Mexican Cooking Class with Ruth Alegria

It's hard to spend time with Ruth Alegria, and not want to jump on the next plane to Mexico City. To say she knows Mexican food would be an understatement. Ruth has lived in Mexico City for almost 10 years and before that studied the cuisine with luminaries including Diana Kennedy and Enrique Olvera. She also opened the first Mexican restaurant in Princeton, N.J., in 1980 and received two stars from the New York Times.

Her culinary tours and cooking classes at Mexico Soul and Essence are not just beloved by her students, but were singled out by Saveur magazine as among the best in all of Mexico. But it's not just the recipes, it's the techniques and insights into shopping, ingredients and the history and culture that make her such a wonderful teacher and guide.

This past Sunday at the lovely Tamarindo Antojeria restaurant in Oakland, proprietor Gloria Dominguez hosted a cooking class with Ruth. We made salsas, agua fresca, a creamy poblano soup, an ensalada with nopales and another with grilled spring onions, cochinita pibil and pollo pibil, fish wrapped in hoja santa and more. I learned so much, it's hard to know where to start! But here are a few tidbits:

* Seek out Mexican oregano, it is much different than the Mediterranean variety, and very fragrant (a bit sweeter I'd say).

* Toast herbs on a comal, in addition to spices and vegetables. A cast iron comal is probably better than non-stick.

* Cook your salsas, if you want them to last longer in the fridge.

* Add chia seeds to agua fresca.

* Cut chayotes in half, then boil them just until a knife will pierce them, not till they are soft!

* If dried chiles are brittle, do not buy them. They should bend, not break.

* After grilling poblano peppers, put them in a paper bag, not a plastic bag, before scrapping off the peel otherwise they will continue to cook.

* Use only Mexican Jamaica flowers in vegetarian dishes, not the Sudanese variety which turns pink after steeping to make agua fresca.

I am looking forward to trying some Ruth's recipes, especially for salsas, and Gloria's recipe for Capirotada, a Mexican style bread pudding (with no eggs!).

Ruth is spending time in the San Francisco Bay Area, to take a class with her or to find out more about her tours and classes in Mexico, visit her Facebook page.

Vegetable Cookbooks

Is this the year of the vegetable? It sure seems like it! Vegetable centric cookbook are in the spotlight, and it's not one size fits all. There are cookbooks about foraging, using roots, healthy eating and more. In honor of Meatless Monday, here's a round up of some interesting ones I've come across lately.

The Duke's Table is a vegetarian book of Italian food, written in 1930 and now available in English. I learned to love vegetables in Italy where they are never, ever served plain. They are always "dressed" and I find this makes all the difference. Even a little drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice make a dish of vegetables more appealing. This book has a staggering number of recipes, over 1000 and everything from pasta dishes to souffles, egg dishes, soups, ice creams and even some raw dishes (those are a little out there!). Some of the recipes are healthy, some are not, but all are interesting and offer a peek into a fascinating diet of a man of means at the turn of the century (the duke lived from 1879 till 1946). Some of the recipes are fancy, but many are regional dishes like Bucellati, a sweet bread or Torta Napoletana. The vegetarian meatballs and meatloaves are inventive mixtures of mushrooms and walnuts. 

My verdict? A fascinating book for Italian food lovers. 

I am very excited about Tara Duggan's book Root-to-Stalk Cooking because I am the kind of cook who wonders, can I eat carrot tops? What can I do with squash blossoms other than stuff them? And is there a good use for apple peelings? Fortunately this book answers all those nagging questions and more. It's all about using the whole vegetable and that just makes good sense.

Recipes I've bookmarked include Chard Stalk Relish with Pine Nuts & Sultanas, Pea Pod Pudding, Carrot Top Salsa Verde with Roasted Root Vegetables and Apple Peel Bourbon. Note this book won't be available until August. 

My verdict? Great for adventuresome and thrifty cooks, farmer's market shoppers and gardeners who often end up with whole, untrimmed vegetables. 

Vegetable Literacy is the latest book from Deborah Madison and the closest thing to a vegetable bible both for cooking and gardening. It's organized by families, such as nightshades, lily, grass, cabbage and sunflower. It really makes you think about vegetables in a new way!

There are recipes for vegetables you use all the time like carrots and squash but also recipes using less common vegetables like burdock, quelites, parsnips and escarole. I have so many recipes bookmarked I don't know where to start, but a few that caught me eye are Young Leeks with Oranges and Pistachios, Corn Simmered in Coconut Milk with Thai Basil and Sweet Potatoes with White Miso Ginger Sauce. I am in awe of Deborah Madison. She's like a national treasure and though no longer living in the Bay Area, she was deeply involved in the restaurants that made a big impact in our local cuisine specifically Chez Panisse and Greens. 

My verdict? Buy this book! It is destined to become a classic. 

Ripe is written by Cheryl Sternman Rule with stunning photography by Paulette Phlipot. It came out last year but is still making waves! Organized by color, it really does embody passion and excitement. It's written in a slightly cheeky style that's fun to read and each ingredient gets a set of tips for using them and how to combine them with other ingredients.

There are lots of surprises in this book like Swiss Chard stuffed with Polenta (smart!) a juicy salad of Honeydew, Cucumber and Grapes with a poppyseed and lime dressing and show stopping Persimmon, Apple, Radicchio stacks (you can't tell me you've seen that elsewhere). 

