bites out of life

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Roasted Garlic

Everyone has their favorites on Thanksgiving. I’m a sucker for stuffing and obvi, Brussels sprouts. (Let’s talk about how it’s November and I haven’t yet posted a single Brussels sprouts recipe. Actually, let’s not since I may cry.) My cousin loves all things pumpkin, and my sister … she is a mashed potato fiend.

(Homegirl loves mashed potatoes so much that we once had to run out on Thanksgiving Day to buy a box of flakes, then bring them to someone else’s home to make. I’m not the only demanding child in the fam.)

Our go-to recipe involves red-skinned potatoes, butter, milk and a lot of garlic. Since she’s on her way home tonight, I decided to make her a little “welcome home” treat, but I wanted something different so I brought in my old nemesis, the sweet potato. Like I’ve said before, I’m not a fan of sweet things topped with more sweet things, so I wanted to go the savory route.

Skinny Taste had my back with a garlic-heavy version, but I took it a step further by roasting the garlic in the oven, until the cloves were sweet and soft and slightly nutty. Mashed into the sweet potatoes with a bit of milk and a spike of chili powder, they’re creamy and fluffy and smooth without pounds of butter and cream. With all of the other indulgences on my Thanksgiving table, I’m extra thankful for at least one lighter option. …

Let’s Talk Thanksgiving

I very much meant to cook today. I had my recipe picked out (carrot-sweet potato soup), ingredients ready, and heart set on a homemade warming meal.

I peeled the sweet potatoes, and then while cutting them, sliced my nail and a sliver of my finger straight off. I’m okay, but ewwwwwwwww … needless to say, I did not finish cooking.

So, rather than talk about that ugly business (literally — I’m pretty sure my finger is now grotesque), let’s just talk about my favorite day of the year. More specifically, what you’ll be making on the most! important! cooking! day!

(Or at least that’s what every cooking site / show / magazine would have you believe. I have a lot of thoughts about this — obviously I love the holiday and enjoy browsing through the recipes [possibly because fall/winter veggies are my fave and they tend to get the royal treatment this time of year]. But, and this may be because we go to a pot luck-style Thanksgiving each year, it feels like all of the hoopla creates an anxiety about the day, like people should have had their menus planned out five months ago and their turkeys should already be in a spice-rubbed brine deep-fryer thing and god, that mashed potato recipe is so 2010 and what do you mean your menu doesn’t have five different dishes featuring kale? At the end of the day, you’re feeding your family, and they’re probably just thankful you’re there and in [mostly] one piece. Sorry for the crazy rant — blame my finger.)

Anyways (deep breaths), on the offhand chance your menu isn’t already set, might I suggest you check out my Holiday Recipes page? There’s no turkey recipe (yet.) but I’ve got a bunch of delicious starters, sides and desserts, including some all-time favorites that would look great on any Thanksgiving spread!

What are you cooking up this year?

Stewed Chickpeas with Kale

A week after Sandy, the city trudges onward, slowly but surely. While the images and stories of devastation are countless, so too are the tales of generosity and kindness and resilience. And as the city (and Brooklyn and New Jersey and Long Island and Staten Island) rebuilds, we could all use a little extra comfort.

It’s November now, and with 40-degree daytime temps and a Nor’easter headed our way, it’s officially stew time. This one, thrown together with a bit of almost-dead kale and canned chickpeas, offered a lighter punch than some of winter’s heavier fare — perfect for when I made it three weeks ago (less perfect to share with you now … my B.) It reminded me of this soup from a year ago, a pared-down version of it, if you will. But it’s still plenty warming and filling and hearty, a salve against the cold, harsh weather that has quickly come upon us.

Note: These pictures were taken with my new lens, a birthday gift from the ‘rents! It’s quite different from my regular lens, but it allows for better closeups, so get ready to get up close and personal with everything I make … …

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

What does one do when stuck indoors for ~~hours~~ days on end? Yesterday, I vegged — football and a killer hangover ensured that I did not leave the couch for most of the day. Today, I went on a pre-Sandy walk, then worked from home, then … I’m BORED. It’s been two days of being mostly shut in so far, and while I smartly evacuated my box-sized apartment for my aunt’s, I’m still getting restless.

So naturally, I baked something. My cousin is a big fan of all things pumpkin, and has been perfecting his pumpkin bread recipe for months. I’m a pain in the booty and decided to make them into muffins — pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to be exact. The recipe is a cinch to make and produces plush, warm-spiced pillows of pumpkin-y goodness, studded with melty chocolate. It’s a bite of fall, a reminder of sunny, crisp days in this waterlogged mess.

But hey, at least I have muffins now. …

That Time I Decided to Start Running

Indulge me a bit: in less than a month, I’ll be running my first-ever race. It’s only four miles, but it’s not something I ever envisioned myself doing, and a reflection of one of the biggest changes I’ve made to my lifestyle in recent memory.

a view of the Hudson River on one of my runs

I’ve never ever been an athletic person, or someone even mildly interested in physical fitness. Two years of elementary school soccer + 10 years of Bharat Natyam, a style of Indian classical dance, were all the activity I needed or wanted growing up. In college, exercise was always something I never had time to do. Sure, there were weird diets, but y’know, the gym was so crowded and besides, wasn’t dancing at the club every weekend a workout? I’ll admit it – I owned the same pair of sneakers for eight years and they were still in mint condition.

