the whole plate. » red pepper

technical difficulties.

leslie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:12:50 +0000

Usually, I am a very quiet and composed person. When my internet suddenly refused to function today, I calmly strolled over to the router, checking the lights. Thirty minutes later, no amount of unplugging, rebooting, and resetting would give me the signal I needed. Six attempts later, I finally dialed the help line of my cable company.

The list of problems we’ve had with our cable/internet provider can’t even be counted on ten fingers. There was a point when the New York manager must have had my name and address memorized. So, I wasn’t looking forward to making yet another phone call to customer service, and well, my voice may have gone up a few decibels today. After four transfers to the “appropriate” technical agent, the signal finally returned early this evening.

So, let’s just leave the usual photo post for tomorrow, okay? :)

Luckily, I had the perfect task set ahead of me to release my aggression.

I’ve been meaning to attack a coconut for a while, but fear of losing an arm in the process of cracking one has held me back. I think that was a valid phobia, but as it turns out, it was unwarranted. All I had to do was pull up a trusty coconut tutorial, place one hand firmly behind my back, and hope that my hand-eye coordination had improved since the last time I put it to the test.

I kind of wanted to close my eyes, but that didn’t seem like an intelligent idea.

Success! [Ok, I missed on the first blow, as you can see]. After scraping out the meat, I developed this very complex recipe:

chilled red pepper and coconut soup

meat of one young coconut
one red bell pepper
1/4 c fresh cilantro

Combine ingredients in blender. Refrigerate minimum one hour.

Served alongside a salad of red chard, kidney beans, and raw sweet corn (a random pairing with the soup – sometimes I can’t decide what I’m in the mood for).

The soup was so good. Often when creating a new dish, I determine the initial ingredients and add a couple extra as I go along. Once this one was blended, I tasted the mixture, expecting it would be missing a little something. But the simple elements combined perfectly: it was rich, deep in flavor, and absolutely delicious.

What’s the worst technical difficulty you’ve ever had to deal with?

buried treasure.

leslie — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:06:22 +0000

Living in a New York apartment, I have to take advantage of every inch of storage space I have. My shelves are packed from back to front and top to bottom; the space under my bed doubles as a storeroom; even my ottomans open to reveal sheets and pillows folded inside. It’s no surprise that things occasionally get lost in the crevices.

A few days ago, while reorganizing some cabinets in my kitchen, I uncovered a couple bags of forgotten bulk bin goodies. I almost always buy my grains from bulk bins – the savings is always worth it, and the selection is often very wide. One of the treasure bags from my shelf contained just enough bulk bin kasha for one, and since my sister chose to have an early dinner of her own creation, tonight seemed the perfect opportunity to finish off the bag myself.

Because my parents so generously brought in groceries last weekend, I haven’t done much in the way of meal planning this week. Most of my meals have been the result of long stares into my refrigerator – that machine can be quite the muse.

Tonight my eye settled upon the container of basil I received on the shoot yesterday. I pulled out some green, got the kasha cooking, and plugged in the blender to get creative.

roasted pepper and basil tapenade

1 red bell pepper
1/4 c fresh basil
1/4 c kalamata olives
2 t evoo, divided

Preheat oven to 350. Slice pepper and toss with 1 t olive oil. Roast for 20 minutes. Place pepper in blender with other ingredients; blend until a thick paste forms.

I used some as a topping for a pile of ingredients:

Bottom up: baby spinach, kasha, asparagus, broccoli, black beans, and tapenade. Topped with some cashews, just because I love them. A random mix, but delicious nonetheless.

What do you think you’d find hidden in your cabinets?

quick and easy.

leslie — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:26:52 +0000

Tonight was a definite “go-to” night.

I started with bulgur and garlic.

Then tossed together some red beans and heaven vegetables: red pepper, cucumber, zucchini, and kalamata olives.

Topped with pine nuts, feta, lemon juice and zest, and balsamic vinegar.

Sometimes the thrown-together meals are the best of all.

It’s funny that a few years ago, if I hadn’t planned ahead, I would either have had pasta or ordered takeout. Now I consider something like this an “easy” meal. And it is easy, perhaps because healthy eating became not only a habit, but a way of life.

Is health a way of life for you? Or do you have to work for it?