Never enough hummus.

My 5 years as a vegetarian introduced me - no - married me, to the chick pea. It's an incredibly versatile bean, full-of protein and flavor. A full grocery shop isn't complete without a few cans of organic chick peas. I should really buy the fresh peas, but canned can be low in sodium and much faster when you're on the go.




I have played around with several hummus recipes over the years, including this quick and easy version : Roasted Red Pepper Hummus.

Ingredients:
1 can of organic, low-sodium chick peas
1 tbls extra virgin olive oil
2 tbls tahini (you can find this in the kosher aisle)
3 tbls fresh lemon juice
1 red pepper (roasted in EVOO)
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp red pepper flakes
dash of sriracha (to taste)

Directions:
Rinse chick peas and pour into food processor
Add olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, chopped garlic and herbs
Chop red pepper and roast in pan with 1 tbls olive oil
Add roasted pepper
Blend until garlic and peas are smooth and creamy
Enjoy with veggies or use as a substitute for dressing on salad.

 So the end result looks a bit like mush, but take my word for it - it's quite yummy.

Lemon Poppy Bread

I haven't quite conquered the world of bread, but I have mastered the art of lemon poppy seed muffins, breads, cookies, etc. Lemon Poppy Seed bread is much less intimidating than other breads and probably one of the easier, more delicious desserts. 

I followed a pretty easy (and not so healthy) recipe - so it tasted even better. woops.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread :

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup  milk

1 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons  poppy seeds

13 tablespoons of unsalted butter (brace yourself...)

Lemon Syrup:

1/4 cup (60 ml) fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. 
• Butter and flour (or spray with a non stick vegetable/flour spray) the bottom and sides of a loaf pan. 
• Line bottom of the pan with parchment paper & butter and flour the paper. 

• In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract, and milk. 
• In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer (which I find to be just as efficient), beat the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, and poppy seeds until combined. 
• Add the softened butter and half the egg mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Increase the speed to medium and beat for about one minute (while this sounds tedious, it gives the bread its cakey, delicious texture and it is so worth the time). 
• Add the remaining egg mixture in two batches, beating about 30 seconds after each addition. 
• Pour batter into the pan - bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until the golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

• When bread is done, remove from oven and place on a wire cookie rack. 
• Pierce the loaf all over with a toothpick or fork and then brush the top with about half the lemon syrup.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring sugar and lemon juice to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. 

• Cool loaf in the pan for about 10 minutes then place onto a cookie rack. 
• Brush the rest of your syrup onto the bottom and the sides of the loaf - don't go hog wild with the syrup, or it will really be too sweet (yes, there is such a thing).
• Cool the bread completely before wrapping.

 

Makes 1 delicious, sweet loaf. 

What does summer mean to you?

To me, summer means warm nights, cold beer and sweet corn on the grill. The last few nights have finally given me a sense of summer. The key to making it last? Be outside every night (even if you've worked a long day). Make sure to eat on the porch, buy fresh fruit and veggies and grill your chicken. This week was filled with frisbee golf (my first experience - not exactly a spectator sport), kickball followed by a BBQ at the lake and a delicious dinner cooked by T and enjoyed on the porch with roommates.

This Frisbee golf course was quite beautiful...

And the sunset wasn't so shabby either...

 


The best part of summer?

Half day Fridays. That's right. Leaving at 2 pm on a Friday just because. It really is the best feeling in the world.

Today was a short day of work, followed by dinner and drinks on the deck. If only every night could be so wonderful. We were missing the sweet corn, but the cheesy reggae and delicious beer made up for it.

Pizza Madness.

What do you do without a rolling pin? (yes, we are still college kids at heart)! You use a wine bottle. And what do you do without canned tomato sauce? You find the homemade stuff that was canned so long ago that you totally forget it was there. :)

When friends get together in masses, the  best thing to do is make some pies. Of course, the men sat in the living room and the ladies (and little baby) made the pizzas. I have to admit, we did well. We made 3 pies in total, using only 2 whole wheat doughs between them.

These pizzas were topped with homemade sauce, fresh mozz, feta with herbs, crumbled tofu, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and olives. It was delicious and made for great leftovers the next day.

Last minute toppings go on...

And.....voilà! 

Coconutty goodness.

