Weird stuff I eat when no one'e around

Today was HOT. Really hot. Really really hot. 103 hot. BLAH. I worked at home messing around with a paper for resubmission. I finally left the comfort of my air-conditioned house at 6:30 to go to the gym and I guess the word OPPRESSIVE was the only way to adequately describe the heat and humidity that accompanied my jaunt outside. It was like walking into a dragon's mouth.

WO today was back to square one on the Fitnessista's summer shape-up. I went through the 4 weeks, loved it, saw great results... and now I'm going for round 2. I move up north after week 3, so it will be a little disjointed this next time (well, I guess taking a week off to turn on my dissertation disjoints things quite a bit as well).

Well anyway - today was Monday, and workout one, and the gym, like the terrible outdoors, was also a million degrees. I was so hot afterwards I came home and laid on my floor. Yes I have air conditioning. Yes I was that warm and uncomfortable. Yes my dogs were confused.

When I finally felt as if I were back to my 98 degree homeostatic set point... I was craving fat. Not like burger and fries fat - I wanted goat cheese and avocado. Mmmm couldn't stop thinking about those two things as I "walked" the dogs (Bella pulls me, and I pull Dylan). So I made this weird food:




I drained a can of black beans and diced an avocado. I whisked together the juice of a lime, a minced clove of garlic, some cayenne pepper, a teaspoon of olive oil, and Na++ and pepper. I then proceeded to add the avocado and black beans to the little liquid concoction and had a pseudo salad. I was thinking of Kath's salads, where she generally throws leftovers on top of lettuce. That sounded like something I could manage, so I dumped the bean/avocado mixture onto arugula and magically had a real green salad. Magic!

On the side are what I like to call little polenta cupcakes. Three 1-inch polenta rounds topped with thin slices of goat cheese. Oh yeah. Nice healthy fats that I was craving. I'm stuffed. Yay cooking for one! Yay not having to wake up at any specific time! And yay True Blood back on the air. That is all.

asparagus pea barley risotto

Well things are going just dandy here over in almost-PhD land. My first draft of my dissertation is due on the 4th - and I've written all that I feel needs to be written until I get feedback from my advisor. Total page count is 169... doesn't seem like a lot when you consider it's a full 5 years worth of work. Today I took it easy and did some formatting at home. At noon I went for an hour long walk around my neighborhood and listened to the Bugle.

This evening I threw together a nice meal of a barley risotto with asparagus and peas. I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of the barley- so I'd suggest using arborio rice instead - and you'd have to adjust the cooking time for that. But if you like barley- this dish is super fast and not that bad!

Asparagus Pea Barley Risotto
2 tsp EVOO
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 cup quick-cooking barley
3 cups vegetable broth
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into 1 inch sections
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tsp lemon zest, plus more for garnish
1.5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp parmesan cheese
Na++ and papper

Heat oil in a pot and add onion to saute. Saute maybe 6 minutes, and add the barley. Saute that mixture for a minute and then add the broth. Turn the heat to low and cover, and simmer 8 minutes. Add asparagus, chives, and zest - return cover and simmer 2 more minutes. Add the balsamic and cheese and season with salt and pepper. I had a lot of liquid, so I turned up the heat at the end and boiled it off.




It's not creamy like a traditional risotto, but it's a very light meal and pairs well with a nice mixed greens/goat cheese/roasted beet/pecans salad.

On the side are some sauteed cherry tomatoes. These are literally my favorite side dish of all time. I toasted some chopped rosemary in olive oil until fragrant, then added the tomatoes. They cook up in no time and are sweeter than candy. Mmm-mm. Try mixing them with spinach and topping garlic bread with the mixture. Meal from heaven!

Now to turn off my brain and watch Gossip Girl. Love it!!!

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

I have made these before- but haven't gotten a photo of them yet! Oh it was worth it making these again! I had half of a butternut squash left over from the Mac and Cheeze earlier in the week. I was wondering what I could possibly use it for, when I remembered that this was one of the best recipes I have ever eaten in my life EVER... so why waste precious squash on some inadequate dish.

I looked up the recipe and had EVERY SINGLE ingredient - serendipity! So I roasted some squash and made these glorious, glorious enchiladas. Ah yes, can't you just taste the goodness?


Along with the enchiladas, I threw together some little taco salads (chopped spinach, cilantro, black beans, sweet corn, crumbled tortilla chips and avocado). Check it out.


The dressing was simple, I threw together some salsa, Vegenaise, chili powder, cayenne pepper and hot sauce)

The wine... of the wine. We rarely (and by rarely I mean NEVER) by reserve ANYTHING... but we tasted this Pinot Noir at our grocery store of all places, and knew that it was a worthy splurge. I'm going to keep enjoying it for the rest of the night.


All anyone needs, wine, hot sauce.. dressing (?) Okay I could live without dressing. And hot sauce.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas (adapted from Vegetarian Times)
1/2 large butternut Squash, cubed
1 tsp olive oil
3 oz. cream cheese
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 chiles in adobo, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Na++ and pepper
6 small flour tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce (hot works best!)
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Toss butternut squash cubes in olive oil, bake for 40 minutes at 450 - flipping once halfway (doing the squash this way gives it an awesome smokey flavor from the nicely browned edges). When done, mash in the cream cheese.

While the squash is baking - saute red onion and garlic about 7 minutes, until translucent. Add in spices and stir for a second or two. Add the mashed squash and cream cheese mixture. Oh yeah. Mmmm. Then add the chopped cilantro.

