Eats Well With Others

Recipe: Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Pecan Pie Streusel

2012-01-27T07:39:00.004-05:00

The only thing worse than having an old Chinese food container full of caramel pecan pie filling in your fridge without an intended destination or life purpose (other than Grey's Anatomy-induced stress eating on a Derek Shepherd-full Saturday night)....

...is finding a boom box on top of a filing cabinet in lab. With a CASSETTE tape in it that is probably as old as the beginning of time.

And not having a dance party in the middle of lab on a dreary Thursday-that-felt-like-it-should-be-Friday morning.

Don't worry. My labmates and I are totally on the same wavelength when it comes to such things.

So we pressed play on that cassette tape, with the reckless abandon of people who have already been pipetting for three hours straight. And we partied like it's hot.

In the tissue culture room.

Lab coats and all.

(Well, except me. I refuse to wear a lab coat. I'm quite rebellious.)

We made it five minutes before the head of our lab came out of his office to inform us that whatever was coming out of that antiquated piece of technology was not, in fact, music after all. But someone with a very nasal voice trying to pretend that he was not born tone deaf.

Actually, I think what really happened is that he stared at us with all the solemnity he could muster for a good thirty seconds. And then said, "Uh, guys. This isn't going to work."

Back went the boom box to it's filing cabinet, left to collect dust and be discovered again in two decades when no one will even remember that cassette tapes ever used to exist in this world.

But what does this have to do with pumpkin cake, you might wonder?

Well. Sometimes you just have to take life by the horns and dance to bad music in the middle of lab on a random workday just to get through the week.

And sometimes...

...you have to resist the urge to eat caramel pecan pie filling all alone in your room.

You have to take a chance on a pumpkin cake recipe that, by all means, seems boring but is actually revelatory in its simplicity.

You have to swirl that filling into a streusel as if your life depends on it.

And then you have to bring it into lab and share it with your coworkers. Because though your dance partying ~~days~~ minutes may be over....there's always room for cake. Especially when it tastes this good.

Pumpkin Cake with Caramel Pecan Pie Streusel
Serves 12, adapted from The Essential New York Times Cookbook and Food and Wine

Ingredients

3 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1/2 batch caramel pecan pie filling

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350. Grease a 10-inch tube or Bundt pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Place the sugar, oil and pumpkin puree in a mixer fitted with a paddle and beat well on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift and fold the dry ingredients into the batter.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Drop the pecan pie filling on top of the batter in the pan so that it is evenly distributed around the pan. Add the remaining batter to the pan. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Start checking the cake after 1 hour. Let cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

I am submitting this to Bake with Bizzy!

Zucchini "Meatballs" and Curry-Tomato Sauce Over Polenta...Eat.Live.Be.

2012-01-25T07:27:00.000-05:00

Thank you to Hunt’s for sponsoring this post and encouraging my culinary skills!

Visit Hunt’s Signature Recipe Collection to find tons of delicious ideas

for using Hunt’s tomatoes in your meals.

You guys.

Last night I had a run-in with the law.

And by law...I mean a bag of a certain chocolatey-delicious shell filled with a peanut butter/confectioner's sugar mash-up also known as the only chocolate candy worth eating EVER.

Umm yeah. Same thing.

It was a make or break kind of moment.

Like when you're driving and you hear those sirens go off behind you. And you're like uh, not me. So in that moment as the panic creeps up, you can either speed away as fast as you can and hope that no one decides to chase you or send a SWAT team or open fire.

Or you can pull over like the complacent citizen you are, listen to the officer try to tell you that you went through a stop sign that you know for sure doesn't exist. Bat your pretty eyelashes, say you'll never do it again, and get away with a warning.

You know...one of those moments.

So I had a stare-down with that bag of orangey gold foil covered chocolate treats.

I stared them down as I unwrapped 8 ounces worth of them. And then I stared them down some more as I chopped those 8 ounces into itty bitty pieces. And then again as I swirled them into a peanut butter banana bread batter.

And then, right when I couldn't possibly stare them down anymore without some sort of short circuiting in my brain and/or olfactory bulb (really...you start to smell them as soon as you open the bag. It's intoxicating.) The moment happened.

I had a choice.

I could either eat the other 11 ounces of peanut butter cups in that bag. Or. I could not.

It sounds easy, but in that second, it's the hardest choice to make. All you can feel is hedonism and the intense to desire to coat your entire being (especially your tastebuds) in a chocolate/peanut butter mix.

And all you can hear is alarms going off in your mind screaming NOOOOOOOOOO.

And then a knock at the door tells you that the peanut butter cup police are at your door, and what are you going to do?!?!?!?

We're reaching the point in January where resolve starts to waver and these forks in the road seem to be coming at us at an increasingly breackneck speed.

But maybe it doesn't have to be so binary. Maybe we can have one peanut butter cup. And then put the bag down.

Maybe it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Because this isn't about one day. It's about a lifetime. And a lifetime without peanut butter cups...that's just unrealistic. But so is a lifetime of eating entire bags of them in one sitting. It's your choice.

Making good food choices is easier when you have healthy ingredients in the cupboard and healthy, EXCITING recipes on your menu plan. Personally..I'm always excited by ethnic spices and exotic flavors. Especially curry.

So when Hunt's sent me a few of their products and told me to go forth and create! I knew I wanted to make some kind of fusion between the Italian fare we usually think of when we see tomato sauce and tomato paste and canned diced tomatoes...and the Indian flavors that I crave almost constantly.

After spying a recipe for zucchini "meatballs" in one of my Madhur Jaffrey cookbooks, I knew the direction I wanted to take. Gingery zucchini meatballs, bound with chickpea flour for an extra dose of fiber and protein, paired with a tomato-curry sauce and all served atop of a creamy yet creamless polenta. Though Jaffrey's "meatballs" were fried, I baked mine with excellent results, making this a delicious meal that you can feel good about.

Really. We have enough of those forks in the road to health to contend with. Let's not make dinner one of them.

For more Eat.Live.Be. inspiration, check out Sarah's, Cate's and Patsy's blogs!

Zucchini Meatballs and Curry-Tomato Sauce over Polenta
Serves 4, adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking

Ingredients

3 medium zucchini, about 1-1.25 pounds
1/2 tsp salt
1 hot green chili, seeded and minced
3 tbsp finely minced onion
1/2 tsp peeled and very finely grated ginger
2 tbsp parsley, finely minced
1/3 cup chickpea flour
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and very finely minced
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 14 oz can Hunt's petite diced tomatoes
1 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup polenta
salt, to taste

Instructions

Wash, trim and grate the zucchini. Put it into a bowl and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt. Set aside for half an hour.
Squeeze as much liquid as possible out of the zucchini by pressing handfuls of it between your palms. Save the zucchini liquid for the sauce. Dry off the bowl and put the zucchini back into it. Add the chili, 3 tbsp onion, grated ginger, and parsley. Sift the chickpea flour over the vegetable mixture. Mix well and form 16 balls.
Preheat oven to 400. Spray zucchini meatballs with cooking spray. Place on a silpat or parchment paper on a large baking pan. Bake for 40 minutes, turning once halfway through.
While zucchini balls are cooking, make the sauce. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, put into the minced onions. Stir and fry for 7-8 minutes or until the onions begin to turn brown at the edges. Take the pan off the fire for a few seconds and add the turmeric, cayenne, ground cumin, and ground coriander. Stir once and put the pan back on the flame. Stir for another 5 seconds. Add the tomatoes. Stir on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the zucchini juice (about 1 cup. Add water if there is not enough.) Bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat and let the sauce simmer gently for 15 minutes.
Add the almond milk, garam masala, 1/2 tsp cumin, and salt to taste. Mix well. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Cook polenta according to package directions. I usually just use cornmeal when I'm feeling lazy, which cooks up in 5 minutes.
Spoon the sauce over the polenta and serve topped with zucchini meatballs.

Thank you again to Hunt’s for sponsoring my post. Find more ideas for cooking with tomatoes at Hunt’s Signature Recipe Collection. I was selected for this opportunity by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own. #HuntsRecipe #spon

Recipe: Creamy Carrot and Parsnip Soup

2012-01-24T07:02:00.003-05:00

Parsnips may be the less vibrantly hued cousins of carrots, but anemic in anything other than color, they are not. For a delicious and healthy way to prepare them, check out my post about this soup on Marcus Samuelsson's blog!

I am submitting this to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sundays as well as to the Allergy-Free Wednesdays Blog Hop!

Recipe: Broccoli-Basil Mac and Cheese

2012-01-23T07:52:00.002-05:00

Let's just call a bad hairpiece a bad hairpiece.

This mac and cheese looks like it has a chia pet growing on it's head.

Fact.

I tried to convince my roommate's boyfriend that it was just growing an extra coat of broccoli-basil breadcrumb hair for the winter, to keep warm, as he stood over the tray with his fork dubiously poised.

(He's one of those vegetarians for whom vegetables are like extra-terrestrial entities that should be encountered with caution. Pizza and the infamous blue box are more his style.)

He remained skeptical. Gave me a look that said "geez louise, everyone knows mac and cheese doesn't really have hair follicles".

And then dug in.

Yes, sometimes even the future doctors of America need to be cajoled in to eating their vegetables. It happens.

And while this mac and cheese has quite a few healthy surprises stuffed into it, it's vastly different from one of those Jessica Seinfeld-esque concoctions in that it's not pretending to be something that it's not.

It is unapologetically good for you. And it tastes nothing like it's neon orange counterpart. So if that's what you're hoping for - some kind of health food miracle that turns cheddar, gruyere and butternut squash into something akin to velveeta - this is not it.

But if what you're craving is a dish that hits all those cheesy comfort food cravings while still allowing you to feel like you can conquer the world afterwards (or at least shovel a few inches of snow). Then take off those fuzzy boots and your hot pink marshmallow puffy jacket and come on in. I'll grab you a plate.

So, I'm going to take a detour from mac and cheese heaven to ask you a question. If you could eat peanut butter and jelly bars to help find a cure for cancer...would you do it?

Guess what....now you can! My friend Amanda from Tales From A Kitchen Misfit is training for her FIRST marathon (the Boston Marathon!!) with Team in Training, and is having a virtual bake sale to help her meet her fundraising goals and raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I've done three seasons with Team In Training so I know it's a worthy cause. The money that Amanda raises from the bake sale will go to cancer research (some of the work that I've done in labs has actually been funded by LLS so YES this is going to REAL research) as well as to help patients cover costs of treatment and hospital care.

Along with a number of other treats, my peanut butter and jelly bars are up for grabs! If you've ever wanted to have an Eats Well With Others treat delivered straight to your door, this is the time. You can bid here. And if anyone has any kind of peanut allergies, I'd be willing to make them with sunbutter or soybutter so don't let that stop you from bidding!

