Colorful Weeknight Chicken

After being in the office a total of 6 days during the month of December, last week it was finally time to return to reality. I like my job, I really do, but being away for long stretches of time always leaves me a little sad when it finally has to come to an end. No more running at my leisure, spending the day baking, and impromptu cuddles with my Aussie.

Luckily, winter had other ideas and come Tuesday morning (I work from home on Mondays), snow graced my fair city and I found myself working from the comfort of my home office yet again instead of making the dreaded trek to Bethesda as snow pelted the streets around me. A post-Christmas miracle.

I'm not gonna lie, being at home an extra day definitely had its pluses. I got to put the 3 plus hours that I otherwise would've spent committing into my work and my beloved Shepherd dog was able to spend some time in the snow (her favorite of the weather elements....after a warm summer's day) breaking in her new Christmas coat.

It was all fun and games until the freezing temperatures started to cause the snow to freeze between her delicate paws. She owns, but refuses to wear snow boots.

Perhaps the best thing to come out of my impromptu work from home day was that I got to break out a new recipe for Tuesday dinner date night (and we got to eat before 8:00 for once since I wasn't flying home in a frenzy). Everyone wins! 

I spent most of last year returning to meat. It was a long time coming and I'm glad to be back on (or off depending on your perspective) the wagon. Because my quest to finally learn to cook came during my time as a vegetarian, I realized last year that I had only minimal experience cooking meat, most of which was gained during my college years when my food standards were very different. It also doesn't help matters that I still tend to gravitate towards non-meat recipes when I'm cooking and save my meat allotment for the week for dining out. [It's not really that regimented, but it sometimes feels like that].  So, in 2015 I've vowed to cook more meat in the home. 

This recipe was great for both helping me to meet that goal and for incorporating my FOTY circa 2013 into the dish. Artichokes are something that I've come to like thanks to 2013, but I still don't seek them out as much as I should. My real joy in this meal came from the abundance of colors. Quite possibly the one cooking lesson that my mother imparted on me was an appreciation for a colorful plate. I may have squealed when this gem came together. 

Baked Chicken with Spinach and Artichokes

Ingredients
*Original recipe found here

• 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts, cut into thirds
• Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• 1 can (14-ounces) quartered artichokes, rinsed and drained
• 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 large carrot, sliced into thin rounds
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 bag (6 to 8 ounces) baby spinach
• ½ cup vegetable broth

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 425 F and heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet on the stove top

2. Cut chicken breasts into thirds and season with salt and pepper

3. Add to skillet and brown on both sides (no need to cook all the way through, they're continue to cook during part 2)

4. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside on a plate for later

5. Add artichokes, onions, carrots, and garlic to the skillet and cook for 5 or so minutes, until veggies are slightly tender

6. Add chopped garlic and spinach, cooking for an additional minute and stirring occasionally

7. In a 9 x 13 baking pan, combine veggies, chicken, and broth

8. Place in oven and bake for approximately 18 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked

9. Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes then plate and serve.

Cheers for an easy weeknight meal! Later in the evening I would learn the importance of not being talked into watching a pseudo-scary movie (the Shining) before bed. Cue dreams of creepy children coming out of walls.... 

Thanksgiving Recap: Part 1

It came and it was wonderful. Oh Thanksgiving, I miss you already. Thankfully, I can relive the day in food through a few last posts before diving head first into the Christmas season! 

This year, as my cooking has continued to blossom in recent months, I decided I was ready to take on my largest role yet in the preparation of Thanksgiving dinner. I have spent the better part of the last decade dreaming of the day that I will play host to Thanksgiving dinner. The pieces are slowly starting to come together and I'm loving it. Now that my cooking skills are up to the task, I just need to acquire a home large enough to host the gathering and I'll be good to go. I can barely stand the anticipation. To pacify myself this year, I volunteered to make two sides, as well as my usual slew of desserts. Last year I went a little crazy with the desserts (I think I made three), so I was determined at the least to top 2011-Gian. In addition, TF was going to be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner and I wanted to make sure he was not disappointed. 

