It Ain't Easy Being Green

For the past week, I've been a guinea pig. (OK, not literally.) I volunteered, along with few others, to test out a diet book for an upcoming article at work. I thought it would be a good opportunity to hit the reset button and stop pretending that I can eat and drink like I am 21. Which I am not. I thankfully only have to commit for two weeks. By the way, I'm calling it a diet because it is. (And it says so on the front cover.) It's only meant to be followed for four weeks to achieve rapid weight loss and is not meant to be incorporated into one's lifestyle full time.

While I have dropped 4 pounds in the first week, I can't believe that the weight loss will last long. The caloric restriction is a bit much. For example, by 5:00 pm today I had only consumed 550 calories. (Yes, I was getting hangry!) According to my tabulations, on most days I have been limited to 1000 calories tops. There's no way I'll be able to sustain that on my own, particularly because I am currently required to include several meals that should consist of either a 200-calorie fruit smoothie, protein shake or low-sodium soup. I personally don't like to drink my calories, so have opted for the soup. I quickly realized that I better start making my own soups because on my last run to Pret A Manger for my liquid-ish lunch, I discovered that several of their small soups top out at 1100 mg of sodium! (Your entire daily intake should be between 1500 mg and 2300 mg.) No joke! Also not a joke? Saturday's 100-calorie snack suggestion of 2 tablespoons of poppy seeds OR 6 oysters. Ummm…when is the last time you or anyone you have ever met in your life has eaten poppy seeds? That weren't in a muffin? And who snacks on oysters without a glass of wine? (Oh yeah, I'm not drinking alcohol or coffee either.)

So...I bring you fresh pea soup. Or frozen pea soup. Whatever you can find. It's super quick and easy and meets my stupid diet requirements. Typically fresh pea soup is coupled with mint but I found a recipe from The NY Times that suggested tarragon which I thought was a nice alternative. It's delish. I think I'll save the mint for all of the mojitos that I'm going to make once this is all over!

Summer Pea Soup

Adapted from Bon Appétit

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
6 cups shelled fresh peas (from about 6 pounds pods) or 1 (16-ounce) bag of frozen peas, thawed
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon kosher salt, 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Melt the butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until softened but not browned, 6-8 minutes. Add 2 cups broth and bring to a boil. Add the peas, reduce the heat, and simmer gently until tender, about 5 minutes for fresh peas, about 2 minutes for frozen.

2. Remove the pot from the heat. Add the tarragon and remaining 1-2 cups broth to pot, if desired. (Add any additional broth according to your desired consistency.) Purée the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve warm or chilled. Serves 4 - 6.

Going Green

Tomorrow is already April 1st. I pity the fool! Isn't it time for fava beans and morels and garlic scapes and peas?? Well, I haven't seen much in the way of spring veg. In fact, my little local farmers market (apostrophe optional...discuss) has yet to open for the season. It's quite small so they wisely avoid the coldest months and in December, pass the torch to the French Canadians who sell some pretty great looking (and smelling) Christmas trees. No one else wants their space from January to April, I guess, as all that is usually for sale (on the ground) are some VERY used paperbacks. But I confess. I digress. (I'm a poet and I didn't even know it!)

While hoping for some new veggies to finally inspire me to mix things up, I found the most GINORMOUS bushels of parsley at Whole Foods. WTF? Kinda weird, right? Number 1: Are they on steroids? Number 2: When you use parsley, don't you need, like, a chopped tablespoon at most? What does one do with all the rest? Well, I searched for the answer and found a parsley pesto that requires a bit more parsley than a garnish, but you'd really have to double or triple the recipe (and make some tabouli) to use all of the parsley that I had. And as much as you might prefer a basil pesto, which is pretty fabulous, this is super tasty. And, I know that this is totally off topic but…the Mad Men final season starts soon!!

Walnut-Parsley Pesto Pasta

Adapted from Food & Wine

1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup lightly packed flat-leaf parsley with thick stems removed
1 clove garlic, smashed
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 pound cut pasta
1 tablespoon butter

1. In a food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts, parsley, garlic, Parmesan, oil, salt, and pepper to a coarse puree.

2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until just done. Drain and reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water.  Toss the pasta with 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water, the walnut pesto, and the butter. If the pasta seems dry, add more of the reserved pasta water. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan and pass more at the table. Serves 4 - 6.

Mad Men Again. WWDD?

So it seems like my drink of choice last week should have been a Royal Mai Tai based on the Mad Men season premiere that opened at The Royal Hawaiian hotel. I have to admit that I totally love that hotel, in spite of the less than exotic location of Waikiki beach. It actually just makes me think of The Brady Bunch and the infamous tiki doll. Love that ep.

But I digress. I am working my way through the Mad Men cocktail list and tonight will be enjoying a French 75, supposedly the creation of Henry from Henry's Bar in Paris during the First World War. It can be served on the rocks or strained into a Champagne flute. I like to serve salty snacks any time I serve Champagne or a Champagne cocktail so you might want to try these zucchini fritters, especially later this summer when you can't seem to get rid of all of the zucchini that comes your way. WWDD? (What Would Don Do?) Smoke a cigarette and drink...alot.

Zucchini Fritters

3 medium zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds), coarsely shredded
Kosher salt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup chopped dill
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped mint
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 medium cucumber—peeled, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 cup Greek-style plain yogurt

1. Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the zucchini into a medium bowl. Add 1 tablespoon salt, toss and let stand for 5 minutes. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible (press into the sides of a mesh strainer) and transfer the zucchini to a large bowl. Stir in the eggs, flour, chopped dill, parsley, mint, feta, and pepper. Mix to combine. 

