bites out of life

7-Day Detox: Day 5

It occurred to me last night that you’d probably want to know at some point what I’m actually eating during this 7-day detox. Obviously there’s been changes based on the day / my schedule (usually mentioned in each post), but here’s a general overview:

Breakfast #1 (~5:55 a.m.): 1 banana with 1 tablespoon of Nuttzo (a nut-and-seed butter — Caitlin gave me a jar to try and I love it! Can’t wait to try the chocolate one.)

Breakfast #2 (~9:30 a.m.): 1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt with 1/2 cup fresh blueberries and 1 teaspoon ground flax seeds

Lunch (~12:30 p.m.): Ratatouille and mashed white beans

Snack #1 (~3:15 p.m.): 1/2 grapefruit

Snack #2 (~4:30 p.m.): 1 cup cucumber slices + 1-1/2 ounces (6-7) grape tomatoes

Dinner (~7:30 p.m.): Quinoa with Green Beans and Shallots with 1 large fried egg (runny yolk on that quinoa is A-mazing.)

Dessert (optional): 1/4 cup blueberries or a nectarine

I drink green and herbal tea 1-2 times per day, and TONS of water (between 4 and 5 liters of water, which is about 130-170 ounces). I’m surprised at how little I miss coffee — the smell of a fresh pot still perks (ha.) me up, but I don’t find myself jonesing for it when it’s not around.

As a whole, my meals are a bit too fruit-heavy, but fruit has become my antidote to sugar cravings, so I’m sticking with it. There also probably aren’t enough raw vegetables in there, and I have no explanation for that other than whoops. …

7-Day Detox: Day 4 + Alice Waters’ Ratatouille

On Day 4 of this 7-day detox, I’m feeling very grateful to family and friends for being so supportive during this week. My sister, who’s been detoxing with me, has been a sounding board for what to eat, workouts, how I feel, etc., while my parents dealt with my cranky attitude on Tuesday (as did Mili and Milan!) My aunt has been so sweet in trying to figure out what I can and can’t so that she can cook for me tomorrow, and poor Abby had to change her happy hour plans so that we could get ice tea instead haha. Caitlin has been an awesome workout buddy, keeping me going during a killer BOSU bootcamp class this morning. Plus, I’ve gotten a ton of encouragement from everyone, which has been clutch during those “ahhh I want chocolate!” moments. Thank you all!

I’ve been feeling much much better today, with more energy (despite said gym class) and focus than days 1 and 2. I’m not hungry at all*, though my sweets cravings are back with a vengeance. So far I’ve been able to hold them off with fruit and tea, but every time I see the chocolate that I had previously stashed in my desk / fridge, all I can think is only.3.more.days. I really hope that come Sunday night, I’m able to control myself, and don’t end up like this. (Pause while I fall into a rabbit hole of Friends clips … 30 min later god I love this show.)

But all of that is less important because here’s where I share a ratatouille recipe that will change your life. Perhaps that’s too dramatic, but what else can you say about a one-pot recipe that uses summer produce staples and requires just an hour of your time? Not convinced? Well, it also tastes better on day 2 or 3, can be eaten with any type of carb or protein, is good hot or cold, is super healthy and oh by the way, tastes really frickin’ good. The icing on the ~~cake~~ fruit salad (grr.) would be if it froze well, but I haven’t tried this yet. I assume it would, since it’s basically a stew and those are usually freezer-friendly.

Some ratatouille recipes can be a bit fussy (ahem Thomas Keller and Julia Child). Both of their recipes call for individually cooking each vegetable then cooking everything together, which I’m sure is mind-blowingly delicious, but on a weeknight I had no time for that shizz. Alice Waters’ version cooks everything together for the most part, and creates a flavorful stew that is both light and hearty at the same time. Detox or not, this recipe is definitely a keeper!

*It’s actually a bit weird that I’m not at all hungry, since according to my calorie counter, I’m eating way less than I used to (which is fine) and way less than I should be (which is a problem). I’m not sure how to fix it since I’m not hungry and would probably feel sick if I ate the additional calories. Anyone have any suggestions?

Note: Tomorrow, my cousin and I are headed to Connecticut after work to hang out with my aunt and uncle, so I may be phone-posting again. …

7-Day Detox: Day 3

I keep wanting these 7-day detox posts to be a bit longer, but at the end of the day I’m just so ready for bed. But today was a much better day than yesterday. I almost convinced myself that I’m too tired from detoxing for a high-intensity workout like spin, but I dragged my butt to class and felt so great afterwards!

As a reward after my sweat session, I bought a Royal Red juice from Organic Avenue, a juice bar (store? cafe? what do you call these places?) with multiple locations in NYC. Made with carrots, pears, beets, ginger, pineapple, lemon and orange, it was sweet but tangy, with a pretty strong kick from that ginger. It definitely perked me up, and today was the first day I went without any kind of tea.

I was also much less hungry today — usually I have two snacks after lunch (this is why I need to detox in the first place … ) but snack #1, of cucumbers and grape tomatoes, left me satiated for four hours. Dinner was really bad grilled salmon and mango slaw from Whole Foods, and I had to eat a bunch of blueberries just to get the taste out of my mouth.*

Tomorrow is my toughest challenge yet: going to a very intense Bosu Bootcamp at 6:45 a.m. (hence why this post is so short — I need rest!) and then a post-work happy hour. My plan is to stick to seltzer, but this will be the first time going out drinking this week, so I’m curious to see how that will go. Wish me luck!

*One huge change from pre-detox: last week, I would most certainly eat chocolate after dinner rather than blueberries. But these berries were super sweet and perfect, so maybe fruit for dessert will become a more frequent occurrence post-detox.