Early on in our relationship I learned that TF did not share my love of Thanksgiving (or even enjoy it). While the proclamation nearly killed me, I made it my personal mission to change his feelings towards this glorious day. Unfortunately, I haven't had nearly as many opportunities as I would've liked over the years to sway his opinions. Prior to this year, we'd only spent one other Thanksgiving together (with his family), so this was my first real opportunity to work my magic. When crafting the menu, I decided that I would  make a version of his homemade mac and cheese (I should also mention that he claims to not be a fan of Thanksgiving food in general, so that presents another hurdle that I must overcome) that would serve as his main dish. My dad makes a mean mac and cheese, but since this was going to be 90% of TF's meal, I wanted to make sure he got some veggies as well :) And so, without further ado, I present to you:

TF's Bake Mac and Cheese

Ingredients
Adapted from this 3-cheese version

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion 
• 2 Tbsps all-purpose flour 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk, plus some additional for baking
• 2 cups smoked Gouda cheese, shredded
• 1 1/4 cups 6-cheese Italian shredded cheese blend (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Fontina, Romano and Aged Asiago)
• 3/4 cup 6-cheese Italian shredded cheese blend, save to sprinkle on top before baking
• 2 cups uncooked whole wheat elbow macaroni
• 1-2 cups fresh broccoli, uncooked
• 1 dozen or so small-medium tomatoes (enough to cover the top of the casserole), sliced 
• 1 cup breadcrumbs (I made my own from whole wheat bread, but store bought work fine as well)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Love making homemade bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Cook pasta in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Add broccoli and cook for an additional 3 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Drain well

It pretty much took everything in me not to eat all of this....LOVE smoked gouda

2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 8 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add flour and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add cheese, about 1/2 cup at a time, and salt and pepper; stir until cheeses melt

3. Preheat oven to 375° F

4. In a large bowl (or pot) combine pasta with cheese mixture, stirring well. Spread evenly in 13x9 baking dish. Top with tomatoes, lining evenly in rows, then add remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Drizzle milk along the sides of the pan to keep it moist and creamy while baking

5. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until heated and bread crumbs have begun to brown. Allow to cool for a minute or two and then dive in

And, as I dreamed, TF loved my creation....as well as my mom's broccoli cheese casserole and he even had turkey?! My plan is beginning to take shape :)

The perks of having a mom that's a teacher--seasonally appropriate stickers. Keeping with his semi-embracing of Thanksgiving, TF adorned one...along with  Sister and our aunt [mom's sister] 

In addition to this killer mac and cheese, I also made a vegetarian stuffing (or dressing if you will). Usually I make my Grandmother's version, but use pho-sausage to replace the actual sausage, but this year I was really into trying an herb version. And so I did, using this sourdough bread stuffing recipe courtesy of the Food Network. I found the finished product to be a little too moist but the flavors were dead on. The fresh herbs really made the recipe!

Toasting sour dough bread for the base

Baked and ready to eat. I can still smell the fresh herbs!

And tomorrow, dessert time!

Thanksgiving is Coming: Part 1

There's nothing I love more than a good 3-day weekend and this one came not a moment too soon. My sleep schedule was in shambles after election night and plummeted even further with some late nights at the beginning of the weekend. Thus, you can imagine the joy I felt when on Sunday I still had another day of weekend to catch up on sleep with (gotta love all the federal holidays this time of year). In an effort to not squander the entire day sleeping (or miss out on the gorgeous weather), I spent some time today walking with Bax and enjoying the leaves in the park and looking up some recipes for Thanksgiving dinner.

I will never get over how gorgeous the leaves are in fall

I love Thanksgiving so very much (I actually claim it as my favorite holiday) and it's been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to one day (when I live in something bigger than my current studio apartment) host the event. Since my time as a host is still a ways off, I have settled for the next best thing: coordinating the menu. Last year this time I was just starting to focus on developing my culinary skills and undertook the task of creating a slew of desserts. They were all amazingly delicious and if I didn't love Thanksgiving food so much, I would've feasted on them as my meal. This year, I have no choice but to try and top last year's efforts (damn my competitive nature). In the meantime, I'm guessing I'm not the only one who's thinking about recipes for the big day and thus I wanted to share two delectable fall-inspired sides that I made recently that could also serve as a great addition to any Thanksgiving table.