My verdict? Inspiring recipes, ideas and photos, and a great coffee table book. 

The Longevity Kitchen by Rebecca Katz and Mat Edelson focuses on 16 "age busting" foods, they are asparagus, avocado, basil, blueberries, coffee, dark chocolate, garlic, green tea, kale, olive oil, pomegranate, sweet potatoes, thyme, walnuts, wild salmon and yogurt. Let's face it, you are going to get old, no matter what you eat. But the ingredients in this book may help you live a more healthy life.

The photos are good and the book is really jam packed with inspiring recipes for things you probably haven't considered like Nori Rolls stuffed with Avocado and Smoked Salmon, Edamame Wasabi Spread and sardines mixed with loads of herbs and mustard. Many of the recipes, including all of the baked good and desserts are gluten-free, often relying on almond flour. Also Rebecca Katz writes wonderfully informal headnotes with each recipe.

My verdict? Great for anyone wanting to incorporate more healthy foods into their cooking and looking for new ideas.

Backyard Foraging. Yay! Another book on foraging! And this one is not about going far into the wild, but simply into your own backyard. Full color photographs and a guide to seasonality will be helpful to those just starting to forage for food. Did you know you could eat magnolia flowers and buds? I didn't! Watch out foliage, this book is coming after you! 

There are instructions for how to prepare the foraged food, but only a few recipes at the end of the book, for things like Dandelion Wine, Dahlia Tuber Bread, Mushroom Ravioli and Rose Hip Soup. 

My verdict? Great for budding naturalists living in the suburbs or less urban areas with access to common plants. I fear urban plants growing wild are probably exposed to more pollution and not as suitable for eating, though perhaps I'm wrong about that.

The Passionate Vegetable is a weird name for a cookbook. I mean, what exactly is a passionate vegetable? Written by a health educator, Suzanne Landry the book provides a roadmap for better health through the "flexitarian" style of eating. Perhaps most importantly the recipes are easy to follow.

To be honest, though I do want to try The Passionate Breakfast Cookie, much of the photography is not terribly inspiring in this book and the recipes remind me of the things I cooked when I moved into my first apartment--Mushroom Barley Soup, Black Bean and Corn Salad, Ratatouille over Spaghetti Squash. 

My verdict? This book is best for beginning cooks. 

Disclaimer: Some of these books were review copies, and this post includes affiliate links. 

Cantaloupe Drizzled with Lemon Cardamom Yogurt Sauce

As I get older, one thing that seems to get increasingly higher is my threshold of what constitutes "embarassing" behavior in public places.

In my middle school years, I would never leave home without my self-defined "mall outfit" - a fun shirt and jeans, makeup, and copious amounts of baubles emblazoned with smiley faces, yin-yangs, and peace signs (oh my god what were we thinking). Having parents in tow was an automatic source of embarrassment (for no logical reason).  All behavior was directed at the goal of "fitting in."

Eventually, things start to ease up.  You realize that no one actually dies if you decide to wear sweatpants out of the house.  And the mere fact that you have parents no longer seems to be a source of shame.

And now I am the girl who leaves home with giant knots in my hair.  As well as the person who traipses around markets, sniffing each melon to find the most wonderfully fragrant one.  Picking them up to make sure they are dense. Examining the color of the rind.  This is all very important work.  A bad melon is a bad melon.  But a good melon is transcendent.

But one could make the case that this behavior is quite odd.  Embarrassing, even.  Which I'm sure I will be told by Max sometime in the near future.  But that will be his problem, not mine.

Ingredients
Cantaloupe chunks (or slices, which would be prettier, but not as easy to eat )
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
zest from small lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon honey
pinch cardamom

Instructions
Mix the yogurt, lemon zest and juice, coconut milk, honey, and cardamom together in a small bowl.  Spoon over cantaloupe chunks.

Rice Paper Salad Rolls Recipe

Rice paper salad rolls are basically salads wrapped in rice paper. You probably already have plenty of salad ingredients in your fridge, but what about Vietnamese rice paper?  It's one of those pantry ingredients I've sometimes bought and used once, and then forgot about. And that's kind of a shame because it has a lot going for it. It's cheap, keeps forever and is easy to use.

Rice paper is traditionally used to make Vietnamese "Summer rolls" but like tortillas, it's extremely versatile and shouldn't be limited to only Vietnamese cuisine. Use it as a wrapper for pretty much whatever you like and you've got a great appetizer, snack or meal. While tortillas are served warm, rice paper rolls are served at room temperature.

I believe eating outdoors is more fun than eating inside, and that eating with your fingers makes everything taste better. So that makes rice paper salad rolls perfect for picnics (or take from home lunches). I have used all kinds of different fillings and this is a combination I really like, but experiment! Try sprouts, shredded chicken, smoked salmon, enoki mushrooms--the possibilities are endless. 

Rice Paper Salad Rolls

Makes 2 rolls

Ingredients

4 sheets rice paper

1 English cucumber, peeled

1 small carrot 

1 daikon radish
Avocado 

1 piece marinated or baked tofu, (or use homemade gluten free baked tofu)

4 lettuce leaves

Peanut sauce 

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables by peeling long lengthwise strips of each the cucumber, daikon radish and carrot using a vegetable peeler. The number of slices will vary depending upon the size of the rice paper you have. Then slice each strip into long skinny slivers. Cut the tofu and avocado into thin strips. 

