Diet Foodie

Steak and Sweet Potato Salad

2009-09-04T09:43:00.002-04:00

Today I'd like to take a brief moment to announce the receipt of recent accolades; the Hubs has officially earned the title of His Excellency, Master of Outdoor Cooking (his certificate is in the mail). This is a Highly Coveted Award that's given out at random and without much forethought only to the Truly Deserving. In honor of this prestigious award (which sadly does not come with a monetary prize or a trip to Disney) we decided to do some grilling. The Hubs, still...

Beets & Chicken Over Polenta

2009-09-01T06:30:00.003-04:00

Ah, beets. I really do have a tumultous relationship with beets. On the one hand I love beets and try to eat them as often as possible, especially when someone else has gone to the trouble of preparing them. And there's the root of my dislike of beets, they just take too long to make they're almost not worth it (like eggs benedict, always better when someone else does the preparing). I am just don't have the energy capacity to spend over an hour cookng the beets (not to...

Zucchini & Tarragon Pasta Saute

2009-08-25T13:36:00.001-04:00

The annual zucchini over-production has begun and we are officially beginning to drown in zucchini. At the farmer's market they are practically giving it away. While zucchini bread is a wonderful thing that is certain to make it's bloggy-debut shortly, I wanted to turn this week's zucchini into a savory dinner, which is how the zucchini and tarragon pasta dish was born. This was a pretty quick dish, although I did cook the zucchini first and remove it from the pan...

Herbed White Beans and Pasta

2009-08-22T07:30:00.003-04:00

Last week the Hubs had the opportunity to go to a football game (although I'm still unclear as it how it's August and there's football already) which left me free to experiment with this dish for Meatless Monday. The real advantage to this dish is that you could buy the ingredients and just put them in the cupboard to save for a day when there isn't anything else to eat in the house. I don't know about you, but "Nothing To Eat in the House" does seem to just sneak up on me. This...

Not-So-Secret Pizza Dough

2009-08-12T07:30:00.003-04:00

The Hubs has many wonderful qualities, two of which are generosity and computer prowess. The computer prowess part might not seem quite so amazing to you, but it really is. Every time I say to the Hubs "I wish my blog could do _____", a few moments later it can! Recently I told the Hubs that I really wished that my blog had the capacity to print off just the post (without all of the sidebar stuff) and that the post had a printer icon to identify that printing ability. ...

Sloppy Tempeh Joes

2009-08-03T07:30:00.003-04:00

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, on a Monday, it's hard to get your act together? For us Modays are often crazy, the Hubs goes to his office on Mondays (rather than working at home) and everyone at my job is trying to get the week "started off right", which means calling to ask me a zillion inane questions. By the time we get home dinner is often just a little more than we can manage, and this Monday was no different. The Hubs wanted to just order in a pizza, thinking...

Big Meat Wednesdays - Steak Tip Salad

2009-07-30T05:15:00.003-04:00

The Hubs did some serious lobbying for a response to Meatless Mondays, which he would very much like us to call "Big Meat Wednesdays". It doesn't have quite the same ring as Meatless Mondays, but I think that the idea comes through loud and clear. So I, thinking that I was being crafty and clever, decided that if the Hubs wanted meat and potatoes, he could have meat and potatoes...on a salad! Ha! I wasn't even planning to share this with you, after all steak tip salads...

Meatless Monday - Curried Chickpeas & Tofu

2009-07-28T06:15:00.008-04:00

Today's recipe was inspired by the idea of Meatless Mondays. Eating vegetarian is something the Hubs and I try to do regularly, both for health and environmental reasons, so when I discovered that Meatless Mondays was an actual campaign that they were trying to get to sweep the nation I thought that I might as well get in on the act (thereby bringing it one step closer to nation sweeping). We are actually going to try to go one step further by matching a meatless meal with a meat...

