lean & green quinoa with maple dijon vinaigrette

Lean & Green Quinoa with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

Last week, my sister Bollie left a comment on the blog asking me to do something with brussels sprouts.  This may not seem like a big deal, but I almost picked up the phone to make sure her Google account hadn't been hijacked.  You see, Bollie used to the pickiest eater on the face of the planet.  She was the kind of kid who ate waffles drowned in syrup as often as my mother would let her.  Her ideal dinner was three dinner rolls and half a stick of butter.  Okay, so maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but she really did make other “picky eaters” look like Anthony Bourdain.  Her diet included a steady rotation of peanut butter and cheetos sandwiches (yes, together), unseasoned chicken breast, Easy Mac, American cheese & butter sandwiches (not to be confused with "grilled cheese"), and very little else.  Luckily, she always had a clean bill of health, so we never worried too much about her.

Somewhere between 1994 and today, Bollie's tastebuds have matured.  She now eats "lots of vegetables", though she's "still not ready for tomatoes."  This in particular is amusing to me because Bollie is an aficionado on all things Italian and spent an entire summer studying, cooking, and eating in Rome.  I also don't understand how someone who eats eggplant and zucchini would find the little tomato offensive, but whatever.  So when she asked for something featuring brussels sprouts, the quintessential villain of the vegetable world, I was confused....but happy to oblige.

This dish is kinda an ode to my lil' sis - it includes green vegetables she likes (asparagus, green onions, and apparently, brussels sprouts) and is topped with a sweet maple and dijon dressing.  The maple pays homage to her favorite breakfast and the sharp zing of the vinegar and dijon combination reflects the one-two punch of her personality.     

The brussels in this recipe are roasted.  In my humble opinion, the only way to cook brussels is to pan-sear them or roast them.  Boiling or steaming them renders the poor brussels sprouts completely deserving of their reputation as a pile of sour mush.  However, the carmelization that results from roasting or sauteeing them gives the humble brussels an extreme makeover, elevating them from ugly duckling to belle of the ball.

Enjoy!

Lean & Green Quinoa with Maple Dijon Vinaigrette
Serves 2 as side dish, 1 as main

1/2 cup uncooked quinoa + 3/4 cup vegetable stock (yields about 1 1/3 cup cooked quinoa)
1/4 cup green onions, chopped (green and white parts)
1/4 pound skinny asparagus
handful spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
1/3 pound brussels sprouts, halved

for the Maple Dijon Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons grainy dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Chop asparagus into bite-sized pieces.  Additionally, prepare brussels sprouts by removing outer leaves, if necessary, and cutting the sprouts in half (perpindicular to the base).  Toss sprouts in 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons of the maple dijon vinaigrette.
3.  Roast the asparagus and brussels (cut side up) 20 minutes, or until golden.  If your asparagus are very skinny, they will roast in less time, and you may want to remove them halfway through.
4.  Meanwhile, prepare the quinoa according to package directions or read my method for preparing quinoa here.
 5.  Mix roasted brussels sprouts and asparagus with the quinoa.  Top with green onions and drizzle vinaigrette overtop the salad (you may have some left over).  Toss to combine.

salmon burgers with japanese coleslaw

Salmon burgers with Japanese coleslaw

I know what you're thinking.  Another Asian recipe?  I'm sorry, but I never get tired of Asian food.  When in doubt, wok it out.  (Rita, that was for you.)

I like salmon, but I don't buy it very often because the good stuff is expensive and I'm just a lowly peon trying to get by in this overpriced city.  The last time I was in Norfolk, my mom's friend Kelly was raving about Costco's salmon burgers, and I knew I had to give them a try!   On my next trip to the mega-warehouse, I beelined to the frozen foods section (because really, who has time to waste at Costco?) and picked some up.  At $15.99 for a twelve-pack, I was pleasantly surprised at how affordable they were.  At last, high-brow cuisine comes to the hoi polloi, via the most popular American dish ever created - the burger!  These babies have no breadcrumbs or other filler in them - I hate it when crabcakes and salmon burgers are loaded down with flavor-killers!  The only ingredients in this burger were salmon, water, canola oil, egg, and spices.

