F-R-E-S-H

Check out my NEW TOY!!!!!!!

Tonight I am planning to use it for Cranberry Chocolate Chip cookies, in honor (and torment) of my friend Alli who cannot be here to consume them.

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Meat Substitute Experimentation and the Slew of Quick Meals

I haven't been cooking very much, mostly on account of feeling preoccupied and needing to eat quickly before moving onto the next thing.

Although, I did make a vegetarian shepherd's pie with Yves Meatless Ground, red potatoes, carrots, black beans, corn, black olives, green pepper, parsley, salt, pepper, and (probably) basil. It was our first time eating Yves and it was really tasty. Our non-pescatarian friend approved, too. This was all just sort of thrown together, so I don't know any of the exact measurements.

We went to the farmer's market and picked up some corn, apples, and amazingly delicious herb goat cheese. What herbs? BASIL and ROSEMARY. Oh my goodness. It went so well with tomato slices and toast. (I've forgotten exactly what bread this was, but all of Scratch's breads taste great, so their website is worth a look. They're also catering our wedding.)

More experimentations with meat substitues led to successes as well, which we are pleased with because it broadens my capabilities in the kitchen. I didn't get a picture of it, but Fiance made stir-fry with Quorn's Naked Chik'n Cutlets. A few nights later I made something similar with white rice and Morningstar Farm Meal Starters Steak Strips.

We've also been eating Morningstar Farms Hickory BBQ Riblets with swiss cheese on rolls for lunch sometimes. I don't love these meals, but they're pretty good, especially for something quick and reasonably healthy. Well, not the riblets... but those have been my least favourite anyway. We'll have to keep experimenting...

I'm currently trying to cut down on my sugar intake by drinking less soda, consuming less chocolate/desserts, and using less of it in my tea. Of course, I immediately crave carbonation. Perrier to the rescue.

Tomorrow I'll post about the breakfast I've been eating for about two weeks now because it warrants it's own post with pictures.

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Spicy Pineapple Glazed Kabobs for a summer barbecue

For our 4th of July barbecue, instead of veggie dogs or burgers, I made Spicy Pineapple Glazed Shrimp Kabobs, which were really delicious. Perfect with a gin and tonic.

I bought shrimp that was already deveined and cooked, so it cut down quite a lot on time. Seeing as how I was already late for the party, like usual, it ended up being a very good idea. The shrimp I bought was actually a whole dollar cheaper than the raw shrimp they had at EarthFare, so there was no guilt involved.

Also, I bought a can of pineapple in 100% pineapple juice and this worked perfectly.

Below I essentially copy and pasted the recipe from the Food Network's website just in case the link ever stops working. I'd hate to lose this easy, delicious recipe!

Servings: 2-5

Time: 30 minutes or less

• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks, fresh or canned
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch squares
• 2/3 cup pineapple juice
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 8 wooden or metal skewers

1. Soap the skewers, if wooden, for at least 30 minutes.

2. Skewer the shrimp alternating with the pineapple, onion, and green pepper.

3. In a small saucepan combine pineapple, lemon and lime juices with the ginger, jalapeno, soy sauce, honey and cilantro. Heat mixture over medium high heat and simmer until liquid is reduced by half.

4. Brush or drizzle the kabobs with the pineapple glaze. Cook off in a hot cast iron grill pan or over an outdoor grill. Grill for 3 minutes per side and brush occasionally with the glaze. Serve hot.

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Soft Scrambled Eggs with (Fresh) Ricotta and Chives

This meal came from the April 2008 edition of Bon Appetit magazine. Submitted by Diane Rossen Worthington, a "Los Angeles based food writer, recipe developer, and cookbook author". Worthington's recent book Seriously Simple Holidays sounds like something I need to look for in Barnes & Noble next time I am there not buying anything.

Onto the recipe!

Breakfast is actually my favourite meal, but I seldomly make it because of being busy or over sleeping. On one Saturday morning recently, I made this for us and aside from being delicious, it was quick and easy enough that I could probably make it on a weekday.

As usual, the chives used were not fresh, but instead dried. However, we did use good quality ricotta cheese, which I think makes a significant difference. If you can, the recipe recommends using fresh ricotta because it "brings out the eggs' creaminess". We couldn't simply buy it around here and I was not going to make any.

The recipe also called for whole grain toast or baguette slices, lightly toasted and buttered, that you will later spoon scrambled eggs onto. I made toast for Fiance, but since I am trying to reduce the gluten in my diet (long story), I ate the eggs without toast and it tasted absolutely fine. You will just want something else on the side as a substitution, like my tomato slices and honey mustard dressing.

