Eggplant & beef moussaka

Ugh. There comes a time when a blogger becomes accountable to her blog - even despite the modest number of viewers of this one here. I write this for myself, really. Otherwise I suppose I would have stopped a while ago. At some point, I'd like to have a repository of tested and tried recipes that I can refer to as my culinary "repertoire." It's been very nice to leaf through this blog at times and remember what I was making last year, what type of food I was into and what I was buying. It's a lot like browsing through photo albums with photos of you at all ages. I believe we are what we eat so I, too, was at every point in time the embodiment of my dietary creed of that period. Think of these posts as my self-portraits, if you will. (and yes, I'm aware my last post was a pizza)

At some point, you become responsible for posting regularly, for putting good content "out there," because, let's face it, this is the Internet and any kitchen klutz could find my blog through a really unlikely chain of events, and decide they want to try, say, my zacusca recipe. So you see, I can't in good conscience promote recipes that I don't honestly consider absolutely glorious. What kind of person would I be, really, if I purposefully led some culinary naives astray? And with the two readers (thanks mom and dad) that I have, could I afford gambling any credibility, should an innocent viewer happen upon this blog?

So I test this stuff. I test it a lot. There are countless dishes I make that don't turn out that great and that I wouldn't really recommend. I take photos each time, but few make it to the blog. This page, really, is for memorable meals.

Since I'm now so blissfully zen (you know you envy me) and eat more leaves than a ruminant animal, I'm also more interested in intellectual enlightenment. Which is another way to say I kind of miss being in college. You know, using polysyllabic words and philosophizing with whomever would care to listen. So with all the nostalgia, I've been taking loads of classes on Coursera - in case you didn't know, it's an awesome platform for free online courses from top universities in the US and the rest of the world. I love Coursera. Anything you could care about, they have a course about it. It's terrific. It's been keeping me busy lately and I've hardly had time to write. But it's worth it.

I haven't stopped cooking though. A girl's got to eat, after all. A while ago I made this beef and eggplant moussaka, which is a mixture of my memories from home, some recipes I've found online and my own intuition. It's definitely a winner. I very seldom eat red meat, so this is definitely a special occasion. I've also made a vegetarian version of this, which I'll be happy to post at some point. For now, remember to buy beef only from local, happy cows, and enjoy this feast!

Eggplant & beef moussaka

~ serves 6

2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes (I use Pomi)

1 medium yellow onion

1 pound ground beef from local, happy cows

1 cup shredded cheese (goat Gouda or cheddar will work)

1 Tbsp dried mint (basil, oregano will also work here if you don't have mint)

olive oil

salt, pepper, to taste

In a pot over medium-low heat, pour about 2 tbsp of olive oil. When the oil is hot, saute the onions until transparent, about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until brown, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes or so. Gradually add the chopped tomatoes, then add the mint and cook for another 5 minutes (Note: if the mixture if getting too liquid, don't add all the tomatoes).

Preheat the oven to 350. Take a 9 x 13 or similar baking dish and oil it well inside. Put a layer of eggplant slices (there will be 3 of these, so plan for it) and sprinkle a little salt. Then put a layer of the ground beef mixture (there will be 2 of these, so put half). Another layer of eggplant slices, a little salt, another layer of ground beef, and finally eggplant at the very top. You don't have to sprinkle salt on this one, just the cheese and some nice herbs (I chose basil).

Bake covered for 45 minutes, then leave uncovered for the last 15 to give it a nice brown color. Voila!

Questions are welcome! Leave a comment below.

Homemade pizza, incidentally gluten-free

Some time ago, when I was experimenting with the gluten-free cuisine, I tried to order a gluten-free pizza from a local, well-respected place around Albuquerque. Yeah it sounded weird, but I thought I'd give it a shot. At Pizza 9 and Luigi's (both otherwise decent pizza joints), I was told that the gluten-free pizza comes in one size only. That is because they don't make it in-house (easy to imagine why - with all the gluten-full flour flying about, contamination would be a sure thing). So I went with Pizza 9. And I must say that I had an awful, awful experience. I wish I could undo it, it was that bad. The crust tasted like medicine (if you've ever eaten something expired from a can in your pantry, imagine that) and it generously imparted this flavor to the entire pie. I forced myself to eat it and with every bite decided anew that I would never, ever try this again.