Last year, around my 23rd birthday, something clicked. Maybe it was the fear of getting raptured or being unable to outrun zombies in the impending Mayan apocalypse, but all of a sudden, I didn’t want to be a person who could barely run a mile and didn’t know how to do a push-up. I joined a gym and began setting my alarm to 5:07 a.m., forcing myself to get up and exercise before work every day. Some days were mis — it was rainy and cold and I was sore and my bed was so warm! But it really does feel awesome to kick butt in a spin class or run longer or faster than you did the day before, and that has proved to be effective motivation.

And all of a sudden, when I’d have to stop working out for a few days (like say, when on vacay), I would miss it. I’ve become that person that schedules brunch around hot yoga and dinner around Pilates classes. I look forward to my runs along the Hudson River, watching the sun rise (or occasionally set), an unforeseen perk of my new apartment. And I’m actually really excited to finish dead last on this race next month, to cross my first finish line ever.

after 8 years in the same sneakers, I finally bought a new pair (customized!)

While flying back from Buenos, Mili asked me what my goals for 24 are. Just putting this out there (don’t hold me to it!), but I’d love to run a half-marathon in the next year … Fingers crossed I can get myself there!

Question to all the runners out there: any advice for me on my first race?

(Sorry for back-to-back-to-back recipe-less posts — I haven’t been cooking much recently since I’ve been a bit all over the place. But I’m back in the kitchen now!)

A Reluctant Return from Buenos Aires

In what might be the worst offender in a lifetime of questionable decisions, I took my flight home and returned from Buenos this week. A whirlwind vacation that started on my birthday, when Mili greeted me like this, ended with 31 pounds (!!) of laundry, hundreds of photos and many more awkward stories.

Buenos Aires is an amalgam of many cities, a reflection of its past as center of trade and a point of entry for European countries into South America. Its relaxed pace, with the mid-afternoon cafe breaks and long lunches, reminded me of Madrid (as did the party-til-dawn club scene), while the Belle Ã‰poque architecture and obsession with croissants (called medialunas) echoed Paris. Some blocks could have been lifted straight out of New York, while others bore a striking resemblance to Kolkata. But even though it recalled so many other places, the city retained a warm, welcoming vibe all its own — a place where cab drivers applaud drunken backseat singing, locals help you practice Spanish while also teaching you to tango, and the gelato guy lets you try every single flavor in the store without question.

(In case you couldn’t already tell, I loved it. Why am I back in NYC again?)

The food of Buenos Aires reflects its European heritage. The aforementioned medialunas are ubiquitous, as is gelato, pizza and pasta (often handmade). A popular cafe drink, the submarino, requires drinkers to literally melt a bar of chocolate in a glass of steamed milk, and depending on how much chocolate you use, is very similar to the chocolate I used to drink in Madrid.

Beef, of course, is king in Buenos, and almost every block has a parilla on it. The famed pampas of Argentina produce excellent grass-fed beef, which is then lightly seasoned and tossed on an open grill, producing some of the best steak I’ve ever had. A parilla, which refers to both the type of restaurant and the type of grill, can offer as many as 15-20 different types of grilled meat, including a sirloin, rib-eye, tenderloin, flank, short rib, and even pork chops, chicken and offal.

Many places offer a parillada, which is a sampling of the grill (usually for sharing), but for our parilla experience, we went to Don Julio’s in the Palermo Viejo neighborhood and they don’t have that. Mili and I ended up created our own parillada of sorts, ordering the sirloin, tenderloin and a pork chop. We didn’t even bother with sides — those are ordered separately and we didn’t want to detract from the main event. Topped with a bit of chimichurri, the meat was perfect — tender and juicy and perfectly seared — proof that good meat needs very little to be very, very tasty.

Some of the other culinary highlights: the pairing of pumpkin with a slightly sharp melty cheese, like Provolone, was very popular, and tasted awesome. I had this in both cazuela and tart form, and would love to try this as a baked pasta or possibly an empanada.

I also tried a choripÃ¡n for lunch one of the days. This sandwich, popular for a grab-and-go snack, is simply a hollowed-out roll filled with a link of grilled chorizo and a bit of chimi. So simple, but so good!

Not sure if it was a highlight per se, but we also tried mate, a drink made with the dried leaves of the yerba mate plant. There is a ceremony to drinking mate — the preparer pours the leaves into a mate (a hollowed out gourd that can be decorated in a myriad of ways), then pours hot water on top strategically and drinks through a bombilla, a metal straw with a sieve at the bottom. The preparer must drink all of the mate before adding more water and passing it on to the next victim. The taste is definitely an acquired one, as the mate is herby and bitter, but porteÃ±os love it, and it’s not uncommon to see people drinking it on the street.

And lest you think that all I did was eat there, don’t worry — I also found my summer home. On Saturday, we visited Tigre, a river delta about an hour outside of the city, better known as “the Hamptons of Buenos Aires.” An hour’s river cruise (and a casual encounter with the Buenos Aires Rowing Club) was enough to convince me that moving to Tigre is a must.

