Looking back at some of my more recent meals, I’m noticing quite a few things about my state of mind.

First, I am quite obviously over and done with winter, as I seem to have done away with stews, earthy flavors, and cruciferous vegetables.

Secondly, I [...]]]> Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win a yoga mat!

Looking back at some of my more recent meals, I’m noticing quite a few things about my state of mind.

First, I am quite obviously over and done with winter, as I seem to have done away with stews, earthy flavors, and cruciferous vegetables.

Secondly, I am clearly obsessed with asparagus, which is no surprise: it’s finally coming into season, and it is one of my very favorite vegetables.  I anticipate eating it near daily until it’s time for zucchini, summer squash, and eggplant.

Thirdly, I seem to conjure up ideas for meals from practically every aspect of my life, regardless of its relation, or lack thereof, with food.  A smell on the sidewalk, a television show, the name of a new restaurant, an old memory – all have been recent sources of worthy inspiration.

pan-seared shrimp, brown rice pasta, cilantro pesto, sundried tomatoes, asparagus, wilted swiss chard underneath.

Sometimes, that mealtime inspiration comes from someone I know – perhaps a friend or fellow blogger.  [Sometimes both in one, as with the spring-like bowl above.]  After drooling over one of Sofia’s simple and fresh pasta dishes, I realized I had all the ingredients to create it in my own kitchen.  Of course, I doctored up the presentation a bit, but the pesto recipe and all the inspiration are Miss Crunchy Gal’s.

As an aside, I really like the taste of brown rice pasta over whole wheat, but I hate how sticky it gets.  My pasta of choice is still soba or udon.  [What's yours?]

enjoyed, as instructed, with a glass of malbec.

Sometimes, meal ideas are born out of necessity.  Earlier this week, I had some roasted beets sitting in my fridge and a craving for cashews, and so a simple dinner was born.

roasted beets with sweet cashew cream, steamed asparagus, and beet greens.  unpictured bowl of quinoa alongside.

Other times, the concepts are stolen from more accomplished chefs.  At brunch last Sunday, I had my heart set on ordering a dish that included zucchini corn cakes, and I was more than a bit disappointed to discover that the chefs weren’t able make the dish that day.

corn pancake served with [um, overdone] white beans, beet greens, asparagus, avocado, mango salsa.

I’ve had corn cakes in my head ever since, so I finally pulled together one of my own.  I especially love when inspiration results in a new recipe.

savory corn pancakes

• 1 T flax
• 3 T water
• 1/2 c frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 2 T scallions, chopped
• 2 T onion, chopped
• 1/4 c cornmeal
• 1 T evoo, plus more for pan-frying
• 1/8 t sea salt
• few pinches pepper

Whisk together flax and water and set aside to thicken.  In food processor, combine corn and scallions until paste forms.  Stir together corn mixture, onion, cornmeal, olive oil, salt, pepper, and flax-water mixture.  Mixture should be thick.

Heat oil in pan over medium heat.  Add about half the mixture to pan and flatten into pancake shape.  Cook 3-4 minutes per side.  Serve topped with salsa, avocado, Greek yogurt, poached eggs…to name a few ideas.

Where do you get the inspiration for your meals?

I also repeatedly forgot my camera this weekend, which I suppose goes to show that sometimes, life is meant to be captured more by words than a camera lens.

So, a weekend of pluses [...]]]> How beautiful was the weather this weekend?  Fifties and sunny, I wore dresses and light jackets and went sock-free, and it was glorious.

I also repeatedly forgot my camera this weekend, which I suppose goes to show that sometimes, life is meant to be captured more by words than a camera lens.

So, a weekend of pluses and minuses, though happily more on the positive end.

Plus: Gazing at the gorgeous Alice in Wonderland costuming and coveting the red, white, and black dress. Also, sneaking nearly everything from the Whole Foods salad bar into the theater, along with a container of chocolate-coconut balls.

Minus: $14 movie tickets.

Plus:  Unbelievable weather affording long random strolls around the city, just because.

Minus:  Getting all excited to use my Groupon for half-off organic groceries with free delivery, only to discover that there are no delivery slots available until March 24th.  Sometimes, New York makes me sad.

Plus:  Girly catch-up over multiple glasses of grenache blanc at anotheroom, a dim little den that serves only wine and beer.  Perfectly complemented by an evening that made me want to cool off with glasses of white.