Also in the 7-Day Detox:
7-Day Detox: Kickoff
7-Day Detox: Day 1 + Quinoa with Green Beans and Shallots
7-Day Detox: Day 2
7-Day Detox: Day 4 + Alice Waters’ Ratatouille
7-Day Detox: Day 5
7-Day Detox: Day 6
7-Day Detox: Day 7

7-Day Detox: Day 2

Keeping it short and not-so-sweet today, since I’m tired and cranky and generally feel blah. Not going to lie, day 2 of this 7-day detox was rough — I was more hungry in the afternoon, had a low-grade headache for most of the day and have been in a bad mood since I got home. I’m not sure if this general malaise is from the lack of caffeine or the lack of sugar, but either way, it didn’t make for a great day.

Lunch was ratatouille leftovers and dinner was leftover quinoa with green beans. Yesterday’s calorie total (I track my daily caloric intake most days, just as an FYI to myself) was extremely low, so I added a snack of raw almonds to my afternoon and topped my quinoa with a sunny-side-up egg.

Also, as it turns out, working out in the morning is definitely the way to go for the next five days. I’m more of a morning exercise person anyway, but I didn’t want to pack my lunch last night (too busy lamenting my lack of Internet), so I opted for a post-work yoga sesh instead. By the time 5:30 rolled around, I literally had to drag myself to the gym, and definitely did not feel 100% during my down dogs. Thankfully I have stuff to do after work tomorrow and Thursday, forcing me to work out early, before I’m exhausted enough to talk myself out of it.

They say that the first few days of a detox are pretty miserable, as your body gets used to eating differently and begins the process of eliminating toxins. The only silver lining to my day today was that I got to hang out with Mili and Milan, who are possibly the only people who could stand to be around my crabby patty self right now.

Hoping that tomorrow is better!

Also in the 7-Day Detox:
7-Day Detox: Kickoff
7-Day Detox: Day 1 + Quinoa with Green Beans and Shallots
7-Day Detox: Day 3
7-Day Detox: Day 4 + Alice Waters’ Ratatouille
7-Day Detox: Day 5
7-Day Detox: Day 6
7-Day Detox: Day 7

7-Day Detox: Day 1 + Quinoa with Green Beans and Shallots

Soooo remember that time I promised I would blog every day of a 7-day detox plan and then the lovely folks at Time Warner Cable had an Internet outage in my neighborhood on Day 1? Yes, I’m posting from my cellphone right now. I had a great post lined up, but since typing on a 4-inch screen is not exactly helping me find inner peace (in fact, it’s doing quite the opposite adjfa;sdjf;ask), I’ll keep it brief for now and update once the Internet is back on.

Today wasn’t too bad — I didn’t feel overly hungry at any point, nor did I get any cravings or feel sick. My lunch was green beans with crispy shallots and quinoa, and I’ll share the recipe as soon as I can use a real computer. Dinner was ratatouille with mashed white beans, which was delicious BUT kind of more time-consuming to make than desirable on a weeknight, especially my first post-work night in 10 days. As you can imagine, cooking this dinner didn’t help my already kind of grumpy attitude.

On the bright side, no Internet means a chance to read before bed, go to sleep early and maybe even meditate. I’ve never done that before (sitting still / quietly is not my strong suit), but it can’t hurt to clear my mind every now and then, I guess?

Here’s hoping your Monday was better! I’ll add more as soon as I can.

Update from 7/9: Woo-hoo Internet’s back! Of course the outage ended as soon as I turned off the lights to go to bed, and in my newfound zen-ness, I decided to take the extra hour of sleep instead of fleshing out this post … bad blogger, bad!

I had been planning to write a post on the importance of planning (ha.) when starting a detox. I’m a planner by nature, at least when it comes to food, and I usually use the weekend to cook my lunches and dinners for the following week. (It doesn’t hurt that I literally look at recipes all day, so I generally have an idea of what I want to make.)

Making a shopping list ahead of time, cooking a few meals in advance, stocking your fridge/pantry with healthy “approved” snacks, mapping out an eating schedule for the day — all of these things help ensure that when hunger strikes, you’re well-equipped to deal with it. When you’re hungry and tired and that bag of chips looks so.friggin.good, it’s so much easier to reach for the cucumber slices if they’re already cut and there’s no work involved in eating them.

I kind of didn’t follow my own rules last night, as I ended up cooking dinner even though I was exhausted. Snacking on cucumbers did help assuage my craving for something crunchy though, and I may or may not have snuck a few green peppers while chopping.

But before I share the ratatouille recipe, let’s talk about these green beans. Sauteed until just tender, then tossed with crispy shallots and toasted walnuts, I almost forgot how good a wee bit of cheese would be on top. To bulk it out a bit, I added some quinoa, which makes a delicious lunch or dinner salad. I know the point of the detox is to eat more raw vegetables, but when they’re this good cooked, how can I say no? …

7-Day Detox: Kickoff (ie Say WHAT?)

My week off was a much-needed respite from the daily grind, but being at home has certain drawbacks. Thereâ€™s food everywhere. And not just any food â€“ multiple multi-course lunches and dinners, finished with enough desserts to fill a display case. Even a short trip to Shenandoah National Park included a fried chicken + chocolate cake dinner and burgers, milkshakes and fries for lunch. As it turns out, there can be too much of a good thing, especially when that good thing is berry yogurt cake or kheer with orzo or my momâ€™s chicken.

Not even a three-mile hike in Shenandoah could undo the eating damage I did last week. Gorgeous views though!

After all of that indulgence, I feel really icky (yes, thatâ€™s the medical term). So in order to cleanse my system of all the rich food, sugary sweets and j-chips I consumed over the past seven days, Iâ€™m taking the next seven days to detox.