Best of all, these salmon burgers are good for our planet and good for our bodies; they're made from wild-caught Alaskan salmon, not the flavorless, nutritionally inferior, farm-raised Atlantic stuff that's injected with pink food coloring. Some of you may be surprised to see that comment coming out of my mouth.  I am skeptical of the words "organic", "cage-free", "range-free", "grass-fed", blah blah blah, and I do not consider myself a staunch proponent of those products.  Sure, I often buy cage-free eggs or an organic something or other because it may taste better or the price differential may be worth it to me, but a conventionally-grown vegetable is not a dealbreaker in my book.  One area where I always strive to go "natural" is salmon.  Salmon is already expensive to begin with, farmed or wild, so it's worth it (to me) to spend a few extra bucks for bigger flavor and more nutrients.

I quickly pan-seared the burgers for 4-5 minutes per side in just a hint of oil.  Then I splashed some soy sauce on top and put it on a "bun" - i.e. a whole wheat deli flat.  I don't buy hamburger buns if I'm just cooking for one or two because I don't go through them quickly enough, and moreover, I just don't love the taste of them.  I slathered some Duke's mayonnaise on both sides of the bread - I love mayonnaise!  I understand there are a lot of mayo-haters out there, but mayonnaise is my favorite condiment and I will never give it up.  If you don't like mayo, just leave it off.  This burger would be delicious with wasabi mayonnaise, but alas I didn't happen to have any wasabi casually laying around in my refrigerator. 

Finally, I topped each patty with a generous serving of Japanese coleslaw.  This is not a creamy coleslaw, but rather a vinegary, crunchy cabbage salad.  Simply delicious!

Japanese Coleslaw
Serves 4-6

For the slaw:
1 head cabbage, cored and shredded
1/4 cup sliced almonds
6 carrots, peeled and coarsely shredded
4 green onions, chopped (both white and green parts)
1 packet ramen noodles, uncooked and crumbled into small pieces

For the dressing:
2 tablespoons sugar (Splenda works too)
1/4 cup of canola oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
Spice packet from Ramen noodles (I used the "oriental" flavor)

1.  Mix together ingredients for the slaw
2.  Whisk together the ingredients for the dressing in a cup or small bowl.  Put in refrigerator to chill.
3.  When ready to serve, pour dressing over slaw and toss.

Oh, and before I leave, I'd like to wish a very  

Happy Birthday 

to my friend Lindsey!  

Linds, maybe 24 will be the year your head actually grows to a full-sized adult.  

Thank you for being such an amazing friend over the past 12+ years.

isn't her head so cute and tiny?

By this point, it's pretty apparent that Asian food is my Achilles heel.  What is your favorite cuisine?

what do vegetarians eat at sporting events?

Wizards v. Cavaliers

Nats v. Braves

I spent most of the weekend doing something kind of atypical for me - watching sports.  I am all for getting together in a social setting to watch exhibitions of athletic prowess, but I certainly wouldn't choose to spectate all weekend long.  But, it just so happens that we're in that crazy time of year where there's a plethora of sporting events going on, with some seasons winding down and others starting up again.  So, I got together with some friends and bought nosebleed tickets to watch some of DC's "professional" sports teams.

Friday night was spent watching the Battle for First Pick at the Verizon Center.  Thankfully, the Wizards narrowly beat the worst team in the NBA.  I love The Wiz, but really, step up your game, boys.  Your apathy is sickening, and almost had me wanting to cheer for the Cavaliers. (I actually kept getting confused because I went to UVA, so I am pre-wired to cheer for the "Cavaliers").  I was also upset because I am now 0 for 2 in attempts to actually watch wonderboy John Wall play a game of basketball.  He was injured when I went to the Wiz-Heat game back in December, and Friday night he was serving a one-game suspension.  #dobetter.  Saturday evening I was on the edge of my seat during the Final Four games and shed a few tears after VCU's Cinderella story came to an end.  (Not really, but has anyone seen this video?  Gave me the chills.)  Sunday I went to the third game of the Nationals opening week against the Braves.

