Grilling, Picnics, and Bubble Tea

I hope this blog post finds you all enjoying your summertime to the fullest: the weather has gotten decidedly warmer around here which makes staying inside virtually impossible; farmers' markets beckon to me from every street corner; swimming pools and sprinklers become necessities and sun kissed tans are quickly building to darkened tan lines. Oh how I love summertime. 

I've also been enjoying the many pleasures of alfresco dining with my man. We are quickly become grill masters and have used his barbecue to cook the majority of our meals as of late. This was actually one of the first meals we made together.

Spicy grilled chicken, spring greens salad, par-boiled and grilled potatoes, and an orange salad.

A little red wine never hurt anyone either...

 There has also been a ton of picnicking too, a traditional summertime staple. Here are some pictures from our very first picnic together. We ended up staying at the park until way after the sun went down, just talking and snacking.

Macadamia crusted tapalia, veggie basil brown rice salad, lots of sliced watermelon, homemade pecan honey bread, and chocolate dipped strawberries. A picnic fit for sharing!

 And we have been blessed enough to have shared many many breakfasts together as well. He is in the process of perfecting my soft boiled eggs, something which I had never tried to master before meeting him. This is just one way in which we spend our mornings together.

 And last but certainly not least, I have now officially tried Bubble Tea! For those of you out there who have no idea what I am talking about, let me break it down for you, because it is an experience everyone has to have at least once. Picture a smoothie, in whatever flavor floats your boat, that has been blended with green tea and a little protein powder. So far, pretty awesome sounding right? But it gets better! They then add boba to the bottom of your glass. What is boba? Little spheres of heaven that burst in your mouth and provide an incredibly sensational and yet almost unrepeatable sensory overload! Really, they are like nothing else I've experienced, especially in a drink. Some people don't enjoy this overall sensory overload, but I quite enjoyed it. The protein powder kept me full and focused (I sound like a Shredded Wheat commercial, but when the shoe fits...) and the flavor combination was refreshing and ultimately a treat. I shall be visiting that place again real soon. 

I highly recommend a mango Bubble Tea when you go... which should be now... go get your keys... or better yet walk to the nearest Bubble Tea shop and enjoy the summertime weather!

I'll end all this with a recipe that I am sure Peter, my boyfriend, would be ecstatic if I shared with you all. It has been his favorite thing we have made together so far (and trust me, we have dabbled in a lot of noms.)

Spicy Orange Salad

2 oranges, peeled and sliced whichever way you choose
1 TB freshly minced parsley, or 1 tsp dried
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 tsp salt

Place oranges in a bowl (the easiest way to peel an orange for a salad like this is just to cut of the rind with a sharp knife.) Sprinkle on the remaining ingredients, adjust the seasoning for your taste, toss with your fingers, and serve.

Conquering the Wish List-ish

Graduation is five days away. Just thought I would update you.

I know, I can't believe it either.

I kind of feel like I am living an out of body experience this week. I think things to myself like "this time next week, the University of Kentucky will no longer recognize me as a student" and I get kind of sentimental. I was so hesitant to hand over my keys to the Student Government Office, turn in my last payroll sheet, and lock up for good. I was on campus yesterday for what very well could be the last time. No more exams to study for, papers to write, classes to attend, group project to organize, or courses to schedule. How can this be possible?

Despite the fact that my world had been turned topsey turvey right now, there is still the ever faithful Farmers' Market here to comfort me in times of change. A few weeks ago UK brought a mini Farmers' Market to campus, which afforded students the luxury of perusing the booths without having to leave the comfort of campus. And of course, who was out there with gusto and fervor? Yours truly. Check out what I found!

Organic local honey, green garlic, fresh thyme, and a curious dried bag of "calypso" beans

I was so intrigued by the green garlic that I had to buy it and learn how to work with it. In all of my food related study I had never heard nor seen such a thing, but what a wonderful vegetable! It looks like a large green onion and tastes just like a garlicy onion at that, so they went perfectly with my intuitive style of cooking - lots of aromatics and building upon flavors. I decided to add it to my wish list and then mark it off immediately.