We also explored the parks of Palermo, the colored houses on El Caminito in Las Bocas, got our culture on while watching a ballet at the beautiful Teatro Colon, learned how to tango, roamed through a many-blocks-long artisan crafts/flea market/street fair in San Telmo, and managed to squeeze in a spa day and some quality girls time. All in all, a very successful trip.

Now remind me, why am I back in NYC again?

Hola from Buenos Aires!

Hello friends! I’m in Buenos Aires, celebrating mine and Mili’s birthdays with Milan and may never come back … especially since there are wonderful cocktails to be had.

Orange Cornmeal Cake

There have been a lot of cakes in my life recently. First, there was fresh fig cake, then there was an apple-cinnamon one, and now there is orange cornmeal cake, crunchy and sweet with bright orange permeating every bite.

Cake-baking sprees are no surprise this time of year. Where summer afternoons are made for picnics in the park, fall afternoons are a time to laze with a book*, a large cup of coffee and a large slice of barely sweetened cake studded with fruit. Bonus: the cooler temperatures mean that it’s acceptable to have the oven on for long periods of time.

This orange cornmeal cake falls somewhere between a plush coffee cake and a sweet cornbread, and would be equally delicious topped with powdered sugar or a quick glaze as it would with creamy butter and a drizzle of honey. There’s a slightly higher-than-normal amount of salt in here and olive oil, which is quickly becoming my new favorite baking ingredient. It adds an extra-fruity undertone to the cake while keeping it moist.** That the whole cake requires one bowl and basically two steps (mix cake, bake cake) means that this definitely won’t be the last time this graces my kitchen.

*I have yet to buy J.K. Rowling’s new book because I’m so immersed in the fifth Game of Thrones book. The only part of the 16-hour schlep to Buenos Aires that I’m looking forward to is reading, now that I’ve got two books lined up.

**I abhor this word. I could not be more grossed out by it, and often refer to it as the “m-word.” Unfortunately, I have yet to find a suitable alternative (other than “not dry”), possibly because its synonyms are equally cringe-inducing. …

Apple Cinnamon Cake

I take issue with the original name of this recipe: apple brownies. There is not, nor should there be, even a hint of chocolate in the whole shebang, and as any human who breathes air knows, you can’t have a brownie without chocolate.

I contemplated changing the name of the recipe to apple blondies, but that would mess up the nomenclature even further, since the signature ingredient in a blondie is brown sugar, which is nowhere to be found in this recipe.

So ultimately, I settled on apple cinnamon cake — the bars taste and look more like cake anyway, so really, I’m doing you guys a favor. Also, I’m pretty sure the only person who cared about any of this is yours truly.

In what is a weird-but-not-surprising coincidence, this is the third year in a row that I’ve posted about apple cake on or around Sept. 24. (Two years ago, it wasÂ Apple Yogurt Cake. Last year, it was Applesauce Cake.)Â Late September in New York is crisp, bright mornings, crunchy ochre leaves, apples and pumpkins of all shapes and sizes.* It’s cinnamon and nutmeg and a dash of ground ginger, an impossibly perfect blend of aromas that makes me swoon when in a baked good, but gag when in a candle. (Am I the only one who has this problem?)

This Apple Cinnamon cake-blondie-brownie-thing, like the others on this site, definitely embraces “late September.” Apple chunks soften into plush folds of buttery cake, sharpened by a little extra salt and the cinnamon. It’s also a cinch to make, especially if you’re lazy like me and don’t peel the apples. I think there are a million ways to switch it up (honey, brown sugar, nutmeg, whole wheat flour, etc.), but it’s wonderful as is, a little taste of fall.

*Most importantly, late September begins the countdown to mah birfday, which is now less than a fortnight away!* I’m trying to plan what kind of cake to make and am totally stumped. Polka-dotted pink and funfetti are off the table — anyone have ideas on what to do next? …

Moroccan Barley Salad

On Tuesday, I went to a free personal training session at the gym. The trainer kicked my butt and at the end, gave me her sales pitch: pay hundreds of dollars to get your butt kicked repeatedly (but lose weight in the process!) As you can guess, I politely declined — if I had a few hundred dollars lying around just begging to be spent, I wouldn’t spend it on exercise.

What would I spend it on? A plane ticket. (I already bought one of these last month and will be heading to Argentina in a few weeks, but I am of the firm belief that one can never have too many plane tickets.*) I love traveling, especially to new countries: hearing the different languages, seeing the different signs, touching the different currencies (so many colors!), the smells, the sounds, the sights, the people — it’s a welcome sensory overload every time.

One of my personal goals is to travel somewhere new each year. This year, I was very lucky and went to Mexico, will go to Argentina in October, and then India in December (not new, but still exciting). While I’m certainly not the most intrepid traveler, practice makes perfect. So naturally, I’m already thinking about where to go in 2013 and Morocco is high on my list.

My missed opportunity still stings, and in a huff on Tuesday night, I decided I had to make something Moroccan for dinner. Food is one of the best parts of traveling to new places. Skipping the tourist scene and heading to where locals eat, visiting local markets or grocery stores — it can reveal a lot about cultures and daily life in your location. Since Morocco is currently out of reach, I “traveled” there via its cuisine, courtesy of this barley salad from Simply Recipes.