Broccoli-Basil Mac and Cheese
Serves 6, adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Ingredients

1 small kabocha or butternut squash, seeded and cut into tiny chunks
1 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch basil, stems removed
2 slices good brown bread, stale or dried out in the oven
1 small head broccoli, roughly chopped
4 tbsp nonfat greek yogurt
3.5 oz grated white cheddar cheese (I used Cabot reduced fat sharp cheddar)
3.5 oz grated gruyere
large handful of yellow cherry tomatoes
3 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 with a rack in the middle. Set a large pot of water to boil.
Place the squash on a large baking sheet lined with foil. Spray with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender.
While the squash is cooking, pulse half the basil, all of the bread, the broccoli, and a bit of water in the food processor until there is a fine crumb. It may be a bit damp. Transfer to a small bowl and rinse out the processor.
In a separate bowl, combine the Greek yogurt and grated cheeses.
Place the cherry tomatoes in the food processor with the remaining basil. Pulse to break things up a bit, then add it to the cheese mixture.
Boil the pasta in well-salted water until it is slightly undercooked. Drain, reserving a cup of pasta water for later use. Put pasta back in pot and add the cheese mixture to it. Add the squash and stir it. Add pasta water until the sauce is thinned to the consistency of cream. It's okay if it's a bit runny, as the pasta will absorb the liquid in the oven.
Transfer everything to large casserole or 9x13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle the green breadcrumbs across the top and bake for 20-25 minutes or until topping is crunchy. Remove from the oven. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.

Looking for more mac and cheese inspiration? Check out these recipes:
Macaroni and Goat Cheese with Roasted Red Peppers
Baked Zucchini Macaroni and Cheese
Caramelized Sweet Potato, Garlic and Rosemary Mac and Cheese

I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted by Emma of Souperior.

Recipe: Sparkling Champagne Cupcakes

2012-01-20T06:57:00.000-05:00

We need to have a talk. THE talk.

You see, when a man and a woman love each other and are in a caring, committed relationship.

Sometimes...they do things. For each other. With each other. To each other.

Special things.

For instance...they might pick a day. A random day. A day that means nothing.

(Usually somewhere around, oh say, February 14th.)

And they'll mutually agree that on that day, the man will buy the woman flowers. And chocolate. And she'll giggle and throw things at him and accuse him of trying to make her fat.

And then they'll take to the streets and pervade our restaurants with their cooing and their googly eyes and their hand holding.

Finally, when all the cooing and hand holding and weird eye stuff is over. They'll go home and do more stuff. More special stuff.

Maybe. If the man is lucky.

And us single ladies?

We are also going to be doing special things.

We are going to be pounding tequila shots like it's our job. Getting tattoos that say "LOVE SUCKS" across our lower backs. Putting all of our cookbooks into bed with us so that it seems like, maybe, for just one uncomfortable hard-covered-book-edge-in-our-back night, we are not quite so alone.

Or not.

Maybe we'll just celebrate our single-lady-ness.

Toast to ourselves on a champagne cupcake.

Make a wish on a sparkling wine star.

Or just be grateful that, not only can we make ourselves happy, but we can also whip up a pretty damn fine cupcake. We are serious catches. And anyone would be lucky to have us.

Amen.

The best thing about these cupcakes is that they can be enjoyed on just about any occasion, by single and non-single ladies and gentlemen alike. I know because I tested them amongst my family on New Year's Day, when we had a single lady, a single man, a married couple, and a 15-year-old-who-thinks-she's-28-and-spent-the-whole-evening-texting-her-boyfriend present.

They were dubious of this whole champagne cupcake filled with champagne pastry cream and topped with champagne buttercream business. But they were pleasantly surprised.

I used a pink champagne for my cupcakes and I really liked the fruity notes it added to the buttercream. You can use whatever champagne you want, but just make sure it's something that tastes good because the flavor will come across in the pastry cream and buttercream.

For more addictively delicious baked goods, check out my guest post on Pham Fatale! If you're looking to wean yourself off of a lemon poppyseed Costco muffin addiction...or even if you're not...these are the cookies for you!

Sparkling Champagne Cupcakes
Makes 17, adapted from SprinkleBakes

Ingredients

Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup champagne, prosecco, or any sparkling wine

Champagne Pastry Cream Filling

1/2 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 cup champagne or prosecco
2 tbsp cornstarch
5 tbsp granulated sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Champagne Frosting

1 cup plus 1 tbsp champagne or prosecco, divided
2 sticks butter, softened
2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

Instructions

For the cake:

Preheat oven to 350.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt, set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup champagne and 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (mixture will fizz and bubble a little). Add flour and champagne mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour. Batter will be thick.
Fill cupcake papers with 1/4 cup level measures of batter. Bake for 17-22 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

For the filling:

In a medium bowl, whisk cornstarch in 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Combine the remaining heavy cream, sugar and 1/2 cup champagne in a saucepan; bring to a boil then remove from heat.
Beat the whole egg and egg yolks into the cornstarch/heavy cream mixture in the stand mixer. With the stand mixer on, slowly pour 1/3 of boiling champagne mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the eggs do not cook. Return the remaining champagne/heavy cream mixture to a boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.
Cut a divot into the top of each cupcake and fill with pastry cream. Trim the cut-out cake pieces flat to make a "lid" and place on top of the filled divot.

For the frosting:

Place 1 cup of champagne in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until reduced to 2 tablespoons. Transfer to a small bowl or condiment cup and allow to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, cream softened butter and powdered sugar together. Once the frosting is thick and fluffy, pour in the reduced 2 tbsp. champagne plus 1 tbsp. champagne from the bottle and mix well.
Frost the cream-filled cupcakes and decorate.

I am submitting these to Bake with Bizzy!

Recipe: Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas, Feta and Swiss Chard...Eat.Live.Be

2012-01-18T07:34:00.002-05:00

A recurring theme on The Biggest Loser (and, I'm sure, other weight loss reality tv shows) is that most of the participants will tell you that they never realized just how fat they were. They knew they were large, and they weren't happy at their weight, but they just assumed they were "big boned". The number on the scale during that first weigh in is usually a shock to them. Because they felt lighter than they actually were.

And then you have me.

I actually truly believe I am one of those people who weigh more than they look. And I know it's due to muscle, which isn't something I should feel bad about. It's something I should embrace, in fact.

But I feel what the scale tells me. I feel every ounce.

Unlike The Biggest Losers, I know exactly how fat I am. And I say that slightly tongue in cheek because I'm not really fat. But I know this because it's what other people tell me and not because it is what I see or feel.

My physical therapist gave me kind of a wake-up call this week in that regard.

I went to see him because of this weird discomforting feeling I was having in my stress fracture area during my runs. It wasn't pain, it didn't get worse as I ran, and it abated almost as soon as I stopped. But I trust that man with my life and most certainly my legs, and so I went to get it checked out.

We started talking about my goals for going back to running, especially with regards to the NYC Marathon in November. And I told him I wanted to run a sub-4 hour marathon.

I finished my first marathon in 3:35 and my second in 4:34, so 4 hours is not really so unrealistic.

He looked surprised and said, "Why not aim for for the 3:34?"

I said, "Well, you know. I don't think I could do it again. I was really tiny then."

And as he dug his elbow into my iliopsoas, which is unfortunately close to my ovaries. He said, "You're pretty tiny now."

I'd be lying if I said I didn't come thisclose to crying on his exam table. (Okay, maybe part of that was how much his elbow in my abdomen just flat-out hurt, but still.) Or that I didn't cry when I got home.

I may never be able to really truly see what I look like when I stare into a mirror. But for the rest of that afternoon, and every time I think back on it, I can. Even if it's just a flicker. I can.

Now, I'm not writing this to garner any compliments or reassuring comments. I'm writing it because I know that for most people, we are so hard on ourselves and on our bodies. We talk trash about ourselves all the time. And most of it is unwarranted.

We need to give ourselves a break. We need to believe in ourselves.

We need to say "I can" more than "I can't".

Two days after that conversation with my physical therapist, I ran. I ran 6 miles. At an 8:40 minute mile. Is it a far cry from my 8 min/mile marathon time? Yes. But it's also faster than I was when I had to stop running due to my stress fracture in October. And this is three weeks out from an injury. I. CAN. AND. I. WILL.

And so can you.

For more healthy living inspiration, check out these Eat.Live.Be. posts from Sarah, Cate, and Patsy!

Speaking of believing, I BELIEVE you should make this dish. Now. Immediately.

I proclaimed this on Twitter to be one of my favorite lunches in a long time. And I still stand by that.

There's a perfectly seasoned and slightly spicy smoky tomato sauce with chickpeas and swiss chard mixed in, topped with feta and an egg that you crack on top and then "poach" in the oven. And let me tell you, the only thing better than a slightly spicy smoky tomato chickpea swiss chard sauce topped with feta...is the same thing topped with a runny egg yolk. Truth.

Poached Eggs in Tomato Sauce with Chickpeas, Feta and Swiss Chard
Serves 4, adapted from Bon Appetit December 2011

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
2 bunches swiss chard, leaves removed from the stem and coarsely chopped
1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
28 oz canned whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand, juices reserved
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup coarsely crumbled feta
4 large eggs
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425. Heat oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, and jalapenos, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add in the chard. Cover pan and allow to wilt, about 3 minutes. Add chickpeas, paprika, and cumin and cook for 2 minutes longer.
Add crushed tomatoes and their juices. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens slightly, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
If serving to a large group, sprinkle feta evenly over sauce. Crack eggs one at a time and place over sauce, evenly apart. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until whites are just set but yolks are still runny, 7-10 minutes. Garnish with parsley..
Since leftover eggs are just weird and I was the only one eating, I put 1/4 of the tomato chickpea sauce into a 14 oz ramekin, topped 1 oz crumbled feta and broke the egg over the top. Then, I transferred the ramekin to the oven and baked for 7-10 minutes as per the previous instructions. This way I could refrigerate the remaining sauce and make my eggs fresh each time. This also makes for a great presentation!

I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Simona of Briciole.

Recipe: Quinoa, Fennel and Pomegranate Salad

2012-01-17T07:08:00.005-05:00

A healthy lunch and a way to appease your mother's desire for you to be "more Italian"? This quinoa, fennel and pomegranate salad does it all. For the recipe, check out my post on Marcus Samuelsson's blog!

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

Recipe: Green Goddess Enchiladas

2012-01-16T08:03:00.002-05:00

We may live in a democracy with equal rights and all, but I just think you should know that no matter what Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, all green goddess dressings are not created equal.

Sure, they're all green, but so is pistachio ice cream. Which, though amazingly delicious, is certainly not health food.

(Moral of the story. You should never judge a condiment by its verdant hue.)

And I suppose they'll all turn you into some sort of divine entity...