Last night after the Nats game, I was telling a male acquaintance about my 40-day endeavor, and he asked me how, as a meat lover, I had been able to do it.  I do get this question a lot, but boys, for one reason or another, always find the promise really shocking.  I am generally able to answer quickly and honestly, because the truth is that it really hasn't been that difficult, especially compared with how hard I originally thought it was going to be. 

However, when faced with the question last night, I waffled a bit.  It's not that the whole experience has been hard, but coming off of a weekend of sporting events, the inconvenience of going vegetarian was at the forefront of my mind.  The sports world is not vegetarian-friendly in the least!  On Friday, I didn't see any real vegetarian options at the Verizon Center - the ladies and gents I went with chowed down on BBQ sandwiches for dinner, and truthfully, I almost resented them.  Luckily, I had anticipated that there would be few options, so I ate before I arrived.  If I had wanted food at the Nats game, I would be limited to peanuts and Cracker Jacks instead of a half-smoke from Ben's Chili Bowl or a burger from the Shake Shack (yep, it's coming to Nats Park this summer!)  My experienced begged the question: What do vegetarians eat at sports venues?  Are they reduced to cheese pizzas and soft pretzels?  Do they sneak in their own snacks?

My favorite vegetarian eats this weekend both were on Sunday, and neither of them came from my kitchen.  I really try to eat out as little as possible, but I have a bumpin' social calendar so some things can't be helped.

1.  Sunday brunch at Justin's Cafe before the Nats game.  I loved this place!  Justin was formerly the manager at one of my favorite neighborhood restaurants, but he recently opened up this gem two blocks from Nationals Park.  I had the King sandwich, a delicious panini of grilled eggplant, zucchini, tomato, roasted pepper, and baby spinach, served with a sweet basil mayo.  If I could offer one suggestion, it would be nice if there was some kind of cheese on the sandwich, possibly a mozzarella or a goat, to bind the ingredients together in a gooey melt.  Complementing my sandwich quite nicely were crispy and cinnamony sweet potato fries and a few spicy Bloody Marys.

King Sandwich from Justin's Cafe (sorry, I ate half of it first)

2.  Sunday night, I ordered the Vegetable Lo Mein from my favorite Chinese place in DC - Full Kee.  If you haven't been to this place, you NEED TO GO.  I went with three guys (who all ordered meat), but we did also share a plate of the spicy squid.  I had a mild tantrum when I saw that the "Vegetarian" egg roll actually had pork in it, but luckily the boys took it off my hands.  This was post-Nats game but before our futile attempt to buy tickets for the Lil' Wayne concert at Verizon Center (a really stellar idea we got after seven hours of Sunday Funday.)  Needless to say, the scalpers laughed in my face when I tried to offer them $100 for two tickets.  They were asking $120 a piece for the nosebleeds....

Not sure what I have coming for you on the blog this week....I was supposed to go to the grocery store yesterday, but I accidentally didn't get back home until 10pm.  Oops.  Have a good Monday and I will certainly serve up some delicious vegetarian fare tomorrow!

P.S.  While I was lazily watching sports all weekend, Whitney was busy crushing the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.  Congrats, Whit!

friday breakfast: round 3

Photo from Cooking Light, via myrecipes.com (Google image search)

Good morning and Happy Friday!  As you're reading this, I'm on an isolated cay in the Bahamas, sipping this delicious breakfast smoothie on a porch swing of a rustic bungalow and enjoying the breathtaking view:

April Fool's!

(I took that picture three years ago in Formentera, Spain.)

I'm in DC, where it has been 48 degrees and rainy since Tuesday.  To make matters worse, I have to join the legions of American cubicle-dwellers today and go into my office.  Woe is me.  I've got a deadline this afternoon, and unfortunately the work that needs to get done is not able to be completed from my kitchen table.  So, sorry to disappoint, but there's no eggy deliciousness this morning.