Minus:  Skip ahead if you are bored by yoga-speak: for some reason, my lower back is super tight, and it took me nearly half a class to manage to successfully arch into upward-facing dog.  Forget about bow.  Slightly pathetic yoga – though I did hang out in crow and an advanced tree arm balance for a  while, so all was not lost.

Plus:  Not wearing boots all weekend, for the first time since…November?  My flats [however worn they may be] were so happy to see daylight.

Minus: Union Square Trader Joe’s on a Sunday at 5 PM.  Thankfully, I had fabulous company to help ease the insanity.

a vegetarian burrito with mole sauce, accompanied of course, by a mimosa.

Plus:  Brunch at Crema, aka the classiest Mexican food I’ve ever had.  Though they were out of the dish I originally wanted, I was quite happily stuffed by the meal’s end, and I may have stayed chatting with my brunch partner for an hour after our plates were cleared.  I am so good at dining.

Plus:  Sisterly commentary on the Oscar red carpet.  [Plus: Rachel McAdams and Sandra Bullock.  Minus:  Zoe Saldana and Charlize Theron - which is sad, because I like Charlize.]

Happy Monday, everyone!

What were the pluses and minuses of your weekend?

One of those non-breakfast appearances was in this recipe, [...]]]> Last weekend, I bought a bag of pistachios on a whim, and now I can’t seem to get enough of those little green guys.  I’m particularly loving them with dried cherries in oatmeal, but they’ve been manifesting themselves in various ways in many of my recent meals.

One of those non-breakfast appearances was in this recipe, a spicy, almost raw pistachio-pea dip, which I recently whipped up for a quick and easy dinner.  [Obviously, I modified the recipe, adding a bit extra lemon juice and cayenne and skipping the step of heating it up.]  My only thought as I scraped the bowl of my food processor and licked the spatula: delicious.

I spooned half the batch into a little bowl and assembled what looked remarkably like a party platter.

carrots, celery, cauliflower, kashi crackers, and a bowl of yummy green.

And then, I proceeded to devour it all.  [Well, actually, it was more refined than that.  I'm a pretty slow eater.]

Still, I got to thinking about the oddity of this meal.  We’ve been so ingrained to envision our plates in a certain way: a protein, a carb, a vegetable, a fat.  Though I haven’t relied on that philosophy of perfect balance in a long while, there does seem to be a general consensus on how a meal should look, whether it be a plate with all the elements or a one-dish salad or stew.

As time has gone on, I’ve bent my perception of what constitutes a meal, partially as a result of the increased creativity inspired by my vegan leanings.  I think it’s actually easier to eat boring meals when they are carnivorous – when I began relying on vegetables, I suddenly felt a world of non-traditional possibilities open up.

That’s how I ended up surrounding a delicious, dense dip with raw vegetables and whole grain crackers and digging in, sans fork or spoon, for dinner.  This meal had all the components that a normal one would have; it just looked a little different.

Variety is the spice of life, right?  That certainly applies each time I assemble food on my plates.

What makes up a dinner for you?  Have the elements changed over time?

The concept of heading to TJ’s and leisurely browsing is entirely foreign to me.  I can’t enter those doors without a detailed list and a [...]]]> Over the weekend, I made my weekly trek to Trader Joe’s, withstanding the crowds and fifty-plus person checkout lines for those can’t be beaten prices.  I’m a dedicated bargain hunter, clearly.

The concept of heading to TJ’s and leisurely browsing is entirely foreign to me.  I can’t enter those doors without a detailed list and a specific mission.  I know exactly where the goods I need live, and I pick up most of them while standing in the line that snakes around the outer aisles.  I think the Union Square store gives new meaning to that health adage of “shopping the perimeter.”

This week, one of the items on my list was coconut milk.  Sure, in an ideal world I would buy fresh young coconuts whenever I desired, but with hefty price tags, not to mention the involved task of cracking one open, sometimes you’ve got to go with the easy, shelf-stable kind.  I’ll be the first to admit that I am imperfect in eating 100% fresh foods.

At TJ’s, I asked a Hawaiian-clothed employee where I could find a coconut can.  I ditched the line for a moment, and I came upon this:

why, trader joe?  why?

The only option: light coconut milk.

This gets me in the same way that Better ‘N Peanut Butter and Slimcados do.  Why mess with a perfectly natural thing?  And worse, why offer only the fake version?

What’s a purist to do?  I didn’t want to have to go to  a third grocery store [I had already done my produce run just before].  I really wanted to make some coconut rice this week.  The ingredients were fine [just coconut milk and water, so I suppose it was made "light" as a result of being diluted].

