Hello Hello Helloooo! its been a while since Ive blogged! Wow...feels good to be back. Ive been through a lot of changes in the past 6 months.. and when I go through changes everything stops. But I"m back and Ive got a really great recipe for all my faithful foodie followers. I love Bon Apetit magazine. I actually made my whole thanksgiving dinner straight from the magazine and it came out fantastic. So Ive been excited to try more recipes from them, especially ones that are figure friendly now that summer is coming (in about 6 months lol) This is the latest recipe. Appropriate for winter...and low in fat. its a chick pea soup. Ingredients 3 15-ounce cans chickpeas, rinsed 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 large onions, coarsely chopped2 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1 sprig thyme and a few sage leaves 1/2 cup dry white wine 4 cups vegetable broth Kosher salt 1 bunch broccoli, stems reserved for another use, cut into small florets Flat-leaf parsley for garnish if your feeling fancy Drain and rinse chickpeas Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, sage,and thyme sprig; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, 10-15 minutes. Add chickpeas and wine. Bring to a rapid simmer; cook until wine is reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chickpeas are very soft, 1 1/2-2 hours for dried chickpeas, or about 30 minutes for canned. Discard thyme sprig. Working in batches, puree chickpea mixture in a blender or with an immersion blender, adding water by 1/2-cupfuls if needed, until smooth. Season with salt. . Meanwhile, cook broccoli in a large pot of boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain; rinse under cold water. Reheat soup. Divide soup among bowls and garnish with broccoli and herbs. ** A little side note..very rarely do I endorse specific brands but Progresso makes a chicken stock that is flavored with rosemary thyme and basil that is out of this world. I used that instead of the veggie stock. Also, if your worried about the wine in case you don't drink, don't worry. When you reduce the wine it evaporates and leaves the flavor and not the alcohol. It winds up to be about the same content as a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a cake....and I don't drink and Im totally ok with it So I hope your inspired to try this. Its a winner! Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2013/02/chickpea-soup#ixzz2KWjUQ0hf

vegetarian liver? I didnt know veggies had livers!!

Hey everyone! The Jewish holidays are over for now. The leftovers are gone. No more gefilte fish with horsradish until march. No latkes to speak of. Being Jewish is more than going to the temple during Yom kippur. Its a cultural thing. Its the food and traditions that come along with it. If you ask any Jewish person about Jewish tradition,undoubtedly they will mention some type of traditional dish. If you keep them talking, it wont be long before it comes out...certain foods remind them of the holidays or things their parents made them as a kid. I am totally convinced that you just have to be Jewish to appreciate certain edibles. Like pickled beets,herring in cream sauce,lox, whitefish salad. Chopped liver is the one thing that reminds me of my parents. It reminds me of the holidays and how my mother made it. I haven't eaten any meat other that fish in ten years and I have to be honest, I miss my mothers home made chopped liver the most. Ive been eating more vegetables lately as part of my efforts to eat healthier. Steamed brocolli and sauteed asparagus are great,but it gets boring after a while. I bought a beautiful eggplant on Sunday at the green market and decided to do my own riff on vegetarian chopped liver. So whatever your heritage,I hope your inspired to dig up one of your favorite recipes and put a new spin on an old classic. 1 2pound eggplant 1 small can of string bean 1 large onion chopped 3 cloves of garlic, minced 4 hard boiled eggs and 3 hard boiled yolks Salt and pepper to taste 3 tbs olive oil,1 set to the side Roast your eggplant in a 350 degree oven until soft for about an hour. Start checking to see if its soft after 45 minutes. When its soft,cover it with tin foil and let it rest and cool off. After 30 minutes, your eggplant will look very deflated. You should be able to drain a lot of the liquid out. Don't make it too dry. This step is really about preference as it affects how dry your end product will be. After I drain a bit of liquid out I split open the eggplant and scoop out the flesh with a tablespoon. Set to the side. Sautee your onions in 2 tbs of olive oil on a very low flame for 20 minutes or until your onions are really caramelized. This has to be done slow. If you burn your onions your "liver" will have a bitter taste. When your onions are nice and caradmelized add your garlic and string beans and Sautee for another 5-7 minutes. Add the string beans, onions, and garlic to a food processor with the eggplant, eggs and yolks and processprooth.I was actually working with a mini chopper so my texture is a bit chunkier than usual. If neccesary drizzle in the lat reserved tablespoon of oil. Hope you enjoy!

Happy 120th annibloggery!!

Hello Everyone!

its been a while since ive posted. Ive been having some issues with my app on my android. that is actually how i do most of my posting. so hopefully ill be able to get that straightened out and be back to posting on a more frequent basis. Im actually very excited to announce that this is my 120th post. i didnt think I'd make it this far, but just knowing that I have a few faithfull followers is enough to give me the energy to blog on. Im also excited to announce that as I post more recipes and tips, ill be organizing this blog into a manuscript and plan to eventually have it published. So exciting to have a project to work on. This blog originally started as just my own outlet for all things food related, and has turned into my own personal vision for a cookbook.
Im also excited that the Fall season is upon us wth all of its beautiful seasonal vegetables that are available this time of year, definately inspires me to eat better. Im also excited about the new farmers market they have on sundays in my neighborhood. now i dont have to travel 45 minutes to get good veggies. i was there last week and was chatting with a lady while perusing the corn. She shared with me how she likes to eat hers and it inspired me to create a "Simple sides" chapter in my blog. I put together this simple corn salad and put my own twist on it.