2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until the oil sizzles when you drop a small amount of zucchini mixture into the pan. Carefully drop about 2 tablespoons zucchini mixture into the pan. Repeat, spacing the fritters a few inches apart.

3. Cook the fritters until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Lower the heat to medium. Turn the fritters, and continue cooking until golden, 2 to 3 minutes more. Transfer the fritters to a plate; set aside on a warm place. Cook the remaining zucchini mixture, adding more oil to pan if necessary. Garnish with parsley sprigs and lemon wedges, if desired. Serve.

OPTIONAL: In a food processor, coarsely puree the chopped cucumber. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the yogurt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of mint and season with salt and pepper. Serve with the fritters.

French 75

1 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
2 ounces gin
4 ounces chilled Champagne

1. Combine the first three ingredients into an ice-filled martini shaker. Shake vigorously and strain into a Champagne flute. Top with Champagne, and garnish with a lemon peel.

Garlicky Garlic Bread

I feel like I should save this post for when True Blood finally comes back on. (When is it coming back?!) This is one garlicky garlic bread. My awesome friend Chad decided that we needed this alongside the Coconut Cupcakes (I mean roasted lamb!) that we had for Easter and I'm glad that he did. (Hmmm...I'm just realizing that we both separately consulted Ina Garten for recipes. Thanks Ina!) This is some of the tastiest garlic bread that I've had in a long time and I'll tell you why. 1/2 cup of olive oil. That may seem like a lot of oil for one loaf of bread but it's what makes it taste so good! Oh, and the garlic. And the butter. And the herbs...

UPDATE: Chad just informed me that he added an ENTIRE stick of butter to our garlic bread instead of the measly 2 tablespoons Ina's recipe calls for. I guess THAT's why it tasted so good! (Note to self: Fact check.)



Garlic Bread
(Adapted from Ina Garten)

6 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 loaf ciabatta bread
2 tablespoons (or 8!) unsalted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Place the garlic in the bowl of a food processor and process until minced. Add the parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper and pulse twice. Place a medium skillet over medium heat. Once hot, and add the olive oil and the garlic mixture. Stir for 30 seconds and then remove the pan from the heat.

2. Slice the ciabatta bread in half horizontally and spread the butter on one half. Spread the garlic mixture on the other half of the bread, and then put the halves back together. Wrap the bread in aluminum foil.

3. Place the bread in the oven and bake for 5 minutes. Open the foil, and continue baking for an additional 5 minutes. Serve hot. Makes about 6 servings.

A Philly State of Mind

When I go to Philadelphia to visit my good friends (and now their newborn baby!) the trip usually consists of shopping, and planning when and where our next meal will take place. This weekend was no different. I have been in the market for a mid-century modern credenza (forever!) and my hunt continued in some of the great shops around Center City. Sadly, this trip didn't produce my big find, but we did discover a brand spankin' new mid-century housewares/furniture store that had their grand opening party on Friday night. I bought a bunch of glasses and my friends bought a new coffee table. Score! I also managed to blow some money on shoes (in a different store!). Check out some of my finds.

When we weren't shopping we were eating, and eating well. One of the cool things about Philly is all of the BYOBs that are around town. NYC needs more of those! It really makes a huge difference in the bill at the end of the night. We ate a great meal in the sidewalk cafe of a little neighborhood place where we were able to pull the baby stroller right up to the table, and crack open our own bottles of wine (for us, not the baby).

But we did manage to cook at home too. Since we had two pounds of shrimp and a backyard with a grill at our disposal, we set out to find the perfect recipe. My friends have Mario Batali's Italian Grill which is a great cookbook that I've considered buying, until I remember that I don't have a grill or a yard or any use for it. I won't even use my grill pan in my apartment because of the amount of smoke it creates. My smoke detector inevitably goes off and my apartment smells like whatever I've tried to cook for a week. (It's disgusting.) The funny thing is that the recipe we finally selected doesn't even have to be cooked on a grill. It's meant to be cooked on a flat cooking surface, una piastra, which essentially translates to a griddle, that you place on the grill. So, we didn't even bother with the grill and just cooked on the stove top. We were also supposed to skewer the shrimp but we skipped that step too. (We were hungry!) It was great. So great in fact, that I decided to replicate it at home. I even used my leftover rosemary to make the skewers. Check it.

Shrimp Spiedini

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for cooking

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

8 Rosemary sprigs (about 6-inches each) or wooden skewers

Lemon wedges

Lettuce

1. Place the basil and parsley into a mini-food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. (Alternatively, finely chop by hand.) Add the chopped herbs, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and oil to a medium bowl and stir to combine. Add the shrimp and toss to coat.

2. Remove the leaves from the rosemary sprigs, if using. Skewer 4 shrimps per stem. Press on additional herb mixture that may have fallen off. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the shrimp skewers. Cook for 3 minutes, flip, and cook for 2 minutes more. Serve with lemon wedges on a bed of lettuce, if desired. Serves 4 as an appetizer, 2 as a main course.

**Note: Keep additional olive oil on hand. I've noticed that the amount that you need to add to the herb mixture depends on the type of bread crumb you use. You want the mixture to be about the consistency of a thick pesto so that it will stick to the shrimp.