I know, I know, major eye roll. Detoxes have become de rigeur recently, often accompanied by dubious health claims and celebrity backers like Beyonce and Gwyneth Paltrow. There are many different types of detoxes, but I had a bunch of different caveats while looking for a program for me:

1) No juice-only plans! I like eating food
2) Similarly, no mandatory juices — I don’t own or want to own a juicer
3) No weird eating habits — some detoxes call for eating only at specific times of the day or only drinking after 6 p.m., etc.
4) No strict “follow these recipes only” plans — I wanted something that outlined what to eat and what not to eat, so that I could figure out recipes on my own
5) No supplements — no fish oil, liver capsules, etc. I take a multivitamin ~~daily~~ when I remember and that’s good enough

Basically, I needed a flexible detox that could be easily adapted to fit my schedule and eating habits. Seven days isn’t a terribly long time, but I know myself enough to realize that there’s no way I could stick to just drinking my calories all day long. …

Red White and Blue Berry Yogurt Cake

Unlike last year, when the Fourth of July was a brief respite from a busy, busy month, I have a full week off for Independence Day this year. It’s the closest to an old-school summer vacation I’ve had in a while, and you have every right to be extremely jealous.

However, just like last year (and earlier this summer), when looking for dessert ideas for this week’s festivities, I turned to berries and yogurt. Berries were a no-brainer. Sure, there are plenty of other red, white and blue sweets out there, but too many of them rely on weird food coloring. Why use dyes or chemicals when summer’s bounty hands you ruby and sapphire gems in the form of raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries?

There are plenty of options when considering the “white” part of Fourth of July desserts. Whipped cream is the easiest, but many desserts useÂ cheesecake, cream cheese frosting, ice creamÂ or even meringues to form the snowy base upon which the berries lie. But my favorite pairing with berries is yogurt — whether for breakfast, a snack or dessert, I love the way tart-sweet berries pair with thick, creamy yogurt. And since it’s often used to lighten up otherwise heavy cheesecakes or sheet cakes, it seems a natural fit for summertime.

This berry yogurt cake takes advantage of both yogurt and a cream cheese frosting, and uses berries twice — in the cake as well as in the garnish. The end result is a gorgeously colorful, intensely flavorful cake, both sweet from the frosting and tart from the berries, with a rich crumb from the yogurt. It gets points for presentation too, as the raspberries and blueberries scattered on top look like patriotic little polka dots. I guarantee it’ll be an instant crowd-pleaser at your Fourth of July cookouts and picnics this week, and if I’m wrong, you can drop off the leftovers at my house kthanksbye. …

Chipotle BBQ Short Ribs

Part of my annual summertime obsession with all things Southern includes an unending appetite for barbecue. Distinctions such as Memphis-style vs. St. Louis-style ribs or moist vs. lean brisket mean little to me, and I’m happy to douse my pulled pork in a vinegar sauce, tomato sauce, mustard sauce or with no sauce (that’s how you know I’m a Yankee). But if it’s meat that’s been cooked slowly over some sort of grill, me. want. now. (apparently barbecue brings out my inner caveman), especially if said meat comes with a heaping side of charred corn and a crisp, snappy slaw*.

Given that I live in New York City, with no smoker, no grill, no charcoal and no desire to get friendly with the fire department, it works out nicely that I’m not very traditional about my barbecue. I’m perfectly happy to stick some meat in the oven and roast it low and slow for hours, then brush on some sauce and broil. That method worked very successfully on spareribs, and when contemplating a menu for Father’s Day, I thought I’d try it on short ribs.

BBQ short ribs are most common in Texas, where beef, not pork, Â is barbecue king. Tomato-based sauces are their go-to, and I of course had to up the chipotle to add a smoky, spicy undertone to the otherwise sweet, faintly vinegary sauce. Making the sauce is dead simple — just let the ingredients simmer until they reduce — and it is so much better than anything I’ve ever eaten out of a jar or squeeze bottle. I’ve become inspired to make more of my own BBQ sauces, especially this little number (ignoring the recipe’s creator, though I’m a little shocked that Goop eats ketchup like the rest of us plebs).

While there’s a lot of ingredients and a good number of steps, the recipe is very easy if you plan ahead: make the sauce and rub the ribs (ha.) the night before (the sauce can be made up to two days ahead of time), and then all you have to do on “game day” is stick the short ribs in the oven. Sides-wise,Â I served the ribs with esquites, a salad of charred corn, cilantro, cotija cheese and spices that’s a common Mexican street food (I used sour cream instead of mayo, which worked fabulously), and Mark Bittman’s spicy no-mayo coleslaw, which was equally stunning. Both are now in my summer rotation, so you’ll be seeing them soon.

My uncle, for whom I was cooking Father’s Day dinner since my own dad is too far away, called it the best meal I’ve ever made, and I call it fortuitous that Father’s Day and the Fourth of July are in such close proximity. Now you too can enjoy deliciously spicy-sweet slow-roasted BBQ short ribs, so good that they’re even worth eating with your hands.

*I’m actually very picky about my cole slaw — my hatred of mayo prevents me from eating a lot of them (see also: potato salad, chicken salad). But vinegar- or mustard-based slaws, with a spicy-sour punch? They are awesome and I’d eat them every day in the summertime if that wasn’t weird. …

Tilapia and Summer Vegetable Packets

Part of that whole growing up thing is coming to terms with the fact that I am a horrifyingly picky eater. It’s one of my darkest secrets, as it always leads to confused questions:Â What do you mean you don’t like tomatoes? Aren’t you like into food or something? Weirdo.

While I accept the fact that there are certain things I just don’t like, I’m really working on my bad habit of not trying things before rejecting them. Case in point: fish. I used to like fish a lot as a small child, but after one bad experience, I swore it off completely, for over a decade. Whether it was Bengali-style fish curries, broiled salmon, sauteed flounder fillets — I wouldn’t even try a nibble, telling others “I don’t eat fish. Any of it.”

Only in the past few years have I begun to try some here and there, in part because when I was living with my aunt, she made fish all the time and I felt bad rejecting it night after night. (My mom long ago gave up trying to make me eat fish, and now only serves it to me in the form of fried fillets. I’m totally on board with this.) My trip to MexicoÂ was also a big step forward, since I challenged myself to eat everything served to me there (can’t say no in front of fellow food bloggers!) and man, do they eat a lot of seafood in Los Cabos.

