Peanut Butter Apple Smoothie

I got back from a run and was really wanting a smoothie, but I was fresh out of bananas, which I have been using to make this smoothie. I had an apple, and thought, "I like peanut butter on apples and I like smoothies, so why not try to combine the two?" I did and it was yummy.

Ingredients
-1 apple (I used Fuji), cut into about 8 pieces (I left the peel on)
-1 T peanut butter
-1/2 C almond milk (or whatever dairy/non-dairy product you prefer)
-4 ice cubes
-pinch of cinnamon

Steps
1. Blend first four ingredients, then top with a couple dashes of cinnamon.

Soy-Easy Chili

Okay, pardon the lame pun, but this super easy chili has got me excited! This was really flavorful, and I wish I could take the credit, but the soyrizo did all the work. I had only used soyrizo once before in a breakfast strata (see link for recipe), but thought it would be really good as a chili base, and it was. You basically don't need any other spices because the soyrizo itself is so flavorful.

Ingredients (makes about 4-5 servings)
-1 package of soyrizo, such as Trader Joe's
-1 yellow onion, diced
-2-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 can red kidney beans
-1 can white beans
-1 can diced tomatoes
~6 oz reduced fat shredded Mexican blend cheese
-1/2 can of water
-1 T EVOO
-5 green onions, diced down through most of the green part
-tortilla chips, optional

Steps
1. In a large skillet, pot, or dutch oven, saute your onions over medium for about 4 minutes.

2. Add in the garlic, stir for one minute.
3. Add in soyrizo, beans, tomatoes, water, and stir. Cover and reduce heat to low medium.
4. Cook for about 15 more minutes (or until ingredients are well heated), stirring once or twice.
5. Stir in cheese and top with green onion.

Basil Lemon Chickpea Salad

This is another recipe courtesy of Chef Adam Hume. It's super flavorful and comes together in about 5 minutes. It's great as a side dish or a even a main served with lettuce or tossed with pasta in a pasta salad.

Note: This is best if you let it sit for at least an hour to really let the flavors meld.

Ingredients
-3 cans chickpeas
-juice of 2 lemons (about 1/3 Cup)
-zest of 1 lemon
-1/4 Cup EVOO
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2 handfuls basil, chiffonaded
-2/3 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese
-course ground salt and pepper

Steps
1. Combine rinsed and drained chickpeas, chopped fresh basil,  fresh lemon juice, EVOO, and minced garlic in a large bowl. Add grated Parmesan cheese and toss gently to blend all ingredients thoroughly. Season chickpea salad to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Truffled Roasted Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts over Pasta

As many of you may know, I have been really into Brussels spouts recently (e.g., see here and here). So originally I was thinking it would be good to do some roasted sprouts over pasta, but I wanted to mix another veggie in as well. Initially I was going to do cauliflower, but apparently they're crazy expensive right now, so I went with butternut squash instead, which I think ended up being the better choice in terms of flavor and color. Also, because I was making this for myself on a Friday night, I decided to be decadent and top the dish off with a drizzle of truffle oil. This was definitely not necessary...but delicious.

Ingredients (makes 3 servings)
-1/2 a box of wheat penne pasta
-1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed (I bought a bag that came this way)
-1 bag fresh Brussels sprouts (about 20)
-5 cloves garlic, minced
-2 scallions, sliced
~3 T EVOO
~3 T freshly grated Parmesan (leave off if making vegan)
-salt & pepper
-White truffle oil (to taste)

(Preheat oven to 375)
Steps
1. Clean your Brussels sprouts by trimming off the end, cutting them in half, and removing any brown leaves.
2. Toss your sprouts and squash in a large bowl with the EVOO. Spread the veggies onto a large roasting pan (I covered mine with foil to make clean up a little easier). Top your veggies with minced garlic, sliced scallions, salt and pepper.