So I bought it.  I put it on my pantry shelf, and every time I have opened that door this week, it has annoyed me.

a complete meal: veganomicon tamarind lentils+swiss chard, coconut kasha, steamed asparagus [$1.99/lb - spring must be on its way!]

I know it’s a far-fetched dream to live in a society [especially this country] that is free of all diet products.  But still, I can’t help but feel frustration for those of us who freely enjoy real, unadulterated food, as we are constantly plagued by watered down, light versions of foods that are perfectly fine as they are.

I never ate much in the way of diet products.  The few fake replacements I did at one point choose are long gone from my life – Splenda, earth balance, egg whites, for instance.  I happily choose natural sweeteners and basic, organic butter when the need arises.

I still got my coconut rice, but my faith in Trader Joe’s is just a little bit shaken.

coconut-pistachio kasha [for one]

• 1/4 c uncooked kasha
• 1/2 c coconut milk
• 1/4 c water
• 1/4 t coriander
• 1/8 t ground cardamom
• 2 T raisins
• 1 t lemon zest
• 1 T unshelled, unsalted pistachios

Bring coconut milk and water to a boil in small saucepan.  Add kasha, coriander, cardamom, and raisins.  Return to a boil; lower heat and simmer, covered, 10 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed.  Remove from heat and stir in lemon zest and pistachios.

Light milk or not, this meal took me away to a sweet and savory world of Asian taste.  There is something so wonderful about traveling through flavor, about bringing another culture into your life through the plate in front of you.

Although, I have to say, had I made this in India, I can guarantee light coconut milk would never have been an option.  I suppose that next time, I’ll simply have to crack open a real coconut myself.

Were you ever an aficionado of “light” products?  How do you feel about them now?

this is what kept me busy yesterday. [...]]]> Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been trying to practice the responsible, organized adult task of cooking a large batch of a meal on the weekend.  It results in easy, tasty, and most importantly, homemade lunches and dinners on the busier days of my week.

this is what kept me busy yesterday.  happy hour martinis at bamboo 52 [far more stylish than the website would imply].

Last night, Katie and I met for a long-overdue post-work drink, and thus, it was a prime evening for a pre-made meal.  Our gabbing over ginger martinis meant I didn’t arrive home until nearly 9 PM, and there was no way I was breaking out the pots and pans.  But my fridge was full of tupperware, so I easily pulled out three containers, tossed it all together with olive oil, and dinner was born in under two minutes.

leftover potluck fennel and pears, chickpeas, roasted potatoes, evoo

On Sunday, I cooked for three hours in the early evening, simmering tamarind lentils for the week, prepping a batch of rice and a pot of chickpeas, and cooking my two dishes for Monday’s potluck.  None of this stovetop slaving involved that evening’s dinner, and so, when the time came, I was happy to pull last month’s chili and cornbread out of the freezer, hit defrost on the microwave, and sit down with little extra effort to a home-cooked meal.  With a stack of dishes piling up and a messy counter, I didn’t really want to become involved in more preparation [and more mess].

midway through eating, i decided i should write a blog post about this.  and so the camera captured a halfway-devoured meal.

Growing up, I remember days when my mom would “cook for the freezer.”  My parents have a second freezer in the basement, stocked with an ever-replenished supply of labelled soups and stews, cooked rice, and much, much more.  [Occasionally, you might find leftover brownies hidden in there, although my dad would know the location of those best].  When life, as it often does, becomes too busy for my mom to cook a meal, the freezer always serves her well.

It occurred to me that this is why most people turn to the freezer aisle in the grocery store: no time nor desire to cook results in a cardboard box and a microwave.  Sure, there are healthier  frozen options, but I find it truly beautiful that my mom creates her own personal freezer section, produced, packaged, and labelled by her own two hands.  I love this idea, and as I work on that tricky balance between the personal life I want to maintain and the full-time job I’ve just begun, I am realizing the importance of my mom’s concept.

Tonight, I’ll actually have the time to cook one of the two new recipes I’ve recently dreamt up and have been dying to try.  I suppose that means I’ll be putting a couple containers of leftovers into the freezer.  In a few weeks, I know I’ll be thankful.

What’s your stance on frozen food?  Do you buy the packaged ones?  Do you make your own?

There is something wonderful about coming home after a Monday of work to an apartment full of good people, good smells, and good tastes.  I’ve always been of the opinion that the [...]]]> Last night, my sister hosted a potluck at our apartment in honor of a friend of hers who is moving out of the city.