But it's April 1st!  Crazy!  Where's Spring?

Oh wait, that's right.  It's April.  In the mid-Atlantic.  That doesn't mean it's "Spring."  Let me explain something to you.  I am a realist and I always have been.  To me, the glass is neither half empty nor half full - it's an eight-ounce glass with four ounces of water in it.  Therefore, I fully understand that "Spring" in this area is practically non-existent - it's just a few weeks at the end of April with temperatures too warm for sweaters but too cold for shorts, and also chock full of rain clouds.  Spring is neither good nor bad - it just is what it is.  (Obviously.  What does that phrase even mean anyway?)

Because I take things at face value, and also because I've lived in this climate for twenty-something years, I generally accept this so-called "Spring" for what it is, and get on with my day.  But sometimes, I long for the springtime of classic novels and contemporary romcoms - a beautiful season in which people's bitterness melts away with the winter frost and men and women alike are smiley again. Hey, I may be a realist, but occasionally I let myself dream.

So what do you eat when your body screams "SPRING" but the weather is decidedly undecided?  Make this smoothie!  It is sure to transport you to a tropical paradise.  I've had this breakfast smoothie three times this week; I drink it on the way to work and I swear I'm actually happier when I walk in my office than when I walk out my door.

And that's sayin' a lot.

Mango-Banana Smoothie - A 40-day Vegetarian original
Serves 2-3 

1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) fat free or reduced-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup skim or reduced-fat milk
2 bananas
1 large ripe mango
3/4 cup frozen blueberries

Combine yogurt, milk, bananas, and mango in a blender.  If too thick, thin with 3/4 cup of water or more milk. 

Everyone have a delicious weekend! (and Happy Birthday, Rickey!)
  

my go-to: strawberry salad

Spinach Salad with Strawberries, Almonds, Craisins, and Goat Cheese

Last night I had dinner at Hook, a seafood restaurant in Georgetown.  I was planning on taking pictures and writing a review for today's post, but I had a really long day yesterday and completely flaked as soon as my dinner was set before me.  Here's a back-up post instead.  Sorry to drop the ball...

Florida strawberry season is in full swing right now, which means that berries are inexpensive, flavorful, and plentiful.  A few weeks ago I bought a four pound box of delicious strawberries at Costco for $5.99 - which lasted six days in our fridge.  What I mean to say is not that they spoiled in that period of time, but rather, they were so good that two little girls  young women demolished them in less than a week. 

That very night, I sliced some up and topped them with a bit of whipped cream for a post-dinner sweet treat.  After I took the first bite, I almost fell out of my chair.  Y'all, as much as I dislike hyperbole, I do believe that they were the best strawberries I have ever bought from the grocery store, bar none.  They were huge, bright red strawberries bursting with sweet flavor.  The kind in which the juices dribble down your chin and you scramble to catch the runoff before it drips onto your white pants.  They tasted fresh-picked from the farm - just like the ones my mom picks in Pungo each summer.


The thing with these fresh strawberries, especially the first ones of the season, is that you want to showcase them.  It's sacreligious to mix them with sugar and bake them into some sort of pie, shortcake, pudding or compote.  That's a practice reserved for the dog days of August when you think you might turn into Violet Beauregarde if you eat another berry, but you need some sort of fruit in your rotation before good local apples are available again.  Heck, for the season's very first berries, it even seems backwards to mask the flavor in a bowl of oatmeal, yogurt, or a smoothie.  So, besides berries-n-cream dessert, how else does one go through four pounds of berries in a less than a week?

If you say chocolate-covered strawberries, you're wrong.  I'm not doing that sort of romancin' over here in Kitchen 203.

So you make a lot of salads.  