Barley is a staple of North African cuisine, and is a slightly chewy, nutty whole grain. I doubled-down on the “Moroccan-ness” of the original recipe, adding mint and carrots to the salad, and approximated a Ras el Hanout spice blend from what I had on hand. The result is a bright salad that is spicy, sweet and perfect for packing for lunch. If this is what Morocco tastes like, I think I need to book my next trip …

*This is a lie: I actually hate flying and the process of getting from Point A to Point B. But I love being in new places, so air travel is a necessary evil. …

Spicy Cauliflower-Corn Fritters

Uh-oh guys, I think I made another veggie burger. In an attempt to make an easily packable lunch, I mixed a little cauliflower, some corn, a few eggs, flour and BAM all of a sudden I had some sort of fritter-patty that fits between ~~two slices of bread~~ oddly flat â€œsandwich thins.â€*

This recipe was borne out of an attempt to use up leftover sandwich thins from my avocado and chickpea salad-making days. I needed to make a sandwich of some sort, and since sticking a bunch of cold cuts on weird bread does not a blog post make, I tried to get creative. At first I thought turkey burger, but I spied some fresh corn at the farmerâ€™s market underneath a sign screaming â€œSummerâ€™s Last! Buy it now!â€ and fell hook, line and sinker. I am such an easy sell.

Somehow in my brain, corn and cauliflower seemed like natural companions, and undeterred by the lack of corn-cauliflower fritter recipes out there, I decided that combining a corn fritter recipe with a cauliflower recipe would work. (This is the same brain that has managed, two days in a row, to mess up making coffee in a REGULAR DRIP MACHINE that sheâ€™s been using since college, so I donâ€™t really know what to say. I think my new roommate is concerned for me but is too polite to say so.)

It would be fine, except that I already have this delicious chickpea veggie burger, and this also very good black bean burger, and compared to those masterpieces, this cauliflower-corn situation canâ€™t quite compare. Part of that is my fault â€“ I ended up with a leeeetle too much flour for my taste. (I was also lazy and pan-fried rather than baking, so the insides could have cooked a bit longer.) But the combination of sweet corn and cauliflower plus smoky cumin, Pecorino and a kick of cayenne will always be pretty good, so Iâ€™ll tell you about this recipe anyway.

*I bought these on a whim, assuming that their low-carbness would cancel out the lack of flavor. I was wrong. Itâ€™s not worth it, people! Stick to real bread when you want a sandwich. …

Fresh Fig Cake

Today is the first Sunday of the football season. I’ve always been an avid fan, and this year, I joined two fantasy football leagues. I’ve never played fantasy before, but since I spend a considerable amount of time watching and tracking games anyway, I figured “why not put some money on it?”

Well. Turns out when you put some money on it, Sundays go from overly stressing about every single move the Redskins make on the field to overly stressing about every single move every player/team makes on the field.

Suddenly, I found myself ~~obsessing over~~ caring an appropriate amount about who’s starting at running back in Carolina and how many catches Vernon Davis is getting in San Francisco. And given my luck, I drafted all the wrong players, started guys who had terrible days and so far today, am getting killed in both of my leagues.*

Luckily, I had cake. Fresh fig cake, to be exact. I bought some figs on a whim and then realized I had never eaten a fresh fig before. Because my experience with them was limited to disgusting Fig Newtons and divine chocolate-covered figs from Trader Joe’s, I didn’t actually know if I even liked figs, so I decided to bake with them. Anything is good when paired with butter and sugar, right?

The cake is very easy to make, and is lovely: subtly sweet, fruity, nutty (I used some amaranth flour I had lying around [my former roommate had a bunch of alternate flours and left some when she moved. The flour tastes similar to whole wheat, but is gluten-free]). The figs become soft and jammy when baked, and their seeds add a slightly crunchy texture.

I would have liked a stronger olive oil flavor, and might try using all olive oil next time. I also think I’d like to use some cornmeal in the cake, as well as honey instead of regular sugar. But even without all of these changes, this recipe’s a keeper. Paired with tea, it was a calming respite from all of the madness.

(Thankfully, there’s a slice left for tonight, when Peyton Manning suits up — I’m banking on him tearing it up. Maybe. Please?)

*Matthew Stafford has a bad game. Okay, fine. My opponent has Matt Ryan — fine, he’s a good QB. But David Akers?? Man kicks a 63-yard field goal. 63 yards. And my opponent has him. What are the odds. …

Stir Fry With Beef, Mushrooms and Snow Peas

There are a million “make this in the time it takes you to order delivery” stir fry recipes out there, and prior to this week, I had tried exactly none of them.

Sure, the actual cooking time is minutes, but the process stresses me out: tossing in ingredients in rapid succession, stirring and shaking the wok frantically, searing, sizzling, steaming. In my experience, trying to do things quickly in the kitchen inevitably ends in burns. (This is why I’m much more of a sit back and let it cook kinda gal.)

But I was faced with a weird craving for Chinese food this week. Usually when I order food, I go the Mexican or Thai route (‘cept for my salads obvi*), and I’ve found that good, cheap Chinese is actually a hard thing to get right. Upon scouring Seamless Web, I couldn’t find a single delivery option in my new Hell’s Kitchen ‘hood that fit what I was looking for (high on vegetables, with some protein tossed in and no MSG, thank you). Undeterred, I hightailed it to Whole Foods and decided it was finally time to make a stir fry myself.