. So i hope your inspired to get out there and take advantage of the bounty of beautiful Fall vegetables that are in season right now. Pumphin, squash corn and cranberries. These things definatelt inspire me in the kitchen. They dont have to be complicated..just simple fresh ingredients

5 peices fresh corn
2 scallons chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
3 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Boil your corn like you normally would but cut your co0oking time down by about three minutes. Immediately shock the corn in an ice bath. When cool enough to handle, carve all of the corn off the cobb into a bowl. go over your cobbs a second time with your knife to make sure you get all of the juices and kernals off your cobbs. combine the remaining ingredients and adjust salt and pepper to your liking. Serve room temperature or cold. Freezes well, thats if you dont gobble it all up :)

So im off for now my faithfull foodies!!

The salad saga continues

So the end of summer is approaching and I've been a bit lazy with my food blogging. Its just been too hot to cook. I've been doing a lot of boring salads. Lettuce. Tomato. Cucumbers. Blech

But I decided to do a marinated vegetable salad last week. if I look at another lettuce leaf I'll scream. So I found this recipe and I decided it was worth giving a try. What I like about it is you are only limited by your imagination. I took about a cup of each. Zuccini, radishes, carrots, cauliflower,and cherry tomatoes. I made this simple dressing and let it marinate for a day or two. It was awesome

The marinade

3/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 heaping tbs dion mustard

A few cloves of minced garlic

A tbs each of salt sugar and black pepper.

I combined everything and poured it over the veggies and tossed it until everything was well coated. This is great as a side dish to go along with anything. And even better to make ahead of time. Hope you're inspired to get your veg on.

Rock on peeps

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Another tired salad? I think NOT!

Hey Everyone,

Its been a long time since I blogged. Mainly because its been so stinkin hot and humid I couldn't bring myself into the kitchen. Hence the inspiration for this recipe. I've been making a lot of salads lately to take to work. I wish I could say there was any variety to my salads but its usually the same lettuce and tomato salad with cucumbers and green peppers. Maybe if I feel

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poor mans smoked salmon?

Hey everyone...
Its been a slow summer..and too hot to be in the kitchen. But I felt the need to write this latest post that is inspired by my jewish heritage. When I think back I can remember many Sunday mornings eating bagels and lox with my family. I was watching an old episode of Martha Stewart and she had a guest come on and show how to make lox. This is a poor mans smoked salmon and so easy to do. The tricky part is slicing it against the lines so that it doesn't fall apart.

1 cup kosher or sea salt (not iodized)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs lemon zest
Black pepper to taste

Go get yourself a beautiful peice of center cut salmon. Combine your salt and sugar in a bowl and set aside. Season your salmon with the lemon zest and pepper. Put 2 or 3 peices of tin foil on top of each other. Pour a third of the salt-sugar on the tin foil and lay your salmon on top. Pour the rest on top of the salmon and close the tinfoil to make a nice packet. Put in a dish with another dish on top and put a heavy can or weight on top of it. Refidgerate for 24 hours, then rinse of the salt and slice very thinly. And that's it! Lox! How easy is that :)

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its pepper time my friends!!

Ok..so I've never made stuffed peppers before. I've seen them in restaurants. My mother made them when we were kids...I've seen them on every jewish delicatessens menu I've ever been in...but I've always been apprehensive..do I dare say intimidated by the stuffed pepper. How I came to this here, decision to conquer the pepper was this. I've been eating salad w/canned tuna, cottage cheese w/fruit and eggwhites all week. I am freakin bored as hell. That's it...so the search began for the perfect vegetarian stuffed pepper. After looking at a few recipes I decided to follow a basic recipe, substitute where I want to and call it lunch.
So here's my recipe..hope you enjoy!!

3 cups cooked white rice
1 12oz package soyrizo
1 cup of frozen corn kernals
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes.
5 green bell peppers. Tops cut off,seeds and membranes discarded.

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a bowl with a half a cup of the crushed tomatoes and fill each pepper with a half to 3/4 a cup of the mixture depending how big the pepper is. Feel free to add a drop more sauce inside the pepper. Do not pack it to tightly though, for some reason even though the rice is cooked it still expands a little. Put the peppers in a baking dish and cover with the rest of the crushed tomatoes. Pour a little water in the bottom of the dish. Bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour or longer if needed. Depending on how soft you like your pepper. I like mine soft so they were in the oven for a while. They are a touch on the spicy side but of course I had to spinkle some pepperjack on top to guild the lilly just a bit. But if that's not your thing then skip the cheese. So I'm looking forward to this lunch..yuummy!
I hope your inspired to try these..off for now

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