Strawberries in a salad may sound strange, but this is my favorite salad.  And by favorite, I mean, I’ve been known to eat it, or some variation of it, four times a week when it's berry season.  Some things just don’t get old to me.  It's perfect for when I am pressed for time, not too hungry, or craving something sweet (I've been told it's not okay to eat a box of caramels for dinner.)  This salad is light, crisp, refreshing, and incredibly easy, and can also be varied depending on what you have in your own kitchen.

How to build your own go-to strawberry salad:

Base:  Generally spinach, but sometimes mixed greens, if that's what I have

Main component:  Sliced strawberries (can also use raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, or some combination if you prefer)

Protein:  Almonds or walnuts, though I sometimes use chicken breast when I'm not a temporary veg, and scale back or eliminate the nuts

Creamy goodness:  Optional, but I like to use about 3/4 ounce - 1 ounce of crumbled goat cheese 

Extras:  dried cranberries

Crunch components:  diced celery, cucumber, or green onions (optional, and don't go overboard, just chop enough to get a nice texture)

Dressing:  Brianna's blushwine viniagrette, Annie's raspberry viniagrette, or just some balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Deeeeeeelish!

Everyone have a great Thursday and look out for tomorrow's Friday Breakfast.  It's gonna be a good one!

recipe for #winning: curried chickpea and quinoa salad

Curried chickpea and quinoa salad

Last week I gave you some recipes for your March Madness viewing parties, but there's a different kind of March Madness going on at my office.  I am fortunate enough to have a fitness facility at my workplace, one that offers a variety of cardio equipment, weights, group exercise classes, personal training, and promotional programs.  Each year, the gym puts on a March Madness competition, a friendly fierce contest running concurrently with the NCAA tournament.  Teams of three rack up points for participating in various exercise programs, and after the final basketball game, the top three teams with the most points win prizes.   This year, the top prize is an iPod, followed by a free six-month locker rental at the facility and a massage from the therapist that comes to our facility.  Needless to say, my two teammates and I want a prize.  For additional incentive, we have a head-to-head competition with another threesome from our office in which the losing team buys Happy Hour for the winning team.

We're working out a lot, so we need good, clean food to give us energy.  This recipe, inspired by Whole Foods' curried chicken salad, has given me endless fuel over the past couple of weeks.  I'm no dietician, but  this salad is a nutritional all-star, as it provides a healthy mixture of fats, complex carbs, and proteins.  It's sure to power any athlete through a tough workout and still have energy remaining for the rest of the day - #winning!  I've polished off the whole recipe over the last week - once over spinach, once in a wrap, and once on its own.  I think I like it over spinach leaves the best, though they were all three quite tasty, and the one in a wrap was slightly more filling.

Curried Chickpea and Quinoa Salad
Makes about four cups, or 3-4 servings

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 diced red bell pepper
3 stalks celery, diced
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa + 3/4 cup stock (yields about 1 1/3 cup cooked quinoa)
6 ounces plain greek yogurt
2 teaspoons mild curry powder
1 teaspoon lemon juice
small drizzle honey

1.  Prepare quinoa according to package directions or see my instructions for Ecuadorian quinoa here.
2.  Once quinoa is cooked, combine with first six ingredients in a large bowl.
3.  In a small bowl, prepare the yogurt curry sauce.  Stir the curry powder, lemon juice and honey into the greek yogurt.
4.  Pour yogurt sauce over the quinoa-chickpea mixture and toss to combine.

Note:  Since this salad is made with greek yogurt as opposed to mayonnaise, you may find that it is a little dry if you eat it more than 4-6 hours after you prepare it.  In that case, I'd recommend mixing in a small squeeze of mayonnaise right before you eat it. 

Who's in favor of #winning?  When you know you're going to have a tough workout, what do you like to eat to keep you going?

vegetable & edamame stirfry with thai peanut sauce

Vegetable & edamame stirfry with Thai peanut sauce

Did y'all hear me shout from the rooftops last week?  I have a big, huge announcement.

I'm. In. LOVE.