Acorn Squash with Wild Rice and Veggies

This is one of those recipes that is great when you need to use up some extra vegetables before they go bad and can easily be tweaked depending on the season or taste preferences. I ate it as a meal, but the recipe could definitely be increased (based on crowd size) and used as a Thanksgiving side as well. 

Ingredients

• 1 package of long grain wild rice 
• 1 acorn squash, roasted
• 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup portobello mushroom slices
• 1-1 1/2 cups baby spinach
• 4-5 capellini tomatoes, diced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Roast acorn squash either in the oven or crockpot. I used my pumpkin roasting crockpot method that I recently discovered and am currently obsessed with
2. Prepare rice according to package (usually takes about 25 minutes). With about five minutes left, I added my carrots to cook with the rice (but they could also be cooked in the skillet/wok as well)
3. Meanwhile, remove acorn squash from skin and discard skin (my only regret on this recipe is letting the squash cook for too long so that it was mushy rather than diceable...this is my punishment for not having a vision for the meal when I started cooking the squash)
4. Heat olive oil in wok or skillet, then add mushroom slices. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add in tomatoes and squash and continue to cook for an additional 4-5 minutes
5. Add in spinach and cook for 2-3 minutes. Cover and remove from heat to allow spinach to wilt
6. Once rice is cooked, mix with veggie mix in skillet, season and serve

Veggies post cooking (I also had to drain the excess water as a result of the squash not being as firm as it should've been...still good though)

Wild rice and carrots ready to eat

Giada's Roasted Veggies

Another great veggie side for the big day comes courtesy of my beloved Food Network. I had dinner with my parents over the weekend and offered to make these to accompany the fish my dad was preparing. They were a huge hit and would be a great easy, low stress addition to Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients

Courtesy of Giadá

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 medium carrots (about 3/4 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick circles
• 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts (about 1/2 pound), halved
• 4 cups red bliss potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 3 medium parsnips (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 cup sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 1/2-inch thick slices
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Wash and cut vegetables as mentioned above
3. Grease an 11 by 17-inch baking sheet pan with extra-virgin olive oil. Place vegetables in baking sheet and add the dried herbs, salt and pepper. Toss well, evenly coating all the vegetables with the seasonings and oil. Add more oil if the vegetables seem dry
4. Spread the vegetables evenly on a large baking sheet. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Enjoy!

Soup Time

Fall not only marks the beginning of me being in a more pleasant mood, but also the return of soups to my life. As I've recounted on numerous occasions, my tolerance for hot foods in the summer months is minimal at best. But in the fall/winter months, I love nothing more than nestling up with a warm bowl on the couch. 

Last week a colleague shared with me the recipe for one of her favorite soups from Whole Foods. She began by describing the recipe as having kale and sweet potato in it...I was instantly sold. So, after picking up some goodies at the farmers market over the weekend I was ready to get to it. The original recipe was made on the stove, but since I've been anxiously awaiting the chance to break out my crock pot, I threw everything in there and let the wondrous pot work it's magic. As you may recall, I'm fairly new to crock pot cooking (my receipt of said crock pot from Santa was part of the inspiration for starting this blog) and was ready to get back into the game. It did not disappoint, and despite what I read on several websites, I didn't have any problem with needing to adjust the amount of liquid in the original recipe. And as the grand finale, I got to use my beloved hand mixer! It was a good day in my kitchen!

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

Ingredients
[Adapted from Whole Foods]

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 rib celery, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme, minced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 5 cups vegetable broth or water
• 1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 3 cups chopped kale leaves
• Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

Pre-Cooking

Preparation

1. Combine above ingredients in crock pot, cook on high for 4-6 hours (until veggies are tender)
2. Using hand blender, puree veggies until desired consistency. Serve with whole grain bread for dipping

Ready to be blended

Summer's Last Hurrah

Oh fall. Cool, wonderful, fall. I cannot express how happy I am to see your shining face....it's been way too long. Before diving into today's post, you'll likely notice another costume change for the old blog. I continue to be less than thrilled with its layout and this is my current attempt to change things up. One day I'll get all kinks worked out. Until then, it will continue to be an evolving work in progress :)

When I awoke on Sunday morning I was greeted by a crisp autumn air and I was nothing short of thrilled...and even more so when it happened again this morning. Despite what the 7 day forecast says, I know I'm only days away from being able to my favorite outfit ensemble: shorts, Toms, and a cardigan. I can barely contain my excitement. In the mean time, I've officially stocked my cabinets with pumpkin so that I can whip up pumpkin infused delicacies on a whim (this might be dangerous). It is also a goal of mine to actually use fresh pumpkin in recipes, but that will probably be an October project.  