After finding this recipe, I flirted with the idea of using tofu instead of beef since ya know, I’m trying to be vegetarian and all. But someone pushed me while I was weighing my options in the tofu aisle, so … beef it is! You could obviously substitute tofu (if you can actually get your hands on it before people throw you aside), or do only vegetables. You could also add shrimp, chicken breast slices or thin strips of pork.

The original recipe didn’t call for marinating the beef, but the meat tenderizes better and, more importantly, tastes so much better when there’s a quick marinade involved. The prep time does take a while, but the cooking is quick — too quick for me, as I didn’t go fast enough and was left with excess water in my wok. I had to remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon when they were done cooking, but apparently, if you stir fry properly, this shouldn’t occur. You’ve been forewarned — move quickly.**

Full of crisp-tender vegetables and sweet, salty, spicy flavors, the end result definitely satisfied my Chinese food craving. And I came out of it with zero burns. #Win.

*I’ve since moved away from this diner’s delivery zone, and miss them terribly.

**Alternately, you could remove the vegetables, then cook the water with a bit of cornstarch for a few minutes to thicken it into a ginger-garlic-soy-hoisin sauce for your vegetables. But technically, that wouldn’t be a stir fry. …

Watermelon and Feta Salad

Allow me to reminisce a bit today, on this last day of summer. I’ll miss you, naps on the beach and impromptu Game of Thrones dramatic readings in the park (yes, I did voices). Sorry sundresses, it’s time to go back to the back of the closet. Deuces sweat ‘staches — see you again ~~never~~ next year unfortunately.

In an attempt to really live it up on this last weekend of warm weather, Mili and I enjoyed an al fresco happy hour on Friday, which quickly turned into cava at The Smith and then a panic attack at Penny Farthing and then David Chang’s pork buns. Obviously Saturday was a day for recovery, beginning with brunch at Riverpark, Tom Colicchio’s East River-adjacent restaurant and farm.*

Riverpark Farm grows all sorts of vegetables on its 15,000+ square-foot space: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, zucchini and, much to my amusement, square watermelon. Apparently if you grow a watermelon in a box, it will become square — or at least that’s what I heard in my half-conscious state.

Unfortunately, they were only serving regular round watermelon on their brunch menu, topped with salt, lime and merkÃ©n, a Chilean spice blend that packs a smoky punch. The combination of sweet, salty, citrusy and spicy was perfection, and I had to recreate it before all of the summer watermelon disappeared.

Since I didn’t have merkÃ©n on hand, I decided to combine cayenne and paprika and if you have some on hand, a smoky Spanish pimentÃ³n would be lovely here. I also found some feta in the fridge, and since watermelon and feta is a tried and true combination in the blogosphere, I threw that in as well. The end result is a watermelon and feta salad that is a vibrant mix of flavors, one last taste of summer before fall rolls in.

*The farm is a fascinating example of urban gardening, and the restaurant’s synergy with the farm reminded me of my visit to Stone Barns a few years ago. Eating local has long been considered the best way to eat green, and many restaurants have embraced this “farm to table” movement. Mili recently introduced me to the NY Locavore Challenge, which encourages participants to eat only food produced within a 250-mile radius for the entire month of September. She’s signed up for the challenge and will be blogging about it at Meat Mili — definitely check it out! …

Smashed Chickpea and Avocado Salad

Labor Day marks a turning point in the year. Summer is, for all intents and purposes, donezo. And, while there are some wonderful things awaiting us in fall (apples, pumpkins, Brussels sprouts [!!], and my birthday), there’s also that whole “time to buckle down and get serious before the holidays” thing that occurs this time of year. School starts, people return to work from their warm-weather haze and all of a sudden, life gets busy.

Everyone’s looking for time savers, and meal planning is a big one.Â I’m generally a mess when it comes to this: I make every effort to map out my lunches and dinners for the week, but inevitably, at the store I frantically run around dropping items into my basket and then come home with nothing I need. (Occasionally, this also happens when online grocery shopping.)

But scheduling out weekly meals comes with many benefits. It saves time on weeknights, since your recipes are already picked out. It can be healthier, since you’re likely to rely less on takeout and fast food. It saves you money, since your grocery shopping is strategic, and again you can avoid buying lunches or dinners. All in all, it makes life a lot easier — very necessary when you’re running around all week.

This week, knowing that I would have limited planning time since I was traveling Sunday night, I kept it simple. I wanted a versatile meal that required little effort and few ingredients, but could be eaten in a few different ways, since I get bored of eating the same thing day in and day out, and need to trick myself into making it seem new.

Enter this smashed chickpea and avocado salad. It’s a cross between hummus and guacamole, a distant cousin to the smashed chickpea and olive salad that Tom Colicchio makes, but creamier, more indulgent — it has all of the richness of an egg or chicken salad, but with none of the mayo-ness. There’s five basic ingredients and one step (smash), and you can eat it as a sandwich spread, dip or salad topping. Or best of all, on its own, straight out of the bowl you mixed it in. How’s that for saving time? …

Zucchini Eggplant Bake

While I’m all about summer fruits, for whatever reason, I’m not so into summer vegetables. We all know how I feel about tomatoes, and I am almost equally unenthusiastic about eggplant (this dip aside).Â Zucchini I find slightly less offensive, but mostly because it can be transformed into glorious spicedÂ quickÂ bread.