Fill a bowl with warm water. Dip two rice paper sheets into the water, making sure the water flows between the sheets. Let the water drip off the rice paper, and then lay it on a flat surface. You want the sheets to be just softened enough so you can roll them. 

Lay one lettuce leaf on the double layer of rice paper. Top with thin strips of vegetables and tofu, but don't overstuff. Roll up like a burrito, either tucking the ends in or leaving them open. Serve with peanut sauce

Enjoy!

Berries with Hibiscus-Infused Whipped Cream

I'm not always great at multitasking.  Okay, if I'm honest, I'm never great at multitasking. But I love to believe I am.

One minute I'm full of hubris about simultaneously doing some laundry, engaging Max in a toddler alphabet game, cooking some dinner, running the ice cream maker, and perhaps slipping in a quick phone call.  And then time passes, and I've forgotten that I was actually doing laundry.  And now it is smelling a bit moldy and the clothes in the dryer are now wrinkled.  I have no idea what letter we are on in our alphabet game, and I've left things in the oven for too long.  Or over-whip the cream, as was the case the first time I made this hibiscus whipped cream.

I've always found it hard to be in the moment, I never feel I'm experiencing things quite right. I can be at the beach, and instead of feeling the coarseness of the sand as I dig my fingers into it or the chilliness of the salt water on my toes, I'm on my phone - absorbed in some reading or writing.  I know I should be doing this whole "mindfulness" thing, but that just doesn't work for me.

So juggling multiple things at once feels natural for me.  Even if I often fail spectacularly at them.  It is that rare, fortuitous occasion in which success happens that keeps me going at this multitasking endeavor.  Plus, I'm stubborn.

But even a stubborn person knows when to let it go.  So this time, I made sure to devote most of my attention to the task at hand.  And instead of playing an alphabet game with the tot, I tried teaching him to say "hibiscus," a rather amusing word coming from him.  And this time, things worked out.     

I would like to say that this will be a permanent change in behavior.  But I can assuredly say that isn't the case.  Because I'm stubborn like that.

Here we used the whipped cream to top some gorgeous blueberries and strawberries that were picked up at the farmer's market.  For more strawberry dessert ideas, Cooking Light put together this slideshow.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided
3 tablespoons dried hibiscus leaves
pinch salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar

strawberries, sliced
blueberries

Instructions
For the hibiscus cream:  In a small pot over low heat, warm 1 cup cream and hibiscus leaves.   Take off heat and cover, letting the leaves steep in the cream for 20 minutes. strain and chill the mixture.  Once the hibiscus cream has chilled and is nice and cold, add the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer and add in another 1/2 cup of whipping cream.  Add a pinch of salt and the sugar and use the whisk attachment to the whip the mixture until stiff peaks form.  Serve with the berries.

Nambé CookServ

Wedding season is coming up and I recommend going off the registry to buy something really special. There are lots of basic items that end up on registry lists, for example, a stock pot or soup pot. You need a big one, but a smaller one is very useful too, especially for households of two people. I use mine for pasta, boiling potatoes, making soup and blanching vegetables. 

A soup pot will probably last you a lifetime so it's worth getting the nicest and most pleasing one you can find. To that end, the CookServe line of Nambé cookware fits the bill. Nambé recently sent me a soup pot to try and I really love it. It's so pretty to look at, I don't want to take it off the stove! All of the CookServ line is designed to be oven to table, made from 5 ply stainless steel and is compatible with all ranges including induction. It also has nubs on the interior of the lid to baste. I've found all the handles stay cool when I am cooking on the stove. The design of the cookware is one of the things that makes it so special, the uniquely curved shapes and handles. 

I know it's tempting to buy non-stick, but especially for a pot like this, it's really not necessary and most certainly isn't as long lasting. Non-stick is great for things like eggs and crepes, but you'll find alloy pieces much better value in the long run. 

Named for an ancient village, Nambé is a company based in Santa Fe, New Mexico and has been designing beautiful cookware, tableware, kitchenware and more since 1951. They work with some very well-known top designers including Karim Rashid, Their beautiful award-winning designs have been in museum collections since the early 1950's. 

Nambé is hosting a giveaway of a set of four Nambé CookServ Sauté Pans (8, 10, 12 and 14 inches) with a retail value of $650. Click on the link to enter : a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was given a piece of cookware to try, I was not paid to write this or any other post

Meet the Bloggers

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's the people I meet (online and in person) that make food blogging so worthwhile. It's been a long time since I've shared links to blogs that I love. Here are a few to bookmark (from upper left to lower right). Get to know these bloggers, you'll be glad you did.

Joumana Accad
Joumana is a Lebanese American food writer and home cook and the voice of Taste of Beirut. I learn so much from her blog where she shares recipes but also food traditions and ingredients. She offers a peek into a world that I know very little about. Also her photos are lovely. She's top on the list of bloggers I hope to meet in person one day.