So what has both predominant onion and garlic flavor already? Stir fry!

Green Garlic and Pepper Stir Fried Rice

2 TB olive oil (use sesame oil if you have it, but only use 1 TB)

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped white button mushrooms

1/2 thinly sliced green garlic (green and whites)

1 cup thinly julienned spinach

red pepper flakes, to taste

2 TB soy sauce

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1 egg, beaten

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add bell peppers and mushrooms; cook until crisp-tender. Add green garlic and cook an additional five or so minutes (you will want to cook off some of the bitter and biting qualities of the green garlic, so don't get worried if it gets a little crispy around the edges.) Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Season with red pepper flakes and soy sauce (add additional oil if necessary.) Stir in rice and heat through. Mix in the egg and turn off the heat immediately - allow the egg to cook by the residual heat in the pan (which prevents the egg from turning rubbery and tough.)

Chipotle Doesn't Have Anything on Me

As you all know by now, I am a sucker for Tex-Mex and Mexican food. It is always my go to when I am out of ideas for dinner time, I not-so-jokingly kid that I could eat my weight in chips and fresh salsa, and it is the only way I have found to stomach avocados (I am still on uneasy ground with them... see here.) That being said, my weekend was filled with nothing but writing my business plan (not joking, that's all it was - I need to go back to school to get a break!) but was interrupted briefly to make this yummy bowl of comfort.

I think I should go ahead and put my two cents in there when it comes to the burrito fast food debate. Qboda, Chipotle, Pollo Loco, Taco Del Mar, Taco Bell (shudders)... so many to choose from, essentially offering the same things, and shamelessly overpricing their product. I mean come now, how expensive is rice, beans, grilled vegetables, and lettuce? Not. Very. But I have a special weakness for Moe's: http://www.moes.com/. But really, Moe's salsa. I buy it by the cup full and ask for it as a birthday and Christmas present, not joking. Seriously, if you aren't lucky enough to have a Moe's by you, drive to the nearest one, tell them Katelyn sent you, and I'm sure they will give you a discount.

And I am now following them on Twitter... I'm such a dork...

To avoid paying too much for rice and beans, plus saving the time to walk there, I decided to make my own rice bowl this weekend. It turned our scrumptious, I could use brown rice (which Mexican restaurants won't jump on board with,) and I saved eight bucks. Win-win-win!

Cilantro Lime Rice Vegetable Bowl

Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/4 cup finely minced fresh cilantro (I used the paste that comes in the produce section of the grocery)

juice of half a lime

salt and pepper to taste

Cumin Scented Black Beans:

1 can black beans, un-drained

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 TB minced cilantro

Toppings:

diced avocado

salsa/pico de gallo

shredded lettuce/spinach

shredded cheese (I used pepper jack!)

Mix rice ingredients together and place in your serving bowl. Warm your beans in a saucepan, bring to a hard simmer, then take off the heat and spoon your desired amount over your rice (making sure to get some of that yummy, spicy, cumin-scented juice too.) Top that with your sauteed veggies of choice (I used onions and red bell pepper) or meat for you carnivores out there. And finally, top off your bowl with all the toppings your heart desires.

Rice Salad, Yummy Yummy

I have learned more and more over the past few weeks that people actually read this thing, which is crazy to me since out of all the things there are to read out there, especially when free time is oh so precious and fleeting, you choose to read this blog. I will start by saying thank you, i truly love and appreciate that you all value what I have to say and endure these terrible pictures I take, and will conclude by saying that I can recommend some great other blogs to you if you're looking to get a bigger food fix.

I made this salad a while back, as a stomach flu, a snow storm, midterms, and Spring Break all stood in the way of me posting this, but as it is Spring like outside and I spent most of yesterday lounging in the sunny 81 degree weather, this seemed like the perfect recipe to share with y'all today.

