinoa, but Mister straight up hates it, so I usually avoid it if I can.  I also used frozen vegetables because I thought I was slick.  Maybe I was, but being slick does not always result in making tasty food.  When I was at Whole Foods, I picked up the "California Organic Blend" of frozen vegetables - how could I go wrong with broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots?

I think the combination of little bitty ice crystals on the surface of the frozen veggies and the method of cooking (steaming) might have been to blame for the waterlogged nature of my vegetables.  They weren't horrible, but I think it was a mistake to make that shortcut and I won't do it in the future.  It really doesn't take long enough to chop 8 cups worth of fresh vegetables to make it worth sacrificing flavor and texture for the ease of just cutting open a bag of mixed frozen vegetables, especially when so many good things are coming into season soon!

I had intended to make the last meal on our menu, Pasta with Beans and Chard for dinner tonight, but Mister's belly wasn't behaving so he didn't want to eat.  I actually didn't mind, because I wasn't in the mood for pasta.  I also was not in the mood for the few bites of rotting leftovers still in the fridge, so I poked around my cabinets and the freezer to see what I could muster.  It didn't take long for an idea to form in my head. 

I missed One-Serving Wednesday this week because I was out with a colleague, drinking Malbec and eating hummus.  Oh, by the way - there is no faster way to dehydrate yourself, in case you were wondering.  Anyway, when I'm cooking for just me, I make my best attempts to cook food Mister wouldn't eat but I like, so I decided to make myself a little risotto.  My recipe (shared below the picture) makes enough for one large or two smaller appropriate portions, but you could very easily double or triple the recipe to accommodate dinner guests (and I would be flattered as heck if you not only made this, but also served it to people you care about!):

Pea & Pepper Risotto
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup arborio rice
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Earth Balance margarine, divided
the juice of half a lemon
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 tsp dried organic basil (using organic makes a huge difference here)
1/4 tsp sea salt
dash or two of ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers
1/3 cup frozen peas

In a small saucepan, bring broth to a boil.  Add rice, cover, and lower heat as low as possible.  Simmer about 15 minutes, stirring 2-3 times, then remove from heat - the liquid will not be fully absorbed.

Meanwhile, melt 1 Tbsp Earth Balance in a large skillet, swirling pan to coat evenly.  Lower heat to medium-low and add garlic.  Saute 30 seconds, stirring constantly.  Stir in chopped peppers and cook, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes.  Sprinkle on basil, salt, and pepper, then stir in peas.  Cook, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes.  Stir in rice and cook on low heat until liquid is almost absorbed.  Stir in lemon juice and 1 tsp Earth Balance and cook, stirring constantly, until all liquid is absorbed, about 3-5 minutes.

Start to finish, the recipe probably takes about a half an hour and it's very tasty.  Arborio is quick-cooking and has a very toothsome texture, unlike lighter rices like Jasmine or Basmati.  It really hit the spot for me and took very little effort to prepare.  Enjoy!

MoFo no mo'

Happy November! I can't believe October is gone already - it passed so quickly, especially with all the fun writing and great reading out there in the blogosphere. I am so glad I participated in VeganMoFo 2009; it was such a good experience. I feel like my blogging is much more interactive now, mainly because I discovered from comments people left that someone really was reading my blog and it wasn't just my little online journal of cooking adventures. I'm sad to see it end, but I have greatly increased my repertoire of blogs to read, and after a month of being very conscientious about blogging damn near every day, it was very liberating to take last night off.

So....last night we finally actually did something to acknowledge and celebrate two beautiful years of marriage. We did not get a couch this weekend, and therefore did not watch a movie (a very specific one) like we had intended, but we looked at couches and had dinner at a cute Italian place just down the street, La Fourno.

When I first started getting into cooking with seasonal foods, I had a little "cheat" card at the front of my (overstuffed) recipe box to tell me what fruits and vegetables were in season. There were two reasons I did this - first, I figured seasonal produce would probably taste better since it had a better chance of being ripe. Second, I figured it would save us some money, rather than paying $8 for a bunch of asparagus in December. When I stopped using the recipes I had tucked away in that heavy little box, I stopped referring to that card, quite by accident. What I'm getting at is this:

I don't know when melon season is, but the best honeydew ever adorned our salad.