Michael Procopio
I've known Michael and his blog, Food for the Thoughtless for ages, since we both blogged for KQED over eight years ago. This year seems to be his moment in the sun with nominations for awards for digital media and humor from IACP and James Beard. And it's about time! His humor is risqué and not for everyone, but it's always original and more often than not, witty. Always thoughtful, he also writes more poignant and provocative pieces.

Alice Medrich
I've been a fan of Alice Medrich since I worked in a gourmet food store as a teenager and got to know her Cocolat line of truffles very, very well. In addition to writing award-winning cookbooks she's now blogging. She's always on to something new--from pioneering low fat baking to working with unusual sugars and flours. You probably know her recipes too, but did you know she has a blog? Thank goodness! Because we need to keep tabs on this woman.

Irvin Lin
Irvin just won an award for best photography at IACP and I'm so pleased! He's not just a talented photographer but a baker, designer and all around nice guy. His blog, Eat The Love is a great place to go to get inspired. He travels, bakes and takes stunning photos.

Do you have some favorite bloggers at the moment? Let me know about them in the comments...

Whole Wheat Shells with Four Cheeses

Post hoc ergo propter hoc, or "after this therefore because of this"
We clearly spent way too much of our lives watching West Wing.

One must be mindful of not falling into this fallacious logic trap.  But sometimes, sometimes - one can be fairly sure that event "b" is indeed caused by event "a" based purely on the order in which these events happened.

Like, for instance, when you are at the beach and there is a snack stand.  And you order the bestest, most obvious of options - fries covered in some sort of spicy fake cheese sauce.  And you consume them.  And then a half hour later your stomach hurts.

Not that this happened to us or anything.

We all know that the cheese fries led to the stomach pains.

Yet after eating noodles slathered in a creamy, cheesy sauce, I feel so happy.  Joyful, really.  And I know it is precisely because of eating cheesy noodles that I am full of overwhelming joy.  In fact, I even contemplate the possibility of a benevolent supreme being who reveals a divine grace just by the mere existence of noodles and a sweeping array of cheeses.  It is precisely because of eating this most perfect of combinations of food that endorphins flood my entire being. I am sure that is not a logical fallacy.

Ingredients
1 pound whole wheat shells
3 cups half and half
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce (like Frank's Red Hot Sauce)
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
2 cups grated good quality cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons Taleggio cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.  Drain.  If, like me, you want to save on dishes, keep the cooked pasta in the colander and use the pot to make the sauce.  Melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat.  Add the half and half, cheeses, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce.  Stir, once the cheeses have melted and the mixture is nice and warm, pour the cooked pasta into the sauce and mix together.  Adjust salt and pepper levels to taste. Let the noodles mingle with the sauce over low heat until the sauce has thickened.

A Not So Usual BLT Sandwich - Creative Cooking Crew Challenge

I am not an imaginative person. Whether this is caused by, or results from, similarly unimaginative dreams remains to be seen.  But because of this personal failing, I had to actually Google ideas for playsets to encourage Max in imaginative play.

One suggestion that popped up a few times was the ever so vague "office worker."  It was suggested I place a not-loaded stapler, a rolodex, some paper clips, and junk mail, amongst other things, in a box for a child to pretend to be an office worker.

I kinda get it.  I love office supplies with all my heart and walking through an office supply store is like attending a place of worship for me.  

But - really?  This seems more like an imagination killer.  I have to believe that there are better ways of encouraging fantastic, epic play, the kind of play that as an unimaginative adult I have yet to think of.  Better than shoving a stapler and junk mail in a child's face and telling them to "be creative."     

And then maybe I wouldn't be so completely bereft of ideas for "imaginative play" that I have to resort to looking up things on the internet.  And perhaps I wouldn't have needed to lug out cookbooks and flip to the index, looking through all the words that start with B, L and T.  Because all of a sudden, I couldn't think of any foods that started with a B or an L or a T.

This month's Creative Cooking Crew Challenge is a sandwich, one built around three ingredients that start with the letters B, L, and T and are not bacon, lettuce, and tomato.

After frantically rifling through glossaries just to even think of foods starting with these three letters, we finally came up with a BLT combination of berries, liver mayonnaise and leaves, and turkey.  Works really well, actually. 

Here is this month's round-up of all the BLT sandwiches made by the Creative Cooking Crew this month - definitely check it out!

Ingredients
Berries, sliced (we used strawberries and blackberries)
Liver aioli
Leaves (arugula and mint)
deli Turkey meat (we used smoked turkey)
slices of multigrain bread

For the liver mayonnaise:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
1 small sprig rosemary
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 pound chicken livers
1 cup mayonnaise (homemade or store-bought)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
To make the liver mayonnaise:
Melt the butter and oil in a small pan over low heat.  Add the onions and rosemary.  Cook until the onions are nice and soft, about 8-10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Increase the heat to medium and add the chicken livers (add more oil if needed).  Cook those until they are cooked through and no longer red, about ten minutes.  Once the livers have cooked, take off heat. In a bowl, combine the liver and onion mixture with the mayonnaise and puree with an immersion blender until everything is smooth. Chill until ready to use.

To assemble the sandwich:
Toast two slices of bread.  Spread the liver mayonnaise on one of the slices.  On the other, stack slices of the turkey, arugula leaves and a bit of mint, then the berries.  Top with the remaining slice of bread and eat!