As I’ve eaten it more and more, I’ve discovered that a sauteed or broiled fish fillet makes an easy, healthy dinner on warm days. And when paired with a rainbow of fresh summer vegetables, olives, herbs and a hefty squeeze of citrus, it’s even something approaching delicious.

These tilapia and summer vegetable packets take “easy” even further, as all you have to do is stick some vegetables and fish in a packet of tin foil and bake it until the fish is meltingly tender and the vegetables are soft yet crisp. Served with a side of brown rice or quinoa, it’s a wholesome dinner that feels light but filling — a dinner you can pat yourself on the back for, whether you like fish or not.

Note: My biggest qualm with fish has to do with that weird “fishy” odor that it often has. The only way to get around this — buy Fresh with a capital F. Ask your fish(-monger? -person? the guy behind the fish counter?) when the catch was from, and cook it the night you buy it. Also, rinse it thoroughly and pat it dry when you bring it home, before seasoning it with anything. Squeezing it with a good amount of lemon or lime juice also really helps cut any potential fishiness. I have yet to enter the realm of leftover fish — don’t think I’m ready for that step yet. …

Summer’s First Farmer’s Market Hurrah

While I’ve already waxed poetic about the farmer’s market in fall (and even dismal winter), I realized recently that I’ve never mentioned the bounty of produce now, as spring eases into summer. It’s a shame, since this is one of the best times to visit a farmer’s market, at least in the mid-Atlantic region.

Spring staples such as asparagus, peas, favas, alliums (leeks, green garlic, garlic scapes) and spring lettuces Â still abound, but summer produce also makes its first forays into the market. (Granted, I’m lucky enough to work near the Union Square Greenmarket, which is extremely large and well-established. There are smaller farmer’s markets nearer to my apartment that are a bit limited in their offerings, but I’ve been finding more and more new produce each week!)

Summer squash, both butter yellow and emerald green, almost candy-like carrots, crisp green beans, and even bumpy, scarred heirloom tomatoes are the first markers of summer, along with my beloved cherries and berries. There are even a few potatoes left, meaning you can make pretty much any meal from just one trip to the farmer’s market.

Much like the oppressive humidity and garbage can aromas that also define summer in the city, corn, bell peppers, eggplant and peaches (all of which I consider quintessential summer produce) have yet to make an appearance. But in the meantime, here are a few of my favorite summer recipes, along with must-makes from around the web. So much good stuff — yet another reason why I look forward to summer all year! …

PiÃ±a Colada Cheesecake Bars

I’m just as shocked as you are that I made these. For one, I hate coconut. (I’m trying to come around on that, but so far, it’s been slow going.) Two, I hate rum. (There’s no revisiting this one.) Three, I don’t like sweet cocktails.

Really, the only thing I like about piÃ±a coladas is the pineapple. Actually “like” would be putting it too mildly — I’ve resorted to buying and cutting whole pineapples at least once a week because I can’t get enough of it. Pineapples, with their juicy sweet tang, instantly transport one to paradise: white beaches, crystal clear water and perfectly sunny weather. I’ve never been to the Caribbean, but I imagine they eat a lot of pineapple there and probably have perfect tans.

So how did I transform an obsession with pineapple into these piÃ±a colada cheesecake bars? Well, a few months ago, I mistakenly bought a can of coconut milk. (Tangent: does this ever happen to people? Every now and then I’ll come home with something and think dub. tee. eff. Did someone secretly stick this in my cart when I wasn’t looking?) It had been sitting in my pantry since December, until a few weeks ago, I had an epic catastrophe in which pasta and quinoa and cans of black beans and multiple types of flours began falling from my cabinets, revolting against my attempts to shove just one more thing in there and close the doors quickly before the contents could come crashing down.

I blamed the entire incident on the rogue can of coconut milk, which had clearly been planning this assault for months. So I started digging for recipes that used it, which mostly fall into the curry category.* I wasn’t terribly in the mood for that, so I began to think of desserts. I’d used it in mango-coconut tres leches cake before, and as I looked for similar recipes while munching on some pineapple, I put two and two together and finally realized what the whole world has known since 1954 — pineapple and coconut make a pretty delicious combination.

Because I’m celebrating Father’s Day with my uncle and he loves a good cheesecake, that morphed into piÃ±a colada cheesecake, and because summer is a time for things that are portable and picnic-friendly, that meant piÃ±a colada cheesecake bars. So here we are.

And what a good place to be. Sweet but not cloyingly so, bursting with little pieces of pineapple enrobed in a velvety coconut-cream cheese batter, with a slightly nutty base, these are an instant plane ticket to Jamaica. (Or Puerto Rico I suppose — that’s where the piÃ±a colada was invented and it is their official drink.) I’d say you should make them for Father’s Day, but that might engender all sorts of bad blood between you and anyone who tries to eat them. My family is lucky I like them, but mostly that I don’t have time to keep this one and make them another dessert …

Need ideas for Father’s Day cooking? Try beer cheese, oven-baked Sriracha wings, summer steak salad, beer-braised bratwurst, chicken and pineapple kabobs, Moroccan-spiced pork chops or my fav, oven-roasted spareribs. …

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Chicken

As I near the halfway point of my 20s (sob.), I sometimes feel like I’ve aged from 21 at heart to 40. Gone are the days of eating Cheetos for dinner before a night of drinking, dancing and late-night baked ziti pizza. Instead, most nights all I can muster up is an hour or two of sitting at a bar before I need to go home and rest up for morning hot yoga. And on those nights where I do get a little cray? Odds are high that I will be completely sedentary for the next 24-48 hours. (Thankfully, omelets can be delivered and yes, I know how shameful that is.)