Despite my enthusiasm for fall's arrival, over the weekend I made one last go at a colorful recipe inspired by farm fresh summer veggies. The result was too good not to share and, as not to completely abandon my new found list of fall must-try recipes, I also prepared some pumpkin chocolate chip brownies for dessert, so fall was still alive an well in both my heart and my kitchen. Unfortunately, I wasn't focused when photographing the dessert, so none of my photos made the cut. I'll be making this again in the near future and will give him a post of his own to make up for my photography failings. Until then, hurry to market and scoop up some summer veggies for this dish before they're gone!

Corn and Tomato Saute Pizza

Ingredients

Adapted from Bev Cooks

• 3 Tbps extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 flatout tortilla wraps [the original recipe called for naan bread]
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ears of corn, shucked
• 1 carton halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (for corn). Once water comes to a boil, boil corn for 3 minutes, then cover and remove from heat. Leave covered for at least 10 minutes

3. At the same time, bring olive oil to a medium-high heat in a large skillet and add the sliced onion and jalapeno pepper; sauté 5 minutes, or until onions start to soften. 

4. Add the garlic and bloom 30 seconds. Add the corn and sauté an additional 5 minutes. Add the cilantro and lime juice. Stir in the tomatoes and sauté about 5 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper

5. Brush tortillas lightly with the olive oil. Lightly sprinkle some cheese over the tortillas, followed by the corn sauté. Finish with more cheese.

6. Slide pizzas into the oven and bake about 12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown and bubble. After they were cooked I placed them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes to darken the cheese slightly.
Serve and enjoy one last run at summer's gorgeous produce! 

Rock Climbing Fuel

Rock climbing has quickly become my new favorite activity. I dabbled in it for a time during high school, but viewed it more as a fun activity rather than something I strived to be good at. About two month ago, however, my interest in it was reborn and has been alive and well ever since.

It all started during a trip to OKC back in April. There are some old silos in downtown (yes, I know, shocking, there are silos in OK) that have been turned into an indoor rock climbing gym. For years (pretty much the whole time I was in school there) I wanted to give them a try but never could find anyone to accompany me.

Then one day a miracle happened, TF wanted to go climbing! I was estatic. We went the next time I was in town and were instantly hooked. It's really amazing how much better I've gotten in just a couple months (and I don't even get to go nearly as often as I'd like). I think, similar to yoga, my long limbs and natural flexibility make it something I take to naturally. This is something I'm thankful for because my upper body strength remains minimal at best despite my increased use of weights at the gym. Anyway, we loved climbing so much we even bought our own gear....and much to TF's dismay, matching shoes :)

Shoe twins

Inside one of the silos

Over Memorial Day weekend, I was in OKC yet again and TF and I made sure to plan multiple trips to the rock climbing gym into our itinerary. Before one such trip, we decided to make some pasta with a homemade sauce to help fuel us for our hours of climbing that lay ahead. The sauce we made is a standby favorite of ours. We've made several variations over the years, usually as part of our pre-race dinner before our half-marathons and it never fails to delight the tastebuds. We don't usually eat cheese pre-race, but for this version we decided to pick up some smoked gouda (a shared favorite for us) during our trip to Whole Foods (where we also shopped along side one of the Thunder players [Nick Collison])...highlight of my trip :)

Whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Marinara

Ingredients

• 1 large can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 15oz can diced tomatoes (we usually get the garlic and onion or basil one)
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 3-4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Olive oil (2-3 tbsp)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• 1 package whole wheat pasta

Preparation

1. Heat olive oil in skillet, added onion and garlic. Cook 2-3 minutes (they'll continue to cook once combined with the tomatoes)
2. Combine tomatoes in large pot (we typically use a wok, but any large pot will work) and bring to a boil
3. Add onion and garlic to tomatoes, plus salt and pepper
4. Reduce heat slightly and continue to boil on medium-high for 30-45 minutes (or until reduced to desired consistency). We prefer a chunckier sauce, but the longer it cooks the more reduced the tomatoes will become, so it's just about preference
5. While sauce is reducing, cook pasta according to package directions
6. Once pasta and sauce are done, plate and serve!