Rise and Shine Breakfast Sandwich and Hidden Valley Sandwich Spreads & Dips

We are big fans of the breakfast scene.  So to celebrate this most wondrous of eating occasions, we made a Rise and Shine Sandwich with avocado, strawberries, chopped scallion, bacon, and a touch of Hidden Valley Spicy Chipotle Pepper Sandwich Spread & Dip.  

Hidden Valley now has four Sandwich Spreads & Dips – Country Herb Ranch, Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan, Smoked Bacon Ranch, and the Spicy Chipotle Pepper – to to help you create craveable sandwiches.  

To get the recipe, head over here to Relish!  

Click here to enter the "Create Craveable Sandwiches" Sweepstakes - You could win $1000! 

Thank you to Hidden Valley™ Sandwich Spreads & Dips for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Coach Farm Cheese Naming & Giveaway!

Would you like a sample of the new aged goat's milk cheese from Coach Farm? I couldn't say no to that offer, and I'm guessing you can't either! The wonderful cheese magazine Culture is hosting a naming contest for the new cheese and invited me to describe it. Head over and read my post, then you can submit your own ideas for names.

"The new cheese reminds me of snow on a spring day, bright and clean quickly dissolving like snowflakes in my mouth. It's mostly crumbly, soft and smooth but has a creamy layer (aka paste) just beneath the rind."

 I'm also giving away a special package of Coach Farm's goat cheese! The winner will receive three cheeses: Fresh Farmstead Goat cheese, Triple Cream and a sample of the new aged goat cheese.

Share your favorite way to use goat cheese in the comments section, and one lucky winner will receive the Coach Farm gift package containing three cheeses. This giveaway ends at midnight PST on April 24, 2013. One entry per person, please. I will draw a winner at random on April 25. Open to US residents only. Please note that if you register your comment with your email, only I will see it.

Disclaimer: Culture magazine and Coach Farm's provided me with this cheese, I was not paid for this or any other post. 

Quaker Big Chewy Granola Bars, Chocolate Fondue, and a Night of Television

Seth is often found working late nights and weekends.  Sometimes, however, a Saturday bestows on us a bit of serendipity and magnanimously opens itself up with freedom.  When that happens, we run into it and embrace it, in all its weekend glory.

The day quickly fills up.  Some hours are wiled away on errands and chores that had been put off, but others are used for fun - pit stops at the beach, playground time, lunches at a favorite restaurant - to make the most of our time together.

By the time we get home, it is toddler-late, and time to scoop him off to bed.  And toddler bed time means Seth and I get to do “our thing.”

“Our thing” has two components:

            1.  Our television show of the moment

            2.  Food!!

It is our time to watch our shows, or our “stories” as we like to say.  We generally have room in our hearts for one dramatic series at a time.  But there have been so many wonderful love affairs through the years - The Wire, Deadwood, Battlestar Galactica, West Wing, House of Cards, Damages, Breaking Bad, Mad Men... just to name a few.  And in this Netflix era, we can bring up our show of the moment with the click of a Wii remote and binge on back to back episodes.

And while we watch our stories we like a snack.  A snack that doesn’t involve expending a lot of energy, as that attribute has been depleted during the day’s activities.  A snack that will curb our hunger with some whole grain goodness, but a snack that is still delicious.  A snack like Quaker Oat’s Big Chewy Granola Bars.  

We love chocolate chips (seriously, we love them), so we get the Chocolate Chip Big Chewy Granola Bars.  But the snack doesn’t stop there.  We cut the granola bars and put them on a plate with some fruit - bananas (for me, we all know about Seth’s strong aversion to anything banana), strawberries, tangerines.  And a dip.  A chocolate fondue to be exact - one made with coconut milk and a hint of cardamom.  

It has been awhile since we mentioned our love of dipping.  So active! So communal! So fun! And can possibly lead to some intense debates about what the precisely most delicious combination of foods is to combine with the dip.

And while we snack on our granola bar bites and our fruit slices and fondue, we can sit side by side, watching our stories, discussing camera angles and character development, analyzing plot twists and turns, and arguing about the morality of actions that characters have taken.  And life is good.

Quaker is on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest - so follow/like them!

And now that you totally need some of these granola bars in your life right now, you need to know where to find them - look here for product locator and here for more information about the bars.

This post is brought to you by Quaker.  We were financially compensated for this post by Quaker via AOL Media.   

A Chocolate Fondue

Ingredients

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/8 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch fleur de sel

Instructions
In a small pot over low heat, warm the coconut milk.  Take off heat and stir in the chocolate chips.  Once they are melted, stir in the cardamom and vanilla.  Sprinkle fleur de sel on top of the fondue for serving. 

Broccoli Quesadillas - "Our Usual" and the "Fancypants"

Seth's dreams are epic dreams.   A fact that can turn bleary mornings into family story hour.  Seth regales me with a recitation of his most recent nocturnal tale while I greedily lap it up.

Tales of survival in a post apocalyptic world.  Heroic tales of saving lives - sometimes people, sometimes kitten. Tales of living life as a whale (whether that whale was a blue or a grey yet remains unclear) and fighting to stay alive in the face of killer whale attacks.  These are the dreams that Seth's subconscious produces.