Rather than lament my total lameness, I’ve started to embrace it. Yoga makes me feel great, so I’m willing to sacrifice an extra hour partying on a Friday night in order to get up early and go to class. Junk food gives me a stomachache, so I’m happy to eat homemade granola bars or kale chips when I want a snack. I’m slowly becoming one of those people that feels really great after eating a salad and considers chocolate a snack rather than its own meal (sometimes).

And since I know that my beloved delivery habit, while always delicious, is generally laden with salt, fat, preservatives and other things that I shouldn’t be eating more than once a week, I wanted to approximate a version of pad Thai that I could feel good about eating day after day.

Peanut noodles are pretty popular on the Interwebs: generally made with a quick peanut butter and chili sauce that is tossed with noodles and scallions and often eaten cold. To bulk them out, I added chicken and my favorite stir-fry vegetables. The real star of the show is the nutty, crunchy peanut butter sauce, with the ginger and chili-garlic sauce creating an amply spicy kick. (I think I might love that sauce as much as I love harissa, and I may or may not have slathered it on bread for a delicious PB sandwich.) Tossed in that glorious sauce, these noodles are delicious hot or cold, for lunch or dinner, and they don’t even leave you with that post-delivery food coma. If this is what people eat as they get older, I’m almost okay with turning the big 2-5. …

Lemony Chicken Soup With Farro

I know what you’re thinking: A soup recipe? Did she miss the part where it was 90 degrees? Now is the time for smoothies and salads and froyo duh.

You’re right. Those foods are totally appropriate for when the sun is shining and it’s scorching out. But out is the operative word. And while it’s been balmy the past few days (today notwithstanding *tear, tear*), sitting in my office has been like sitting in a freezer, minus the perk (I’d imagine) of being surrounded by innumerable cartons of ice cream.

For whatever reason, my office (and most restaurants, movie theaters, airports, and other public places) feel the need to crank up the air conditioning well beyond the necessary amounts in summer. It leads to an inevitable dilemma for me each morning: do I dress for the weather outdoors, meaning a sundress and sandals, or for my office, meaning a snowsuit and furs? I’ve even had to abandon my standing desk for this slightly less ergonomic seated posture.

So while I’m all about salads and chilled vegetables for dinner in my overheated apartment, I’ve resorted to bringing hearty, rib-sticking winter food to work for lunch, hoping that the warming dishes will thaw my fingers enough to type. This lemony chicken soup with farro is actually on the lighter side, with the citrus and fresh spinach easing the heft of the hearty grains and root vegetables. Leeks, a spring staple, also add a nice touch. While the original recipe called for orzo, I didn’t have any on hand so I swapped in my new favorite, farro, instead.

To be honest, I actually made this a few weeks ago, when I was completely leveled by a bad cold. I’d like to think it helped me recover, and since this makes a huge batch, I froze the leftovers which came in handy during the weeks I was traveling. So this soup is doubly clutch, and may end up threatening this carrot-ginger soup for the title of best soup on this site. …

Carrot, Cauliflower and Chickpea Salad with Harissa

For the past five or so weeks, I’ve been out of town every weekend. There have been trips to San Fran and Maryland, Pittsburgh, a brief sojourn in Connecticut and Memorial Day weekend in Boston. While I generally love to travel, packing and repacking suitcases gets old after a while and I’m very much looking forward to spending this glorious summer weekend in NYC.

The biggest problem with traveling so much is that my eating habits have been thrown completely out of whack. I try to stick to a relatively healthy, balanced diet, and keep my eating out to a minimum on a regular basis. But I’ve been visiting a ton of restaurants / fast food joints while on the go, much more than my body is used to. My body is craving salad, people. Craving. Salad. You know things are getting rough when that happens.

Enter this concoction, which started out as a simple (but flavor-packed) carrot salad with harissa and feta on Smitten Kitchen. I made it that way last week, and then, in an attempt to bulk it out for lunch-bringing purposes, went HAM: adding chickpeas and cauliflower, since I’m a sucker for a good roasted cauliflower salad.

And while all of those additions are delicious*, the real star of this show is the harissa + spice blend that dresses the salad. Harissa is a vermilion-colored spicy Tunisian sauce, most commonly made with hot peppers, garlic, coriander and olive oil. Cumin, caraway and mint are often added, as is lemon juice. It’s tart, bright and fiery, and I’ve been stirring it into hummus, putting it on top of chicken, and even eating it straight out of the jar with pretzels. Sauteeing the harissa with additional spices mellows out a bit of its edge, creating a spice paste that is so good I half-contemplated licking the hot skillet. (I didn’t, don’t worry. But don’t think I didn’t think about it.)

As if there was any doubt, this salad hit all of the right notes: spicy, smoky, tart, bright, salty but slightly sweet (love how cauliflower caramelizes in the oven). It’s delicious hot or cold, and is wholesome without being bland. If this is the kind of food that happens when I’m actually home, then I’m clearing my calendar for the time being.

*If you haven’t ever roasted chickpeas in the oven, you’re missing out on the best, easiest, basically healthy snack (besides kale chips, obvi). While the chickpeas lose a bit of their crunch in this salad, they were so good straight out of the oven that I almost ate the whole can. …

Blueberry Yogurt Gratin

With ~~Memorial Day~~ Arrested Development weekend around the corner, it is finally appropriate to talk about summer. A brief encounter with lazy sunny afternoons (while in Pittsburgh for my sister’s graduation) left me with weird tan lines and a thirst for more warm days.

Naturally the weather is not cooperating, and I’m currently packing sweaters and rainboots (UGH.) for my weekend sojourn to Boston. But I hope that you all have fabulous barbecue and beach plans, and to help answer that inevitable question what can I quickly throw together and bring to this as;dfja;sdfkd-ing picnic?, I’ve compiled a little list of recipes over here. They’re summer staples in my kitchen, perfect for impromptu potluck dinners in Central Park since my own apartment seats exactly 1.