Love, I tell you!  I didn't see it coming either, but they always say it comes when you least expect it.  I kind of forgot what it felt like.  But it's back, and it's the real thing.  You know how I know?  This is what people do when they fall in love:

• Dance around the room like that fool Nellie Forbush singing "I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with a wonderful guyyyyyyyy!!!"
• Channel Tom Cruise on Oprah and jump up and down on the couch 
• Babble incoherently and giggle when speaking of their love
• Try to lead normal, functional lives but inevitably become utterly incapable of thinking of anything else other than their love
• Write about their love to be published for the whole world to see, even if they have a million and ten things to do so there was already a post pre-prepared

And y'all, I did all of those things last week.  Why wouldn't I?  Sleek body, sizzlin' hot, works quickly, and gives me exactly what I want.  And you had better believe that if this relationship ever ends, I am going to go BSC like Taylor Swift and write a song about it.  Another thing people do when they're in love.

Last week I fell in love with my wok.

One night, (can't remember which - must be love brain!), I came home from work and was really irritated about something that had happened that day.  In fact, I was so annoyed that I hadn't even thought about what I wanted for dinner that evening.  When I got to my apartment, I had a package from UPS!   I thought it was a pair of pants I had ordered until I saw the size of the box.  Then I remembered what it was!  I had ordered this wok a couple days before with my temporary Amazon Prime membership, which gives me free two-day shipping on most items sold by Amazon.com.  So, I opened the box and decided on a big vegetable stir-fry.  (Side note:  I am just now realizing how much Asian cuisine I've eaten lately.  I love Asian food - Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, it doesn't matter!  Sorry if you don't like Asian food because I know there's a lot of it on this blog!)

For the stirfry, I took a shortcut and used a bag of frozen veggies - a Safeway mixture with sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.  I threw in some frozen edamame for protein and fresh skinny asparagus and let it sizzle in the wok with a tiny bit of canola oil and soy sauce.  I wanted to serve it over white rice, but I was out of it.  What a shame!

While the veggies were a wok-in' and a rollin', I prepared a very quick, very easy Thai peanut sauce to drizzle over the finished product.  More protein!


Thai Peanut Sauce, a 40-day Vegetarian original
Serves one

1 tablespoon all-natural peanut butter
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon plus 1 to 2 tablespoons water
minced garlic, minced ginger, and crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

1.  Heat one tablespoon of peanut butter, one teaspoon of soy sauce, one teaspoon of water, and 1/4 teaspoon brown sugar over medium-low heat.  (If you use traditional peanut butter, you do not need to add sugar).
2.  Using a fork, mash the peanut butter into the liquid and allow it to start melting.  Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes, stirring to combine all ingredients.  Do not burn the sauce.  Add up to 2 tablespoons of water, little by little, if you find the sauce is too thick or is sticking to the bottom of the pan.   
3.  Drizzle over stirfry and enjoy!


I've made this same dish probably a dozen times before because it's easy, cheap, and Whitney and I love it.  But I don't know HOW I did it without a wok!  I used to fry the veggies using a huge nonstick pan, but the wok makes all the difference.  The vegetables get a deep brown char on the outside, retaining their crunchiness and flavor.  This is a stark contrast to the limpness that can afflict vegetables that have been cooking on a pan too long.  And bonus!  Just like any good man, this thing is fast - dinner went from my freezer to my plate in under ten minutes.  Since I am an economist, after all, I'm a real sucker for rationality and efficiency.  Most importantly, the meal was so delicious that I wasn't even angry anymore.  Boyfriend picks me up when I am down.

So yeah, I am in love with my wok.  I kept it under wraps for a week because I didn't want to jump the gun, but we're still goin' strong, so I am ready to announce it to the world. Also, I just read this entry and I realized that there is an unnecessary number of exclamation points and I am literally babbling in parts of it.  But ya know what?  I'm going to keep both the enthusiasm and stream of consciousness in for added effect.  I told y'all I'm in love.

Have y'all ever fallen in love with an inanimate object?  (KHelm, I'm looking at you and your iPhone.)  Do y'all have any kitchen appliances you can't live without, or any items on your culinary lust list?