My First Sunday Supper Party

It's official - I have hosted my first dinner party!

I'm not sure I can really call it a dinner party, as it was just my parents and I, but there was dinner. And laughing. And fun. So what the hey.

Yesterday marked the two week anniversary of me being in my new home, and home it is certainly becoming. I know I have been gone from the interwebs for quite some time now, but I really did start all over this past month. I have a new home, a new hometown, a new job, and have started new classes at a new college. I even cut all my hair off not to long ago too, so a new hair style to boot! (Check out this blog if you missed all my updates.) I seems like the only thing that hasn't changed is my love of all things food - cooking it, eating it, reading about it, shopping for it, and planning for it.

Speaking of reading, I have read a lot about gnocchi recently. Talk about a hot topic food right now. This can probably be explained by the movement to return to the basic, classic comfort foods in times of change and the unknown. Regardless of the reason, I decided to give it a whirl (and the fact that I went all helter skelter on a five pound bag of potatoes whilst practicing my knife cuts and I needed a way to use them all up may have had something to do with it as well.)

Battonet cuts: 1/4 inch x 1/4 inch x 2 inches, exactly

So I dutifully mashed, mixed, and measured as prayed that my gnocchi would at least resemble their pillowy, soft, luscious cousins being produced by little Italian grandmothers everywhere. No manner of praying seemed to help me out though, as I watched in vain as my first, farce batch of gnocchi broke up in their boiling cooking cauldron. I mixed some more, measured some more, boiled some more, and finally, after attempted number three and being threatened with the frightening sight of an almost-empty flour canister, made something that at least could be traced back to the gnocchi family tree and ended up tasting quite yummy after being sauteed with shallot, garlic, parsley, and chive.

Chicken parmesan, with homemade gnocchi and tomato sauce

All of this happened while my wonderfully understanding and gracious parents... party guests... put together my new espresso finished bar, which is adorable and now houses all of my stem and bar wear. Fabulous!

All I can say is it turned out to be a lovely evening and I can't wait to do it again. (And thank goodness my mom had the foresight to bring everything else for dinner - she knows me too well.)

A pear, apple, and cranbery crisp with vanilla bean ice cream - hello fall!

We Tried to do Thai

Let's start with what we actually ate for dinner this week. Check out this incredibly beautiful plate of noms:

Spicy peanut Thai noodles, with traditional Thai  garnish

Now that we have all admired the actual dinner, let's discuss the fiasco we had to go through in order to put this on the plate. My original plan for quite different. Taking my inspiration from the local farmers' markets, I found some absolutely beautiful Swiss Chard last week. Not having worked with it before, but immediately being inspired to do a Thai flavored spring roll, I bought a half pound and gleefully returned home. I would pair these with some soba noodles tossed simply in sesame oil and sesame seeds, so the true highlight of the dish were the spring rolls and the spicy peanut dipping sauce I would pair them with. So far, so good right?

Spring rolls, all sprung up and ready to serve the next day.

Here is where I think I went wrong - I made these spring rolls the day before I planned on eating them. By blanching the Swiss chard leaves (in order to make them pliable enough to roll up, and to take away some of their innate bitterness) I am afraid they sat overnight and developed a most unpleasant slimy texture, which is most definitely not good eats. But they were encompassing such beautiful ingredients inside, what was I to do... plus I wanted to use my dynamite spicy peanut sauce.

Spring rolls, before being all sprung together.

And then, genius struck. Why not reconfigure the whole dish? Toss the noodles (whole wheat thin spaghetti because my grocery was out of soba noodles) in the spicy peanut sauce, and then top the noddles with the insides of the spring roll, completely discarding the Swiss chard all together. I was displeased with having to waste the Swiss chard, but at least the rest of the meal was salvaged. As Peter has often said, the best meals are those which are conceptualized on the fly, as this one was.

Our new and improved noodle toppings.

The lesson here? So what is things don't go according to plan? Everything will turn out in the end (and may be even more delicious than first anticipated.)

Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

4 TB fresh lime juice

3 TB light sodium soy sauce

3 TB honey or brown sugar

2 TB orange juice (or enough to thin)

Mix everything together with a little elbow grease; this mixture can be quite thick, so thin with orange juice until it is pliable and smooth. 

**Remember that this sauce can be used as a dipping sauce (as I had originally planned) or tossed with noodles, to be served either hot or cold. If this is case, the sauce can be a bit thicker as the heat of the noodles after they are cooked will naturally thin the sauce down for you.