...but while some versions of this herbalicious dressing will turn you into a legit goddess, hourglass figure and all.

Others will inevitably push you more towards the Buddha side of the celestial being spectrum. Um, yeah. Undesirable. At best.

To clear up all this confusion (or to just add an oxymoron to the mix), I present you with green goddess enchiladas. Traditionally greasy drunk hangover food...that's good for you?

You better believe it. Mexican detox food. Right here.

With their spicy chickpea tomato chile filling and green goddess sauce topping made with KALE and GREEK YOGURT (!!!) these enchiladas are comfort craving food that you can feel good about eating.

And with each delicious bite we'll be one step closer on the road to goddess-ville.

Rumor has it there's good-for-you pistachio ice cream there. And lots of baked brie. Eat up.

We've got to get a move on.

Green Goddess Enchiladas
Serves 5-6, adapted from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and boiled in salted water until tender
1 small onion, diced
1 (10 oz) can Ro-tel diced tomatoes and chilis
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 tsp dried oregano
kosher salt and black pepper
1 cup grated reduced fat cheddar cheese (I used Cabot)
10-12 corn tortillas
1 3/4 cup low sodium vegetable broth
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 bunch kale, stemmed
1 (4 oz) can green chiles
2 scallions, chopped

Instructions

In a large nonstick skillet, spray with cooking spray and, over medium-low heat, saute chickpeas, onion, Ro-tel, corn, oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Saute 5-6 minutes over medium-low heat or until all liquid from tomatoes has evaporated, stirring often. Remove from heat.

In a blender or food processor, puree the vegetable broth, Greek yogurt, kale, chiles, and scallions.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9×13 casserole or baking dish. Lightly cover bottom of the dish with 1/2-3/4 cup of the sauce.

Heat corn tortillas by wrapping the stack of them in aluminum foil and placing them in the preheating oven for 5-7 minutes or by microwaving them covered with a wet paper towel for 30 seconds.

Stir 1/2 cup of cheese into the chickpea mixture. Add heaping 1/2 cups of filling to one end of each tortilla and roll up or fold in half placing each one seam side down in the prepared casserole dish.

Pour kale sauce evenly over top of enchiladas. It will be very liquidy, but don't worry, it will thicken as it cooks. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over the enchiladas. Bake for about 25 minutes until bubbly all over. Allow to sit for five minutes before serving.

Recipe: Meyer Lemon Rosemary Sticky Buns

2012-01-13T07:15:00.003-05:00

The thing about waking up in the morning once to the smell of lemon and rosemary and deliciously sweet dough baking in your oven.

Is that it's habit forming.

All of a sudden, you can't sleep because you know that you're going to arise to boring old stale air.

You can't dream, because you're just completely preoccupied with the thought of all that stale air infiltrating your lungs and pervading your mind and blowing away the memory of the lemon-rosemary-heaven scent.

And you can't wake up because what is there to live for, really, if these sticky buns aren't going to be waiting for you on your counter in all their lemony-sweet glory?

Dilemmas. We're wading in 'em.

But not to fear! I've thought long and hard about this. And we have options.

Not very good or sensible options. But options nonetheless.

(a) We could buy out our grocery store's supply of Meyer lemons and then use half of them to bake sticky buns every other day and the other half to squeeze juice around our apartment on the other days so that we can fake out our smell receptors and still be able to wear our skinny jeans. Plus we'll appease our aching hearts because they'll know that, even if we can't have a sticky bun today, our next one is just a mere 24 hours away. Expensive. But doable.

(b) Get all of our friends and family addicted to Meyer lemon rosemary sticky buns. (Easy.) Then convince them to join MLRSBEA with us.

MLRSBEA = Meyer Lemon Rosemary Sticky Bun Eaters Anonymous

Duh.

(c) Replace our Meyer lemon rosemary sticky bun habit with a drug addiction. Preferably not marijuana because I don't think that's going to help with the skinny jean problem. And may lead us to make even more sticky buns.

(d) Allow aliens to infiltrate our minds and brainwash us into thinking we actually don't like the smell of Meyer lemon rosemary heaven emanating from our ovens. Then lead a sad and lonely Meyer lemon rosemary-less existence for the rest of our lives. (Not optimal.)

So these are our options.

I leave it to you to figure out which of these you're going to pursue once you make these and realize your life will never be the same again and you find yourself quitting your job, abandoning your children at daycare, leaving your husband just so that you don't have to share a single sticky bun with him, and doing all sorts of crazy things just to get your fix.

As for me. I'm just going to keep baking sticky buns.

Meyer lemon season just started, after all. And I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel on 'em just yet.

For more Eats Well With Others deliciousness, check out my guest post on Vanilla Sugar! Trust me...this is a recipe you DON'T want to miss.

Meyer Lemon Rosemary Sticky Buns
Makes 12-16, adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures

Ingredients

For the Dough

1 tbsp active yeast or 1 packet
3/4 cup warm milk, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
3 1/2-4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 meyer lemons, zested
2 eggs, room temperature

For the Filling:

1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
zest of 2 meyer lemons
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 tbsp meyer lemon juice
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

For the Lemon Cream Cheese Glaze:

4 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
Juice of one meyer lemon
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Instructions

In a small bowl, mix the yeast with 1/4 cup warm milk and a pinch of sugar. Let it sit for a few minutes. If it foams, then you're good to go. If not, the yeast is probably dead and your dough will not likely rise. Mix the yeast/milk mixture, the remaining milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, salt, nutmeg, lemon zest, and one cup of the flour and mix briefly to combine. Add the eggs and enough of the remaining flour to make a soft yet sticky dough. Switch to the dough hook and knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Alternatively, you could turn the soft dough out onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for 7-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.)
Lightly grease a large bowl with cooking spray. Add the dough and turn to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm spot. Let the dough rise until nearly doubled, about an hour.
To make the filling, mix the sugar with the nutmeg, then work in the lemon zest and rosemary with the tips of your fingers until the sugar resembles wet, soft sand. Stir in two tablespoons of lemon juice.
Lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray. On a floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle that is approximately 10x15 inches. Spread the dough evenly with the softened butter, then spread the lemon-sugar filling mixture over top. Starting with a long end facing you, roll the dough up tightly. Pinch the dough at the end to seal the seam. Cut the dough into 12 or 16 even rolls (I like to halve the roll, then halve each piece and finally, cut each piece into thirds or foruths), and place them, cut side up, in the prepared baking dish.
Cover the rolls with a towel and let them rise for an hour or until puffy and nearly doubled. (You can also refrigerate the rolls at this point. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap, and place it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. When you are ready to bake the rolls, remove the pan from the fridge, and let them rise for an hour.<--This is what I did, then baked the next morning!)
Heat the oven to 350 F. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the rolls are lightly browned and a thermometer inserted into the center of a roll reads 190 F.
While the rolls are baking, prepare the glaze. Whip the cream cheese (using a mixer or even by hand with a whisk) until light and fluffy. Add the lemon juice and blend until well combined. Mix in the powdered sugar until the glaze is smooth and creamy.
When the rolls finish baking, smear them with the cream cheese glaze. Serve warm.

For more Meyer lemon inspiration, check out these recipes:
Meyer Lemon Curd
Meyer Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Meyer Lemon Bars

I am submitting these to Bake with Bizzy. They have been yeastspotted!

Recipe: Bulgur and Kale Casserole with Yogurt Topping...Eat.Live.Be.

2012-01-11T07:35:00.002-05:00

"I can't. Sorry. Bad timing."

Those are the three incomplete sentences that the last boy I dated (yes, back in October. there's no shame in celibacy.) texted to me seemingly out of nowhere on one truly absurd Monday night. And I am ashamed to say that I, myself, was forced to plagiarize them last week.

It was both a grammatically and ethically unsound move. But it had to happen. Dire times, you know.

I said them as I took my collection of baking chips and put them on the highest shelf in our apartment (the one that I risk spinal cord injury every time I have to scale two chairs to get to the top of it. If that's not a deterrent...nothing will be). I said them as I rid my freezer of all the leftover frostings and icings and cookie doughs that I had stored throughout the past year. I said them as I told the head of my lab that I will no longer be working on characterizing genes that other people discovered and that have absolutely no function in insulin signaling in adipocytes, no matter how many ridiculous nanomoles of siRNA or completely non-physiological micromoles of insulin these other labs choose to throw at them. (Actually, I think what I really told him was that I renounce them. It sounded more official and less emo-teen-girl-drama. He, um. Laughed.)

(And yes. I'm still working on them.)

And then I said them to my laundry hamper full of clean clothing as I laced up my sneakers and headed out the door for a run. Priorities. Besides, who really needs unwrinkled clean underwear, anyway?

My point is that the timing is never going to be perfect. For anything.

You are always going to be "too busy" to go to the gym. Life is going to be "too hectic" to really put in the time to online date (or get married or have kids, etc.) You're always going to have "not enough" money to spend on fresh vegetables.

You're right. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything you want to do. But you have to do them anyway.

By all accounts, I don't have time to blog or to go to the gym for at least an hour (but usually an hour and a half) every day or to spend four hours sitting at a microscope staring at glowing cells. But I do them anyway. Maybe it means that I plan my experiments around when I want to go to the gym and wake up at 6 every day and cook dinner at 8AM sometimes. So be it. Because if I waited to have enough time...I would probably never do anything (other than sit around and eat cupcakes. Funny how there's always time for that.)

One thing that you should definitely make time for this week (and it does require a bit of time...sorry) is making this casserole. Described by Martha Rose Shulman as a healthy moussaka without the meat, I have to say that it is so much more than that. It is bulgur and kale surrounded by the most perfectly spiced tomato sauce you could ever imagine, heady with cinnamon and cloves, and topped with a parmesan yogurt crust that is cheesy and oh so satisfying. I proclaimed it on Twitter to be the best meal I'll eat in all of January. Perhaps a bit pre-emptively. But when you know, you just know.

I have some more Internet inspiration this week in the form of this post by The Bull Runner that got facebook-messaged around the members of my running group. It's called Date A Girl Who Runs. There's also a Date A Girl Who Blogs. I'm thinking I should write one called Date a Girl Who Runs and Blogs and Stares At Fluorescent Cells All Day. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

For more healthy living inspiration, check out Sarah's, Cate's and Patsy's blogs!