Rotisserie Chicken and the Sweet-Savory Rule

2009-07-25T06:30:00.002-04:00

I need to start this post off with a small whinge; a whinge about the weather (it's cold and rainy again) and about how tired I am today. I'd like to be able to blame the tiredness on the lack of sunshine and the new commute that requires getting up an hour and a half earlier than I used to. But really it's due to the sudden burst of creativity I've been experiencing. I got a new sewing machine as a belated birthday present from Bob and Dad and now all I want to do is stay up late sewing...

Tempeh Asian Noodles

2009-07-21T22:40:00.005-04:00

This is a dish that never turns out the same way twice. It might be close to previous incarnations of the dish, but it isn't ever quite the same, which actually is part of what makes it so much fun. (And don't worry, these noodles won't require a trip to the Asian grocery store, although if you're looking for an excuse to check one out...) These amorphous Asian noodles always start out the same, but that's generally where the similarities between versions ends. The basic structure for the...

Grilled Vegetable Pizza

2009-07-21T06:21:00.006-04:00

I have to tell you, the more cooking I do, the more convinced I am that those Italians are a brilliant bunch. Seriously. They took a simple combination of flour, egg, and water, mixed it together and dried it for use later, which gives them a staple to use whenever the mood strikes them. Risotto is a similar thing, rice can sit in your cupboard, patiently waiting for you, ready at a moment's notice. The brilliance is not so much in creating a staple, but in...

Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins

2009-07-18T11:05:00.004-04:00

My culinary philosophy, such as it is, is based on the theory that combining sweet and savory in a dish makes that dish better. Which is probably why I like the combination of lemon and blueberries in muffins, so that the acidity of the lemon can bring out the sweetness of the berries. With blueberries so plentiful (and local) right now, I've been thinking about blueberry lemon muffins quite a bit lately. And I had a corn muffin recipe that I wanted to try, so I thought, why not combine the two...

Fricassee Fava Beans and Sausage on Polenta

2009-07-17T08:15:00.002-04:00

Fresh fava beans are one of those vegetables that only come around once a year. They are only available for a short time, which, as the Hubs pointed out, is a good thing because they are a fair amount of work. Fava beans need to be shelled, blanched, and then have the outer casing removed. Luckily, fava beans are very good, even when you find yourself a little short on chianti. This recipe plays off the sweet, buttery flavor of the fava bean and takes advantage of its smooth...

Cauliflower and Pasta with a Pecan Mustard Lemon Sauce

2009-07-14T21:03:00.003-04:00

I don't know who it is that had the brilliant idea of developing colored cauliflower, but that person was a genius. And I'm still enough of a child that I'm much more willing to eat cauliflower when it's bright orange or purple than I am when it's plain old white. So, of course, I couldn't resist buying a head of orange cauliflower at the farmer's market on Friday. But there is still a big difference between buying the orange cauliflower and actually finding an appetizing way to eat it. In...

Garden Update Phase II

2009-07-13T09:26:00.006-04:00

This past Memorial Day the Hubs and I went out to my parents' house to help them put in the vegetable garden that I talked them into suggested they might want to plant. We spent many days working on that garden and the Hubs and I, who have officially become city slickers, quickly came to appreciate the work that's involved in a garden. I recorded our entire long weekend here. Then, a few weeks ago Bob (as my mother is known far and wide) sent some photos for the first in a series of...

Jean-Friendly Macaroni & Cheese

2009-07-08T20:50:00.003-04:00

I love cheese. I mean I really luurrv cheese. So much so that I spent my 3rd 29th birthday in Vermont tasting cheese. And I particularly enjoy cheese when it's combined with pasta as macaroni and cheese. The problem with mac & cheese, as we all know, is that to make it good one also has to make it very bad for us. So, I set out to come up with a version of mac & cheese that would let me eat the quantities I wanted and would taste just as good as the...

Roasted Beet Barley Risotto

2009-07-07T20:54:00.002-04:00

The Hubs and I made the Great Move (during which a large stack of boxes prevented my blogging) which took us to an apartment right next to the beach. And we enjoyed two whole days of summer before the rain came back (for the foreseeable future). At least all of this cold, rainy weather has motivated me to make the roasted beet barley risotto I talked about ages ago. Besides, I think those beets have languished in the fridge long enough. Usually, recipes for roasted...