Rice Salad

1/2 bell pepper, diced

1/2 white onion, diced

1/3 cup parsley, minced

1/2 cup peeled and seeded cucumber, diced

2 stalks celery (leaves and all), diced

1/2 cup sliced black olives (or more if you love them like I do)

1 1/2 C cooked brown rice

Dressing:

few pinches red pepper flakes

1/2 C olive oil

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

1/2 tsp dried oregano

juice of half a lemon

zest of a whole lemon

Mix all salad ingredients together, set aside. Whisk together all dressing ingredients in a separate bowl (or shake them up in a Mason jar.) Pour dressing over salad, toss, and refrigerate. Perfect when served with poached chicken or on a bed of spinach.  

Thank you for all your support of this blog. I do it for myself, because I think it is fun to write about my adventures in the kitchen and keep a log of what all I have been making, but it is even more fun to share these dishes with other people. After all, that is why I cook - to feed people. 

Thanks for reading!

Summer Salads!

What I want to concentrate on here is salad. It has been incredibly chilly around here; we are talking 100 degree last Saturday and then Sunday, the high was 60. So us weenies around this part (I am raising my hand too) are not used to such a drastic temperature drop. I have broke out my sweatshirts and actually am loving the walk to classes now that they are brisk and refreshing instead of draining and suffocating. But I wasn't ready to kiss all of my favorite summer produce good-bye just yet, so I made salad!

My salad I want to feature is my grandma's chicken grape salad. (Happy Grandparents's Day Mommaw and Boppaw - and to all those other grandparents out there!) I LOVE her chicken grape salad. Swoon worthy for sure. I mean look at it!

 I try to steer away from mayo-based salads (egg, tuna, chicken, you name it) simply because they usually aren't very healthy and I am not the biggest fan of mayo to begin with. But Mommaw's chicken grape is the epitome of exceptions. Whole baby purple grapes, toasted poppy seeds, beautifully poached and shredded chicken, crisp celery, and a honey mayonnaise dressing that tastes anything but heavy. But what to eat it with? (Since I had to convince myself that eating this scrumptious salad right out of the Tupperware was not appropriate - why I don't know.)  Usually Mommaw serves this on a flaky croissant, but since I was fresh out, I made a salad out of a salad! I just dolloped some on top of a bed of spinach and away I went. 

Paired with a Wasa cracker (check these out if you haven't already people! It is the most perfect combination of bread and cracker; crispy and hearty) and I was the happiest of campers.

I am still working with the very limited pantry items that I have in the apartment but still made an extremely satisfying dinner. The salad is cucumber (peeled and diced), Roma tomato, carrots, with a dressing of simply balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. 

I made a little extra of the vinaigrette and poured the whole salad over some baby spinach. Served here with some brown rice and grilled chicken.

Good weather news is on the horizon! This week is supposed to be in the mid 60s and 70s! Fabulous!!! That is my favorite. I am predicting more salads in my very near future.

Also, for all of you wonderfully thoughtful people out there who love my sister's photography so much, first of all thank you! I mentioned this suggestion to her this weekend and she seemed interested. Let's all keep out fingers crossed and hope that she decides to.

New Apartment, New Concept!

I am so excited to be writing this blog entry from the living room of my new apartment! We moved in last weekend, and have now officially been here for a week and a day today. Being that it is my last year of college, well, college at this university that is, it seems fitting that I am finally learning and practicing how to feed myself every night, clean every week, grocery shop for one, and walk the couple blocks each day to make it to class on time. These concepts are of course not foreign to me, just much more convenient now that I am not sharing a single room with another girl. I have I mentioned yet how I have a KITCHEN?! I am sure when I buy my own home, I will only care about a nice kitchen. I can sleep in a cardboard box on the kitchen floor as long as there is room for a double oven and stand mixer.