Bulgur and Kale Casserole with Yogurt Topping
Serves 4-6, adapted from The New York Times

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes (I used San Marzanos)
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 lb kale, stemmed and washed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup coarse bulgur
1/4 cup finely chopped dill
2 oz (about 1/2 cup) freshly grated parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

Instructions

Make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute, and add the tomatoes, salt to taste, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, paprika and cloves. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until the tomatoes are bubbling. Stir together, turn the heat back to medium-low, partly cover and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the sauce is thick and fragrant, 25 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from the heat. Set aside
To cook the bulgur, bring 2 cups water with salt to taste to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the bulgur, and when the water comes back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until all of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, place a clean dish towel over the pan and cover with the lid. Let sit 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, blanch the kale in salted boiling water for 4 minutes. Rinse with cold water and squeeze dry. Chop fine (you can do this by pulsing in a food processor fitted with the steel blade.)
Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray over medium heat and add one clove of minced garlic. When it begins to smell fragrant, in about 30 seconds, stir in the chopped kale. Toss together and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir in the bulgur and dill, combine well and remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil a 3-quart baking or gratin dish. Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish, and spoon in the bulgur and kale. Spread in an even layer. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan on top and cover with the remaining tomato sauce, spread in an even layer.
Beat together the eggs, yogurt and 2 tablespoons of the remaining Parmesan. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Spoon over the tomato sauce and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top. Place in the oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until golden. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes or longer before serving.

Recipe: Pasta with Broccoli, Olives and Feta

2012-01-10T07:00:00.000-05:00

Want proof that you actually can eat a delicious healthy pasta dinner while sticking to your new year's resolutions? Check out my post on Marcus Samuelsson's blog!

I am submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Helen of Fuss Free Flavors!

Recipe: Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils, Brussels Sprouts and Goat Cheese

2012-01-09T07:38:00.000-05:00

Every weekend my mom calls and asks, with all the hope she can muster, "So....did you go out this weekend?"

She's still holding strong to her belief that bars are the place to meet future husbands.

And I still strongly beg to differ.

We've agreed to disagree.

(Well...I've agreed to disagree. She's agreed to keep calling and arguing with me about it. Sigh. Moms. Can't live with em, or without em.)

Normally my answer is no. My crazy first year of med school aside, I actually don't really like drinking to the point where I have no idea what my middle initial is and I hate waking up the next morning feeling like death epitomized. And let's be honest...hangovers only get worse as you get older.

In college, I used to be able to party until I didn't remember any of my initials. And then wake up and go get dim sum the next morning. Who.Was.I?

Anyway. In the New Year, I'm working on saying yes. Yes to social outings. Yes to social drinking. Yes to letting my guard down just a little. Yes.

So on Friday, I mentally prepared myself to socialize to the extreme, make vapid conversation with strange men, and dance as if I were in the privacy of my own bedroom. And went out.

It was one of my friend's birthdays and he had made reservations at this bar called Milk & Honey that was styled after a London speakeasy. They only took reservations for a max of five people and so we just split the party up, with my roommate and I on one reservation and the other five guys on another, thinking we'd be able to mix and mingle with each other as we pleased.

So we go. I'm wearing a silver sparkly tank top that my mom gave me for Christmas (along with the push-up bra she also threw in my stocking. Leopard print. Yes, mom. We get the message.) and the skinniest of skinny jeans, ready to meet and mingle and give out my number to random strangers.

Only to discover that this is possibly the most anti-social bar of all of New York City's liquor-serving establishments.

There are rules against speaking to each other. Actual hard and fast rules that you'll only discover when you try to walk across the bar to your friends' table and are chastised/basically blockaded by the waitress. It was worse than trying to get through Customs with real serious Italian focaccia smuggled into your carry-on. I should know.

If this experience is foretelling of what's going to happen in the rest of 2012...I think it's safe to say that this will not be the year I meet my future husband at a bar. Again.

No matter how many sequins my mother tries to infiltrate my wardrobe with.

It might be the year of really great salads, though, if this salad has any predictive value.

Roasted butternut squash and brussels sprouts are tossed with some smoked paprika and cumin and then roasted until they are sweet, smoky and just a bit spicy. Mix em all up with earthy lentils, bitter arugula, and a really seductive goat cheese. And there you have a miracle in a very large and filling bowl.

Perfect for just about any meal, but especially if you did happen to forget your middle initials the night before. You'll be needing some really great detox food. And this has most certainly got you covered.

Spicy Squash Salad with Lentils, Brussels Sprouts and Goat Cheese
Serves 4, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

3/4 cup black or green lentils
1 kabocha or butternut squash, cubed
1 lb brussels sprouts, quartered
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp hot smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp coarse salt
7 oz baby arugula
1 cup soft crumbed goat cheese (I used a maple walnut flavor)
1/4 cup thinly sliced mint leaves
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, plus more to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss squash cubes and brussels sprouts with 1 tablespoon oil, cumin, paprika and salt. Arrange in a single layer on baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. Flip pieces and roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Cool.
Cook lentils in boiling salted water until tender but firm, about 30 minutes. Rinse with cold water, then drain and cool.
Combine lentils, squash, and brussels sprouts with arugula, half of goat cheese, and mint. Drizzle with vinegar and sprinkle with remaining goat cheese.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays, hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

Recipe: Peppermint Brownies

2012-01-06T07:19:00.001-05:00

In the days before Christmas, my apartment was quite a "situation".

There was a pumpkin butterscotch layer cake in the fridge.

About five different kinds of cookies on the counter.

Peppermint brownies on the table.

And then there was me. Handcuffed. To my bed.

Just so that I wouldn't weigh 500 pounds before the holidays took their toll on my waistline.

(Get your minds out of the gutter. I know what you were thinking when I brought up handcuffs. Don't worry. I'm equally as celibate now as I was in 2011. And 2010. And 2009.) (Okay, mom. Don't look too sad about that.)

Look, desperate times call for drastic measures. And when you've got a hot mess situation like this going on in your kitchen. You'd best be vacating the premises or tying yourself to something as quickly as possible.

Unless you have the metabolism of a bull or an aversion to chocolate and peppermint and pumpkin and sugar and everything good in this world. As my brother does.*

*Yes, it's truly unclear whether or not we're related. Aside from the whole we-have-the-same-eyes thing.

Out of all those baked goods that were coming out of my oven, though. These brownies were by far the Patrick Dempsey of the bunch (and no, I haven't watched last night's Grey's Anatomy yet so no spoilers, please!)

They just had some crazy weird magnetic pull over you that kept forcing you to go over to the kitchen table and tell yourself that maybe half a brownie wasn't so bad for you. Every ten minutes.

In fact, even after Sophie moved out, she kept coming back to our apartment for days, ostensibly to drop off or pick up stuff that she had taken/forgotten. But really, Soph? I think we both know what was going on.

You were brownie booty calling. And really. I don't blame you.

What is so miraculous about these is not just the chocolate and peppermint combination, which, on it's own, is amazing. But it's also the fact that they have milk chocolate bars baked into their center, making them a textural cross between chocolate mint fudge and chocolate mint mousse.

Eating these was honestly one of the most intense chocolate experiences of my life. (And I've had quite a few intense chocolate experiences.) And I accept every ounce I may have gained from eating them. It was worth it.

So I know you've got your resolutions and all...and are on your new diets. But dieting is silly. Let's live healthy, moderate lives. Eat frugally Monday through Friday...and you get to have a brownie on Saturday.

That's just arithmetic, plain and simple.

Peppermint Brownies
Makes a 9x13-inch tray, adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients

8 oz unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups AP flour
4 (1.55 oz) milk chocolate bars (i.e. Hershey's), broken into segments
1 bag Hershey's candy cane kisses, wrappers removed and coarsely chopped (or crushed candy canes if you can't find them!)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
Combine the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over simmering water. Heat, stirring occasionally, until completely melted and smooth. Remove from the heat. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the chocolate mixture with the sugar and eggs until well blended. Whisk in the peppermint and vanilla extracts and the salt. Whisk in the flour just until incorporated.
Spread half of the brownie batter into the prepared pan. Layer with the milk chocolate pieces. Spread the remaining batter evenly over the milk chocolate pieces. Bake 30-35 minutes.
Remove the brownies from the oven but maintain the oven temperature. Sprinkle the chopped Candy Cane Kisses over the top of the brownies and return the pan to the oven for 3 more minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. Chill the brownies until the candy topping has firmed up. Slice and serve.

I am submitting this to Bake with Bizzy!

Recipe: Thai Panang Vegetable Curry...Eat.Live.Be.

2012-01-04T07:52:00.002-05:00

Are you ready for The Takeover?

The one week of the year that strikes fear into the hearts of seasoned gym-goers. Makes us actually consider skipping workouts and encasing ourselves in the warm comfort of our beds.

Just to avoid...The January Joiners (JJ's). (<-- the enemy!! BEWARE!!)

They flood into our gyms with no idea what they're doing. Wearing leotards on the elliptical (and only leotards. For real. This happened.) Bouncing around like they're having a seizure (there was one guy who I almost pulled off a machine, ready to grab his tongue with a paper towel. Then I decided to let him be. If it really was a seizure, then eventually he'd fall off, which would free up a machine. Yes, I'm that evil.) Taking up all the good equipment. Stealing our elbow room in pilates.

Until all of a sudden it's two weeks later and, just as suddenly as they appeared...they're gone. And we can all breathe again. (And flap our elbows around like funky chickens as much as we so desire.) Whew. That was rough.

I've been bracing myself for this for months.

Developing exit strategies so that I can leave lab early to beat the crowd.

Practicing my elliptical hoarding skills (i.e. putting a towel over the timer on the machine so that no one knows how long I've been on it) and my innocent, oh-so-cute "no, I most certainly have not been on this here machine for more than 30 minutes, and certainly nowhere near 45" face.

~~People~~ Life skills. I've got 'em.

Yesterday was my first real chance to follow through. So I left work at 4:45. Aimed to be at the gym by 5:15, expecting to already see a line of JJ's curled around the place waiting for machines.

Only to find that.

I'd been stood up. The place was empty. I needed both hands to count the number of free ellipticals, which is normally not true even for a random Friday night at 7pm. (Not that I know from experience. I totally have more of a life than that.*)

(*NOT.)

And apparently this is not just some strange Upper East Side phenomenon. According to the Twittersphere, gyms are oddly empty around the rest of the country as well.

Which leaves the question. (cue Paula Cole) Where have all the JJ's gone?

Now. If you are one of the apparently few January Joiners out there, I mean no disrespect. We are all newbies at the gym at some point and look completely spastic on ellipticals (possibly still to this day). I promise.

But you have to stick with it. Don't just be a JJ for two weeks...be one for life.

And at some point, it will stick. You will actually want to go. And next year at this time...you might just find yourself developing tactics to hoard your stationary bike for a full hour instead of the thirty minute limit. No judgment. At that point, I'll pat you on the back, teach you the secret handshake, and hereby dub you a GR (gym rat). Welcome to the club.

No exercise regime is complete without good healthy food, however, so for this week's Eat.Live.Be. I made this recipe for Vegetable Panang Curry from Bon Appetit's October issue (our theme this week is magazine inspiration). While Bon Appetit's recipes aren't always health food friendly, they always have a segment of the magazine for Fast.Easy.Fresh recipes that feature quick recipes with seasonally appropriate fruits and vegetables, which are usually relatively good for you. This curry was one of them. It's big on vegetables and big on flavor, two things I love in a dish.