If you’re hosting something this weekend, I’ve got you covered too. This blueberry yogurt gratin is embarrassingly easy, infinitely tweakable and, minus the fact that it’s not winning any beauty pageants, an instant crowd-pleaser. Essentially, a base of blueberries and yogurt is topped with a brown sugar lid that is then broiled to form a creme brÃ»lÃ©e-like crust. Two steps, three ingredients — might this dessert be more magical than those granola bars?

It goes without saying that any berry will work here, and I personally can’t wait for peaches to come into season because I’m a total sucker for the peach-brown sugar combo. You could also flavor the yogurt with vanilla, almond or maple extract, stir in a bit of lemon juice (or zest), a teaspoon of cinnamon or even a pinch of lavender (peach lavender, anyone? Please let it be peach season soon … )

For the yogurt, it’s really best to use full-fat — low- or nonfat versions aren’t thick enough and the gratin may get too watery without the extra richness. If you use regular yogurt instead of Greek, you should definitely strain it overnight using a cheesecloth-lined sieve (save the whey for smoothies or oatmeal!) You could of course use also sour cream or creme fraiche per the original recipe, or even try quark or mascarpone for an ultra-luxe option.

But even if you stick with the original, you will be rewarded with creamy fruit-studded goodness peeking out from a crunchy brÃ»lÃ©ed (or should I say gratinÃ©ed) lid. It seems a touch unfair that such deliciousness requires only a minute of effort … an injustice to ponder as you sit back and relax this weekend, with a bowl of gratin in one hand and a cocktail in the other. …

Magic Homemade Granola Bars

When I say these homemade granola bars are magic, I really mean it. They’re gluten-free (as long as you’re using gluten-free oats*), vegan and sugar-free, but still taste like the best banana bread you’ve ever had. No weird gimmicks or strange ingredients, just bananas, peanut butter, oats and your favorite mix-ins. Seriously. MAGIC.

How did I unearth this wondrous recipe? To make a short story long, I had a few bananas dying a long, slow death on my counter. Obviously, most people in this situation would turn to banana bread, but for the past week or so, I’ve been trying (and mostly failing) to cut back on my sugar intake. After getting called out on the staggering amount of sweets I ate in India, it became pretty apparent to me that I’m literally addicted to sugar. I can’t go more than a day without something sweet, and if I do try to give it up cold turkey, I literally cannot think about anything else. I become irascible, tired, sluggish — it’s really sad and scary and makes me actually kind of believe those studies that say the body reacts to sugar the same way it reacts to crack.

So, I’m trying to stick to only natural sugars for now, which obvi means no more cookies, cake, pudding and ice cream. But it also means no more cereal or oatmeal packets or granola bars, since those pack an absurd amount of sugar. Homemade is clearly the way to go, and when looking at recipes for granola bars, I wanted something with my favorite morning pairing: peanut butter and banana. (Seriously, I cannot get enough of these two together. I might even like them more than the combo of peanut butter and chocolate. Blasphemous, I know.) I also wanted something with no added sugar or weird sugar substitutes. High maintenance much?

Clockwork Lemon‘s homemade granola bars recipe somehow hit all of those requests, while also being a one-bowl mash and mix affair. The bars are extremely flexible: you can use all oats or a combination of oats, puffed rice and other grains, and whatever nuts and dried fruit you have on hand. As long as you have 1-1/2 cups of grains, and 1-1/4 cups of nuts+dried fruit, you’re good to go. Next time I might use unsweetened cocoa powder instead of dried coconut, or toss in some chocolate chips, because you know, anything is better with chocolate. You could also use almond or cashew butter instead of peanut butter, but really, why would you?

As if it needs stating, they’re delicious — chewy and nutty and filled with peanut butter-banana goodness. The cherries add a touch of tartness, and the nuts add a nice crunch. Fair warning: they are pretty soft, so I’ve been storing them in the freezer so that they don’t crumble in my lunch bag. The only downside? These are good enough for you that I can easily justify eating the entire pan in one sitting.

*Oats are naturally gluten-free, but most companies process them on machines that also process wheat/rye/barley products, thereby exposing the oats to trace amounts of gluten. So if you have a sensitivity to gluten, just make sure to buy gluten-free oats, which should be free of contamination. …

The Liebster Award!

Thanks to Alex at Chez Sasha, I’m very honored to be nominated for a Liebster Award! Liebster means dearest or favorite in German, and the award is given out by food bloggers to other food bloggers with less than 200 followers. There aren’t many rules beyond that, but since Alex nominated me, I’ll go with her rules:

1. Post 11 facts about yourself.
2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create 11 questions for people you’ve nominated.
3. Choose 11 people (with fewer than 200 followers) to give this award to and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. Remember, no tag backs.

…

Asparagus and Ricotta Flatbread

Remember that time I admitted to my fear of yeast and then resolved to get over it? Two-plus years later and it hasn’t happened … I still cringe every time I hear the word, and have yet to make a yeasted bread.

My excuse? There are plenty, most of which are exceedingly flimsy:

a) I don’t have time to sit around kneading and rising and kneading and rising. (Since I’m still sick and ~~watching episode after episode of The League~~ resting, this is mostly untrue.)

b) There’s zero counter space for me to actually knead anything, which is why I haven’t made any pies or pizzas recently either. (This kitchen is actually bigger than my last one, as 1-1/2 people can fit in it at the same time.)

c) It’s starting to get warm out, which means keeping the oven on for hours is slowly losing its appeal. (As evidenced by this recipe, that’s not really stopping me.)

d) I’m trying to cut back on my bread eating, as part of an overall effort to shore up my diet for summer. (Trying and failing would be more accurate.)

e) There’s an abundance of bread recipes out there in the world that don’t require yeast, and a lot of them look pretty awesome.

That last reason is pretty compelling, as it turns out you don’t need any fungus to make a wide array of good bread. The Irish are all over this with their soda bread, but there’s also this gorgeous seeded bread, Mark Bittman’s beer bread, and this amazing flatbread recipe, which in its original form requires only three ingredients and three steps.