Recently, I found a solution for my tomato troubles, courtesy of Julia Child and her genius idea of ripping out the gross guts of the tomato and stuffing them with breadcrumbs and cheese. And now, I present to you the best way to eat zucchini and eggplant (at least if you’re not into them): by covering them with marinara and mozz, then baking them in a weird cross between parmesan and lasagna.

The idea came to me at the gym, since I usually motivate myself on the treadmill with thoughts of “now that I just burned a few calories, I can eat this, this, this and this.” (Sadly, this is 100% true.) To recap my train of thought: “Ooh, chicken parm — no wait you can’t have that, you’re vegetarian, remember? … I can’t breathe, I’m going to die … maybe eggplant? Ick. Eggplant. But mozzarella … one more mile … breadcrumbs. Would zucchini make it better? Maybe? Anything’s good with mozz and sauce, but it’s so unhealthy … asdfksd side stitch adsfsdfÂ … that does it, I deserve this cheesy goodness.”

Bonus: the oven does most of the work here anyway, which, given that my new apartment has air conditioning, means this recipe is literally no sweat. (HA. Get it? Am I the only one who finds that funny? No? Okay. Sorry.) The end result is a zucchini eggplant bake that is ermahgahhhh good. Though, given that ingredient list, how could it not be? …

Stone Fruit Buckle

Summer baked goods are aÂ funny thing. Whether it’s a cobbler or crisp, buckle or slump, pandowdy, crumble, grunt or Brown Betty, the formula is the same: a combination of sugar, butter and flour that is little more than a backdrop for gloriously fresh fruit. Whether you go the berry route or the stone fruit route, this time of year, they all hit the spot. And after a bit of a baking hiatus, I knew exactly how I wanted to return to the oven — with something jammy, slightly tart and naturally sweet, dotted with glittering gems of fruit.

A buckle is a cake topped with fresh fruit and streusel. In the oven, the cake buckles around the fruit (hence the name) and the fruit keeps everything nice and moist. While the most traditional version is made with blueberries, I’ve been very into stone fruit this summer, gorging on peaches and plums and nectarines and cherries day after day. And while they’re quite lovely on their own, when is something not improved by some sugar-aided Q.T. in the oven?

I wanted to create my own recipe, but being a buckle novice, I instead tweaked a Martha recipe pretty liberally — adding some whole wheat flour to the cake and crumb, using brown sugar along with white and throwing in some cinnamon and nutmeg for good measure. I used pluots (a hybrid of plums and apricots) and nectarines in this version, but you could use any stone fruit. As long as there are 6 cups total of fruit, anything goes.

There are a few steps, but each step is pretty simple. The end result is well worth the (slightly long) baking time: a slightly sweet, fruity cake that pairs nicely with coffee. As dessert it’s perhaps a bit humble, but in the afternoon? This stone fruit buckle is perfect in the afternoon –Â a quiet pick-me-up that delivers just what you need to finish your the day. …

Julia Child’s Tomatoes Provencal

Today is Julia Child’s 100 birthday. One of the most influential people of the 20th century, Child made good food accessible to millions by translating lofty French techniques to a language that a home cook could understand. Her PBS show was a direct ancestor of the Food Network, and most importantly, led to this. (Never thought I’d say this, but with that and this and this, PBS wins the Internet.)

Julia completely won me over inÂ My Life in France, where she described her journey from eater to cook and her time in Paris and the south of France. The book is charming, whether you care about the proper way to truss a chicken or not. Inspired by the book, I set out to make a Julia recipe a year ago, and promptly twisted and turned it around until it was nothing more than a “fancy omelet.”

Many of Julia’s most famous recipes (Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, Filet de Boeuf en CroÃ»te) involve many steps — well worth the effort, but not something you can whip together in a flash. These tomatoes Provencal,* on the other hand, are effortless. Julia, the genius, takes out the worst parts of a tomato (squishy, juicy seeds) and stuffs the hollowed-out cavities with breadcrumbs, cheese, shallots and herbs. They are the embodiment of one of my favorite Julia quotes:

You donâ€™t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces â€“ just good food from fresh ingredients.

*Why did I have tomatoes? Well. In order to get Fresh Direct delivered the next day, one must complete the order by 11 p.m. the night before. Naturally, I started ordering around 10:45 p.m., then panicked at 10:53 and in a frenzy, ordered a bunch of things I don’t need, including funny-shaped peaches and beefsteak tomatoes. Does anybody know what to do with gray zucchini?

Note: I recently did a video piece for City Spoonful about Muslim street food vendors who fast during Ramadan. I had a lot of fun on the shoot — check it out and let me know what you think! …

Missing Mexico

Friends, has it really been two whole weeks since we last spoke? It feels like an eternity. In that time, I’ve moved out of the Upper East Side and into “temporary housing” at my aunt’s, begun the process of moving into my new Hell’s Kitchen apartment, written a story for The Daily Meal, completely redesigned the look of this here blog, watched disappointingly limited amounts of Olympic trampolining (yes that is a sport you can win a gold medal for. God I love the Olympics.) and also managed to drop a diamond earring down an elevator shaft.*

I’ve been more of a spazzy, stressed-out mess than usual, and in those brief moments of respite, have been remembering my trip to Mexico. The trip, coordinated by the Los Cabos Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, was memorable in many ways, and not just because it reintroduced me, however briefly, to the world of fresh tomatoes.