** Spring Roll/Thai Noodle toppings:

julienne carrot

julienne red bell pepper

julienne mango

cilantro

green onion

poached chicken

sesame seeds

chopped peanuts

 

Spaghetti Squash Supper

One of my favorite vegetables of all time is spaghetti squash, followed closely by kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. For those of you who haven't worked with it before, go out to the store right now and buy one. Seriously. Grab your keys, grab your wallet, get in your car, and drive to the store and get one of these babies. I'll wait here...

Ok, now that you're back, get ready for a yummy dinner! Spaghetti squash is about the size of a Nerf softball but heavy for their size. They have a smooth, light yellow skin and can be found with the other various squashes, usually being refrigerated. Once baked, the insides can be scooped out to make perfect "spaghetti" strands, and they can even be baked to al dente, for those of you who, like me, like a bite to their pasta. Top off the strands with your favorite sauce (I thawed out some homemade stuff made with spinach, chunky tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell peppers, and lots of basil.) Talk about your veggie servings for the day!

Baked Spaghetti Squash

1 spaghetti squash

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Pierce the squash skin with a paring knife and place in a baking dish, whole. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until, when pierced with a paring knife, the squash is tender.

Allow to cool until you can handle it, then slice in half and scrap out the insides with a fork. Now you have yummy spaghetti that is just as versatile as the wheat-based alternative. Toss with some browned butter and sage, top with sauce (like I did here,) or bake in a torta with some eggs and parmesan cheese, crowned with fresh tomato chutney. 

Feel free to let me know how you like your spaghetti squash that I just made you go out and buy!

I'm a Geek for Greek

Greek food that is... though Greek men aren't bad either. And the Grecian Islands are second to none. And I love Greek inspired fashions.... 

Anyway, today we are reveling in the wonders of Greek food! I was having a real hankering for Greek food over Spring Break last week and to squelch this craving, not to mention transport my family to Greece for a little while on Spring Break, we made this delicious, healthy, and pretty authentic Greek meal (nevermind the fact that we were watching the NCAA tournament games while preparing it in the kitchen.)

Tzatziki (Greek yogurt dipping sauce)

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, grated, and salted

1 16oz. container fat free plain Greek yogurt

2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely minced

the juice of 1 lemon

1/4 chopped fresh dill

salt and pepper, to taste

Salt your grated cucumber (about 1 tsp) in order to draw out the water in the cucumber; mix and set aside. Mix the rest of your ingredients. Squeeze the excess water out of your cucumber and add to the yogurt mixture. Mix and chill.

Use half of this dipping sauce to marinate your chicken (around a pound and a half) for at least 24 hours. Skewer the chicken chunks and grill.

I'm also a geek for Shelby's great photography! We have the pleasure of viewing a few posts worth of her pictures this week - buckle up, they are pretty awesome!

We paired our wonderfully marinated, cut-it-with-a-fork tender grilled chicken (which had to be grilled in the pouring rain by my dad ducking out from under an awning to flip the skewers, what a trouper) with a Greek inspired orzo salad. Orzo is a wheat based pasta, just like spaghetti or penne, but is shaped like rice, as you can see below. It cooks super fast, takes on a lot more flavor than rice does, and can be found in whole wheat versions for those of you out there who care about whole grains like I do. We tossed our orzo with yellow bell pepper, celery, cucumber, lots of fresh parsley, and a vinaigrette of lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and celery seed (Finally! An application for that tricky celery seed that is hiding in the back of your spice rack.)

Final plating - Greek orzo salad, feta cheese, fresh cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, tzatziki , warmed whole wheat pita bread, and grilled tzatziki marinated chicken.

I Choose to Chew my Green Goddess Smoothies

There are lots of things that make me curiously happy, like a pair of jeans that fit perfectly, a surprisingly warm day in the middle of January, the fact that my birthday is only four days away, and Greek yogurt drizzled with honey and toasted almonds for breakfast. What made me exceptionally happy today, however, was when my dinner plans turned out even better than I could have hoped. You know the old saying that starts out "best laid plans of mice and men..." and sometimes you feel like the man and sometimes you feel the mouse, but regardless your plans "gang aft agley."