Time: Approximately 5 minutes

Servings: 2

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon chives

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

desired amount of pepper

1. Whisk eggs, chives, and salt into medium bowl until well blended. Melt butter in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. When foam subsides, add eggs and stir with heatproof silicone spatula until eggs are almost cooked but still slighty runny in parts, tilting skillet and stirring with spatula to allow uncooked portion to flow underneath, about 2 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. Add ricotta and stir just until incorporated but clumps of cheese are still visible. (If appropriate, arrange toasts or baguette slices on plate and spoon eggs onto them evenly.) Sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper.

3. Serve and enjoy (psh, like that will be hard).

Served with a homemade/the poor woman's chai tea latte in fabulous lobster mug.

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left to my own devices, which coincide with Fiance's devices rather nicely

This is mostly what we've been eating lately:


Olive hummus, pesto, raw cashews, fig jelly, Ritz crackers (for him), brown rice crackers (for me), bleu cheese, Australian cheddar cheese, white peach, Fuji apple, orange, red plum.

Beer, edamame, Fuji apple, white peach, olive hummus, pesto, fig jelly, cherry butter, sugar snap peas, carrots, bleu cheese, Australian cheddar cheese, and the same crackers, respectively. We didn't actually eat all of that food, just most of it.

Edamame, smoked salmon, cream cheese, olive hummus, fig jelly, cherry butter, cottage cheese, white peach, nectarine, red plum (mine!), bleu cheese, Australian cheddar cheese, and same crackers. Cool-Aid for him, orange juice for me.

We've also had almond butter, bananas, and kiwi on other non-photographed occasions.

All the fruit we buy is organic and local if possible. Why? Because a red plum is not supposed to be the size of my fist! An avocado is not supposed to be neon green! If nothing else, it makes me feel better psychologically to eat something that looks normal instead of radioactive. Ya dig?

When I stop feeling lazy I'll post three recipes from "real" meals that I've made recently. Until then, hooray for summer.

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Depression Cooking with Clara

She is really charming and offers up some good, cheap recipes along with her stories.

http://www.youtube.com/user/DepressionCooking

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(Roasted) Vegetable Lasagna with Goat Cheese

This delicious recipe came from a Betty Crocker magazine of recipes that my mom gave me once about one dish meals. I'm generally disinterested in one dish meals (casseroles rather disturb me), but of course, lasagna is special. And although I've only helped someone make a meat lasagna once in the far away past, this vegetable lasagna was very easy to make.

Due to the lack of a "real" oven in my kitchen, and therefore also a 15x10x1-inch pan that was asked for when roasting the vegetables, I didn't technically roast them. If you want to roast them, you have to spread them out in a single layer across a large pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and then bake.

We really enjoyed it, in case you hadn't guessed, and will definitely make it again sometime, although I will make some alterations - less bell peppers, maybe some eggplant, more mushrooms.

Time: about an hour

Servings: 8 (5 if there aren't any sides)

3 medium bell peppers, cut into 1-inch strips

3 mediums summer squash or zucchini, cut into half

lengthwise and then into 1/2-inch pieces

1 small onion, cut into wedges, separated into pieces

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

cooking spray

12 uncooked lasagna noodles

6 oz chevre (goat) cheese

7 oz basil pesto

(we used one made with walnuts instead of

the usual pine nuts because a friend is allergic)

2 cups tomato sauce

2 cups shredded "Italian" cheese blend

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees (F). Spray a large pan with cooking spray. In pan, place bell peppers, squash/zucchini, onion, and mushrooms in large pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning vegetables once, until crisp-tender. (Side note: I forgot to turn them once. It turned out alright, but my mushrooms would not forgive me.)

2. When the vegetables are almost done, begin cooking lasagna noodles according to package instructions using minumum cooking time. I cooked three at a time in my medium sized saucepan because it's what I have and this method worked out well. It may have made the process take longer, but it helped keep me organized when doing each layer. Avoided confusion or moments of "oh crap" is always a plus.

3. In a medium bowl, crumble chevre into pesto; stir until even.

4. Spray 13x9-inch (3 quart) baking dish with cooking spray, then spread 1/2 cup pasta sauce in the baking dish.

Top sauce with 3 lasagna noodles, then layer with half the pesto mixture and 2 cups of vegetables.

Top with 3 noodles, 3/4 cup sauce, 1 cup shredded cheese blend, and 2 cups of vegetables.

Top with 3 noodles, remaining half of pesto mixture, and 2 cups of vegetables.

Top with 3 noodles, the rest of the sauce, and sprinkle 1 cup shredded cheese over top.

5. Set oven temperature to 375 degrees (F). Bake uncovered 20 to 30 minutes. Ideally, you would wait 10 minutes before cutting, but we were ravenous and dug right in.

Fiance and friend watching "Choke" and drinking Dr. Pepper while eating.

There were other people there, but I didn't photograph them because

I tend to receive looks of annoyance when photographing people eating.

Understandable.

"Choke", by the way, was a pretty decent movie. It wasn't amazing, but it wasn't as terrible as I expected, based on the trailer.

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