I’ll let the pictures tell the story for the most part, but a few highlights:

Our first night, we attended the first Food & Wine Festival at Capella Pedregal, a luxury resort in Cabo San Lucas. The festival featured fare from chefsÂ Kent Rathbun, who made a heavenly honey and lime-glazed pork belly with charred corn and cotija cheese, Marco Bustamante, Capella’s head chef, who made a variety of tacos (octopus, scallop, parrot fish — delish, barbacoa and chicken), Kevin Rathbun, who made spicy grilled oysters with cilantro butter, and Top Chef: Just DessertsÂ judge Johnny Iuzzini, who deconstructed a mango mousse tart for dessert.

Between breakfast on the beach at the Fiesta Americana Grand hotel, lunch at the One&Only Palmilla resort and then dinner at Don Sanchez (home of that amazing caprese) in San Jose del Cabo, I think I ate enough for 10 humans on Friday. But I was able to burn some of it off in an impromptu salsa lesson at Don Sanchez, and while not knowing left from right can be a real disadvantage in these situations, as someone who is ready to dance anytime anywhere (especially if there’s a stage involved … ), homegirl had a blast.

Photo courtesy of Cabo Adventures

Saturday, I got up close and personal with a camel, and then a few shots of tequila. Note to self: it’s much harder to sip tequila at noon than it is to down it at 1 o’clock in the morning. I then embarked on a taco tour of Cabo San Lucas, with two fellow intrepid journalistsÂ (no seriously, after everything we ate on Friday, one had to be brave to willingly eat more than what was required on Saturday). It was an brief opportunity to explore the real city, with its colorful buildings and friendly people and tacos galore.Â Dinner that night was at our host hotel, the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar. And what better way to end a vacation than free beachside cocktails? From now on, I refuse to leave any new place without this.

Here’s a collection of pictures from my trip:

*What are the odds of that happening? Seriously. These kinds of things only ever happen to me, possibly because I’m the only person on the planet dumb enough to try to put on an earring while walking into an elevator.

Caprese Panzanella

What should we talk about today? Should it be the weather, specifically the derecho that hailed over NYC on Thursday? (Don’t worry, I was prepared — I wore pants.) But nothing really happened and I didn’t end up baking anything, so not much to say there.

Or we could talk about the Olympics, aka the only thing I will be paying attention to for the next two weeks. My new favorite sport: racewalking. Finally something I could possibly compete at in the Olympics! But I really need to work on my hip action and the event hasn’t started yet, so let’s wait a few days on that.

So … let’s talk about Mexico, specifically a personal challenge I made on the flight over: to eat anything and everything that was put on my plate. The trip really tested my mettle: I tried everything from octopus ceviche (surprisingly not that bad — proof that fresh seafood really does make a difference) to tacos de cabeza (beef cheek tacos, a bite of which was delicious, but a whole one would be a little much) to a host of fresh tomatoes, part a Mexican caprese salad that was one of the best things I ate during my weekend.

Topped with balsamic, fresh basil, rock salt and cubes of salty queso panela, the salad was salty, a little sweet, slightly acidic, with the firm cheese, tender tomatoes and crunch from the salt — perfect on so many counts. Turns out, when tomatoes are ~~masked by~~ paired with delicious things, tomatoes are not all that bad.

It’s a lesson I took to heart, creating a version of that caprese bulked out with cubes of crusty bread, briny olives and sweet, crunchy bell peppers. Added to colorful heirloom tomatoes from the farmer’s market, pearl-sized rounds of fresh mozzarella (called perlini, from Whole Foods), plenty of fresh basil and a heavy pour of balsamic, this caprese panzanella, or Italian bread salad, becomes a hearty summertime meal that tastes even better the next day. AND it got me to eat tomatoes. Definitely something to talk about. …

Spicy Fiesta Veggie Burgers

Happy National Tequila Day! Prior to 12 p.m. today, I did not know that this day existed (thank you Twitter!), for which my wallet, liver and parents are all thankful. Having learned all about tequila in Mexico, I decided to eschew celebrations of this great holiday, and focus on what you might eat while ~~mainlining~~ politely sipping tequila instead.

But before we get to these fiesta veggie burgers, I have a terrible confession to make: last week, I ate meat. I know, I am actually the worst. To defend myself slightly, I ate out a lot last week, and after two straight nights of ordering vegetable pasta, I went to a Spanish place on Thursday and broke. Then at my aunt’s on Sunday, I broke again, in the face of the delicious dinner that she made before realizing I wasn’t eating meat. And I can already tell you that I will be breaking again over the weekend, as I head home to Maryland for my mom’s birthday.

So, turns out I have zero willpower. But also, even in a city as diverse and alternative diet-friendly as NYC, it’s kind of hard to be vegetarian. Most restaurants have one vegetarian option, but it’s often a cheese-laden pasta dish. (I refuse to accept a green salad as a meal.) And while there are some vegetarian- or vegan-focused places, I don’t want to force my dietary choices on others. It’s much harder than you’d think to find a place that caters to all diets relatively evenly.*

But it’s a new week, so I’m starting over, and trying to stay vegetarian during the week. Which brings us to these spicy little fiesta veggie burgers, perfect for enjoying with anÂ ~~ice cold Corona~~ shot of tequila. (God I love a good segue. Too bad this wasn’t one.)