For more Eat.Live.Be. inspiration today, check out Sarah's, Cate's, Patsy's blogs!

Before I let you get onto the recipe, I just want to clarify something. I feel like I've been a bit hard on my parents lately with regards to this whole vegetarian thing and I just want to make it clear that I do NOT judge them (or anyone) for eating meat and I am NOT trying to convince them (or anyone) to stop. I would just love it if they were a bit more conscientious and respectful of my decision, as I am of theirs, instead of deriding it and referring to it as if it were a disease. And if they ate more vegetables in general...that would also make me happy. I wasn't sure if I was coming off as judgmental or didactic in my last post and that is not my goal at all.

Panang Vegetable Curry
Serves 4-6, adapted from Bon Appetit October 2011

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
2 tbsp panang curry paste
2 tbsp chopped, peeled ginger
1 14 oz can lite coconut milk
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
8 fresh or frozen kaffir lime leaves (I used dried)
2 dried chiles de arbol
1 butternut squash, chopped into 1-inch chunks
1 small head of cauliflower, cored and broken into 1-2-inch florets
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut on a diagonal into 1/2-inch slices
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch squares
1/4 cup liquid tamarind concentrate or 2 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 2 tbsp water (I'd halve this or completely omit it)
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 12-oz package firm tofu, drained, patted dry and cut into 1-inch cubes
kosher salt

Instructions

Heat oil in a large heavy wide pot over medium heat. Add shallots, panang curry paste, and ginger; stir until shallots begin to soften, 2–3 minutes. Add 1/3 cup coconut milk; stir until browned, about 4 minutes. Add remaining coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock, lime leaves, and chiles; stir to blend, scraping up browned bits.
Add butternut squash to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until squash is almost tender, 15–20 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, carrots, and peppers. Cook until all vegetables are tender, 10–15 minutes.
Stir tamarind concentrate, half of basil, soy sauce, and lime juice into pot; add tofu. Cover and simmer until heated through, about 2 minutes, adding more stock if too thick. Season to taste with salt. Serve, garnished with the basil.

I am submitting this to Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything.

Recipe: Soft Dinner Rolls with Rosemary and Black Pepper...and MY Top 12 Favorite HEALTHY Recipes of 2011!

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Think you can actually hold out until dinner to eat these feathery soft buttery buns? Think again. For my post about the recipe, head over to Marcus Samuelsson's blog!

I know everyone is pretty gung ho about eating healthy meals right now and so, with a little goading from Janet, I thought it would be fun (and helpful!) for me to share my favorite healthy recipes of 2011, all of which I think would be great ways to kick off 2012! Let's jump in!

Chickpeas and Spinach with Honeyed Sweet Potatoes. This is the first Ottolenghi recipe I ever made...and is also my first Eat.Live.Be. post. It's one of those dishes that is SO simple, yet all of the flavors just click.

Back on Track Wheatberries and Chickpea Salad. This salad seems like it should be so boring...but it's not. And you'll find yourself craving it for lunch. Without warning.

Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses. This stew is incredibly richly flavored. In a really good, can't stop eating it kind of way.

Rigatoni with Eggplant and Pine Nut Crunch. I know you're all freaking out at the inclusion of pasta in this round-up. But with eggplant, two bell peppers, lots of grape tomatoes and 28 oz of crushed tomatoes...I think this is worth it.

Savory Rhubarb and Chipotle Goat Cheese Pizza. This is one of my original recipes that I am most proud of, not only because it was featured on Oprah's website, but because it's seriously delicious. Tart, sweet, tangy, spicy...you might not want to use rhubarb in a traditional pie ever again.

African Sweet Potato Soup with Peanut Butter and Black Beans. Sweet potatoes. And peanut butter. In one place. Enough said.

Peppers Stuffed with Quinoa, Corn and Feta Cheese. I wasn't sure what to expect from this dish since these were my first stuffed peppers ever, but I absolutely fell in love with the sweet and tangy combination of fresh corn and feta.

Spelt Berries with Roasted Pepper Sauce. Though this is really a summery dish, with some good quality San Marzano or other canned tomatoes, it can definitely still be enjoyed and eaten to brighten up the winter months!

Pasta with Creamy Avocado Sauce. Once you make this, you'll never have any excuse to say you're too busy to cook a delicious healthy dinner ever again.

Star Anise-Glazed Tempeh with Stir-Fried Peppers. The sweet-salty glaze on that tempeh has a flavor so captivating that I'm still dreaming about it.

The River Cafe's Winter Minestrone. I was so unenthused by this soup when reading through the recipe...but was SO pleasantly surprised once I made it. It's basically Italian comfort in a bowl.

Garlic-Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Wheatberry Salad with a Pomegranate Vinaigrette. Yeah. It does taste as good as it looks.

Recipe: Roasted Butternut Chowder with Apples and (Vegetarian) Bacon....a Bloggiversary and a GIVEAWAY

2012-01-02T08:04:00.001-05:00

Three years ago I resolved to write. And eat. And photograph. And share.

I put myself out there, not knowing who or what I would find. Not knowing where it would lead me.

Not knowing that I had stumbled into a world as amazing and supportive and magical as this.

Not knowing that I would find all of you. That you would hold me up and support me and help me grow.

Everyone always says they have the best readers. But I know for sure that I'm the one who's right. You make me laugh and smile and give me joy every.day.

When everything else sucks...

When I have to spend six weeks locked up in my room studying for the biggest most important exam of my medical career.

When I get broken up via text message and go on bad date after bad date after bad date.

When I find out I've fractured my pelvis yet again a week before my third marathon.

In the end. It doesn't suck. Because I have this. And you. (And chocolate cupcakes.)

So to everyone who reads this blog. Everyone who has commented. Everyone who has lurked, silently. Thank you for making this amazing.

Thank you.

2011 was kind of a crazy year.

I kicked off the year by flying to Florida to run a half marathon, hang out with Mickey Mouse, and slurp purple kool-aid, all in the name of curing cancer. It was pretty awesome.

I ate lots of soup. And more orange vegetables than any sane person ever should. And an apple a day. Every day. Because you really aren't allowed to be a med student without at least one obsessive compulsive tendency.

I stopped eating meat. And 99.9% of all fish (spicy salmon rolls and smoked salmon are my two major exceptions). You stuck with me even though you love your bacon and burgers and steaks. You didn't accuse me of having "vegetarian-itis", unlike my mother yesterday who said it vengefully and accusingly as we were leaving my brother's apartment. (No mom, it's not a disease, it's actually a way to feel more alive and energized. And if you ate a vegetable ever, you'd probably realize that.) Shaking it off. Vegetables. I love them. End of story.

I went to San Francisco three times. To see my best friend. To vicariously run a marathon. To eat. And meet. And mingle.

I went to Boston twice. To actually run a marathon. To eat Afghani food and cookies and creamy parsnip pasta with some of my favorite Boston bloggers. To fall in love with that city all over again and remember why I need to move back. Someday.

I was asked to write a weekly post for a pretty awesome chef who's not only a rockstar in the kitchen but also an activist whose goal is to revitalize Harlem and stop child hunger throughout the world. I, of course, accepted.

I met some of my favorite people in real life. Turned some virtual friends into real life friends. Went apple picking and road tripped to Beantown and attended a vegetarian blogger Thanksgiving of epic proportions.

I went on good dates and bad dates and totally mediocre dates. I online dated, I gave up on men, and then I online dated some more.

And I ate. Lots.

All in all, yeah. It was crazy. But also delicious. And, though it had its moments where I was sure the world was ending. I'd say it was pretty awesome all-around.

Thank you. Again. For being a part of it.

What's in store for 2012, you ask?

There will be more healthy delicious food. More crazy indulgent desserts.

Less self berating. Less overeating.

More eat.live.be-ing. More active living.

More pumpkin. More smiles. More kisses. More hand holding.

More skinny jeans. More confidence. More kindness (to ourselves and to others).

More inspiration. More ridiculousness. More happy.

Those are my resolutions. Let's make it happen.

To kick off 2012, I highly recommend you make this chowder. Sweet from the roasted butternut squash, apples and onions and salty from the bacon (whether meat-free or otherwise!) it's a figure friendly dish that will leave your tastebuds and your belly satisfied.

As for the GIVEAWAY. Is one of your resolutions to get more organized? Then I have to recommend that you check out Eat Your Books. It's a website that I discovered last year and that I use at LEAST once a week for menu planning purposes. Basically, Eat Your Books has catalogued and indexed THOUSANDS of cookbooks by recipe type, ingredients, ethnicity, special diet, and meal/course. All you do is tell Eat Your Books what cookbooks are in YOUR library and then, when you're trying to figure out what to make for dinner, search for ingredients that you have on hand. Eat Your Books will then present you with the recipes in the cookbooks that YOU own that contain those ingredients. I know that at this point in my life, I have way too many cookbooks to be able to go through all of them looking for a specific recipe, and Eat Your Books has proven to be a great tool for getting around that.

Recently, Eat Your Books has also started indexing blogs. And, thanks to requests by Eat Your Books users, Eats Well With Others is going to be indexed!

The nice folks at Eat Your Books have also offered to extend a FREE lifetime membership to one of my readers. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what your favorite cookbook of 2011 was (and make sure that I have a way to contact you!).

For extra entries, you can do any of the following, but make sure to leave a SEPARATE comment telling me that you did so:
Tweet about this contest with a link back to this post. Include @joanneeatswell and @EatYourBooks in teh tweet as well.
Follow @EatYourBooks on Twitter.
Follow @joanneeatswell on Twitter.
Like Eat Your Books on facebook.

Roasted Butternut Chowder with Apples and "Bacon"
Serves 4, adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook

Ingredients

1 butternut or kabocha squash, peeled, seeded and cut (about 1 1/2 lb)
1 large onion, chopped
2 large apples, peeled, cored and chopped
4 tempeh bacon slices, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
salt and black pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup water
6 cups vegetable broth

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400. Spread the squash, onion, apples, bacon and garlic in a deep roasting pan or on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper spray with cooking spray. Roast, stirring every now and then, until the squash, onion, and apples are tender and browned and the bacon is crisp, about 45 minutes.
Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Stir in the sage and water and scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom. Transfer teh contents of the pan to a large pot or Dutch oven and set it over medium heat.
Add the stock and cook, simmering partially covered, until the squash, onion, and apples break apart and thicken and flavor the broth, about 25 minutes. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays, which is hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen.

Recipe: Italian Rainbow Cookie Cake

2011-12-30T07:13:00.000-05:00

There is no better way to celebrate the end of a year or the beginning of a future than with a triple layer triple color ganache-covered cake.