Years later however, I decided to try again. But this time I'd make it myself. Pizza is one of the rare treats that I allow myself every couple of months. And when I do, I enjoy it tremendously. So I thought of the people who have to live with Celiac disease - they should be able to enjoy this marvelous treat too, wouldn't that be fair? So I bought this Chebe tapioca-based pizza crust I found at Sprouts Market and followed the instructions on the package to make the crust.

First, it must be said that Chebe only contains 6 ingredients, and 3 of those are spices. I probably wouldn't buy anything that comes in a box otherwise. According to the package, this mix is not only gluten-free but also free of soy, corn, yeast, peanuts, eggs, dairy, sugar and it's non-GMO. What more could you ask for?

The process is very simple, even if you've never done this before. You only need two eggs, some oil and water or almond milk to put into the mix and make it into a dough. The dough is going to be pretty sticky, so having a pizza stone will help a lot in this regard. But you could also make this in a regular tray, non-stick or lined with parchment paper.

And my friends, it was amazing! I love thin crust pizza, and that's exactly how it turned out: thin crust, a bit crunchy on the edges, but that depends on how long you bake it. No weird taste or funkiness this time. It was a really tasty home made pizza. And it's definitely made it into my bookmarks. Give it a shot, gluten-addicts out there - you might be pleasantly surprised!

Gluten-free pizza

~ makes 1 14-inch pizza

Crust

1 box Chebe gluten free pizza crust mix

2 eggs

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup almond milk or water

Sauce

28 oz chopped tomatoes (I use Pomi, you can use canned)

4 oz tomato paste

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried basil

a dash of black pepper

1 tsp Italian seasoning (to make your own, throw together some dried basil, oregano, thyme. rosemary and sage) 

Toppings

1 cup shredded goat cheddar 

2 Roma tomatoes, sliced

1/3 cup thinly sliced onion rings

1/4 cup pitted olives

1/4 cup chopped green chile

Mix the crust mix with the eggs, oil and almond milk or water. Knead and form a dough with your hands and spread it using a rolling pin (or a wine bottle) on an ungreased pizza stone or tray.

Blend the sauce ingredients together. Spread some sauce over the crust and distribute it evenly. Sprinkle the cheese, then the tomato slices, onions, olives and finally the green chile. 

Bake 15-18 minutes until the edges are light brown. Easy!

Any questions, leave a comment!

"French potatoes" casserole

I don't really know how French people cook their potatoes. I think that we associate dainty, flavorful dishes with French cuisine. Some Romanian folks concocted this dish and, wanting to make it popular, called it "French potatoes." It could have been "Romanian potatoes," I suppose, but then it wouldn't have had the same appeal. The French, and everything they do, are so impossibly alluring after all.

I eat dairy very seldom. Partly it's because of my own digestive issues, partly because I use Kimberly Snyder's book as my dietary bible and in my own experience I was able to confirm most of her theses. A note on milk, then: we are the only species that consumes milk past the age of infancy. We are also the only species that consumes the milk of another species. Dairy products are hard to digest, allergenic, high in fat, acidic and, contrary to popular belief, not a good source of calcium. To learn more on how dairy = evil, read Kim Snyder's short and sweet article. It's really remarkable how ubiquitous dairy products are, despite the digestive problems and skin issues they cause us.

So I try to stay away from dairy. But I am only human and have my cravings too, and a bad one is cheese. I am crazy about cheese. If you share this addiction, you may want to opt for non-cow cheese (goat or sheep) or raw milk (unpasteurized) cow cheese. The former are easier to digest, while the latter has the benefit of containing precious enzymes that help with digestion (while the pasteurization process kills these enzymes). If you go this route, you'll find these alternatives more costly. That much is true. But on the good side, this way you'll eat less cheese. Plus, you'll notice a big improvement with your digestion.

On the rare occasions when I eat dairy, I make a big experience of it and mix it into an awesome meal like this. "French potatoes" is one of my favorite childhood meals. Romanians make this with salty sheep cheese (telemea) that you get at the market, from quirky peasants who scratch their head by their booths and haggle impishly for the price per kilo. In the US, I try to get the best deal at Whole Foods and end up with a neatly-cut slice of imported cheese safely sealed in plastic. 

But at least there are choices! This time I made an excellent deal with a goat Gouda from Holland with a lot of personality, which worked perfectly. For this dish you need a cheese with oomph. So stay away from cheddar, jack, mozzarella and other insipid varieties. Go with the smelliest cheese you can find. And don't worry, the potatoes will tone it down.