The recipe, from Top With Cinnamon (and courtesy of Nila), is amazing heavenly perfection and all the other superlatives in the world. It’s so easy that it is literally foolproof (trust me, I tried hard to break the recipe and still couldn’t) and can be gussied up a million ways — cinnamon sticks, pizza breadsticks, cheddar beer bread, rosemary-garlic focaccia … SO. MANY. IDEAS. In its almost-original form, it’s got a crisp and craggy exterior and a plush interior, with a nice balance between the malty, caramelly flavor of the beer and the savory herbs.

I topped the flatbread with a shaved asparagus salad and my new favorite discovery: goat’s milk ricotta. It has the creaminess of ricotta plus the tanginess of goat cheese, and paired nicely with the grassy, crisp asparagus. I bought it through Fresh Direct, but if you can’t find it, either regular ricotta or softened chevre will work too. The end result is a lovely spring lunch, no yeast necessary. …

Broccoli Rabe and Sausage Pasta

Like the onset of spring (grr.), I too am woefully behind schedule. I made this pasta almost three weeks ago, and since then, have kept it a secret. Shameful, I know. If you knew how good it was, you’d be doubly pissed. Triple if you knew how easy it was to make.

I’d make profuse apologies with elaborate explanations for my delay, but I don’t even really know what I’ve been doing these past few weeks. You see, I just got home from a 5-day trip to San Fran with a suitcase full of laundry, plenty of memories and one knock-your-socks-off cold. And while the potent combination of Nyquil and soup has lessened the worst of my symptoms, it’s also wiped out much of my ability to form coherent sentences and do anything other than marathon old episodes of Friends.

So, instead I’ll just say that this broccoli rabe and sausage pasta is awesome — a perfect bridge between the hearty meals of winter and the lighter fare to come when spring finally decides to show face around these parts.*

*Maybe I’m being extra curmudgeonly because I’m sick, but these dreary gray 50-degree days are becoming torturous. I want sunshine and lazy breezes and ya know, to not have to carry a jacket with me everywhere I go. Please? …

American Meat: Documenting How We Farm Meat

Thanks to a tip from Mili, on Tuesday I went to a screening of “American Meat,” a documentary showcasing the way we raise pigs, cows and chickens for meat. The filmmakers visited a number of farms to showcase the different growing practices of both large industrial farms and smaller pasture farms. Ultimately, the film advocates for the smaller farms, highlighting their lessened environmental impact, the better treatment of their animals and the improved taste of the meat that comes from these farms.

While watching, the doc reminded me very much of Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan’s 2006 book on the food industry in America. (Filmmaker Graham Meriwether later explained that he was inspired by Pollan’s book.) But unlike similar movies about industrial farming, “American Meat” isn’t overly aggressive in its takedown of industrial farming. Meriwether said he wanted to focus on the farming practices rather than the farmers — according to him, the farmers aren’t evil, the system is the issue. Because of this, the movie isn’t too preachy or over-the-top, which is nice for people who are wary of sermonizing.

photo courtesy of American Meat

What struck me most afterwards was how doable it seems to move to a majority grass-fed system for raising livestock. There is ample land to raise enough animals to feed America’s healthy appetite for meat, but the biggest missing resource is human capital. Industrial farming is virtually labor-free (one of the farmers in the movie says it takes him just a few hours to monitor his thousands of pigs), as it relies on huge amounts of money invested in machinery, feed and ultimately, fossil fuels to power its system. But as the movie explains, while pasture farming is a monetarily inexpensive way to farm, since it requires little machinery, it is extremely labor-intensive, and there are not a lot of farmers out there to begin with, much less farmers willing to work as often and as hard as is required to run a pasture farm.

After the screening, there was a brief panel discussion with well-known local chefs and butchers: Mary Cleaver of Cleaver Co. and The Green Table, Jake Dickson of dickson’s farmstead meats, Bill Telepan of Telepan and Tom Mylan of The Meat Hook. Obviously much of the talk focused on taste, and how pasture-raised meat offers more depth of flavor and more richness than “conventional”* meat. To me, that should be pasture farming’s biggest selling point — the taste — since it’s a very tangible benefit, as opposed to the more invisible benefits of “more omega-3’s in grass-fed beef” and “less of a carbon footprint”, etc.

photo courtesy of American Meat

After the screening, Megha and I went to a bar to chat with the panelists and filmmakers. Since I wasn’t taking notes then, Meriwether re-responded to my questions in an email interview this week, and I’ve added them here: …

Chocolate-Dipped Whole Wheat Shortbreads

While I love a good sugar-laden treat (as evidenced by the 50 posts tagged “desserts” here), some days I want something more subtle on my weekend mornings. My go-to breakfast, of oatmeal with almond milk, bananas, peanut butter, cinnamon, walnuts and a touch of honey, toes the line neatly between breakfast and dessert, cloying and wholesome, and provides more than enough fuel to get me through Saturday morning hot yoga sessions.

But sometimes, breakfast need be a lighter affair, a quick bite to tide me over until my most favorite of weekend traditions: brunch. For those days, or for the days that require a slight afternoon pick-me-up or a barely sweet treat after dinner, there are these chocolate-dipped whole wheat shortbreads.

Sweetened with honey and made entirely with whole wheat flour, these cookies remind me a bit of the digestive biscuits that I often eat when I’m at home. (Related note: was there ever a more unappetizing name for a cookie than “digestive biscuit”? Takes what is a very delicious, crumbly, wheat-y cookie and aligns it with prunes in the “sounds like something old people eat” category.) They are sandy and earthy, with little dark chocolate bottoms that offer the slightest hint of sweetness.

If you like your coffee/tea accompaniments to be a little less wholesome, you might do half whole wheat flour, half all-purpose flour, or add a wee bit more honey. But for me, these are perfect, made for dipping into coffee on quiet spring mornings. …

Date Nut Spice Cake

Most of the time, we cook for sustenance. At its most basic level, food = fuel and cooking is one of the ways we can convert inputs into energy.

