Life of Leisure

Yes, I am living the life of leisure. However, I'm not so sure if this is how life should be at 26 years old... but I'll take it for now. The best part of unemployment is having time to realize what it is I truly want to do as a career. The bad part of unemployment is that my blog title no longer makes sense: nope, not a working girl - nope, not in the corporate world. Although I have to admit it feels really good to read that previous sentence.

The world is my oyster! I can now move forward towards my personal legend! I have seen the light! And I will be taking this amazing avocado salad dressing with me to top all the bland cooked chicken and boring vegetable salads that cross my path!

Smooooth Avocado Dressing

adapted from Choosing Raw

1 avocado

1 garlic clove

4 tbsp olive oil

1 lime (juice & zest)

salt to taste

pepper

1/4 tsp dijon mustard

1 tbsp cumin

* I'd add a cup of cilantro if you have it on hand

1/4 cup - 1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients, except the water, in a food processor until smooth. Slowly add the water until you get the consistency you are looking for. The sauce is great on salads, chicken, pork tenderloin, grilled eggplant, the list goes on.

Almond Butter Banana Blondies

Decadent and healthy? It's possible with these Almond Butter Banana Blondies. They're dairy free, sugar free, gluten free and yet they still taste pretty amazing. I think I ate about half the pan over the course of a week... a little bit at work with my coffee, a little bit after dinner, a little bit for breakfast... ridiculously delicious and satisfying.

This is what I like to call a "one bowl" recipe. "One bowl" recipes use one bowl to mix all of the ingredients . . . they're great if you don't have too many tools in the kitchen or if you are just too busy to bake.

Almond Butter Banana Blondies

adapted from Elana's Pantry

1 (16 oz) jar of roasted Almond Butter

1.5 ripe bananas

1 cup maple syrup

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 scoop Chia Seeds (optional... you could add flax seeds too)

1 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)

Pre heat the oven to 325 degrees. Dump the almond butter into a large mixing bowl, add the banana and stir until banana is incorporated. Add the maple syrup then the eggs. Once all of these ingredients are well combined, add the sea salt & baking soda, mix well. Lastly add the chia seeds and chocolate chips (reserve about 3 tablespoons of chocolate chips).

Pour the batter into a well greased 9 x 13 pyrex baking dish. Scatter the remaining chocolate chips over the top of the batter to make it look pretty! Bake for around 35 minutes. I had to bake mine for longer . . . I've accepted the fact that every oven is different.

Remove from oven and let cool. You can store these awesome Almond Butter Banana Blondies in the fridge. Next batch I may even try freezing.

Enjoy!

Quick Cooking with Quinoa

It's amazing how fast the natural foods industry moves to get popular items on the shelf for the masses. There's the soy milk craze, acai craze, and now I'm starting to get the sense of a quinoa craze. It's everywhere! Its even showing up at local restaurants as side dishes, who would have thought? Check out this recent article Link

So, I've been cooking with quinoa for a couple years now. At first it tasted funny, there was no satisfaction from eating it, and I always ate it plain. . . a huge mistake! After lots of experimenting in the kitchen, I now love how versatile the seed is - I eat mine for breakfast with almond milk, coconut flakes and a banana, for lunch in my salad or for dinner with some veggies & protein! The best part is, it only takes about 20 minutes to cook. The second best part is, you can really make quinoa suit your personal tastes.

For savory, I'm posting one of my favorites. . .

Quinoa with Leeks & Asparagus

3 leeks chopped up (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 bunch of asparagus (I pick the skinny stalks)

Pepper

Pinch of Salt

Maybe a tablespoon or two of white wine

2 cups cooked quinoa

Olive oil

Cooking the quinoa

The proportions are simple: 1 cup quinoa to 2 cups water. Place everything into a sauce pan, turn the burner on high and bring the water to a boil. Once boiling, turn down to simmer, cover and let it sit until water is fully absorbed. This may take around 20 minutes... not that long.

The good stuff

Dice leeks into small slices. Be sure to clean them really well before chopping. Wash and dice asparagus. In a large sauce pan, add some olive oil over medium heat and stir in the leaks. Once leeks become transparent, add the asparagus. Add salt & pepper to taste... I even threw in a couple tablespoons of white wine (psst secret ingredient). Let everything marinate. The asparagus will turn a vibrant green and the leeks will start caramelizing. After about 8-10 minutes, add 2 cups of cook quinoa. Toss around to soak up the flavors. You could even let the quinoa crisp up a bit on the bottom of the pan.

This makes about 4 ample servings. I topped mine off with a fried egg and some avocado.

Recovering, then doing it all over again.

This recipe is all about recovering. Earning back those calories you spent on pumpkin pie, extra gravy, delicious homemade challah stuffing ... ehem the best stuffing ever... and whatever it was that your little heart desired. I almost feel like Thanksgiving sets off a feeding frenzy, one that is influenced by cold weather and the fact that my office is starting to fill up with gifts in the shape of Holiday treats. I pride myself for my usual resistance to free treats in the office, but this time of the year, my self control dwindles. A little bite here, a handful of something there and all of a sudden I am slumped over my desk with very little energy to do anything else but head back to the break room and, well, eat more.