(That's a fact. Medically proven.*

*NOT.)

Or that your family made it to Christmas dessert without a single ounce of blood being shed. And with a less than double-digit number of attempts to pay you to eat sausage. See, they're really trying to understand this whole vegetarian thing.

(I doubt it has anything to do with the fact that you threatened to withhold cake from them if they didn't stop. And has everything to do with their growing compassion and the Christmas spirit deep within their souls. Right.) <-- DELUSION.

Seriously, though. They do say that the first day of the year really sets the tone for the other 364 that are to follow.

And well. Our rooms may not be clean and our clothes may not be folded.

Our experiments might never work.

And no matter how many times we put away all our cookbooks, they are still going to end up strewn all over our floors and under our pillows within 24 hours.

Whatevs.

But at least we can be totally rockstar cake bakers.

Maybe leave our ugly sweaters at home, though? That's not really the tone we want to set for the new year.

(Note - Daniel wanted us to make serious faces. This was a "Joanne fail" type of situation. Holly (the dog) was much more concerned about the wrapping paper invading her floor space. Typical.)

But really. Deliriously happy, cake-baking, skinny-jean wearing, rockstars. Let's be those people in 2012. I know we can.

I'm going to save my sappy "ohmygodanotheryearhaspassed" post for Monday because it will also happen to be the anniversary of the only New Years resolution that I have ever truly faithfully kept.

But have a safe and happy and wonderful New Year's everyone!

I couldn't do this without you. You're my rock(star)s.

(PS - My run was awesome, by the way. 3.5 miles of heaven. I'm still high on it.)

Italian Rainbow Cookie Cake
Makes one 9" triple layer cake, adapted from Always Order Dessert

Ingredients

3 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 large eggs
12 oz almond paste, grated
1 tbsp pure almond extract
3 cups AP flour, sifted
3 tsp baking powder
red, green and yellow coloring gels or liquid coloring (I used gels)
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup apricot preserves
1 cup heavy cream
12 oz semisweet chocolate (I used Guittard)

Instructions

Grease three 9-inch cake pans and line with a round of parchment paper on the bottom.
In the base of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs and continue to beat for 3 more minutes. Add the grated almond paste and almond extract and beat until well combined.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking powder then slowly add to the almond paste batter and mix until combined.
Separate the mixture evenly into three bowls. Dye each bowl a different shade (one green, one yellow, one red).
Pour each color of the mixture into individual pans making sure to smooth out the top. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Remove the parchment paper and let cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, prepare the ganache by heating 1 cup of heavy cream in a small saucepan just until bubbles start to form around the edge. Turn off the heat and pour over the chocolate in a large bowl. Stir continuously until melted completely and smooth. Let cool to room temperature.
Start with the pink layer of the cake and spread with the raspberry jam until it nearly reaches the edges of the cake. Top with the yellow cake. Spread this with the apricot preserves. Top with the final green layer.
Use a spoon to pour the ganache over the cake, using an offset spatula to even the sides and make sure the cake is completely covered. Use as much ganache as you need. Let sit at room temperature in a cool spot for 1-2 hours until completely set.

Recipe: Frittata with Thai Red Curry, Broccoli, Shallots and Feta Cheese...Eat.Live.Be.

2011-12-28T07:19:00.000-05:00

So, awkward but.

My brother gave me an ugly sweater for Christmas. Okay wait. That's not quite right. He didn't give me an ugly sweater. He gave me an "ugly sweater".

Do you see the difference?

I don't think I'm being clear. Either that, or you guys didn't take the class in EatsWellWithOthers Semantics and Euphemisms 101 in college. It's okay. I'll speed you up.

An ugly sweater is a sweater that just happens to be ugly in the eye of the beholder. An "ugly sweater" is a sweater that was made to be ugly in the eye of every beholder.

Basically, the way my brother tells the story is that he went into a vintage thrift store and asked the owner for the three ugliest Christmas sweaters they had.

You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones you wouldn't be caught dead out of the house in because they remind you of something that your 90-year-old kindergarten teacher would wear that you thought was so cool back in the day.

Right. So Daniel thought it would be "so funny" if he got one for each of us (my sister, himself, and I) and made us pose for blackmail photos in them in front of the Christmas tree.

And then we'd burn them or gift them to my grandmother or my mother would wear them to amuse her preschool class.

Except. His plan totally backfired. Because Dana and I wore them. All. Day. Long.

They were the best.

They were the best at keeping us warm since I had to keep the door open to prevent my lungs from closing due to dog allergies. (Bonus shot of my parents' adorable puppy. How could I possibly keep my hands off her?)

And they were also the best at hiding our burgeoning bellies after we ate Italian bread. And mozzarella. And puffy pastry baked brie bites. And rainbow cake. And salad. And buckeyes.

Really...these things were big enough to fit two of me inside. Maybe more. And so I may or may not have attempted to eat for two. No comment.

Anyway, as they say, you can't sweat the small stuff and you can't sweat Christmas cookie calories (at least not the ones that were eaten on Christmas Eve/Day). All you can do is pick your butt off of the couch. Cook up some super healthy food. And go for a run.

Wait. What? Run?

Oh. Yes.

Tomorrow, December 29th, is my official "Return to Running" date. I might try to convince my boss it's a national holiday and take off from work. You should do the same.

One would think that after two stress fractures and a whole slew of muscle injuries, I would have given up on running by now. But the thing about running is that when it's good...it's the best. (At least for me.) I can't explain the feeling of lacing up my shoes and pounding out step after step, mile after mile. It's like a high, but it's not just reserved for the endorphin rush after the run is over. No. It's every foot in front of the other. Every hill. All of it. It makes me feel alive.

Hence the quote. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about or crave running. And that's why I can't just give up or trade in my running shoes for a road bike. Because living without ever feeling that elation...isn't really living at all.

This motto can be applied to lots of healthy living goals. Eating right, losing weight, hitting the gym. If you want it so badly that it hurts, then giving up isn't an option. Even after an indulgent day or a bad run or a week off from the gym, just get back up and try again tomorrow. It'll be worth it.

After all of that indulgent holiday fare, I made sure to get right back on track on December 26th. Because let's be honest. Although I do have a soft spot in my heart (and thighs) for that oversized ugly sweater...there's no way I'm wearing it to a New Year's Eve party.

So I picked up one of my favorite healthy eating inspiration cookbooks - Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Every Day - and decided to make this frittata. Amazing.Delicious. The Thai red curry flavor was subtle and the hints of spice went so well with the sweet onions and broccoli. Heidi as a way of consistently pairing simple ingredients and flavors and turning them into something miraculous. And this was no exception. Hence why it is my PRINT healthy living inspiration for the week (though we're really posting about TV today...but I may or may not have gotten my alphabetical order confused last week).

Before you dive into the recipe, you should know that I don't make the frittata the typical way by cooking it in a cast-iron skillet half on the stove and half in the oven. Instead, I took inspiration from Pam and baked it in a 10-inch tart pan. Which worked out awesomely.

So tell me, what are some of your favorite healthy cookbooks? And be sure to check out Cate's, Sarah's, and Patsy's blogs today for some more Eat.Live.Be. inspiration!

Frittata with Thai Red Curry, Broccoli, Shallots and Feta Cheese
Serves 4, adapted from Super Natural Every Day

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
2 small onions or 1 large onion, chopped
8 oz fingerling potatoes, sliced into paper thin rounds
2 shallots, chopped
fine-grain sea salt
about 8 oz broccoli, chopped
8 large eggs, well beaten
2 tsp Thai red curry paste
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the onions, potatoes, shallots and two big pinches of salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broccoli and cook for another minute or two, until they soften up a bit. Set aside.
Whisk 1/2 tsp salt and 2 tsp curry paste into the eggs. In a 10-inch tart pan, put half of the veggie mixture. Pour in the eggs. Top with the remaining vegetable mixture. Sprinkle the top with feta cheese.
Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until set.

Recipe: Lentil, Potato and Pumpkin Curry...and Top Ten Reader Favorite Recipes of 2011!

2011-12-27T07:30:00.001-05:00

If you're looking for a skinny jeans friendly recipe to help you subsist from now until New Year's, then check out my recipe for Lentil, Potato, and Pumpkin Curry over at Marcus Samuelsson's blog!

And now...I bring you...

...YOUR top ten favorite recipes of 2011!

10. Carrot Cake Cookies! These are one of my most requested cookies, and with the flavors of carrot and ginger in the cookies combined with a dreamy cream cheese frosting filling...I definitely understand why.

9. Pumpkin Biscuits with Cranberry Curd I made these for my Eggland's Best Pink Party in support of breast cancer research and they were a huge hit. Perfect for any holiday morning breakfast...or just because.

8. Peanut Butter Honeycomb Pie My father declared this the best dessert I've ever made. He's probably right. At least for us peanut butter addicts out there.

7. Chickpea Pot Pie with a Cornbread Crust This vegetarian version of a winter classic tastes just like the frozen pot pies we all remember and love...but healthier!

6. Pad See Ew Thai food is probably my favorite cuisine because of it's perfect balance of flavors...sweet salty spicy sour...it has them all in every bite. And pad see ew is one of my favorite dishes to order! However, it's not figure friendly at all...but this at-home version is!

5. Maida Heatter's Johnny Appleseed Bars Part cake, part pie, these bars give you the best of both apple worlds.

4. Pecan Pie Bars Perfect to satiate those pecan pie cravings...even when they occur at seasonably inappropriate times. (Plus they're made with honey instead of corn syrup - major PLUS!)

3. Sweet and Salty Brownies These are far and above the fudgiest most delicious brownies I have ever had. And once you make them, you will never need another brownie recipe again. Yup, the Baked boys have done it again!

2. Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables Essentially baked ziti but chock full of loads of veggies instead of meat. Comfort food at it's best.

1. Pumpkin Swirl Brownies With over 85,000 hits (and counting), these are far and above your favorite recipe of 2011! I made them for a Halloween party and unfortunately only got to try one...but it was one heavenly pumpkin/fudgy brownie, that's for sure.

Recipe: Garlic-Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Wheatberry Salad with Pomegranate

2011-12-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

My gift to my family this year was a week's worth of vegetables, a lifetime supply of antioxidants, and vitamin A levels that are through the roof.

(And fiber. Lots and lots of fiber.)

All in the form of a nice compact, user-friendly salad.

This, my friends, is the epitome of the "gift that keeps on giving".

It will give you lower cholesterol. It will give you a smaller waistline. It will give you orange skin (if you eat it for every meal for a month on end. Which some may or may not be wont to do). It will give you the ability to eat two slices of rainbow cookie cake for dessert without even a hint of guilt. And it will probably give you superpowers.**

**Results are not typical. Individual responses may vary.

**I am not a doctor. Take everything I say with at least five grains of salt.

That being said, when you pull it out at Christmas dinner, it will likely be met with a mixed bag of reactions. Let me prepare you.