But for many of us, cooking is so much more than that. It’s a method of relaxation, a way to discover cultures both familiar and foreign, a chance to travel, to catch up with friends, and even sometimes an opportunity to make new ones. It can also be a way to show that you care about someone — whether a friend, significant other, or in this case, my mom.

After pulling this Irish Porter cake out of the oven a few weeks ago, my first thought was “my mom would love this.” She is a fiend for sturdy everyday cakes, especially ones that are redolent with citrus and rife with nuts. While I didn’t exactly feel bad ~~eating the whole cake by myself~~ sharing with people who were not my mom, I knew that when I next went home, somebody would be expecting cake.

This Ina Garten recipe for date nut spice cake, with its five stars and glowing reviews, seemed to fit the bill — its base of sticky-sweet dates is balanced with plenty of bright orange zest, juice, and if you’re following the original recipe, liqueur. (Though I didn’t use any alcohol and it tasted just fine.) A medley of chopped nuts and a touch of warm spices creates a fragrant, barely sweet cake that begs for a cup of coffee, a sun-drenched window, a comfy chair and a good book. Or in this case, a mom to swap stories with. …

Farro Salad with Asparagus and Feta

The benefits of eating local, meaning eating food grown or raised near you*, are manifold: eschewing long transit time means that food is more fresh, tastes better and retains more of its nutrients. Peaches grown in Jersey in July will always taste better than peaches grown in Chile in February, and I love strolling through the farmer’s market, talking to the people who grow my food.

(True story: when I was buying the tomatoes for this salad, I got to the register and then realized I didn’t have enough cash on me to pay, so I set the tomatoes down. The farmer told me to take the tomatoes anyway and pay him back next week. Not the best business model, but so nice of him!)

But kind farmers aside, eating local is always hardest this time of year. Winter-vegetable fatigue has set in — I’ve eaten all of the sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts and kale and squash a girl could want. I’m ready for lighter, greener fare, but the farmer’s markets (at least here in NYC) are still laden with cellar-stored apples and potatoes.

So last weekend at the grocery store, I succumbed to the temptation of pencil-thin asparagus, calling me like sirens from their California-raised rocks. (Let’s not talk about the sad white-bellied strawberries I bought, which bear only a passing resemblance to their summer-ripened cousins.) But these asparagus, despite their cross-country flight, were pretty freakin’ delicious. They were crisp and verdant and lovely, especially with a hefty squeeze of lemon andÂ crumbles of tangy feta.

Farro, the whole grain of emmer wheat, has quickly become my new go-to grain. It is nutty and chewy (similar to barley in that regard) and since I bought a pearled version, it cooks as quickly as pasta. You could swap in penne or even quinoa instead of the farro, but I highly recommend trying it if you can find it.

This farro salad is more of a template for my favorite kind of warm-weather eating: barely cooked vegetable + whole grain + cheese. I can’t wait to make this again, using asparagus from my ‘hood, or later on, peas, favas or other beans and even summer squash (just saying the word is getting me excited). But until spring’s bounty begins to pop up at the farmer’s market, this California asparagus will have to do.

*How near? It depends. The government defines local as a 400-mile radius, while others opt for a 250- or even 100-mile radius. If you’re interested in learning more about the pros (and cons!) of eating local, as well as how to get started, here are a few resources. …

Brown Rice Bowl with Roast Pork

For me, for a long time ignorance was bliss. My food came from “Aisle 2” at the grocery store, and all that mattered was how good (or bad) it tasted and how much it cost. I would visit farmer’s markets from time to time, but I cared more about what cookies were for sale rather than who grew the produce and how they grew it.

That began to change a bit as I delved into my Master’s project, but I still did most of my shopping with blinders on. I patted myself on the back for shopping at Whole Foods, deceiving myself into believing that a bell pepper grown in Mexico and sold at Whole Foods was somehow “better” than a bell pepper grown in Mexico and sold at D’Ags.* I never realized that there was a difference between peppers grown in Mexico and sold in February and peppers grown in Jersey and sold in July, nor that I should care about this difference.

My ignorance peaked at the meat counter. Setting aside the fact that I barely know one cut of meat from the other, I was pretty unclear on the difference between organic and regular meat (though again, organic seemed “better”), and signs screaming “local” and “grass-fed” and “cage-free” and their number rating system only added to my confusion. Ultimately, price trumped all, so I grabbed the cheapest version of whatever meat I wanted, blissfully unaware of where that meat came from, how those animals were raised, and the ethical and environmental impacts of my purchase.

I recently finished reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, in which Pollan delves into the politics of food. His visit to a factory beef farm was an eye-opener. I knew factory farms were “bad” in the generic way that I knew the Soviet Union during the Cold War era was bad, but the why’s and the how’s were a mystery — one that I had been previously uneager to solve.

Pollan explains the process of factory farming in his book (and to a lesser extent, in this essay), and you can find plenty of resources online, though many have very obvious agendas. I’m certainly not going to tell anyone how they should feed themselves, but after learning a bit more about the way most of the meat in America is produced, I’m trying to be more conscious of the meat that I buy — making an informed decision about the farm my pork or beef or chicken was raised on or, on occasion, making an informed decision that it doesn’t matter.

I know that I certainly won’t be eating sustainably or ethically 100% of the time (def used those Mexican peppers in this recipe), but I’m making an effort to remove my blindfold whenever possible. There are a million different issues concerning what we eat — Mili and I talked about several of them in an epic Gchat conversation this morning — but all of them begin with knowledge of what’s going on. I’ll be doing a lot more reading on this, but in the meantime, would love to know what you think too!

*Don’t get me wrong — I still do 99% of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods. And it is better than D’Ags, for snobby bougie reasons that I will completely own up to. …

« Previous Page