I had made kale pesto while still on break and threw it in the freezer for a day such as today where I ran wide open since 9am and returned home famished. I tossed this pesto with sauteed broccoli, whole wheat rigatoni pasta, and topped with diced tomatoes and shredded Romano cheese. It was a beautiful concept as I was brainstorming my dinner walking home from classes, much like a kindergartner meticulously plans his after school snack down to every last detail, but as I was mixing it all up my excitement waned a bit when the proper creamy consistency of traditional pesto was lacking from my pasta (due to the fact that I omitted the customary Parmesean cheese in the pesto in order to cut calories and fat.) I added a little of the pasta's cooking water, with all that gummy starch, and again I was curiously happy as I plated my pasta dinner... which just occurred to me contained many of the elements of a Green Goddess smoothie. I always preferred chewing my vegetables anyway.

For those of you who may be curious, my pesto was comprised of blanched kale leaves, toasted walnuts, fresh basil, olive oil and a little water to bind, seasoned with salt and red pepper flakes. This is of course just a jumping off point as you can base your pesto off of anything you would like, including spinach which I have done in the past with great success.

Cabinet Clean Out

Now that the semester has started for real, after the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, I am falling back into a routine with my new course schedule, which means that dinner is again my responsibility - gone are the days were dinner was dinnertime was a group effort between my mom, myself, and my dad. And after having my wisdom teeth removed just over a week ago, I am just now reveling in the fact that solid food is no longer off limits. It is so lovely to be reintroduced to foods that you used to take for granted. Oyster crackers were like an early birthday present when I was able to eat them again, along with meat of any variety and apples. And 

This week, be it filled with getting used to classes and reading syllabi, has also been a lot about getting back into the swing of things. I have cleaned after the month long break, purchased my textbooks and a parking pass, entered all my due dates into my calendar, and finally managed to fill my fridge with food other than leftovers. That being said, however, I have not given any thought to dinners this week, and have only managed to heat up leftovers and use items out of my cabinet. Which is never a bad thing; thank goodness I had some things in the freezer to thaw out as I get settled into my new schedule. Tonight I combined black beans, corn, canned tomatoes, sauteed onions and peppers, and some grilled chicken to make a pasta dish of sorts. Filling, healthy, and it cleaned out my fridge some, so no complaints at all.

And now I have a 21st birthday to start planning!!! I shall ponder over my pasta. Any unique and fun suggestions would be more than welcome!

Coffee in the PM

Since being home for break, which started on Saturday, I have:

• Attended Cincinnati Ballet's new rendition of The Nutcracker (a yearly tradition in my family and fabulous by anyone's standards)
• Written a plethora of blogs so that I can still post regularly once class is back in session in January
• Had 3 inches cut off my hair so that I can start the new year with a fresh new look
• Finished my parents' and grandparents' Christmas presents (a HUGE 5 month undertaking, let me assure you - more on these after Christmas)
• Wrapped up my holiday wrapping and now all my gifts are snuggled under our tree, adding to the festive decorations
• Completed a lengthy end-of-semester report for the Student Government Executive Branch (of which I am a program director)
• Caught up on all my year end bills/email/general nonsense that was standing in my way of completely enjoying my break from all things work related
• Almost completed my first book of the break and contemplated which one will be my next great read

And just today I have:

• Spent a luxurious amount of time browsing Kroger's specialty foods section
• Planned the next six days of meals in our household (including Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day brunch)
• Made three batches of biscotti (which I am now enjoying with my early evening coffee)
• Assembled a vegetable lasagna for tonight's dinner after my sister's band and orchestra concerts - yes, she does both. 
• Prepped my mise en place for our dinners for the rest of the week so I can frolic about by day and still put a yummy dinner on the table at night
• Planned a trip to Findlay Market downtown and the Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo

Due to all of this productivity, there has been lots of:

• Coffee drinking at odd hours of the day/night (including 5:14pm today)
• 15 minute cat-naps on my living room couch or sprawled out on the floor with my puppies, which I have missed oh so much
• Sleeping in past 8am (though tomorrow I plan on getting up early and going for a hike - there is only so much lazy a gal can take before she goes stir crazy)
• Finding comfy places all around the house in which to curl up with a book, mug of tea, and my laptop to blog, read, peruse my favorite websites blogs, or just sit and enjoy the spirit of the holidays.

The vegetable lasagna I made today was chock full of all those veggies some people don't like to eat but really should because they are good for you (like spinach and broccoli.) That being said, I stocked up on veggies today and put them all in the Italian treat, layering with whole wheat lasagna noodles, chunky tomato sauce, and fat free ricotta cheese filling. I love taking the guilt out of eating good tasting food, and by sneaking a few servings of veggies in there and cutting out the fat and calories, I think this is a great way to do just that for the holidays.

Mix of zucchini, red bell peppers, broccoli, onion, and carrot, all sauteed with oregano, basil, parsley, and garlic.