Back to recovery. Ellie Krieger's Curried Butternut Squash Soup from her book "The Food You Crave" is a healthfully sweet dish that will leave you dishing for more. Full of vitamins and minerals, also free of cream, sugar, and grease, it's filling and delicious. The perfect compliment to nursing a Thanksgiving feast hangover, and it will definitely never leave you slumped over your desk at work. I recommend making a big batch, freezing some, and saving some for lunches and dinner. It goes great with some homemade croutons or shaved Parmesan cheese.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

2 cloves garlic, minced (2 teaspoons)

One 2 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes

6 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (I used vegetable)

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons honey

You will need a large soup pot and a blender or hand help immersion blender. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the squash, broth, curry powder, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in the honey. In two batches, puree until smooth in the blender. Make sure soup is very smooth with no lumps. Taste and season with salt if necessary. Top it off with some homemade croutons, Greek yogurt or Parmesan cheese.

Ready for Spring... Soup that is

Seasons are what I love most about San Francisco. Originally from the land of palm trees, aka Southern California, it's not too often that I get to pull out my pea coat and mittens for a cold, blustery, winter day (sans snow, thank god). I also no longer take for granted those perfect 75 degrees and sunshine days.

Speaking of seasons, this morning is the first day of March. Spring is on its way, and I'm ready to take on a new adventure - seasonal soup. I pulled out a cookbook from one of my dear friends Breanne, called Soup for All Seasons. The recipe titled "Spinach, Parsley & Honey", (really, honey) had all the qualities I was looking for - vegetarian, satisfying, a bit of sweetness and authenticity. This is sure to keep me satisfied through the first couple rainy spring days of March.

Vegetable Herb & Honey Soup
adapted from Soup for All Seasons
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large carrot, finely chopped or grated
2-3 sticks of celery, chopped
1 small onion, finely diced
1 quart vegetable stock
1/2 cup water
5 ounces baby spinach
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
4 basil leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
6 ounces canned tomato paste
1 drop Worcestershire sauce
Salt & freshly ground black pepper

In a large soup pan sautee the carrot, onion and celery in the olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. The onions should become somewhat translucent while the carrots and celery will become more vibrant in color. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Let simmer for around 8 minutes. Next, add the spinach, herbs, honey and tomato paste. Stir quickly to combine all the flavors then simmer rapidly for 5 minutes. Now this is the hard part: Pour the mixture into a blender and puree everything together, leaving some texture. I used a measuring cup and blended the soup cup by cup, leaving some chunks of carrot, onion and spinach. This is difficult as the soup will be hot and has the potential of splattering everywhere! Return the soup to the soup pan and add the drop of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to taste. Re-heat gently for 2-3 minutes and serve.

I topped mine off with a quick homemade basil pesto (basil, olive oil & salt) and some homemade croutons.

For the croutons, I simply sliced up my favorite whole wheat bread into cubes, tossed them in olive oil and salt and baked under 400 degrees fahrenheit for about 10-12 minutes.

Banana Bread, Take 1

Last week was definitely an adventure. My knee surgery was scheduled to take place Tuesday morning at 7AM, but due to a minor cold that hadn't subsided, the anesthesiologist decided to call it off. What a day. My parent's drove up the night before from Ventura and had planned to take me back home for recovery. One good thing from that day was that my mom always comes prepared. The false alarm left me with homemade chili, free cereal, apples and lettuce for salad from Ventura's farmer's market, I couldn't complain... until, I realized they left their bananas. Now, I have nothing against plain bananas. It's just that my like for them is seasonal, unpredictable, and inconsistent. Lets just say, I needed to get rid of them, fast.

Plain bananas make me cringe, but I do love banana bread. There are many approaches to take with banana bread: tropical, rustic, nutritional, just to name a few. I like my banana bread dense and not too sweet. I also love a defined banana flavor that rides the palette with each bite. Below is a quick recipe I threw together that came out of the oven just perfect. The flax seed and whole wheat pastry flour help create the density that I was looking for while contributing some healthy fiber. Also, using both a dark brown sugar and a white sugar brings out a richness to the bread, while the plain yogurt and almond milk help maintain its moisture. You could easily use regular milk, white sugar and regular flour for a lighter version.

Breakfast Banana Bread
1/2 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Butter Unsalted
3-4 large ripe bananas, smashed together in a bowl
1/4 cup Almond Milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I prefer low fat - adds to the richness vs. a non fat yogurt)
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
1/4 cup Ground Flax Seed
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1/4 cup Raw Turbinado Sugar
1 Reserve Banana, just in case

Preheat oven to 350F
Grease 2 Loaf Pans, and sprinkle with whole wheat pastry flour. In a mixer, combine the sugars and butter on high. Slowly add the mashed bananas, almond milk, plain yogurt and eggs. Turn off mixer once combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the whole wheat pastry flour, ground flax seed, baking soda and salt. Next, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Do not over mix. Once combined, pour into your loaf pans.

Bake for about 45 minutes at 350F. To test if loaves are done, stick a knife or toothpick in the middle of a loaf. If it comes out clean the loaves should be done.

TIP: I like to slice the banana lengthwise in fourths, and place on top of the batter. Next, I sprinkle a couple tablespoons of raw turbinado sugar over the raw banana and batter. Both the banana and sugar add gourmet touch to the loaf, and a nice sweetness to the crust.