As a kid, I hated coconut...to put it lightly. Coconut was one of those things that I'd already decided upon by age 5. But somehow, that decision changed sometime in the past year or so. I now love everything coconut. Funny how our taste buds change as we age.

My inspiration for the coconut shout out?

Coconut water. No, not because it's "trendy" but because it is refreshing and healthy. I first tried coconut water at a natural foods expo in Boston. I was a little aprehensive about the whole concept, but quickly changed my mind after tasting a sample. This stuff is delicious.

Happy to have opened my world to the coconut.

                                                             
Just a tip: if you like coconut, try Liberte Coconut yogurt.
Liberte is a full-fat Mediterannean yogurt that tastes a bit like heaven. I add a couple tablespoons to my bowl of plain greek yogurt, to give it a touch of coconut. Unbelievable. Not too sweet. Juuuuust right. :)

Beach style.

T and I visited CT last weekend for a weekend with family and friends. We were lucky to have perfect beach weather on Sunday afternoon. To the beach we went, with bags filled for a picnic and plans to relax...all day.

We set up camp with a few towels, umbrella & a pile of goodies.

 We had grilled chicken, chips with guacamole and salsa, hummus and vegies, and a delicious bottle of white wine.

We finished our beach day with an amazing bowl of pinkberry frozen yogurt. This was our first trip to pinkberry and we used the excuse of "market research." Fair? I think so.
T tried the salted caramel yogurt with fruit and chocolate and I had the coconut yogurt with mango and granola. It was so refreshing and hit the spot! If only we had one at home. hmph. A girl can dream.

Always room for dessert.

 As kids, we didn't know what canned whipped cream was. I remember being incredibly jealous of my friends with "cool" parents, who bought the ready-whip whipped cream. It wasn't until I was older that I realized why my mother always made REAL whipped cream. Real whipped cream made fresh with sugar is one of the most amazing things a gal can eat.

This way a fresh fruit tart with a twist. It was made with a pastry crust, filled with a lemon meringue and topped with fruit. And of course, a side of Mom's whipped cream. 

Bon Appetit

NYC is known for many things: fabulous shows, great restaurants, beautiful people and crazy nightlife (among many other things). Conveniently enough, T has family in Connecticut, just a short train ride to NYC. We spent a beautiful, sunny weekend in NYC. We saw Avenue Q Off-Broadway, ate dinner at a fantastic French restaurant called DBGB, and spent time with friends in the city. All in all, it was a relaxing weekend filled with some great people we hadn't seen in awhile.

DBGB was famous for its burgers, but after eating there, I'd say that people should definitely be talking about their desserts. yum.

T and I shared a delicious romaine salad with avocado, red pepper, carrot grapefruit & ginger-sesame dressing.

 

For my main course, I had the escalope of chatham cod with grilled artichokes & fennel, ramps, arugula crispy chickpea panisse, sauce vierge. Simple and perfect.

T had the ranch pork loin schnitzel with capers, cornichons, hazelnuts & french ham, asparagus
chanterelles and a sunnyside egg.

For dessert, we shared Baked Alaska (which the chef lit on fire at the table - awesome).

Pistachio lemon sundae, warm lemon bread pudding heaven...

 Mint and chocolate ice cream sandwhich with homemade fudge sauce.

And we left feeling incredibly full. Mind you, this restaurant also had about 30 different beers on tap and an incredible wine list. Yes, we will be coming back.

I know, I know...the picnic theme is getting old fast. But I swear, the sunny warm days are so few and far between that it really is an absolutely necessity to get outside while you can.

This picnic was on the healthy side. Because we don't have a grill at this new apartment, we are stuck roasting vegetables (which can be a bit limiting). But nevertheless, roasting veggies can be equally delicious if you are patient and get them juuuuust right.

This picnic included:

roasted broccoli, onions and sweet potatoes with homemade garlic tahini hummus.

Peanut noodles with homemade peanut sauce (incredibly simple recipe: heat 1/2 cup peanut butter, 2 tbls soy sauce, 2 tbls sesame oil, tsp cayenne pepper, 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic, and whatever spices you'd like to add - yum!)

Baked tofu in Thai almond seasoning - never gets old. A little salty, but delicious.

And a few long trail ales to wash it all down.