There is something wonderful about coming home after a Monday of work to an apartment full of good people, good smells, and good tastes.  I’ve always been of the opinion that the work week should begin quietly, but I may have to reconsider that stance.  Last night we had eight girls [women?  ladies?  What exactly are we twentysomethings?], an overabundance of appetizers, entrees, and desserts, and a little bit of Monday evening wine.  Not a bad kickoff to a work week.

the first of my sides: cumin-scented roasted fennel, red onion, bosc pears

The group in attendance was not made of everyday chefs [excluding myself, of course].  But they each got out their oven mitts, cookbooks, and casserole dishes, and I found it a little bit fascinating to observe the types of dishes that arrived.  It’s occasions like these that remind me of the way “real” people eat.

Several of my sister’s friends are on Weight Watchers, and they were sure to mention that their recipes were WW-friendly – egg whites here, sugar-free there.  I have to say that my dishes were definitely the odd ones out.

my other cooking contribution: indian-spiced okra and tomatoes [there is an indian name for this that is escaping me].  click for my recipe.

Unsurprisingly, I took it upon myself to do up some vegetables.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that people in the real world almost never think to prepare vegetables, aside from the basic crudité hors d’oeuvres.  While I am happy to try others’ dishes, I am never content nor satisfied without plants.  I added to the eclectic mix [some brought Mexican food, some Italian, some Mediterranean, some traditional American] by adding something Indian to the table.

my sister’s dish was a rachael ray recipe that is actually delicious: basil shrimp with feta and orzo.

My sister is an accidental vegetarian most of the time, simply because of the type of food I keep in stock.  She may not have developed a love for kitchen time, but she has acquired a taste for an ever-widening array of fruits and vegetables, and her microwave-preparations are typically a blend of pure and whole foods.  The pescetarian entree she chose to prepare was perfectly natural and perfectly delicious.

a potluck dish: taco salad

Differences in philosophies definitely make the world go round.  I  know most people think of food in a completely different manner than I  do – most aren’t vegetarian, don’t think to eat vegetables, and don’t  worry about ingredients lists.  Most think of food in terms of  splurges and saves, as something to watch or counteract.  I think, for  some, that works, and though I’ll never agree with eating chemicals,  non-organic meat and dairy, or a lack of plants, I don’t try to push my beliefs on anyone.

another potluck dish: corn pudding

When it comes down to it, I think everyone in life just wants to eat well and taste good flavor.  Our preferences and outlooks might differ, but that’s the beauty of a potluck like this one: our mix of styles all came together on top of one dining room table.

In my dish, I  used vegetables, olive oil, and spice; my sister used fresh herbs, shrimp, and full fat cheese.  I don’t need to  count a thing, because I know the food we use is as healthy and natural as can be.  That’s my strong belief, and as we live by it every day, we both put it out on the table.

magnolia bakery banana pudding.  omg delicious.

It’s nice to be at a point where I can enjoy a party, eat a plateful of food, a plateful of dessert, and a glass of wine, wake up the next morning, cook my normal big breakfast, and continue on with life.

How do your friends eat?  Are they health-conscious?  Waistline-conscious?  Standard American?  Something else?

I’m kind of obsessed with it.

I love variety, and I like to try new cuisines and new dining destinations.  But somehow, I can never get enough of this place.  I went there for my 24th birthday.  I [...]]]> There is a restaurant in the East Village that I’ve posted about a couple times: its name is Counter.

I’m kind of obsessed with it.

I love variety, and I like to try new cuisines and new dining destinations.  But somehow, I can never get enough of this place.  I went there for my 24th birthday.  I went there for New Year’s.  I went there to celebrate getting my job.  I’ve been there for no reason at all inbetween.

While making Sunday brunch plans last week, a friend and I made the promise to try somewhere new.  We wracked our brains for a good spot in Tribeca, but after sadly coming up short, I thought, “You know, Counter has a brunch.”  I’ve never tried their brunch, so it’s sort of new…right?

Why is it that Counter is so spectacular?  Well, for starters, the food and wine are nearly 100% organic, local, and sustainable.  Most restaurants of this mantra also come with the tags of whitewashing their walls, not serving liquor, and generally being a little bit hippie-ish.  But not Counter.

I support organic, local, sustainable food with my heart and soul, but I am also a twentysomething Manhattan gal who used to work in fashion and occasionally watches The Millionaire Matchmaker.  While I’ll visit the hippie-cafés if the food is good, when it comes to the atmosphere for me, Counter has it down.  Sleek, chic, sophisticated.  The lights are dim, the walls are dark, the food is presented with a bit of art.  A much better fit.