Your brother, when you try to (force)feed him a forkful of it, will likely make a face at at it. He will likely accuse it of looking like Thanksgiving.

(???)

And then he will even more likely pick all of the pomegranate arils off the fork that you so carefully set on his plate. And eat them. Like candy.

Your mother, when she finds out it is vegan, will likely shriek in disbelief.

She will ask in horror if you are vegan.

(Note that this is after you served the brie-stuffed puff pastry that you made as an appetizer. And ate five hundred thousand pieces of fresh mozzarella that was bought specially from Arthur Avenue in the Bronx.)

She will try to (force)feed YOU tomato sauce that was simmered for hours with large chunks of meat in it. Proclaiming it to be vegetarian.

And then she will dutifully eat everything on her plate and even pack up a container of it to eat later this week. (Success!!)

Your father will not even try it. But he did glance at it a few hundred times. Baby steps.

You will eat a larger than life bowl of it for dinner.

Because not only is it the perfect mix of all your favorite fall vegetables and flavors, but it is also the only vegetarian option on the table. (Regardless of what your mother says about that sauce.)

And because it's so darn good for you, you won't feel bad about eating the leftovers every.day.this.week.

The perfect combination of rainbow cookie cake detox food and holiday fare. Right here. Priceless.

Garlic-Roasted Butternut Squash and Kale Wheatberry Salad with Pomegranate
Serves 8-10, adapted from The Taste Space

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash, chopped into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tbsp olive oil
a few pinches of sea salt

1 bunch kale, thinly sliced
3 tbsp lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
pinch of sea salt

1 pomegranate's worth of pomegranate arils
1 lb brussels sprouts, halved and roasted at 400 for 15 minutes
1 cup wheatberries, soaked overnight and simmered for 1 hour
1 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight and simmered for 30-40 minutes or until tender

6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
3 teaspoon dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400. In a medium bowl, combine butternut squash cubes with the oil, minced garlic and sprinkle with sea salt. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread into a single layer. Roast until fork-tender, but not falling apart (around 30-40 minutes).
Meanwhile, mix the kale, lemon juice and salt with your hands, massaging it together. It should wilt into half its volume after 3 minutes or so.
Make dressing by whisking olive oil, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, and dijon together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
When the butternut squash has finished roasting, remove from oven and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Add to the kale, along with the pomegranate arils, Brussels sprouts, wheat berries, and chickpeas and gently toss together. Toss with the dressing. Season to taste.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays, hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

Recipe: White Chocolate Gingerbread Cake Balls

2011-12-23T07:38:00.000-05:00

When I brought these into lab meeting last week I definitely called them cake pops so that I wouldn't have to say balls in front of my boss.

And so that he wouldn't giggle like a twelve year old boy.

And so that the entire rest of the lab, with our collective maturity of prepubescent children wouldn't be compelled to make ball jokes for the next hour when we were supposed to be talking about science (or how some of us *ahem me* are completely unable to repeat other labs' published findings).

My baked goods are disruptive enough with everybody reaching over everyone else to grab one while some sad sorry soul is presenting their week's worth of data.

We really don't need to be adding ball jokes into the mix.

Thankfully, you guys are totally mature enough to handle the word "balls" without breaking out into a total ridiculous uproar.

You know that they imply dense delicious little spheres of cake truffle deliciousness covered in some kind of chocolate that, upon looking at them, make you want to squeal with unbridled passion and delight.

(That's what she said.)

(Okay, that last part was gratuitous, I know. But I couldn't write a post about balls and not throw in a "that's what she said". Michael Scott would not be proud.)

And not anything to do with any sort of male genitalia.

Alright, so maybe we're not that mature around here.

But you shouldn't let that stop you from making these cake...spheres...for Christmas or, more non-denominationally, for a random Friday night, perhaps. Because they truly are delicious.

Since we're already on the subject of science and data and such...let's analyze: gingerbread mixed with cream cheese frosting and then covered in white chocolate. I'm not even a huge fan of gingerbread (I actually truly do NOT love molasses. At all. In any way.) and even I could barely resist having just one.

So if you're still looking for that holiday dessert to wow your guests with. These are it.

Just, um. Use your own discretion when deciding which name to go with.

And how many ball jokes you want to infiltrate your wholesome family dinner with. Given how much tequila will be drunk at mine...I could call them "white chocolate gingerbread cake penises" and no one would notice.

And on that note.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas to all of you! I'll see you back here on Monday with some super healthy detox food. But in the meantime, look below the recipe for some other holiday dessert suggestions in case you're still searching for that perfect treat. And remember, calories don't count on Christmas or any of the nights of Hanukkah. So eat up and eat well.

Gingerbread Muffins
Makes 14-16, adapted from Confections of A Foodie Bride

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups AP flour
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp allspice (I omitted this because mine decided to go AWOL at the exact second that I needed it)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup molasses
3/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
coarse sugar for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375.
Line a muffin pan (or two) with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, black pepper, and salt.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter with the brown sugar until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the mixer after each addition, until well mixed.
Add the molasses and mix until well blended.
Add half of the dry ingredients, mixing on low only until just incorporated. Add the yogurt, mixing until well distributed. Add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing only until just incorporated.
Scoop into the prepared muffin tins, until about 3/4 full (two large cookie scoops worth!) and sprinkle coarse sugar over the tops of the batter.
Bake 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350. Bake another 15 minutes until a skewer comes out with moist crumbs attached.
Cool 5 minutes in the pan. Turn out onto a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

White Chocolate Gingerbread Cake Balls
Makes ~22 from 7 muffins, an Eats Well With Others Original

Ingredients

7 gingerbread muffins
8 oz reduced fat Philadelphia cream cheese
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1-2 cups confectioner's sugar
12 oz white chocolate (NOT chips)
red sanding sugar, for decoration (optional)

Instructions

In a large bowl, crumble the gingerbread muffins into small pieces.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Stir in the confectioner's sugar until desired consistency is reached (something akin to frosting out of a jar).
A half cup at a time, mix the cream cheese frosting into the gingerbread crumbs with your fingers. Add enough so that the gingerbread is moist and readily sticks together to form balls, a truffle-like consistency.
Using a small cookie scoop, scoop out the dough into little balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Once all dough is used up, place sheet in the fridge and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler, stirring frequently. Allow to cool for a minute or two and then dip each gingerbread ball in the white chocolate, turning to coat. Place back on parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar as you go. When all balls are dipped, place back in refrigerator for 15 minutes or until white chocolate is hardened.

I am submitting these to Bake with Bizzy!

Some of my favorite holiday desserts!

Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Apple Spice Layer Cake with Caramel Swirl Frosting
Chocolate Cake with Raspberry-Nutella Filling and Chocolate Ganache

Italian Rainbow Cookies
Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies
Chocolate, Cranberry and Pecan Rugelach
White Chocolate Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti
Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Peppermint Cookies

Grasshopper Bars (Creme de Menthe Bars)
Sweet and Salty Brownies
Cranberry Ginger Bars
Cookie Dough Truffles

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie
Cranberry Blueberry Pie
Caramel Pecan Hand Pies
Bailey's Irish Creme and Vanilla Tiramisu

Recipe: Curried Eggplant Soup...Eat.Live.Be

2011-12-21T07:34:00.003-05:00

There are days like today when I remember that the sweet success of self control can taste better than two slices of pumpkin cake with butterscotch filling and brown sugar icing snuck from the fridge when no one is looking.

Better than spoonful after spoonful of peppermint brownie batter from the stand mixer bowl when you find yourself baking for lab meeting at 10pm on a cold and kind of rainy Tuesday night. (How else are you going to distract everyone from the fact that absolutely zero of your experiments are working? Here's to crossing our fingers for scientific success in the new year.)

Better than Hershey's candy cane kisses that you always somehow manage to eat twenty of even though you swear to yourself up and down, every time, that you'll only have one. (Why do you ask the impossible of yourself when it's so much easier not to start than it is to stop?)

All of which are absolutely delicious, don't get me wrong (and are all coincidentally going on my kitchen. Right. Now. Save. Me.)

But.

The feeling of waking up and knowing that you held the reins. That your stomach isn't crying out in sugar overdose. That you actually are capable of doing this.

Tastes way better than the transient pleasure that a slice of cake can afford. And it'll stay with you for much longer.

(NOTE - Remind me of this in a few days when I'm knee deep in flour, butter and sugar again and that container of cream cheese frosting in my freezer sounds like the cure to any and all holiday baking stress. Mmkay?)

(NOTE x2 - Why do I even do things like freeze cream cheese frosting? I'm totally asking for it. How is that a good idea? Ever?)

As you may have guessed, I'm on a bit of a high at the moment.

A I-have-three-kinds-of-cake-in-my-fridge-right-now-and-didn't-eat-any-of-them-last-night-though-I-really-wanted-to high.

A I-lost-1.2-pounds-this-week-even-though-I-went-out-to-eat-and-ate-the-creamiest-butternut-squash-soup-of-my-life-and-dessert-times-three high.

A yay-my-pictures-of-eggplant-soup-don't-look-quite-as-much-like-vomit-in-a-bowl-as-I-thought-they-would (!!!) high.

A I-tried-on-a-dress-on-Monday-and-didn't-need-to-medicate-myself-with-chocolate-afterward high.

This is the good stuff, people. Inhale. Deeply.

This week was yet another reminder for me that every day does not have to be perfect in order for me to be successful. Which is so hard for me to internalize because for some reason, I've ingrained this idea that being healthy is black or white. Either I am or I'm not and once I indulge for the day, I might as well throw in the towel and go all out.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Because it's not the one slice of cake that's going to do the damage. It's all of chocolate and the cookies and the peanut butter I'm going to eat afterward that do.

To combat that, this week. I planned.

I planned light dinners on days that I knew that there would be lunch out. Lots of exercise on nights that I knew would involve birthday cake. And it worked. Fancy that.

One of those light dinners was this curried eggplant soup. It's sweet and spicy and has a lot of staying power due to the white beans that are pureed into it and all the fiber from the eggplant and apple that are mixed in there as well. (Yes, there's an apple in it. Trust me. It's a good move.)

And, um. Minus the feta I threw on top for photogenic-izing purposes. It's vegan.

Speaking of veganism (and inhaling), let's talk Bill Clinton. Whatever you feel about his reign as president or political ethos or sexual antics, I think we can all agree that it's pretty amazing that the man who was a total burger/steak/cholesterol fiend has lost 24 pounds by switching to a vegan diet. (I realize this is old news by now, but to some of us who don't own a tv and sit in lab staring at glowing cells all day...it's pretty much front page stuff. So humor me.)