French potatoes

~ serves 4

7 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4-inch thick
7 eggs
2 cups shredded goat cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
another 1/4 cup shredded goat/sheep cheese
1/2 cup chopped green chile (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Boil the potatoes until done, but not too soft. Also boil 5 of the eggs in water with a little salt (so they don't crack), 8-10 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

In the meantime, mix 1/2 of the grated cheese in a bowl with the sour cream. I wish I could find goat sour cream, but no luck. Some things are inevitable. But at least I found this excellent (and steeply-priced too) variety at Whole Foods, which is really, really delicious. If you must have sour cream, at least have the best you can find.

Once cooled, go ahead and peel the eggs, then slice them.

Now we're going to assemble the piece. Take a 9x9 inch (or larger) Pyrex or oven-safe pan and layer potato slices on the bottom. Sprinkle some salt (only if your cheese is not very salty). The next layer is egg slices. Then, the sour cream + cheese mixture. Then potatoes, sprinkle some salt, then eggs, and finish with potatoes.

Take a bowl and beat the remaining 2 eggs. Add 1/4 cup grated cheese and the chopped green chile. Pour this marvelous mixture on top of the whole thing.

Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Eat this with a natural probiotic like sauerkraut, kimchi or good old pickles. It's a heavy meal and your stomach needs all the help it can get to digest it. If nothing else, at least pair it with a leafy salad. Bon appetit! 

If you have any questions, leave a comment!

Simple roasted chicken with winter vegetables

If you should decide to have a light New Year's Eve feast and not start 2013 with a food coma, I not only applaud you but can also suggest a fitting meal to go with your admirable intentions. This dish goes very well with some quinoa to which you can add some diced carrots and celery, and spice it with cumin. Yum!

And with respect to your New Year's resolutions, well... go easy on yourself. If you set unfeasible goals, you're setting yourself up for failure and will inevitably end up disappointed. Try to get at least one nutrition-related goal among your resolutions, though. There are so many worthwhile goals you can choose from. Commit to eating less animal fat, less sugar, more leafy greens, more berries, drink less coffee, cook at home at least every other day, bake instead of frying, or train yourself to like vegetables. Do as much as you can. Be realistic, but also ambitious!

Today, when we know so much about nutrition and what food does to our bodies, when there are vegetables-revering bloggers like me who incessantly advertise healthier recipes and belabor good-for-you tenets, we no longer have any excuse to have crappy diets. So, take all of this and find your own way to healthier eating. Use food for energy and nourishment, not as a filler for other things that may be missing from your life. 

Eat, be merry and have a happy new year, everyone!

Simple roasted chicken with winter vegetables

~ serves 4

3 chicken breasts or 6 thighs

2-3 beets, peeled and chopped

3 large carrots, peeled and sliced

1-2 parsnips, peeled and sliced (you can use whatever roots you can find, really: celery root, turnip, rutabaga, etc)

1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced

1 lemon, cut into wedges

1/2 Tbsp rosemary

1 tsp thyme

salt and pepper, to taste

olive oil, for drizzling

Sprinkle salt and pepper on the chicken and massage it into the meat on all sides. 

In a large bowl, mix the vegetables with rosemary, thyme, lemon and olive oil. Add the meat and mix everything together until well coated. 

Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until the meat is tender. Cover with lid or foil for the first 30 minutes so the chicken doesn't dry out, then leave uncovered for the remainder. You'll know it's done when the meat has a nice amber color.

Apple & blackberry cobbler

Yes, the holidays were terrific. There was snow and food and family around the table, good humor and stories. Nothing missing, really. Except in the aftermath of the many tastings of meats and cheeses that were inevitable, and the ravenousness for sarmale that ensued, I found myself lacking in drive and energy to exercise. Not even a little. Usually, not a day goes by for me without doing some sort of activity. Whether it's the gym, running, a trip with the bike, lifting some weights at home, playing badminton or going for a swim, I find it a real challenge to make it 24 hours without my drug. That is just how I'm made, I suppose.

It wasn't until last night that I put on my gear and went out for a short jog in the snow - or rather, slush. The cold gave me speed, and the frozen air filling my lung was like some sort of dreamy hookah delight. I felt like I'd been reborn. And I was also disappointed in myself for letting so much time go by without exercise. So I did what any person who's ever had exercise-guilt does in order to live with themselves: I blamed it on the food.