Ramps Arrive

Admittedly, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to food. I have no formal (or informal for that matter) training in cooking and after fighting it for many years, I'm slowing starting to come around to the idea of cooking on a regular basis. Additionally, there are still many foods that have yet to grace my taste buds. I'm working to remedy this in part through my little FOTY (Food of the Year) program, but that is mostly reserved for the foods I peg as "more challenging" for me to develop a taste for. Other, less offensive foods if you will, have come into my life in recent years, but with little to no fan fare (ie: okra, brussels sprouts,tofu...the list is surprisingly extensive). I could not, however, let my first experience with ramps pass undocumented.


I first discovered ramps a few months ago while reading another food blog. The author was raving about how excited she was to have found ramps at the local farmer's market and couldn't wait to begin using them. Unfortunately, I was reading an old posting at the time and it was not yet ramp season in the real world. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, spring was alive and well (it's turned oddly cold in the District since), and ramps made an appearance at the Dupont farmer's market. I was thrilled. Unfortunately, the market is only open on Sundays and I've been out of town or preoccupied for the last couple, so this was my first weekend to go ramp shopping and, as with most things that the average person wouldn't find exciting, I was bursting with excitement and anticipation about my upcoming marketing expedition. 


Shepherd was equally excited about the day of cooking I had planned (not really, but I told myself she was and allowed her to stop at the dog park on the way back from the farmer's market as a reward for her good behavior) and accompanied me on my joyous expedition. I'd spent the past couple of days scouting recipes in my free time, hoping to find just the right dish for which to use ramps the first time. After much deliberation, I landed on pizza. As I've mentioned before, pizza is my happy food and since I hadn't made it in a while, I decided this was the perfect time for it to return to my life. Having never bought ramps before, but learning through my research that they are a foodie favorite, I was slightly nervous about supply and demand and worried we'd show up with no ramps to be found. Luckily, either I was so far behind the curve on this one that people are already over them (although I saw them in at least four dishes during dinner Saturday night, so I'm choosing to believe they're still in their hayday) or we were early enough that they hadn't all been snatched up, because we arrived to a table bursting will all the ramps I could ever want. I snatched up a bunch (hesitant to buy more than one the first go round least I end up hating them...although I was fairly certain that wouldn't be the case), as well as some other produce and then was on my way (mentally skipping with joy over my purchase). 

Part of my haul from the market...the radishes served as a cooking snack :)

So, as I mentioned, I chose pizza for my first ramp-based dish. I was drawn to this recipe because it also allowed me to use up some of the asparagus I'd purchased a few weeks back and tucked away in my freezer for safe keeping. To culminate this joyous occasion, I didn't have any dough pre-made, so Mr. Red got to join the party and breakout his dough hook for the first time! It was yet another delightful culinary experience.

Mr. Red getting some play time once again, this time breaking in the dough hook

White Cheese Pizza with Ramps (and other fun veggies)
[Adapted from The Kitchen Sink]


Ingredients

• 10 ramps (medium size)
• 8-10 asparagus spears
• 4-5 cherry tomatoes
• Baby spinach (1-2 cups)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper (to taste)
• Olive oil (for brushing the crust)
• Whole wheat crust or dough (I used this recipe again, but omitted the rosemary, although in hindsight that would've been good too)

Ready to bake

Preparation

1. Roll out pizza dough, brush with olive oil and cook at 450F for 8-10 minutes
2. While dough is cooking, wash and cut veggies as desired
3. After removing dough from oven, cover with cheese and veggies, season with salt and pepper, and cook  at 400 F for 8-10 minutes 

The ramps did not disappoint, I'm officially a fan!