Oh! And it was made with a mixture of romaine and arugula, so I made good on my promise to eat raw arugula in a salad sooner than I expected! Anyway, the salad was the evening's special and when the waiter described it Mister and I were unanimous (not hard to do with only two people...) about starting our meal sharing that salad and the fabulous bruschetta they serve. As I mentioned, the base was a bed of romaine and arugula and decorated with halved grape tomatoes, cubed honeydew, and mandarin sections, then finished with a peppery vinaigrette. I don't know where they got that honeydew, but it was seriously the best I have ever had.

Tonight, at Mister's choosing, I made Risotto Mexicano. Things were going well, the peppers, garlic, and tomato were simmering away and the beans were heating. The rice was almost ready to join the party and Mister came in to see how it was going.

Mister: What's it doing?
Me: Simmering.
Mister: Then what?
Me: Then I put the spinach in.

This is where I realize I forgot to buy the spinach. Angst is very disappointed.

Me: Then we eat it.
Mister: What's it go in?
Me: Bowls.
Mister: Do we have chips?
Me: Do you want chips?

Mister heads out to the convenience store down the street on a quest for tortilla chips, spinach, and one ripe banana. He returns with tortilla chips, three not-even-close-to-ripe bananas, and some weird sour gummy candy (no spinach). The chips were organic blue corn Tostitos. I don't know if the organic or blue corn really make a difference, but they taste good and purple food is fun.
The forks are just there for decoration. We ate our whole bowls with the chips.

Colleen 1-?, Natalie 0-2

I would love to call Colleen Patrick-Goudreau a thief, but I'm pretty sure The Vegan Table came out ever so slightly before I dreamt up my Mediterranean Risotto (AKA complete failure after two honest attempts). Regardless of who thought of it first, she got it right - tonight I made Arborio Rice with Roasted Red Peppers, Pine Nuts, and Basil and it was everything I wanted my stupid risotto to be. It smelled a lot like mine when it finished cooking, causing momentary panic that it would be too strong, but it wasn't.


Differences between our two skillet risottos (her name's too damn long):

Hers: Roasted red peppers
Mine: Roasted yellow peppers

Hers: chopped kalamatas and green olives
Mine: too many chopped kalamatas

Hers: skillet-toasted pine nuts
Mine: sun-dried tomatoes

Just a few subtle differences that make one edible and the other an event to muddle through or else you won't have dinner. I shouldn't be so disparaging: Colleen's skillet risotto is way beyond edible - it's delicious. The toasted pine nuts add this amazing rich, buttery flavor and balance out the saltiness of the olives, which they equal in quantity. I used Arborio rice, as the title might suggest, and if it didn't have such a bizarre texture, I would use it all the time - it cooks even faster than Jasmine rice! The texture, though, is almost like very al dente pasta, which is fine for penne but I prefer rice to munch like rice.

rice reincarnated

Today was so much fun! In the end, the farmer's market was a bust, I gave up on the Italian Market (I wasn't de-stressed enough yet to deal with the crowds and chaos), and the ultimate in self-pampering became the only thing I accomplished today. Aside from my deep desire to spend some quiet time at Cafe Fulya, I really don't feel bad about the three hours I spent in Salon Sugar today, letting Candi KaBoom do amazing things to my hair.

The salon itself is painted in shades of pale and hot pink, and there are pink and black vinyl curlicues reaching out along the walls from behind the ornate gold mirrors. There aren't words to describe how awesome this place is or how happy I am with my hair!
Also, I have finally fixed the Red Rice and Beans recipe. Also, that's a crappy name for dinner, so I gave it a spiffier title. Without further ado, I give you...

Risotto Mexicano (pronounced meh-hee-KAHN-oh)
serves 4-6
Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
1 1/4 cups water
1 1/2 cups V8 Hot & Spicy
2 Tbsp canola oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed/minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2-3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
5 oz baby spinach

Bring water to a boil in medium saucepan. Stir in rice, then cover and reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer 10-15 minutes. When almost all the water has been absorbed, stir in the V8 juice. Cover and simmer 10-15 more minutes.
Meanwhile, dice the pepper and tomatoes, but keep separate Heat oil on medium heat in a deep pot. Add garlic and pepper; cover and saute 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in chili powder, tomatoes, and black beans. Simmer, uncovered, 1-2 more minutes. Pour in rice and V8 - it should not have been completely absorbed by the rice yet. Simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes, until rice is tender and most liquid is absorbed. Stir in spinach until wilted. Remove from heat and serve.

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!