Now, I've no more excuses. Here is a light and fluffy recipe to help you recover from the food coma of the holidays. Only 15 minutes prep time, by the way! You can enjoy this as dessert, but it's also substantial enough to be a whole meal. Take my word for it. And now, get up and get moving!

Apple & blackberry cobbler
~ serves 4

5-6 small (or 4 large) apples, any variety, chopped
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries (organic! Remember the Dirty Dozen)
2 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
a few drops stevia or 1 Tbsp brown sugar, optional (don't make it too sweet. You can always add powdered sugar on your plate if you need it)
juice from 1/2 lemon or lime
1 cup almonds
1 cup hazelnuts or walnuts (or any other combination of 2 nuts)
2 Tbsp shredded coconut
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, toss the apples with the cinnamon, stevia or brown sugar (optional) and lemon juice. Add the blackberries and mix gently. 

In a Vitamix, blender or grinder, add the nuts, coconut, cinnamon and vanilla and pulse until crumbly. 

Coat an oven-safe Pyrex pan or loaf pan (glass is best) with coconut oil and pour the fruit filling in there.

Sprinkle the nut mixture on top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes, until the top has a nice amber color. To avoid it getting too dry, you can cover the pan (with lid or foil) for the first 20 minutes, and then leave it uncovered for the last 20 so the top can get crispy.

Happy Holidays!

Recipe adapted from Jenny @ the Clean Blog.

20-minutes sauteed greens with beans & bacon

As befitting the very quick lunch I had to ad-lib yesterday, this is a very quick post. Yesterday I was ravenous around noon for some reason (despite having had more than my fair share of cookies earlier in the day), and I decided that I would prepare something involving beans, since I know them to be so filling. But what? I remembered a cooking class I attended at Williams Sonoma once, when the instructor whipped up some chard in a pot and made it taste incredible, just with some spices and bacon. Before that, I hadn't known that cooked leafy greens like chard, kale or collard greens can be so palatable! I had only had them raw, in salads instead of lettuce or blended in smoothies, as I often still do. Yes, I know - I didn't know much about food back then (although to this day I find cooked spinach to be slimy and unappealing, and I don't foresee this ever changing). So that cooking class was pretty memorable.

Little did I know that, months later, I would be standing in the kitchen holding up a bunch of kale, famished and conflicted, and suddenly remembering this episode. So I quickly rounded up a couple cartons of beans, an onion, garlic, bacon and kale, and got to work. I got so excited I moved at triple the usual speed! I proceeded to remove the stems from the kale leaves, cut them in half, roll them up, slice them and spice them, and... Best meal of the week, on word of honor! You'll get four fair servings out of this, and whether you eat it as a side or a main dish it'll be very satisfying.

By the way - if you're wondering why I'm talking about "cartons" of beans, it's because nowadays I try not to buy canned foods anymore, given the poisonous BPA lining in cans. I used to soak and cook beans myself (which is awfully high-maintenance for me), but recently I found beans in little cartons at Whole Foods, and have been buying them like that. They're just plain, unsalted, unspiced, cooked beans, just like you would find them in a can - only in a BPA-free carton. And organic, to boot!

20-minutes sauteed greens with beans & bacon 

~ makes 4 servings

1 bunch kale leaves, stems removed, rolled up and sliced thin (see here how)

2 14-oz cartons of beans, kidney and white (or another duo of your choice)

3 strips turkey bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp coconut oil

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp crushed chilies

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Heat up coconut oil in a large pot and sautee the onion on medium high heat for about 5 minutes or until translucent. 

In the meantime, toss the kale in a large bowl with the olive oil, crushed chilies, garlic and salt. Add the kale to the pot, cover and cook for about 5 minutes, until the greens soften, stirring occasionally. 

In the meantime, cook the bacon with a small amount of coconut oil in a non-stick pan, just enough to give it an amber color. Add the bacon and beans to the pot and cook for about 3 more minutes (or more, depending on how wilted you like your greens). Remove from heat, add salt if needed and stir in the apple cider vinegar. 

Enjoy!

