Pure and Simple Guacamole

Shortly after Zach and I first met, I discovered that he loved guacamole. Along with the other dishes I was rapidly adding to my mental list of Zach's favorites - Cheesecake,

Pecan Pie,

Homemade Pizza,

Raisin Bread,

and Balsamic-Drizzled Salads



- along with all these other bits of deliciousness, I immediately began preparing guacamole on a ridiculously regular basis. Zach would show up... and there would be guacamole waiting for him. One would think he would have tired of the endless retinue of avocado, but somehow, he didn't... and, over the months, and now years, we've created an equally endless variety of guacamole variations. One of my favorites is Zach's curried guacamole, but by far the one we prepare the most is our Pure and Simple Guacamole.

If by now you've scanned down to the recipe, you might be puzzled and even a bit indignant... Guacamole without onions? Unthinkable, right? Or tomatoes, how about some tomatoes? Or maybe a bit of garlic?

While we love guacamole with all of the above, and more, there is something so alluring, so sensual, about the pure taste of avocado dancing solo. Just a little lime, a little chili powder, a little sea salt... Heaven.

The next morning, savor the leftovers for breakfast or lunch with spinach and Swiss cheese on whole wheat toast...

Our Favorite Pure and Simple Guacamole

1 ripe avocado
1 T lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
Plentiful good sea salt to taste

~ Mash everything together, and savor with baked corn chips or whole wheat pita, or dolloped on top of a salad...

or wrapped up jauntily in a sandwich, ready to head off to class!

Vegan Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream

Last week, I did a deliciously naughty thing. I took a study break to do a bit of baking, which was actually not the naughtiness to which I refer - I'm an ardent proponent of taking study breaks for baking...

(especially when vintage FireKing baking pans are involved...)

No, the naughty part was making a really healthy cake... and then making it not so healthy by dressing it in layers of frosting.

You see, I started with the simple idea of a peanut butter cake, since peanut butter cookies are Zach's favorite. I tinkered a bit, and soon a lovely, vegan, whole wheat cake graced with applesauce, peanut butter, and banana emerged from the oven, rising even lighter and puffier than I could have hoped.

Then, the moment of peanut butter inspiration seized me... How could I have not yet told my blogger friends about our peanut butter frosting? You see, I am madly in love with using peanut butter to create a creamy, fluffy, vegan "buttercream" frosting...

"Well," I reasoned with myself, "using peanut butter instead of butter in the frosting does make it healthier..."

"and cocoa powder does have a nice dose of antioxidants..."

Soon, a chocolate-peanut butter vegan buttercream frosting had turned the humble peanut butter cake into a splendid layer cake.

"Hmmm," I thought to myself... "Wouldn't it be pretty to garnish the cake with a variety of nuts?"

"After all, nuts are a good source of protein and unsaturated fats..."

A mere moment later, a walnut and almond crumble danced merrily across the cake, and Zach arrived home that evening to find a glorious confection of nuts and chocolate awaiting him...

While all of my above nutrition statements are true, the one thing I truly can't justify is the plentiful quantity of powdered sugar in the frosting. That said, however, this cake is far healthier than most layer cakes... and, well, it's also healthy to indulge once in a while!

So go ahead! Bake a cake... Why not? It's a Wednesday! Zach and I are from Louisiana, where some days there are parades just because it's a Tuesday... so let's celebrate!

Vegan Peanut Butter Cake with Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream and a Walnut-Almond Crumble

*For the Peanut Butter Cake*
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil or olive oil
1 banana
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup raw sugar
2 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1/2 tsp salt
2 T light vanilla soymilk
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
6 T potato starch

*For the Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream*
2 cups creamy peanut butter
Confectioners sugar "to taste"
Vanilla Soymilk, as needed (probably approx 2 T, depending on the moisture in the air)
Cocoa powder to taste

*For the Walnut-Almond Crumble*
1 cup ground walnuts
1/2 cup ground almonds (I usually just pulse whole nuts in the food processor until they're ground - so much more economical than purchasing already ground nuts)
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice

~ Let's start with the cake... Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, and coat a 9X11" baking pan with cooking spray.
~ In the food processor, blend the applesauce, canola oil, and banana until nice and foamy.
~ Add the peanut butter, raw sugar, 1 cup whole wheat flour, salt, and vanilla soymilk to the food processor, and whir again until well combined.
~ Add the remaining 1 cup whole wheat flour, the all purpose flour, the baking soda, and the potato starch, and blend again in the food processor until you have a smooth batter.
~ Pour the batter into the cake pan, and bake for approx 40 minutes - until the top of the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
~ Let the cake cool in the pan (strange, I know), then, once it's cooled, flip the cake out of the pan, slice in half horizontally to make too layers, and you're ready for the frosting!
~ To make the frosting, beat the peanut butter with an electric mixer while adding confectioners sugar and little bits of vanilla soymilk (I add around a T of vanilla soymilk at a time while scooping in big spoonfuls of the confectioners sugar) until the desired thickness and fluffiness is achieved. The amounts of confectioners sugar and soymilk added can vary quite a bit depending on the brand of peanut butter you're using, how humid your geographical location can be, and your personal tastes in frosting. Once you've achieved the frosting texture you fancy, add cocoa powder to taste, depending on how much chocolateyness you desire. This is quite the personalized frosting! :-) After you've concocted the ideal frosting, spread it generously between the two layers of the cake, and across the top and sides of the cake.
~To make the crumble, fold together the nuts and all remaining ingredients until well combined. Sprinkle the crumble merrily across the top of the cake!
~ Your cake is complete at last!