As you well know, veggie burgers are my jam. Having already conquered a chickpea version, I next set my sights on a black bean one, since you know, I’m a wee bit obsessed with black beans. I couldn’t quite find a recipe that had everything I wanted, so I created my own. And then forgot to put in an egg. So these are a tad mushy.

But otherwise, they’re everything a good veggie burger should be: crisp exterior, with rich vegetable flavors (no fake meat please), a fiery kick and smoky undertones. I especially loved the kernels of sweet corn, which contrasted with the spiciness nicely. While not the best thing I’ve made this week (I’ll share that with you soon!), they were definitely a welcome return to the world of vegetarianism.

*I have some personal favorites that do this well (Otto, The Smith, Founding Farmers in Maryland / D.C.), but if you guys have any recommendations, please send them my way! …

Questions on Vegetarianism

Not to throw another rando curveball at you fine people, upon my return from Mexico,* I’m going to try being a vegetarian. My reasons are poorly thought out: I hear it’s a good thing for both your body and the environment, though I’ve done minimal research on either and pretty much am only doing it as a mini-challenge for myself.

While I’m planning to start out small and only eat vegetarian for the last two weeks of July, depending on how I feel, I can definitely extend this “trial.” I assume it will be hard, since I usually eat meat at least once a day, but I’m very excited to try new vegetables, and maybe even rethink my opinions of some old ones. (Not making any promises, but I may try some eggplant. [gasp] Sorry tomatoes, you’re just not happening.)

I’m also interested to do more research on vegetarianism and its pros and cons. If anyone has any recs on books or articles that have explored this topic without being too preachy, please send them my way! And, I have a question for you all:

Have any of you ever considered being vegetarian? And if you are (or have been) vegetarian, what made you decide to do so?

*In case I haven’t bombarded you with this already, I’ll be on a culinary tour of Los Cabos, Mex. on behalf of The Daily Meal — can’t wait to tell you guys about my trip!

Pesto Potato Salad with Green Beans

In planning a Fourth of July picnic last week, Mili and I got very traditional American with the menu. Fried chicken and cheesecake were immediately agreed upon, and then for a side, we wanted potato salad. What’s screams “red, white and blue” more loudly than that?

Well, fried chicken quickly became cornflake-crusted baked chicken and the cheesecake morphed into the cutest berry yogurt cheesecake cupcakes a girl ever did see. And the potato salad … being mayo-averse, I knew the potato salad would have to be different from what you usually find at the deli.

Obviously when in search of a potato salad recipe, my first resource was Smitten Kitchen. Deb has made a LOT of potato salads in her blog life, including one that jumped out at me instantly (and possibly another one that I must make soon [and another one too]).

Pairing fresh, crisp green beans with the potatoes and pesto seemed like a no-brainer to me, and even though I cheated and used store-bought pesto, the salad was bright and summery. The crunch from the beans and from lightly toasted pine nuts offset the slight softness of my over-boiled potatoes and the touch of vinegar added just the right amount of tang. While I’m not quite a potato salad junkie yet, anything that requires minimal stove time and produces maximum flavor for zero effort is always a winner in my book. …

Berry Yogurt Cheesecake Cupcakes

For the first 20 or so years of my life, July was always a quiet time, made for lolling around in shorts and flip flops, taking my summer vacation strictly at its word. It was too hot to move or be busy or do anything other than sit in the shade (or in the house) with a good book and an ice-packed glass of water, so that is what I did.

Then, quite without warning, for the past three years July has become a month of activity: finding apartments, moving, traveling, working and generally running around a city that literally stinks in hot weather. (I love you NYC, but your eau de rotting trash is a major mark against you.) Yet again, I find myself barging into strangers’ apartments every night, hoping to find a little room that’s perfect for me. A responsible person would also start packing, but instead, I’ve used “moving soon” as an excuse to postpone the cleaning of my closet.

In the middle of this maelstrom, I’ll be traveling to Mexico. (Wait what? [Yes, I’ve been keeping secrets. Must be something I picked up while watching my new show of the week.]) I’m going to Los Cabos on a press trip, representing The Daily Meal. I couldn’t be more excited, and I can’t believe I leave in 8 days (!!!) — rest assured, there will be more to come on this.

All of this is to say that I could really use a day off. Thankfully, the Founding Fathers chose to give me one in the form of the Fourth of July, and while I don’t love that it’s on a Wednesday, I do love sleeping in and going to brunch and picnicking in the park and cute little red-white-and-blue mini berry yogurt cheesecake cupcakes.

Seriously, could they get any cuter?

The recipe comes from Gina at Skinny Taste, my current food blog crush (those pictures!) and could not be easier. Mini vanilla wafers form the cheesecake “crust,” softening and melting as they absorb the liquid from the cheesecake batter. The cheesecake batter itself is a cinch to make, tangy and creamy but airy and light. Topped off with ripe summer berries, it’s definitely a crowd pleaser, whether you’re taking them to your cookout today, eating them solo tomorrow (thank goodness for extras!) or making them just because sometimes, a night should end with a little cheesecake.

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