Beginning the layering process...

Fresh spinach leaves on top of the cheese mixture

Topped off with some more chunky tomato sauce and a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese.

Another Oldie but a Goodie

I AM OFFICIALLY FINISHED WITH ALL MY FINALS! And since today has been consumed by a lot of reminiscing about the past four months of classes, exams, and course material (while I gleefully return my textbooks and clean off my desk) I thought I would re-post something from my previous blog. Call it... recycling. New foods to come!

(Note: This post was from the summertime... quite the opposite of today's chilly drizzly weather. But pesto is for all seasons! I plan on making kale pesto tomorrow, so how appropriate!)

Pasta Time!

Hi everyone! I know I raved last week about how happy I am that it is getting warmer, and to spare you all from that rant AGAIN and how INCREDIBLY HAPPY it makes me, I will skip right to the food for once. 

I am a huge pasta fan, mostly because it is a carb and I have never met a carb I didn’t like. Love them ALL! I made this pasta up a few weeks ago and just held onto the pictures for a rainy (or incredibly beautiful and spring-like) day. I am becoming a big fan of pesto, so I have been playing around with difference combinations and ingredients in order to get the maximum nutrition, flavor, variety, the whole nine yards. So this one is not made with fresh basil but spinach instead, which is so incredibly good for you it’s not funny. Add some toasted pine nuts, olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some red pepper flakes (which made the dish pop,) and I was well on my way into a carb induced happy state.

When I have my herb garden back this summer I want to try a pesto with a combo of basil, thyme, and rosemary for chicken or bruscetta, or maybe one with chive and tarragon to go over grilled steaks. Mmmmmm!

No Daylight Savings Time

So yesterday was when I was supposed to fall back an hour with Daylight Savings time, but who forgot to change her clock? This girl right here. So I was really up at 7 when I most definitely didn't want to be up any earlier than 8 this past Sunday. No wonder I was so tired when my alarm went off.

You would think that the extra hour would equate to an extra hour of productivity - working on papers, finance homework, analyzing survey results, cleaning, you name it, but nope. Once I figured out I was up a whole hour earlier than I needed to be, what did I do? I made myself a mug of tea and surfed food blogs. Happy Daylight Savings Time me!

Unfortunate for me, however, I was highly unmotivated when it came to dinnertime, so I went with an old favorite - pasta! Carbs and I are thick and thieves, by far my favorite food group, so pasta is a nice item to have in the cupboard. I paired my homemade chunky mushroom pasta sauce with a fall inspired salad (pear slices, edamame, tender spring greens, and a pomegranate vinaigrette) and started planning my next meal.

Not All Kitchen Adventures are Fruitful

Pun intended.

As you all know by now, I have spent the past week and a half settling into a new apartment. And with that new apartment for my last year of college, comes the need to feed myself everyday since my meal plan has now evaporated. This is no problem, let me assure you; I love to cook and actually look forward to getting in the kitchen and being creative to scrub up some dinner. I have been doing a pretty good job (if I say so myself) in keeping the limited staples that I have interesting and not repeating the same old same old every night. I have also, and more importantly, not fallen into the sinkhole of processed and frozen foods. Ick. I would much rather buy the vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and dairy in order to fill my fridge with the staples I need to balance my diet.

It has been interesting just feeding one person. At home I am feed four and two very eager puppy dogs. But here, just me. How does one just cook for, well, one? Strategically. I pick one or two fruits, and those are my fruits for the week. Three or four veggies to work on for a week. One half gallon of milk. Fat free yogurt. A pack of chicken (but what do I do with the other two breasts in the pack!?)

I started this blog to inform you that not all of my dinners this week have been successes. In an effort to clean out the fridge with the miscellaneous vegetables tid-bits and leftovers, I decided to take some leftover penne whole wheat pasta and some eggs to make pasta carbanarra. Essentially it is the Italian version of breakfast for dinner: cook your pasta, toss in a heated skilled with some scrambled eggs (they would add bacon as well) and some fresh herbs, maybe a sprinkling of cheese, and dinner is served. But I have to use these bell pepper halves, onion pieces, and some carrots. What the heck, I thought, the more veggies, the merrier. Wrong. So so wrong. I had a wonderfully delicious, satisfying, and simple dinner and I went and weirded it up with some sauteed veggies. Sometimes veggies don't belong. Shocking I know, but it's true. So what is the take away here? Eggs and bell peppers don't mix so well with pasta.