I'm so eager to eat up these dreams and absorb them into my memory.  Perhaps I hope my own subconscious mind will start to produce similar results through osmosis.

Mine, are well, mundane.  At best.  If I can even remember them.  Which is a seldom occurrence in life.  The ones I usually remember are those anxiety-ridden ones, the ones where you are late and despite your best attempts to get to where you are going, you are stymied every step of the way.

Once I dreamed of a loaf of bread.  That's it.  It was the Platonic ideal of a loaf, just floating in front of a black background.  No events actually happened.  Just a floating loaf.  I strangely didn't even eat the bread, a surprising thing for me to do since I have a deep and abiding love for the stuff.

Seth's dreamscape couldn't be more different from mine.  Our quesadilla preferences suffer from similar discrepancies.  But this disparity runs the other direction - mine are the more epic quesadillas.  I started adding a mango and black bean spread to add some extra levels of flavor.  Our usual quesadilla involves broccoli and jalapeno with scallion, cilantro and cheese.  I wanted more.

When offered the quesadilla with "more," Seth determined that he still wanted his usual and not the "fancypants."  I long for more in my dreams.  Seth apparently does not feel the same about his quesadilla.  Somehow, we make it work.

Ingredients
Mango and Black Bean Spread:
1 can black beans and their liquid
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped mango
1 teaspoon spice mix (below)
3 garlic cloves, minced
pinch salt

Spice Mix:
1/2 tsp roasted Saigon cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground coriander
Pinch cumin
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground star anise

For the quesadillas:
black bean spread
sliced jalapeno
about a 1/4 cup finely chopped broccoli florets per quesadilla
chopped scallions
chopped cilantro
grated cheddar cheese
crumbled cotija cheese
flour tortilla
canola oil, for cooking

Instructions
For the spice mix:
Mix all the spices together in a small bowl.  Keep leftovers in an airtight container.

For the mango black bean spread:
Place all the ingredients, including the spice mix, in a medium pot over medium-low heat.  Let everything cook together, and after about ten minutes, take off heat.  Use an immersion blender to puree.  Set aside.

For the quesadillas:
Take the flour tortilla and spread the mango and black bean mixture on half of the tortilla.  Then layer the jalapeno slices, broccoli florets, scallions, cilantro, and cheeses on top of the spread.  Or if you are being Seth, then just skip the mango black bean mixture part.  Once all your ingredients are in, fold the tortilla.  Heat canola oil (about a tablespoon) in a cast iron skillet.  Place the quesadilla in.  Once a side has a nice golden brown color, flip it over.  Once both sides are golden brown, take off heat and serve.

Eco Friendly Shopping Tips + Contest + Giveaway

Shopping eco friendly is easier than you might think, even at a bargain focused store like Grocery Outlet. Recently Grocery Outlet gave me a $30 gift card to see what great eco friendly bargains I could find for Earth Day. Here are my top picks:

Eco Friendly Shopping Tips

1. Buy fresh produce 

The less processed and less packaged, the better. Grocery Outlet sells some beautiful greens, I found these greens for just 99 cents a bunch. 

2. Choose recycled chlorine free paper products

Recycled paper products are better quality than you might think these days and using them is an easy way to go green.

3. Invest in stoneware and ceramic baking dishes 

Made from silica or clay and water, not noxious chemicals, they will last a lifetime if cared for properly with no warping or flaking of non-stick coatings. These beautiful pieces were only $4.99 each.

4. Pick reusable products

I found coffee "pods" for use in Keurig coffee makers and water bottles with water filters.

5. Look for products with minimal packaging

Choose staple items that are packaged in recyclable cardboard, rather than plastic. 

One of the easiest things you can do to be eco friendly when it comes to shopping is to use your own bag, rather than choosing "paper or plastic." 

Design Contest

Grocery Outlet is hosting a contest via Instagram where anyone can design their next eco-frugal reusable grocery bag. Imagine how cool it would be to see people shopping with a bag you designed! So design something amazing! Take a picture and post it to Instagram with the tag @grocery_outlet and the hashtag #GOGreenBag

The deadline to enter is April 17 and the winner will be announced on Earth Day (April 22) The prize is a $100 Grocery Outlet gift certificate, and there are runner up prizes as well. 

Gift Card Giveaway

Want to try eco friendly shopping at Grocery Outlet? Share your best tip eco friendly tip in the comments and one winner will receive a $30 Grocery Outlet gift card, courtesy of Grocery Outlet. 

This giveaway ends at midnight PST on April 21, 2013. I will draw a winner at random on April 22. Open to US residents only. If you register your comment with your email, only I will see it. Grocery Outlet has stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Pennsylvania. To see if there is Grocery Outlet near you, use the Grocery Outlet store locator. 

Joshua you are the winner! I have emailed you, please send me your mailing address so I can send you the gift certificate. 

Disclaimer: My thanks to Grocery Outlet for providing the gift cards for me and this giveaway

Gulf Coast Seafood

I started blogging ten years ago and since then, everything has changed. Blogging has changed, my career has changed, my shopping, cooking and eating have all changed. Hands down, the best thing about blogging is not the food, but the people I get to meet. I meet chefs, fishermen, farmers, policy makers, politicians, scientists, nutritionists, artisanal food producers, editors, other food writers, photographers and more. And all of those folks help me to appreciate and learn more about food. I'd like to think I also make more informed choices today than I did ten years ago.