The Boston Burgah

2009-07-06T15:44:00.007-04:00

Confession time: When I watch the Food Network's Next Food Network Star I like to play along by imagining what I would make were I to be a contestant on the show (attention internet gods who arrange such things). The last episode I watched had the contestants make burgers that represented a certain region in America (it must have been in anticipation of the 4th). I started thinking about New England, which lead me to think of Boston, and every time I think of Boston I think of the...

Inside-Out Carrot Cake Cookies

2009-07-05T16:39:00.006-04:00

Hello again! Sorry for the prolonged bloggy-silence; I was trapped under a large stack of boxes. The whole moving gig took much more time and effort than I think is reasonable. Once I figure out who to complain to I am going to lodge a formal complaint! The good news is that we are nearly settled and unpacked. All I really need to do is to hang some artwork and put out the chotckies and then we're done. Then I can post photos of the new place so you can see what all of the hard...

Beer Braised Swiss Chard with Bacon & Onions

2009-06-22T21:38:00.007-04:00

Have you heard the urban legend that bacon makes everything taste better? You always thought it was just an exaggeration, didn't you? Well, it isn't. It is now a confirmed fact; we received our confirmation tonight. People from craigslist were allegedly coming over tonight to pick up some of our unwanted furniture so we figured that it would be better not to be in the midst of cooking when they arrived. Turns out there was no need to worry; apparently craigslisters are unreliable was well...

Roasted Potatoes with Pork Steak and Carrots

2009-06-21T22:00:00.003-04:00

Tonight was meal #2 of my quest for Meals That Don't Require a Mandoline. Just so that you aren't confused about me, the mandoline isn't really a tool that I use more than once a month every day. For the next week or so I am just looking for meals that are simple and don't require tools that have already been packed. It's a nice goal, although we didn't quite get there tonight; the Hubs was looking for the already packed no longer available splatter-screen for the pork. I...

White Bean and Tuna Pasta Salad

2009-06-20T15:35:00.011-04:00

The Hubs and I have spent the entire day packing and we're exhausted, but we made good progress. Nearly every horizontal space in our apartment is cleared. Maybe we should leave them this way; it would certainly make dusting a simpler chore. About two hours into the packing the Hubs came upstairs and said, "don't you just want to throw everything away?" Apparently that brilliant idea is contagious. Needless to say, in the midst of all of this chaos there hasn't been...

Salmon Burgers on Polenta with Zucchini and Mozzarella Slices

2009-06-16T22:59:00.010-04:00

I really hate to winge...ok...revise that...I hate to engage in excessive whingeing. But sometimes, just the right amount of whingeing is exacty that's needed. And right now, I need to whinge about the status of my life in general. In 14 days movers are showing up at our house to move us to a new apartment and that's very exciting! It's getting through the next 14 days that requires the whinge. The house is a wreck with half-packed things strewn across every available...

Figs with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Reduction

2009-06-15T19:50:00.009-04:00

Here in New England we only get 24 hours during which black mission figs are (a) available and (2) not overly ripe. Last year, I foolishly thought that we would have something like 36 or 48 hours in which to eat the figs before they went bad. The thick growth of mold that developed in one night quickly disabused me of that notion. Today after work the Hubs and I had to go to the grocery store (being unable to make ourselves do anything productive yesterday in our...

Baby Shower Success

2009-06-13T20:17:00.006-04:00

The baby shower for R. is officially over and I am tired. Everyone (especially Mike) was a huge help and the shower was a roaring success. In fact, everyone loved the food, particularly the pea and prosciutto spring rolls, and I even had people offer to hire me to cater their events (should I happen to be interested). That was a lovely thought on their part but, for now, I think I'm going to stick with the law; its much easier than catering. The best part was that R., and her husband P.,...