3. Cook for 12 minutes, then pull out of oven to stir the veggies, and then put back in oven. Cook for another 10 minutes, and stir and replace again. Turn oven down to 325 for remainder of time.
4. Now that your veggies have been cooking for about 22 minutes, put your water on to boil and then cook your pasta. Once pasta is done, your veggies should be as well (test with a fork to be sure).
5. Top your pasta with some veggies (don't forget to scrape off the garlicy goodness from the bottom of the pan), grind some more salt and pepper on top, and if you feel like it, drizzle some truffle oil on top too. Then for a last finishing touch, add some freshly grated Parmesan.

Mmm Balls

There's a really great sandwich shop, South Coast Deli, about a block from my husband's place in Santa Barbara. The last time I went there I got their "Mmm Balls" sub and then decided to make a version of my own. This is super easy and really filling. I used frozen turkey meatballs from Trader Joe's, but you could use vegetarian meat balls, or make your own...which I've done before.

Ingredients
-loaf of French bread, cut into sandwich sized slices
-package of frozen meatballs
-one onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 jar tomato sauce
~5 oz of fresh mozarella
-few springs of fresh basil, chiffonaded
-1 T EVOO

Steps
1. Saute your onion on medium heat with the EVOO for about 5 minutes, then add garlic and saute for another minute.
2. Turn down the heat to low-medium and add the sauce and frozen meatballs. Let the meatballs cook in the sauce for about 20 minutes.

3. Place about 3-4 meatballs, onions, sauce, few slices of mozzarella, and basil in the French bread and enjoy!

Grad Gastronomy Update!

Apologies for the long hiatus.

Here's the story of what's been going on and what's planned for the future.

My husband and I recently moved to California from Florida. He took a post-doc in Santa Barbara and I'm starting my year-long internship in San Diego. This means we have to live apart, which is going to be really hard. But the bright side is that we're both going to be living in amazing cities. Both cities have superb farmers' markets and access to super fresh seafood, so I'm excited to get back into cooking and posting. However, I'm going to be living alone most of the time, which means I'm now cooking for one...which will be an adjustment. (My first meal I made our regular size and was eating off of it for 3 days.) To avoid getting complacent or lazy since I'm mostly going to be cooking for me I'm going to really try to emphasize recipes that feature trips to the farmers' market (San Diego has one almost every day). I think it will be a nice personal project and hopefully lead to some recipe inspiration. Additionally, I'll try to keep featuring some "reviews" of the places we visit in both cities.

So, stay tuned!

The Hungry Cat/Winehound

Okay, so the Hungry Cat might be my new favorite restaurant...ever. And the best part is that it's located about a quarter mile from my husband's apartment in Santa Barbara.

We've now been there twice and gotten there early both times, which I recommend: 1) because the place is small and fills up, and 2) they have an awesome happy hour before 6 where their cocktails are half off. I had the best Greyhound ever (the "Greyhound Proper")--freshly squeezed grapefruit juice and vodka served with a large slice of candied grapefruit peel.


(photo courtesy of lemonjelly l)
 
For an appetizer we had Morro Bay oysters, which were also at a discounted happy hour price ($1.50/oyster) the first time and soft shell crab (my fave!) the second time. Really I only started eating oysters when I moved to Tallahassee, so until this dinner I had only tried Apalachicola oysters. I have to say, the Morro Bay oysters were much better. You could really taste the salt water and they overall had a much cleaner, crisper flavor. No tarter sauce or crackers necessary...or even recommended.

For dinner (both times) my husband had clams that were served with homemade chorizo and a really yummy broth with fava beans. The first time, I had the best mussels I've ever had; they came with an "xo" sauce and were served with jicama and baby bok choy. Both of these meals came with big slices of grilled bread to sop up the amazing broth. The second time I got the "pub burger," which might be the best burger I've ever had...served with avocado, thick cut bacon slices, and a fried egg.

Seriously, if you're ever in Santa Barbara, this place is a must.

To cap off the evenings I stopped by The Winehound, which is just a block a way, and picked out an economically priced ($19.99) bottle of a blend of local vineyards.