A few years ago I got to attend the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sustainable Foods Institute. Not long after I was invited to New Orleans to learn about seafood in the gulf. Both of those experiences have made me a much more thoughtful consumer of seafood. I believe in the sustainability, safety and deliciousness of gulf seafood. When I buy shrimp, it is always gulf shrimp.

I am very honored to be chosen by Gulf Coast Seafood as one of their Top 100 Bloggers. I hope you will learn about and enjoy gulf seafood too!

Spinach, Strawberry and Asparagus Salad with Lemon Saffron Dressing

Spring is a season of contrasts.  Days full of sunshine and cheer, punctuated with periods of gray skies and rain.  Crisp, chilly mornings give way to afternoon warmth and that fresh feeling of being alive, which then hands the reins back over to the coolness to close out the day.

Or, at least, that is the spring that lives in my memory.  The one formed by living on the East Coast for 23 years. At first glance, it appears that we now live in a land of eternal spring.  Occasional forays, perhaps, into some hot or cold (relatively) weather, but mostly smooth sailing with blue skies and warm temperatures.

But it isn't quite spring.  Or if it is indeed spring, it is one with some blandness, one with less roughness around the edges.  In other words, one with less contrast.

This salad embodies the memory of spring.  Cool earthy green veggies interspersed with some fiery red from the strawberries and radishes.  Crunchy asparagus and celery sharing space with soft berries.  Warm floral saffron dressing coating some crisp greens.  Spicy radishes with sweet strawberry.

A salad full of contrasts.  Which makes it particularly well-suited to serving with a big, greasy take-out pizza, all bendable and delicious, which is what we did...

Ingredients
For the salad:
3 cups spinach leaves
1 scallion, chopped
4 radishes, sliced
handful of pencil thin asparagus spears, tough ends removed, then chopped
2-3 tablespoons chopped celery
handful of strawberries, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
bit of lemon zest

For the dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1 small shallot, minced
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
bit of lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions
In a medium bowl, toss spinach, scallion, radishes, asparagus, celery, and strawberries.  Sprinkle a bit of salt, pepper, and lemon zest.

In a small pot over low heat, combine the olive oil and saffron threads.  Once the mixture is fragrant - about 5 minutes, take off heat and add the minced shallots.  Let the mixture cool a bit, then whisk in the white wine vinegar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and mustard.  Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Pour desired amount of dressing over the salad and toss to coat.

Smoky Tomato Soup Recipe

It's easy to get so caught up in the idea of eating seasonally that we forget that there are certain things that aren't necessarily seasonal, for example vegetables grown in hothouses or greenhouses like Belgian endive, cucumbers and mushrooms, also preserved produce--jams, pickles, chutney, frozen and canned foods. Which brings me to canned tomatoes, which are a great choice for recipes since fresh tomatoes are in season for a fairly short period of time.

While I wouldn't use a canned tomato on a sandwich, they are a must for most tomato based sauces. Lately I've come to appreciate canned fire roasted tomatoes for their lovely smoky flavor. They are great in stew or chili and a sneaky shortcut when making this zippy soup. A nice option in this shoulder season when somedays still feel like Winter, it's something you can make from pantry staples--a few aromatics, cans of tomatoes and broth. Having tried many brands of fire roasted tomatoes, I like Hunt's best and while I prefer homemade, Swanson's is the only canned chicken broth I use.

Another little trick in this soup is the addition of cream cheese. I don't typically keep heavy cream on hand so I am always looking for other ingredients to add creaminess to recipes. In this case a tiny bit of cream cheese adds a lot of richness. But in all honesty this soup is really wonderful even without it.


Smoky Tomato Soup
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 14.5 ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes
2 14.5 ounces chicken broth (or homemade)
2 Tablespoons cream cheese, optional

Instructions

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring frequently for 8 minutes or until soft and golden, but not brown. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the smoked paprika and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until fairly thick and saucy.

Add the cream cheese if desired. Blend the soup in batches or use a hand blender. When the soup is smooth, it's ready to serve.

Enjoy!

Roasted Spiced Strawberries with Honey Vanilla Yogurt

I'm great at holding grudges.  Forgiveness does not come easily after being betrayed.  I've held one (or continue to hold one) against each of the following:
1. granola
2. hot dogs
3. orange juice
4. Fig Newtons
5. yogurt

Most of these grudges have lasted for years.  One has lasted over two decades.  I won't get into the details of how each of these relationships went sour.  But now that we are firmly into 2013, it is perhaps time to get rid of all that bad energy and drop the hard feelings.

Yogurt is an easy food with which to get back into a relationship.  So useful as an ingredient - especially with quick breads and smoothies.  But I'd like to take things to the next level - and enjoy the stuff on its own terms.  As creamy, luxurious yogurt.

Here, Greek yogurt is mixed with honey, vanilla, and some spices.  And topped with strawberries spiced and roasted.  It is hard to stay mad at the stuff, when turned into this concoction.  I can drop the hard feelings for yogurt, and granola looks like the next food to work on - but one thing is for sure, the hot dog war will never cease.  Time doesn't heal ALL wounds.