$3.50 brunch mimosa – a must, clearly.

Then, there’s the wine.  Counter is half “vegetable bistro” [we'll get to the wonderfulness of that in a minute], half “wine bar.”  Their wine list is extensive and includes many organic bottles.  Flights include generous pours of local, New York wines, which are always fun to taste.  And though I’m usually distracted by vino, the cocktail menu is also creative and delicious.

And of course, there is the food.  Counter doesn’t bill itself as a vegetarian restaurant; instead, it is a “vegetable bar” with a menu that, quite simply, celebrates an unabashed love of vegetables.  It is rare to see tofu, for instance, on offer, as the dishes are all about the plants.  Preparations are sometimes intricate, sometimes not – but they are always creative.  And while the menu leans towards veganism, it never commits 100%.  Kind of like me.

vegan roasted pepper and leek “frittata,” mesclun greens, hash browns, toast, chocolate-walnut spread.

Perhaps I’ve never gotten bored because the menu is always changing.  A list of twenty or so small plates to share is constantly updated with the freshest produce of the season [even in this bleak dead of winter].  The brunch menu is separate yet just as exciting, with more individual complete entrees than tapas-like plates.

My friend [also a vegetable aficionado] and I left, after two hours of dining yesterday, on a wave of brunch heaven.  The only way I can phrase it is that this restaurant simply gets me.  It celebrates produce of all kinds at their peak periods of flavor, along with just the right amount of surrounding style.  The menu doesn’t tout its health benefits; they are a natural perk of the most basic concept: eating from the ground.

And, perhaps most importantly, dinner is always accompanied by wine.

Do you have a favorite restaurant that you’re always happy to return to?

This past weekend, I visited my grandmother at a rehab center in [...]]]> You may or may not know that this week was National Eating Disorders Awareness Week. I wanted to do a post in honor of it, but I’ve been struggling to figure out exactly what I want to say.

This past weekend, I visited my grandmother at a rehab center in Connecticut. Two months ago, she had her second hip surgery of her lifetime, after breaking her pelvis due mostly to complete loss of bone. She no longer has a hip and will walk with a walker for the rest of her life.

I also saw my other grandmother, who has had more than a couple hospital stays in the past year.

More and more, I notice how much effort it now takes both of them simply to move from a seated position to standing on their feet. Walking down the hallway expels enormous effort for them both. Whether it be their hearts, their bones, their muscles – simple movements we take for granted are a constant struggle.

a baked egg experiment, pre-oven. i seem to be posting eggs every other day, but i promise i’ve been eating a much wider variety].

I brought my lunch with me to visit my grandmother. I cobbled it together from the contents of my mom’s kitchen: a salad of any vegetable in the fridge, avocado, and hummus; a Greek yogurt with many spoonfuls from the bag of granola I keep stashed in her pantry.

While I chatted with my grandma in the dining room, she asked me all about my lunch. And she told my dad, “I’m going to learn how to eat like Leslie.” She didn’t say she wanted to imitate my habits to mimic my appearance. It wasn’t about being thin.

She said, “I want to learn from Leslie so I can be healthy and strong.”

I want that too.

a whole foods and vegetable filled meal.

It’s unfortunate (to make an understatement) that there is so much nonchalance about real, actual health until later in life, while such emphasis is placed on our outer appearance from our pre-teenage years.   Society has ingrained in us such backwards thinking.   It took me over two decades to realize that the real reflection of my health can’t be seen by the naked eye: it exists inside me – in my bones, my heart, my blood.

I hate seeing so many women [and men] punishing their bodies – out of fear, out of self-consciousness, out of comparison, out of depression, out of pressure.  We have to take care of ourselves while we can, because when we’re  fifty, sixty, seventy – we can’t undo the damage that’s been done.

I’m a woman who loves style, so I’ll never deny that I care about my appearance.  But as time goes on, the way I live has become about so much more.  It’s a lifestyle – one that protects my potentially weak bones, keeps my muscles strong and stretched, keeps my heart pumping when I know heart disease runs throughout my entire family history.   It’s about living in a way that doesn’t run me into the ground in  a search for perfection, but instead, as my grandma wisely said, keeps me healthy and keeps me strong.

This body is all I’ve got, and I’m sorry I ever pushed it too hard, denied it enough, questioned what it told me.   But now, I am committed to spending the many decades I have ahead treating it the very best that I know how.  I’m devoted to my health, my happiness, and most of all: to my life.

Tell me something you do to treat your body well.