This week at Eat.Live.Be. our theme is to find inspiration from television and to my non-tv-owning-self, YouTube is television. So here's a clip of Clinton talking about his weight loss and dietary change. Proof that eating plant-based meals, even if not all the time, is such a great and easy way to help you get healthy. Load yourself up with veggies and that piece of cake (or two) you ate after dinner aren't quite as bad as if you ate them with after a burger and fries.

So tell me, what are you guys doing to counteract all of the indulgent food we are inevitably going to be eating this week? What is your damage control plan-of-action?

And here's your daily dose of inspiration. Love this. Because while the going (and the sacrifice) isn't always easy...it'll be worth it when we get there.

Curried Eggplant Soup
Serves 4, adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
1 large onion, diced
1 tart apple, Granny Smith or Braeburn, diced
15 oz canned diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 tbsp good quality curry powder
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp honey
15 oz can great northern or white beans, drained
4 cups vegetable broth, divided
1/2 cup almond milk
salt and black pepper, to taste
cilantro and feta cheese, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. Peel the eggplant and slice it 1/4-inch thick. Place the slices on a sprayed baking sheet and cover with foil. Roast until eggplant is very tender, about 30 minutes.
Remove the eggplant from the oven and allow to cool. Put the slices into a large pot. Add 3 cups of the vegetable broth and bring to a low simmer.
Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray and get it hot. Add the onions and sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the diced apple and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato, curry powder, cayenne, soy sauce, and honey and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the reserved 1 cup of broth and cook another minute. Pour this mixture into the pot with the eggplant.
Add the beans to the pot. Puree using an immersion blender (or put in a food processor/blender and process). Stir in the milk. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Simmer on very low heat for 15 minutes.
Serve hot or chilled, sprinkled with parsley or cilantro and/or crumbled feta.

I am submitting this to Souper Sundays hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

Recipe: Garbanzo Beans with Shredded Brussels Sprouts and Vegetarian Sausage

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Want to avoid the holiday fifteen this year? Check out my recipe for garbanzo beans with shredded brussels sprouts and vegetarian sausage on Marcus Samuelsson's blog! It's so quick, easy, and healthy that you'll have no excuses not to eat right in the days leading up to the big day!

Also, check out the guest post I wrote over at Confessions of a Chocoholic!

Recipe: Spinach and Ricotta Roulade...and a GIVEAWAY

2011-12-19T07:33:00.000-05:00

Today really crazy things are going to happen.

We are going to make souffles. (Kind of.)

We are not going to be afraid of their super fancy French name.

We are not going to stress eat half the container of ricotta that we are supposed to put in the souffles because that fancy French name is totally getting to us no matter how hard we try to fight it.

We are totally allowed to stress eat some spinach. (As. If. We're not that stressed.)

Here's the thing.

You know how the scariest part of souffle making is the fear that it's going to fall before you get it out of your oven and into the line of sight of your guests so that they can go to sleep that night in awe of your rockstar French culinary skillz?

Fear no more! Because for this souffle recipe. You totally want it to fall.

See? It's gonna be okay.

Put down the ~~spinach~~ ricotta.

Okay so I kind of lied to you. We're not really making a souffle.

We're making a roulade! Which is a huge rectangle of fallen souffle that has been filled with cheese and veggies (all that is good in this world) and then rolled up into a hefty spiral of deliciousness.

Way more impressive than souffle, if you ask me.

I'm not biased at all. I swear.

Plus are you noticing the festiveness of that color combination? Christmas.on.a.plate.

Vegetarian entree that shockingly resembles lasagna but without all of the carbs and calories because, even if our mother thinks otherwise, when you simmer tomato sauce with a huge hunk of meat in it and then pour it over the lasagna it is not vegetarian? (Seriously. We had that conversation last night.)

Right here. I got your back.

Still have doubts? (Do I have to take that ricotta away from you?)

I'm going to make your life easier. The way that OXO did for me.

They sent me one of their Good Grips Egg Beaters. Which I proceeded to use to whip those eggs into shape. It was basically the least painful egg beating I've ever done in my life. And then the least arduous clean up ever, since the two beaters can be removed individually for cleaning (and can be dishwashed if you are so lucky to have a dishwasher. Jealous.). And resulted in one of the most delicious egg confections I've ever made.

OXO was nice enough to throw in an extra egg beater for one of you guys! So that you can whip up an egg dish, whipped cream, or a light batter yourself (yes, these beaters can take on all of that. The sky is the limit.)

For a chance to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (if you're not a blogger, then make sure to leave your email address!) telling me what you would make with these beaters. Giveaway will end next Monday.

DISCLOSURE: I received this product for free as part of the OXO Blogger Outreach Program. However, my thoughts and opinions on it are my own and I received no monetary compensation for this post.

Souffle Base for Roulades
Makes one 10x15-inch souffle base, adapted from The Greens Cookbook

Ingredients

5 eggs
1 1/2 cups almond milk (or regular milk)
4 tbsp butter
5 tbsp flour
salt
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400. Line a 10x15-inch baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray the pan with cooking spray (I used PAM for baking).
Separate the yolks and the whites of the eggs. Lightly beat the yolks and set them aside. Heat the milk to make the roux. In a small skillet, melt the butter. Add the flour and, stirring constantly, cook for 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat until the roux is lightly colored. Whisk in the heated milk and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from the heat and season with 1/2 tsp salt and the cayenne. Gradually whisk some of the hot mixture into the yolks to warm them. Return to the pan and add the rest of the yolks in.
In a large bowl, whisk or beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form smooth, firm peaks. Stir about a quarter of the whites and half the grated cheese into the milk-egg yolk mixture. Gently fold in the rest of the whites. Pour the souffle mixture onto the baking sheet, spread it to fill all the corners, and sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the surface. Bake until the top is icely browned and puffed, about 15 minutes.
Remove the souffle from the oven and let it cool. Carefully turn it out onto a counter by turning over the pan, and remove the paper. I did this by putting another sheet of parchment on top of it and then flipping it onto my kitchen table. It is now ready to be filled and rolled.

Spinach and Ricotta Roulade
Serves 6, adapted from The Greens Cookbook

Ingredients

1 recipe souffle base (above)
tomato sauce
2 lb spinach
1/2 small yellow onion, finely diced
8 oz ricotta
1/4 cup almond milk or regular milk
nutmeg
black pepper
half and half, for baking

Instructions

Prepare the souffle base and set it aside.
Cut the stems off the spinach and wash the leaves in a large bowl of water, using two changes of water if necessary to remove all the sand and dirt. Cook the spinach in a large pan with the water that clings to the leaves, and season with a little salt. When it is wilted, after a few minutes, remove it to a colander to drain. Spray the same skillet with cooking spray. Slowly cook the onion until it is soft, about 6 to 8 minutes. While it is cooking, squeeze the water out of the spinach, and chop it fairly fine. Add it to the cooking onion and cook another few minutes, until warmed through.
Thin the ricotta with enough milk to make it soft and pliable, then season to taste with nutmeg, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Preheat the oven to 400. Spread the ricotta over the souffle, then cover it with the spinach. Roll the souffle tightly, starting with a short end. Then transfer it carefully to a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Just before baking, brush the surface of the roulade with half and half, then bake, lightly covered, until it is heated through, about 25 minutes.
To serve, ladle sauce onto each plate. Slice the roulade into 1/2-or-1-inch pieces and carefully set them on the sauce.

Recipe: Eggplant and Chickpea Salad with Moroccan Spaghetti Squash and Feta Dressing

2011-12-16T07:58:00.004-05:00

The thought of using Iceberg lettuce any day of the week, let alone on a Friday when we should be drinking beers and eating cupcakes with reckless abandon definitely makes my skin crawl.

A really weird reaction to have to such a boring crisp flavorless nutritionally void innocuous vegetable, I know. But, as I'm sure Freud would confirm, it's totally my mother's fault. Five gazillion too many dinner salads that consisted only of the aforementioned perpetrator, out-of-season tomatoes, and a cup of 100-calorie-a-tablespoon blue cheese dressing later, and this is what happens.

It's a learned reflex.

My feelings about salad dressing did not make it out unscathed either (though my love of tomatoes remains largely unperturbed). Whereas Iceberg lettuce induces every nerve cell on my epithelium to seize, most salad dressings activate my gag reflex. Especially the thick creamy ones.

There's just something so wrong about a shelf stable semi-liquid made with dairy. I just can't wrap my mind or my tastebuds (or my autonomic nervous system) around it.

It was with great trepidation then (and a plastic bag situated strategically next to me...for obvious reasons) that I taste tested the Greek feta dressing from Marzetti's new Simply Dressed line. Unlike most salad dressings, these are free of preservatives, trans fat, high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavors. In fact, the ingredient list consisted only of things that I could find in my kitchen, with the exception of xanthan gum, which is used as a food thickener and also in most gluten-free baking, and is a naturally occurring polysaccharide. I could deal with that.

The verdict? Yum. The dressing was tangy and totally feta-full, which I loved. And it went perfectly on top of my eggplant and chickpea salad with Moroccan-spiced spaghetti squash (the only way in which I've ever actually LOVED eating spaghetti squash on it's own). While a bit calorie dense at 110 calories for 2 tbsp, it was flavorful enough that only half of that was necessary to dress the salad.

Totally fit for Friday eats.

So long as there's no Iceberg lettuce around. I might never be able to get over that one. At least not without an inordinate amount of psychotherapizing. We're working on it.

Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash
Serves 4, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

1 (3 1/2-4 lb) spaghetti squash
1/2 stick unsalted butter (I used light butter), cut into pieces
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp cayenne
3/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Roast the squash, cutting it in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and roasting the halves face-down in an oiled baking pan for about 40 minutes in a 375°F oven.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is barely golden. Stir in spices and salt and remove from heat.
Working over a bowl, scrape the squash flesh with a fork so that it forms spaghetti-like strands. Toss with the spiced butter.

Eggplant and Chickpea Salad
Serves 4, adapted from Bon Appetit Fast/Easy/Fresh

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb eggplant, cubed
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 15 oz can garganzo beans, 1/2 cup liquid reserved
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste
spinach
Simply Dressed Greek Feta Salad dressing or any similar homemade dressing

Instructions

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant cubes and onions; sauté until soft and beginning to brown, about 9 minutes. Stir in garbanzo beans, cumin, and vinegar. Sauté until heated through and flavors blend, adding enough garbanzo bean liquid by tablespoonfuls to moisten if mixture is dry, about 4 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper. Serve, along with the moroccan spaghetti squash, on a bed of spinach and drizzle with dressing.

I was one of the bloggers selected by T. Marzetti Company and Clever Girls Collective to host a Marzetti Simply Dressed review. They provided me with product to test myself and compensation for my time. However, my opinions are entirely my own.

I'm submitting this to Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for Souper Sundays!