We're getting good at this picnic thing. :)

By the way - it should be noted - the more picnics you attend/host, the most you learn the bare necessities of picnic-ing.

Our bare necessities:

A warm blanket that you don't care for so much that you'll be devastated when it's covered in dirt, food, etc.

A cooler/sturdy bags to carry everything

Plastic plates, utensils, cups, napkins, etc.

A good book

Delicious finger food & ice cold drinks

And of course, someone to share your food with (or maybe just the blanket)

If you want to take it to the next level - grab some portable speakers & an iPod.

Okay - now I've clearly over-shared my picnicking obsession with you. Go eat & enjoy :)

The best kind of Saturday

The best kind of Saturday's start with the best kind of Farmer's Market. This day went a little somethin' like this...

Sleep in. Big jumbo sized coffee. Quick breakfast. Farmer's Market (which usually includes sampling, lots of bread, puppies galore and good friends). Walk along the waterfront. Vanilla creemee with rainbow sprinkles. Quick shower. Drinks & a night on the town.

 

 This bread is to die for. We are constantly re-visting this baker for fresh breads. This one was topped with rosemary, black olives and goat cheese. Our best yet - fresh wheat bread stuffed with kale, garlic, parm cheese & onions. Amazing.

Let there be light

 The rain has continued....until today. One brief day of sun, amidst what feels like an eternity of rain. It's actually incredibly depressing. The only upside to all of this rain....everything is in full bloom. The grass is green and all of the flowers are beautiful. Because we knew we'd only get a short time with this sun, we decided to venture down to the waterfront for a sunset picnic after work. We grabbed a few Red Stripes, a massive salad, blankets, some reading materials...and we were off.
Amazing salad that we both ate way too much of. And an even better sunset.

Business or Pleasure?

....more like 1/2 business, 1/2 pleasure. And yes, I'm referring to these beautiful treats. The cake balls were all pleasure, but the Cannolis were all business (aka a work related purchase)....

I still enjoyed tasting them, regardless of the purpose.

Sun is shining.

After hundreds of days filled with nothing but rain and snow, we received a day of sun. Believe it or not, there was no snow and no rain. We decided to seize the day, hit our favorite local market and soak up the sun. Belly was full, skin was toasted and I was happy. :)

Brussel sprout walnut salad, steamed broccoli, cabbage and carrot salad, curried cauliflower and a spinach tofu salad on the side.

Tofu Perfected

You can eat something for the majority of your life and never really know how to prepare it....until you really know how to prepare it. I will have no ego in saying that this tofu wasn't prepared by me, yet prepared for me in a perfect way. First, it was sliced into rectangles, pressed to remove excess water, dipped in extra virgin olive oil and rugged with a spicey thai almond spice. Baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or so. Perfect, crispy - but not fried.

The tofu was served with baked veggies and of course, a sweet potato with almond butter.
Heavenly.

Cake Balls.

Working for a dessert company, I'm forced to think about dessert on an everyday basis (rough life). I am always learning about new dessert trends and different ways to prepare traditional sweets. Cake balls are said to be a new, hip and trendy way to eat cake. Is this why I wanted to make them? No way. These just looked incredibly tasty. With a friend coming into town and some hungry roommates - these were just the trick.

It goes a little somethin' like this...

Directions:
Prepare a 9 inch cake (yellow or chocolate - your preference) Nothing wrong with store bought!

Remove cake from oven and crumble into a bowl while still warm.

Prepare frosting (vanilla, chocolate, buttercream, etc.)

 Use hand mixer to mix cake and frosting until smooth.

Refridgerate cake/frosting mixture for 3 hrs or overnight

Remove mixture from fridge.

Use melon baller to create small round balls.

Place balls on wax paper and keep in fridge for at least one hour.
Melt semi-sweet chocolate (or white chocolate) over boiling water until smooth.

Roll cake balls into chocolate until covered.
Place covered balls onto wax paper and sprinkle with rainbow sprinkles/nuts/assorted chocolate.

Place cake balls in fridge for at least one hour and enjoy.

WARNING: It is nearly impossible to consume just one cake ball. Do not be fooled by their size - this is not an individual serving - in any way, shape or form. :) 

While I did not make this because of their trendy, cute appeal .... I have to admit, they are pretty darn adorable.