2-minute superhealthy avocado soup

The cold came over the city overnight, it felt. One day I stepped outside and it was in the thirties. It's getting harder to peel my eyes open every morning, and prepare to jump on my two-wheeled horse to step into the ear-numbing, face-biting air. Even though I look forward to the snowy outdoors and to Christmas, I find myself terribly nostalgic for summer. Besides, I'm not prepared to switch to my fluffy wardrobe just yet! At least one thing about this transition has me excited though: hot soups. I'm very enthusiastic about attempting lots and lots of soup recipes this coming winter. Something about a steamy bowl of vegetable potion is so comforting, and it always makes me think of home.

As a last homage to summer, here is a soup that's become one of my staples for anti-inflammatory action. This is served at room temperature - it's probably the last recipe of non-hot soup I'm trying this year. I've noticed that many of the foods I eat (and love) cause inflammation in my body. Normally I would just say so what, I'm not going to give up bread and cheese just for the whims of my cells. Except, I have noticed that some foods make my face swollen. Yes, seriously. And I'm not talking about a little "nobody will notice" kind of swollen, I'm talking about froglike, puffy eyes like I'm sick and haven't slept well in weeks. Spicy foods, bread and salt are some of my most uglyfying foods. 

Nobody likes to look Humpty Dumpty-faced, so - enter anti-inflammatory soup. Avocado in particular has many, many nutritional benefits, and one of them is its anti-inflammatory effect. There is an endless list of anti-inflammatory things you can eat for this purpose. But unless you make a habit of targeting those foods specifically, and avoiding the foods that have the opposite effect, you won't see much results because they will cancel each other out. This soup however is definitely a start in the right direction. It's also raw, healthy, quite tasty and of course, beautifying. Make this in a Vitamix or the blender of your choice.

Anti-inflammatory avocado soup

~ serves 2

1 large avocado or 2 small

1 bunch cilantro or parsley (cilantro is better)

2 cups sunflower sprouts, spinach or other wholesome leafy greens

1 cup chopped green onions

2 cups (16 oz) coconut water

juice from 1 lime

Throw everything into the blender and blend away! Serve immediately. Don't store this soup to eat later, because avocado becomes oxidized in time and the soup will not only taste funny, it also will have lost much of its healthy enzymes.

By the way: the site nutritiondata.self.com includes the inflammation factor (IF) for most food items. A negative IF is inflammatory, and the higher the number the stronger the effect (just out of curiosity, look up "bagel"). A positive IF means the food has anti-inflammatory effects, and the higher the IF the more anti-inflammatory the food is. Try to eat more of the foods with high positive IFs, such as avocado, papaya, ginger or turmeric.

Recipe adapted from The Facelift Diet.

Blood orange, roasted beet and fennel salad

Normally, this wouldn't be exactly my type of recipe. A couple oranges, beets and a fennel bulb later, Whole Foods is thirty bucks richer and I am having second thoughts. But wait! If you care about flavors at all, if you are an aspiring cook or have ever had dreams of learning the synergy of spices, you owe it to yourself to make this. 

As I partook of a slice of roasted beet soaked in citrus juices, a glossy sliver of fennel loosely embracing it, the shocking gestalt of flavors made my skin tingle. I started waltzing through the kitchen, with my lips shimmering of olive oil and a piece of cilantro hanging ungracefully at the corner of my mouth, and forgot myself. I left the mixture to marinate for a few hours, until dinner. The flavors decided to socialize inside the bowl, and by the time we sat down to eat properly the salad had become so ridiculously tasty that we couldn't stop making yummy noises throughout the meal, interrupting rather anticlimactically the gangster movie we were watching.

Did you ever think to pair beets with oranges? I didn't. This makes me braver to try even edgier combinations.

This salad is not only delicious, it's also absurdly beautiful. Look at the oranges sitting nonchalantly in the bowl, so effortlessly sexy.

Blood orange, roasted beet and fennel salad

~ serves 4

4 medium red beets, cut into slices 1/4 inch thick
2 blood oranges
2 navel oranges
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 onion, thinly sliced
olive oil, for drizzling
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

In a heat-proof dish, toss the beets with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400° in a toaster-oven or regular oven for about 20 minutes. Halfway through, pull the dish out and mix through.

Meanwhile, using a sharp knife, cut the oranges into thin slices, and try to cut them uniformly for extra prettiness. Place them in a bowl, add lemon juice and lime juice.