Assemble the enchiladas - I hope I don't have to explain this further. Pour on the sauce, sprinkle on the cheese - and bake for 30 minutes at 350.

Eat and be in awe of the glory of butternut squash enchiladas.

Drink wine. The end.

3am

Is what time I was wide awake today.... oh it will not be a good day.

I have already been to the gym, had my morning smoothie, made the husband's lunch, and made my lunch. My lunch is an attempt to break my addiction to the Whole Foods salad bar. If you have ever been, you know that it is nearly impossible to spend less than $10 on a salad. Everything is so delicious and they charge by the ounce I think! It's not quite as bad as crack, but it costs about the same per day.

A picture of a typical glorious salad: complete with my favorite orange ginger beets. mmmmm. Looks like a disaster area, I know.


So this morning, when I finally accepted the fact that I would not be sleeping any more today, I whipped up a smoothie, baked some 5-spice tofu (tofu cubed and coated in olive oil, Na++ and pepper, and five spice powder, baked 15 minutes at 450), sliced some zucchini and beets, steamed some edamame, drained some garbanzo beans.... and made my own little kitchen salad bar.
Looks better than whole foods, no?


My goal for today is to stay up until 9pm, so that I can sleep until at least 6 tomorrow. Stupid Asia.

Blueberry Vinaigrette

I had to work late tonight... I had two participants scheduled to come into lab. Both were drug positive, so it was not a day of much success. Nonetheless- I had tons of crap to do at work after arriving early and unshowered as a result of yet another ASAP email from my advisor. Really? I had to work until 8pm. I don't want ASAP emails at 9am. So today was long and crappy. Because of the torturous day ahead of me, I had set out some of my mother's home made pasta sauce to defrost so I could make a quick dinner when I returned home*. I didn't want to just put it over sauce, but I was also feeling lazy - so there was that. I searched "marinara" on every vegan site until I found this picture, and I figured I would add some sausage.

It ended up smothering some spinach linguine with the sauce, in addition to some tofurkey sausage. I made some garlic bread alongside for old time's sake.



The salad (contains cheese, I was craving it - sorry!)

mixed greens, pickled beets, steamed green beans, blue cheese crumbles, apples and walnuts. All topped with blueberry vinaigrette.

Making dressings is easy- and once you start doing it you really begin to hate anything out of a bottle. There's nothing to them- oil, vinegar, mustardc(to help emulsify the dressing- i.e. not let it separate) and some sort of flavoring mixed with herbs. If I have time I make a fruit syrup to use as a base- but on a weeknight I just use jam.

Basically, I just put some blueberry jam into a bowl, added enough balsamic to cover it and a squirt or two of dijon mustard, and whisk. Add olive oil (about equal to the bulk of what is already it the bowl) and whisk again. Add herbs, or pressed garlic if you want, and keep on whisking. If you like it thicker, add more jam. And there it is, your very own dressing.




* Yes I suppose husband could have boiled the pasta and warmed the sauce... but I even asked him to do so - he said he'd just eat a snack and wait for me. Oh dear.

Quick taquitos and "taco" salad

Yesterday I did end up going into work, though I vowed not to. I had updated comments from my advisor at home - and they could be easily addressed from my desk. However, I got an email around noon that said

"come to lab. See items on bookshelves. Take what is yours. Everything not taken I will throw out at 5pm."

Ok, time to go in. I get in, and what do you think is sitting there - ready to be chucked into the bin??? Mine and my labmates coffee cups and tupperware. You see, we have a sink and drying rack in our lab. Every day we WASH our dishes and set them out to dry, before taking them home later that day. Apparently that is no longer acceptable so I have to hide my fork at my desk.

I was annoyed about some other things as well, so I tried to convince the husband to go out for margaritas and tacos to celebrate his "last day at school before the students start." (Yeah right, I wanted tequila on a week night). He had a departmental meeting at Buffalo Wild WINGS (what a jerk, wings and beer for work? I can't even have a coffee cup). I tried to go for a swim - but my Y CLOSES the pool when it storms. Really? It's INSIDE.

So I was on my own - which meant I came home and cleaned (my favorite past time) and made a super quick dinner.

Here: the before



Here - the after. I made some quick taquitos - put some leftover gazpacho in a bowl, and made a chopped salad. Start to finish - 10 minutes.



The taquitos - made into a recipe of things I had:
2 corn tortillas
4 Tbsp refried beans (I used whole foods chile and lime)
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp salsa

Mix together, put about 2 Tbsp of filling in each tortilla- roll up. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes. The site I saw these on said to broil them for 1-2 minutes for crispiness at the end - and 2 minutes was too much!

The salad - romaine lettuce, black beans, tomato, corn, avocado, scallion, salsa. Topped with some of my home made strawberry vinaigrette. It was quick, and by the time I finished up, the husband was bouncing into the house - happy from all the beer he had consumed in the name of special education. I wasn't really in the mood for alcohol anymore, but I poured a glass of Round Peak's fiddle's red. It's a red blend of cab franc, cab sauv, and merlot. Very tasty. I sat down to watch Teen Mom, only to discover it wasn't new this week. So I had to read instead! Damn.

SALAD

I used to HATE salad- but they're not so bad when you beef them up. Below, my standard lunch for the past few weeks:

Mixed greens, red bell pepper, brown rice, lentils, blueberries, corn, avocado, cucumber, scallions, salsa and some strawberry vinaigrette I've been whipping up at h0me. Not bad for rabbit food.