Weekend in NYC

I. Love. New York City. It's a fact. Even though I am very excited about moving to Boston, I still have a special spot in my heart for that great big city. During our recent moving trip to Boston, we decided to stop by New York to visit my brother on our way back to Indiana. Since we were only there for a day we relied on my brother to suggest some places for us to eat. We had a great experience on Sunday morning, eating brunch at a great place called Kitchenette near Columbia University on the Upper West Side.

Aside from being an adorable diner-like setting, it was right across the street from my brother's apartment. And considering we were having a late start we didn't want to travel all the way downtown and end up waiting in line for some breakfast. The food was great! I had an artichoke and tomato omelette with cheese grits and homemade biscuits. First of all, any place that offers cheese grits as a side is an A+ in my book. And all of this topped off with a peach bellini made for a fabulous breakfast. Too bad I was stuffed, because I would have also dug in to some of these yummy looking treats in the window.

All in all, we had a great experience. The staff was attentive, polite, and quick. We all enjoyed each of our dishes immensely and I will definitely be stopping back in on my next trip to NYC. Probably just to try those desserts too =)

The last bite......or at least for a while.

As Zach and I embark on our final days living in Bloomington, we've been trying to eat at some of our favorite restaurants. Although we don't have tons of cash to be spending on meals out, we have been trying to spread out the love at the best value places we have here. One of those places is the Runcible Spoon, http://www.runciblespoonrestaurant.com/, on 6th street. This is probably my favorite, if not second favorite place to eat in Btown. They serve breakfast all day long, and have GREAT prices on lunch and dinner items ($10.95 for grilled salmon, veggies, and potatoes??? Hell yes!).

Even though we enjoy lunch and dinner here, the the majority of the time we are coming for breakfast. Zach had his usual eggs benedict, however he has also gotten the corned beef hash (just as it sounds, but you can also add 2 eggs on top, yummmmy!) when he's feeling extra naughty lol.

I enjoyed my favorite breakfast in all of Bloomington, the Veggie Bennie. It's pretty much an eggs benedict with sauteed tomato and spinach instead of ham. I also get the hollandaise on the side so that I can control how much I use. Along with a nonfat cappuccino this is my absolute favorite way to start off the weekend (it's also GREAT hangover food).

Zach and I will certainly miss the tasty and affordable food that we have at our fingertips in Btown, but we are also very excited about discovering new restaurants in Boston. Follow me as I explore the city of Boston and it's culinary offerings throughout the next few months!

Beef and Veg Curry (Recipe & Photo)

So if you are someone who needs their recipes in the typical format, here ya go. Also, I promise to improve my photography skills as more meals are posted.

Ingredients:

1/2 c white basmati rice

3/4 c water

3 inch piece of fresh ginger

1/4 c canola or peanut oil

1/2 yellow onion, sliced

1 Skirt Steak/Sirloin (about 4-5oz), pounded to 1/2 inch and cut into strips

2 med sized carrots, cut lengthwise and chopped

1 red potato, diced

1 c diced tomatoes (no salt added)

1 T madras (hot) curry powder

1 T cinnamon

1 pinch cayenne powder

1 c broccoli florets

1/4 c low fat greek yogurt

1 handful of cilantro

1-2 pieces of whole wheat naan

salt/pepper to taste

1. First prepare the rice. Combine rice, water, and a 2 inch piece of ginger in the pot. Bring to boil, then cover and let simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Heat a wok or rimmed skillet to med-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper. Once wok is heated, add oil and the beef immediately. Sautee beef until just browned (about 1 minute on each side). Then set aside beef and cover with foil.

3. Add onion, carrots, and potatoes to wok, and season with salt and pepper. Sautee for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Toss in broccoli and sautee for 1 minute. Then add the reserved beef, canned tomatoes, curry powder, cinammon and cayenne and stir to coat all the meat and vegetables. Turn heat to med low, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Next, remove from heat and stir in the yogurt and cilantro (I didn't add cilantro bc I didn't have it, so no biggie if you omit it). Serve on top of rice and with some warm naan on the side.