Let the beets cool, then add to the bowl with the oranges. Add the sliced fennel and onion. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle cilantro on top. Mix gently and let salad stand for at least 20 minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.

Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit.

Baked chiles rellenos with goat cheese

 

I had no idea what Chiles Rellenos were before I moved to Albuquerque. My first tangential experience with Mexican food was in college, at the restaurant across the street from campus where tan men with heavy pomade in their hair and bright smiles would greet us ceremoniously and escort us to our tables. In the strip mall across from campus there were three places of note: a grocery store, a Starbucks, and the Mexican restaurant. For the unfortunate ones who lacked transportation, these were our three options for off-campus entertainment. We hit the Mexican restaurant when either (a) we had just cashed in on our measly student-employees salary, or (b) it was 2-for-1-Margarita night. To be honest, I don't really remember what their food tasted like - but the Margaritas sure were potent stuff.

In New Mexico, we don't care for folks calling our food "Mexican." Because it's not. The way we smother our dishes in green or red chile, our insatiable taste for roasted chiles, and the undeniable influence of the Native-American Pueblo cuisine, all surely set us apart from the stencil of "Mexican food" as known in the rest of America. Food is one of the best things about New Mexico, in addition to the mountains and the 362 days of sun every year. So don't be calling our food "Mexican," entiende?

While I love Chiles Rellenos, I don't tolerate cheese very well and I know that many people have this problem. So I've elaborated a variation of the recipe using a mushroom-goat cheese stuffing. And since I continue to be devoted to the rules of the Beauty Detox Solution (no protein with starch!), I've skipped the bread crumbs and the frying for an extra-healthy alternative: baked, and topped with delicious creamy tomato sauce. Remember to use gloves when cleaning the chiles, and make sure to get all the seeds out because these suckers can be very spicy. I used Hatch chiles, and if you can get your hands on some they are ideal for this dish.

Baked chiles rellenos with goat cheese
~ makes 4 servings

8 green chiles
8 oz mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
5 large cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shredded goat cheddar


Creamy tomato sauce for topping
~ makes 3 cups

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 to 3 jalapeño chiles, chopped (with gloves)
1 26-oz carton of Pomi chopped tomatoes (or use any other brand of BPA-free packaged tomatoes)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup broth
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Roast chiles in a cast-iron pan over a gas or electric stove, turning them with tongs.

Cut a slit in each chile starting at the stem end and going about half-way down the chile. Gently remove as many seeds as you can from each chile and set aside. Make sure to use gloves in this undertaking - it's for your own good! As you can see I didn't, and I suffered immensely for a full 6 hours, during which I kept my hands submerged in ice water. Use gloves, people!

Heat a frying pan over high heat. Add oil, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add mushrooms and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.Transfer cooked onions, garlic and mushrooms to a large bowl, let cool off slightly and then toss with the grated cheese. Stuff chiles with the cheese and mushroom mixture. Lay in a lightly oiled baking pan and bake until chiles are soft and filling is hot, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Add all the ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Then cook until it turns a deeper red, about 10 minutes. Add broth, or skip it if your potion is too liquid. Season with salt.

Remove the chiles from the oven and serve topped with sauce. Bring extra sauce to the table. Buen provecho!


Recipe adapted from About.com.

Mediterranean rice with spinach, olives and fennel

Some days I really don't feel like cooking. Take last night, for instance. Listless and terminally sore from my sprints up the hill, I crawled home from work only to discover the fridge a desolate expanse of nothingness, save for a few scattered jars with leftover salad vegetables and some cooked rice from the other day. Whoever failed to do the shopping (you know who you are) will be punished severely. But no matter! Hunger beckons, uncompromising. So, here's a riddle: what can you make out of rice, spinach, fennel and olives?

While I stirred, flavors of fennel and olives rising from the pot and making me drunk with anticipation, I had dreams of Greek gods and goddesses tasting cheese and wine lounging on silky divans, caring nothing about the affairs of mortals. So I poured myself a glass of wine, Trader Joe's finest, and proceeded to feel positively nonchalant as I finished up what is quite likely the best impromptu meal of the month. This is to give you some inspiration to make your own "whatever's in the fridge" meal.