Half Marathon Pre-Race Fuel

Since this blog is also supposed to be about running, I guess it's about time that I have a running related post. In addition to being one of the greatest holidays of the year, Saturday was also the DC Half Marathon. I am a big fan of this race. Because DC is so small, the half literally takes you around the whole city. I did this race for the first time last year and loved it so much that when Alicia expressed an interest in doing it this year I was thrilled. This year, the race fell on St. Patty's Day, allowing us to not only run and enjoy all the fun incorporations of green in the ensembles of our fellow runners, but to also spend the rest of the day celebrating with a little less guilt.


One of my favorite parts of running long distances used to be the pre-race pasta dinner. I'm always encountering people that think vegetarians spend their days downing pasta. Perhaps surprisingly to many, I probably eat less pasta since becoming a vegetarian than I did before. I used to love the grain, but perhaps as a result of consuming it too frequently during my ill-experienced cooking years in college, I find more often than not that I have to really mentally psych myself up to get in the mood for a pasta dinner. (This is admittedly another of my weird food tendencies) 


To help get me excited for my pre-race meal, I decided a new pasta recipe was in order. Not wanting to spend too much time cooking the night before the race, I was thrilled when I discovered a 10 minute sauce recipe while browsing the pasta aisle at market. I'm not a huge sauce person and this allowed me to combine the needed sauce to prevent the meal from being too dry with my love for chunky tomatoes. The results did not disappoint and I was carbed up and ready to go for race day. 

Pasta with 10 Minute Sauce


Ingredients

• 1 box, whole wheat pasta (I usually just go with whatever looks good to me on a given day)
• 2 14.5oz cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 cup onion, diced 
• 1 cup diced tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 4 tbsp olive oil

*I also tossed in some fresh broccoli to add some extra nutrients and color

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender (about 5 minutes)
3. Stir in tomatoes, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste
4. Drain pasta, pour sauce over pasta and serve. Enjoy!

Alicia and I pre-race

Finished! Ready to start celebrating

A big part of why I run...that and the post-race pancakes I had prior to this

Tabouli Time

With the unseasonably warm weather we've been having this week in the District, cooking (especially warm foods) has been the furthest thing from my mind. Instead, aside from my taking my new mixer for a test run, I have found myself spending more time outside than in the kitchen. Although I love winter more than most people, this is the time of year I love having a dog and my neighborhood. The dog park has been filled with lots of friends for Bax (some she likes and some she doesn't)...and sometimes I think I like going there more than she does. 


Today I decided to break my no-cooking pattern and try my hand at something I've been craving for a while now, tabouli. When the weather gets warm it becomes nearly impossible for me to eat warm foods, ever. I literally don't eat soup from about mid-April until early October. Yes, it's true, I have weird food tendencies. With temperatures breaching 80, my craving for a cold bowl of tabouli was at an all time high. I had two choices. I could take the easy way out and stop at one of my favorite restaurants on the way home (for the record, Zorba's is way too close to the metro) for some take out tabouli, or I could toughen up and finally try to make it myself. Feeling ambitious, I went with the latter. Thanks to google, I found a super easy recipe that only required one thing that I didn't already have in the home. With wheat bulger in tow, I took the plunge. Not only was it at least as good as my beloved Zorba's, but it made a ton. As we know, I'm still new to this whole cooking thing and having leftovers that allow me to avoid cooking still makes me happy. I'm pretty much set for the rest of the week...


Homemade Tabouli
Original recipe found here

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Ingredients

• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup Bulgar Wheat
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1-3 tomatoes, diced 
• 2 cucumbers, seeded and diced (mother got me hooked on English cucumbers so I always have those on hand which eliminated the seed issue)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 teaspoons sea salt

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the bulgar wheat and cover; let stand about 20 minutes until wheat is tender and water is absorbed
2. Chop vegetables and cilantro (this was fun for me because I got to use the new peeler I got from sister)
3. Add the chopped herbs and vegetables and toss with the wheat bulgar
4. Drizzle the oil, lemon juice, and sprinkle the salt over the wheat mixture and mix well. Chill (I sped this up by sticking a small portion in the freezer for about 5 minutes)
5. Serve with pita and enjoy!