Cooking Light has a great slideshow about yogurt - Click here to get some nutrition information, recipes, and tips about the stuff!

Ingredients
1 pound strawberries, sliced
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon spice mix

Spice mix:
1/2 tsp roasted Saigon cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp ground coriander
Pinch cumin
Pinch ground ginger
Pinch ground star anise

Yogurt:
16 ounces Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons wild dandelion honey
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch spice mix

Instructions
Place sliced strawberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the brown sugar.  Let them sit for an hour.  Meanwhile, mix together the spice mix in a small bowl.

Heat oven to 350.  Stir in olive oil, white wine vinegar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the spice mix with the strawberries.  Spread on baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt, honey, vanilla, and spices.  To serve, top with the roasted strawberries.

Roasted Chicken with Lemon, Lavender and Fennel

When I was in my early elementary school years, I was convinced that one needed to do everything perfectly to move on to the next grade.  Every spelling test, every math worksheet, every page in the phonics workbook needed to be perfect.  And obviously - mistakes were made.  Anxiety would ensue.

When I finally learned that I was actually moving on to the next grade, despite making some errors, such relief would come over me.

I eventually learned that perfection wasn't needed to move on to the next grade.  But a pursuit of this mythical idea of perfection never truly went away.  I rationally understand the concept of "we can't be perfect."  But on an emotional level, I haven't quite internalized that.  So anxiety continues to ensue.

It took me a long time to make a roasted chicken.  Making it perfect seemed so overwhelming -
how to achieve crispy, golden skin, to brine or not to brine, to truss or not too truss.  A paralyzingly fear resulted.  We all know that perfect can be the enemy of the good. I finally just started doing it and kept things simple.  This roasted chicken isn't perfect.  But it was very good.  And that is enough sometimes.

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons duck fat
1 small fennel bulb, halved
2 lemons, halved
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dried lavender
1 rosemary sprig
couple thyme sprigs
vanilla salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 roasting chicken

Instructions
Heat oven to 400.  Rinse the chicken and pat dry, and be sure to remove the organs.  Rub the duck fat over the chicken.  Sprinkle vanilla salt, black pepper, and a touch of fresh rosemary and thyme leaves, and some fennel fronds on the outside.

Inside a cavity, stuff with the fennel, garlic, half a lemon, lavender, and sprigs of rosemary and thyme.

Around the chicken, nestle in some lemon halves, thyme sprigs, and some more fennel fronds.

Roast for 1-2 hours, until the breast meat reaches an internal temperature of 180 degrees.

Healthy Deviled Eggs Recipe

Deviled eggs are a favorite for Easter (and more importantly, the day after!) but really there's no reason not to eat them whenever you want. I was looking for a way to make them a little bit healthier and found an ingredient that is creamy, mimics the texture of hardboiled egg yolks and has a very mild flavor--cannellini beans! I remove 1/3 of the yolks, then puree white beans with the remaining yolks, a little mayo, mustard, horseradish and some hot sauce then I fill the egg whites as usual. You would never know these are "light" deviled eggs, but they have 1/3 less fat yet plenty of protein and some added fiber.  

Deviled eggs are fun to make because you can customize them however you like. Someone came up to me after my demo at Macy's this weekend and told me she makes deviled eggs with pesto. I've made them with wasabi and also with curry powder. But the sky is the limit! Another option is just to top them with different garnishes. Some garnishes include fresh dill, smoked salmon, caviar, anchovies, sun dried tomatoes, capers (fresh or fried) and green onions or chives. If you want to use a spice, paprika is traditional but  I've also used smoked paprika, Old Bay seasoning and Cajun seasoning instead. 

I tried the method of baking eggs, but found they got very dark patches and one burst. I'm sticking with my tried and true method, I add eggs to a pot, cover them with cold water, bring to a simmer, turn off the heat, cover and let sit for 15 minutes. Here are some more tips for hard boiling eggs:

1. Use eggs that have been in the refrigerator for a a week or two. Fresh eggs can be much harder to peel. 

2. Turn the egg carton on it's side in the refrigerator 24 hours before hard boiling, to help keep the yolks centered.

3. Don't add salt to the boiling water, it can toughen the egg whites. 

4. Once cooked, soak the eggs in cold or ice water to prevent that ugly green layer from forming on the yolks

5. Crack and peel the eggs in a bowl of water to help keep shells from sticking. 

A couple of tips for deviled eggs:

1. Use a pastry bag (or zip top bag with a corner snipped) to fill the deviled eggs. 

2. For round rather than oval shaped deviled eggs, cut the eggs in half across the middle and then cut a tiny slice off the bottom and they will stand perfectly. 

Healthy Deviled Eggs 

Makes a dozen deviled eggs 

Ingredients

6 hardboiled eggs

1/4 cup canned white beans, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise 

1/4 teaspoon prepared horseradish

Hot sauce, to taste, optional

Instructions

Slice the hardboiled eggs in half. Remove the yolks, discarding two whole yolks and transferring the rest to a food processor bowl. To the yolks add the white beans, mustard, mayonnaise, horseradish and hot sauce to taste. Blend until smooth and creamy. 

Transfer the yolk mixture into a pastry bag, then fill the egg whites with the yolk mixture. Garnish as desired.

Enjoy!