Mediterranean rice with spinach, olives and fennel
~ makes 3 servings

2 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups chopped spinach
½ cup pitted green olives, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ small fennel bulb, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp olive oil 
juice of ½ lemon 
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a medium-sized pan. Saute the onion on medium heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat to low, add spinach and saute for about 5 minutes. Add rice and fennel and cook, stirring continuously, a few more minutes. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and olives and mix everything well. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Letcho with eggs

Every now and then I get a pressing appetite for something "from home." I imagine Eva and I at the small table in grandma's kitchen, our small feet dangling down without touching the floor, our faces plastered to the mosquito net that separates us from the world. The kitchen was very small but it had a large, glorious window that always stayed open, summers and winters, rain or hail. There was always cooking being done, so the stove was always on, keeping the small quarters warm and cozy. Winters, as we sat by the open window chewing on our toast with zacusca or apricot jam, there was a thrilling mixture of heat and cold, and with the draft from the occasionally opening door the air danced around us playfully as we sat there, without a care in the world.

So food "from home" reminds me of those careless times. The time when I didn't have to think about bills and jobs and money and filling out forms, and calling customer service ten times a day. My heart races every time I find labels in Cyrillic on food containers or see names like "Halva" or "Ljutenica." I take it as a personal accomplishment, like I'm a member of an exclusive club, and among the endless aisles of bottles of dressing and smoothie packets I've found the coat of arms of my coterie. It's hard to be alone in this, though. I'd love to have someone around who knows what "zacusca" is and how sublime it is. Also, someone who knows the proper way to eat crepes and who doesn't make remarks like "this would go great with ketchup."

And yet. There are still opportunities to appreciate ethnic foods properly. I found a jar of Hungarian letcho at the international market and this completely made my day. I couldn't wait to get home and taste it! I ran some orange lights and cut pedestrians off, I was in such a hurry. I never get this excited about sales at Victoria's Secret. Is this normal?

Letcho is a stew made of gogosari, a variety of red peppers that's exceptionally sweet and that looks a lot like a bubble skirt. So much so that in Romania the bubble skirt is called "gogosar skirt." Letcho goes really well with eggs, of course, and it makes a great breakfast. If you ever see it in an ethnic food store or an international market type place, don't pass it up.

As always, don't forget your greens!

Letcho with eggs
~ serves 2

1 cup letcho
4 eggs
fresh tomatoes
fresh kale leaves

Heat up the letcho in a non-stick pan. When it starts to bubble, break the eggs and throw them in. Cook, stirring frequently for a few minutes until the eggs are cooked. Serve hot with fresh vegetables.

Good luck!

Barley with a side of green

A hammock. That’s what I would like. A shaded place to pass Sunday afternoons, remembering college and breathlessly turning page after page of a John Banville novel. Wouldn’t that be spectacular? A few days ago people at work were going bananas over this geek test online, a mile-long list of questions that no doubt had been put together by somebody in some inspiration-spurring place, such as the john. If you read Russian novels for pleasure, you got extra points as a geek. Lucky me, I suppose.

Whatever happened to simple things? Everywhere I look there's a plethora of something. A plethora of cars - just the other day an asshole decided to cut me off and turn left right in my face, and as I squeezed both brakes to avoid slamming my poor mountainbike into his overwaxed truck, I waved the middle finger at the driver without any compunction. A plethora of choices - how many brands of nut butters can there be, really? I know we're trying to be healthy, but come on. A plethora of recipes, too. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed between the things I want to try to make and the perpetually receding time, that I feel like just giving up. The hell with the blog! But it can't just be that easy, can it?

A few years ago I discovered what is now my favorite quick recipe: couscous with peas and mint. I love everything about it: the simplicity, the taste (buttery couscous with crunchy sweet peas go so. well. together.), the color. It's a sexy meal, really. So this time I didn't have couscous at the residence but I had barley, so I gave it a shot for a nice little adaptation. Not as good as the original, but a nice simple meal, in the good ole' Beauty Detox tradition.

Barley with peas and green beans
~ serves 4

1 cup pearl barley (quick cooking)
8 oz frozen peas (half a package)
8 oz frozen green beans (half a package)
4-5 mint leaves, minced
a sliver of butter
salt and pepper, to taste

Put the barley, 2 cups of water and salt in a pot . Boil for 20 minutes or until softened.
In the meantime, set the peas and green beans to boil and if using frozen vegetables boil them for about 8 minutes (you want them to be al dente, not soft). 
Serve the barley with a sliver of butter on top and a side of peas and green beans. Sprinkle mint on the side.

Good luck!