Serves 2-3

**If you are confused by my directions, PLEASE feel free ask questions. I am a beginner recipe writer, so my format might not be perfect yet.

cooking up a storm

My favorite thing about summer is having lots of free time to cook. Without all of the school obligations that I normally have, I don't feel so guilty when I spend a good hour or two cooking up a storm. The past few nights have been pretty exciting with selections such as beef and veggie curry with ginger rice, pasta accompanied by a "beans and greens" italian style, and a yummy golden beet and carrot soup that I will be gobbling down the next few days for lunch. Each of these creations were developed out of a) necessity to provide some creative yet healthy food for the hubby, b) desire to use ingredients in my kitchen before they expire, and c) the challenge of trying to fit as many vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats in to each meal that I prepare.

As you'll find out, fulfilling each of these criteria is not the easiest thing to do. First of all, my husband, Zach, is easily bored by the basic mix of grilled chicken, veggies, and starch (God forbid, I prepare a meat entree without a sauce!) In his defense, I do admire his willingness to wait patiently for whatever creation I set in front of him, whether it be the usual favorite mussels and frites, or a boring option of pasta and salad. But for both of us, it's much more victorious when I can pull off a meal that has tons of flavor and complexity backed up my lots of nutrients in the ingredients (and getting the ingredients locally makes us feel even more like winners).

Take for instance, the experience we had with curry two nights ago. Zach LOVES curry and I am a fan as well. Since I want to avoid the extra salt that comes with buying prepared curry paste, I opt for preparing my own as much as I can. So when I ran in to some whole wheat naan at Sahara Mart the other day, I was immediately inspired to pair it with another batch of curry. The great thing about curry, is that you can pretty much put whatever veggies you want in it (purists might disagree, but I say why not add in veggies wherever you can). Aside from the curry powder and cayenne, most of the other ingredients are items that any decently stocked refigerator would provide: potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, vegetable oil, canned tomatoes, rice, and some fresh or ground ginger.

I can post a full detailed recipe once I get my pictures uploaded to my computer at home, but for now I'll just summarize the process. Sautee onions in oil until translucent. I added thin strips of beef (bc we had some steak in the freezer) just until browned. Remove the beef and cover with foil. Next I tossed in chopped carrots, potatoes, ginger, and garlic. Let sautee for about 5 minutes, then tossed in some broccoli florets (again, they were about to go so I tried to use them). Now the fun happens, I got about a palmful of madras curry powder, a palmful of cinnamon, and a pinch (we had ~3 pinches bc we like it hot) of cayenne poweder. I let this sautee for about a minute then put a lid on the pan to let the potatoes and carrots steam a little. Once the rice is cooked (followed package instructions but added a nub of ginger to the pot), pile the curry on top and go at it. Pair with a dry or sweet reisling for a sweet and spicy effect.

Things I would have changed:

-would have added some canned tomatoes to the mix before putting a lid on the pot. It would have mellowed out the flavor and gave a little more substance to the sauce.

-I wouldn't have used as much oil in the beginning to sautee the onions. It tasted quite oily which is not the desired effect when you want to eat healthy.



All in all it was a successful meal. I will post the full, detailed recipe probably tomorrow. Tune in for my next post about the golden beet and carrot soup and the italian style beans and greens.

Try, try again!

As you have obviously noticed, I have not been very consistent in my posting for my "blog" (if that's what you choose to call it). Although I had high hopes for the outcome of such an edeavour, I sadly was not able to continually update this as much as I wanted. Actually, this blog was started out of necessity for a cognitive psychology class during my Junior year of college (you'll notice the random posts about preferential looking and symantic ambiguity from earlier). After passing the class and still having access to a blog, I decided to use the space as a place to update friends and family on my travels abroad during the summer of 2009. As I arrived in Florence for the beginning of my 2 month adventure, I blogged excitedly about what I was seeing and doing. I, again, had high hopes for blogging and continuing the process. However, I only made it through one post and completely abandoned what I had planned on doing, once again =(. So, I am here today to start up this challenge once again. I hope you stay tuned in to witness this act of perseverance and motivation.

And what kind of reading materials should you expect to find on such a publication as this? Well, I absolutely love food. I think about it, read about it, plan my day around it, and socialize around it ALL day long. Anything from recipes, nutrition, cooking successes, cooking failures, nutrition policy, public health, food culture, restaurant reviews, beer and wine suggestions, etc. will be included here. I'm not out to impress you or preach to you. I'm just here to publish some of my own thoughts on the types of subjects that I read about all the time.

So I encourage you to follow me and my posts if you love reading and talking about food. I would appreciate any suggestions also. My email is hackermm@umail.iu.edu.