But I digress... I wanted to tell you all how I want to change the nature of my postings a bit. I am still going to cook what I cook best, being healthy, tasty, and pretty foods, but I am going to change my focus a little bit. I am going to show you all how it is possible and even, dare I say, FUN to cook healthy meals while juggling a million other things a day. From Student Government Exec meetings and Dance Ensemble classes, to sorority meetings and those pesky 17 hours of class, I feel as if I am simulating the pending 40, 50, and at times 60 hour work week. And I can still cook for myself. What have I managed to do in the past week you ask? Take a look:

• Stuffed Peppers
• Tossed Salad with Pomegranate Vinaigrette
• Corn Chowder
• Cherry Strawberry Smooties
• Banana Almond Muffins

And one of my roommates brought a snow cone machine to college with her so needless to say that has gotten some use this week (lemon lime and cherry coconut ones are frequently my dessert of choice.)

Tonight I was having a craving for Chinese, but not the kind laden in MSG and sodium. Instead, a homemade one with carrots, onions, and broccoli, all crisp tender and deliciously caramelized in a searing hot skillet (new ones for the new kitchen! Thanks for the early birthday presents Mom!)

A little grilled chicken, brown rice, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar (I am still building up my pantry of staples like soy sauce, but balsamic was a perfectly delicious alternative) and I had dinner... AND LEFTOVERS!

A Little Tilapi' with by Pappy

I should have warned all of you from the start, I am a big old dork. A dork whose free time is spent in a hot kitchen, who thinks it is fun to surf food blogs and keeps a journal with recipes to try or variations on classics, and who knows that her future will be a happy one if she gets to use her chef's knife everyday. Yep, that's a pretty accurate description of me actually. But I have no shame in by obsession (let's call it what it is here) with food. It makes me happy, is usually delicious, and brings people together in a most wonderfully unique and genuine way. Ever notice how you can bond with someone at a restaurant you don't know from Adam by asking what they ordered and whether they like it. Never done it before? That's a shame, try next time you out. Or chat up the vendors that the next farmer's market you visit. Most often than not you will walk away with at least three ways to prepare whatever you just bought, the history of it starting when it was just a thought in someone's head, and with a smile on your face to boot.

It is in my blood to get just as excited about trying a new food as I do waiting for Christmas to come. So whilst I was home this past weekend I commandeered the use of my familiar family kitchen and set out on a quest to demystify cooking fish as home. I love fish, it is one of my favorite treats. It is always what I ask for for my birthday dinner, and I am not picky either. Raw, seared, blackened, grilled, poached, Asian style, salmon, monkfish, shellfish, sandwiches, salads, you name it. But I, like so many other home cooks I know, was scared to death to try my hand at home. It's too expensive. There is no way I can keep it from sticking. What in the world would I serve it with? I don't have time. Oh I was so very wrong...

I might have mentioned before that I cook a lot with my dad when I am home. We share the same bottomless stomach and curious nature which makes brainstorming, tasting, adjusting, and daydreaming about what we will have for dinner one of our favorite past times. And he too, does a fair amount of cooking on his own and has yet to crack the "fish at home" fear either. So we embarked on the journey together, and thus produced a most wonderful plate of food.

Pretty right? It just screams summer. We attempted talapia, a mild, inexpensive, (yes you read correctly) and "blank canvas" fish. Grilled with fresh thyme, parsley, and lemon slices, then topped with a summery salsa of blueberry, strawberry, diced parmesan cheese, and balsamic vinegar made for a deliciously different protein. Paired with our favorite grilled veggie (asparagus) and a rice pilaf (minced parsley, arugula, thyme, grape tomatoes, olive oil and tarragon vinegar) and we were in business.

I am here to tell you you no longer have to avoid your wanting eyes when you walk past the seafood department at your local grocer. Instead, take a deep breath, march your little self up there, and ask the fish monger what he can recommend. Yet another way to connect with a complete stranger about food!