*On a side note, I adored this cake, and its subtle, not-too-sweet peanut butter flavor, so much that I recently baked a second cake, unfrosted, for us to savor as a healthy sweet snack or light dessert... It freezes quite well, too, so we didn't have to worry about consuming an entire cake at once!

Humble Food: Brown Rice Salad with Feta-Tomato Sauce

I love summer salads that seem to be the warm-weather cousin of their more wintry casserole counterparts, salads with a bit of grains or whole wheat pasta tossed in for added fiber and protein and texture, creating a one-dish meal both hearty and light and refreshing.

I've been intending to make a rice salad for a while, so last week when I came across a tempting-sounding farro salad recipe while happily perusing Bon Appitit over morning coffee, I thought "well, I could just make it with rice today, and farro the next time!" Assembling the salad components that evening, I whipped up the dressing, set it aside, and began putting the main ingredients into a sturdy glass bowl. Thankfully, when fixing a dish containing a sauce or dressing, through a few mishaps I've acquired the habit of sampling a tiny bite of the dish with the dressing before blithely tossing in the entire bowl of sauce. So, humming contentedly, I assembled a little fork-full of brown rice, green beans, and feta cheese, and added a few drops of the proposed balsamic-marjoram-Dijon sauce on top. Well, I don't know if the salad was simply perturbed that I had substituted brown rice for farro, but oh dear, while it wasn't bad... it certainly wasn't very good either. All of the ingredients, delicious in their own right, fought noisily for attention instead of playing politely together. Somewhere along the way the rice and feta cheese had started a dreadful argument with that dressing, and didn't seem inclined to make peace anytime soon. So, I set aside the dressing, and improvised...

Here's to rescued dishes that turn into fortuitous surprises!

Brown Rice Salad with Feta-Tomato Sauce

1 cup brown rice
2 cup green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 cup corn kernels
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cubed cooked chicken OR 2 cups cubed baked tofu
4 oz feta cheese
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella
1 1/2 cups tomato puree
1 T minced fresh basil
A bit of vegetable broth, if needed

~ Cook the brown rice according to package directions, and set aside.
~ Steam the green beans and corn kernels, and set those aside.
~ In a large skillet or dutch oven, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the onion is limp and translucent.
~ Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the brown rice, green beans, corn, chicken or tofu, feta cheese, mozzarella, tomato puree, and basil. Heat gently, stirring, until the salad is heated through and the cheeses have begun to melt. You can add a bit of vegetable broth during this process, if the mixture seems to dry.
~ Serve warm, for optimum melted cheese comforts, or cold, for a refreshing twist...

* On a side note, a humble request for advice... As you can tell from these photos, I'm having a bit of trouble photographing lighter colored foods without excessive brightness or overexposure in the end result. I've tried turning off the flash, using different lighting and background colors, or zooming out while taking the photo since I usually do a bit of cropping on the computer anyway, but I keep coming up with somewhat monochromatic brightness when I try to photograph things like rice, corn, etc. I can fix some of the contrast problems with photo editing, but the original issue still lurks and lingers. Dear readers, I send forth a cry for help! :-) How should I solve my photography conundrum? Words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated! :-)

Green-Purple Smoothie

After years of reading about them, thinking about them, and gazing dreamily at beautiful blog-post photos of them, yesterday I finally made... A Green Smoothie.

I don't know what on earth took me so long - we always have baby spinach in the fridge, now in massive quantities thanks to the bulk foods store, we have a spinach salad with dinner nearly every night, (and there's usually a huge bag of kale in the fridge, too), and we adore smoothies - but somehow I would always seem to think "green smoothie" at inopportune moments, such as while driving down the highway with nary a blender in sight.

Until yesterday afternoon... I confess, sheepishly, after I whirred my impromptu concoction together, my first bite was tentative... and then, one moment later, as Zach was on call for his surgery rotation, and I was alone in the house with my anatomy textbook, I found myself resorting to informing the cats (as they seemed a bit more interested in the subject than my inanimate anatomy textbook) "Oh my goodness, this is SO insanely good!"

(Our cats might not request green smoothies, but they do seem to enjoy Vegetarian Times...)

While the cats still don't seem to share my new-found enthusiasm for green smoothies, I was simply delighted with the incredible melding of flavors. Somehow, the earthiness of the spinach adds a depth and richness to the blueberries, unparalleled in any fruit-only smoothie I've tasted, and the spinach leaves also contributed an additional bit of thickness and texture that allows me to savor my smoothie with a spoon - heaven!

I suppose, technically, I technically created a "Dark-Purple Smoothie," but since this exact shade of purple is one of my favorite colors, I am thoroughly content with my purple green smoothie.

I think I now have a "new favorite meal ever..."

Green-Purple Smoothie

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup baby spinach leaves, patted down a bit to make a full cup
6 oz fat free vanilla yogurt or non-dairy yogurt (for the VV - the vegan version!)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
3/4 cup vanilla almond milk

~ Whir all the ingredients together in a food processor or blender... Savor with a spoon... or let it melt a wee bit and then savor with a straw...

Cranberry Apple Pie with Oatmeal Vanilla Crust

"Please fix me a cranberry pie," Zach asked...

and so I did.

Cranberry Apple Pie with Oatmeal Vanilla Crust

For the crust:
1/3 cup honey
2 T olive oil
2 egg whites, beaten
1/4 cup vanilla soymilk or almond milk
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups oats

For the filling:
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup pineapple juice
12 oz fresh or frozen cranberries
6 cups diced apple (I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Golden Delicious)
1/4 cup spiced rum

~ To make the crust, whisk together the honey or agave, olive oil, egg whites, vanilla soymilk or almond milk, and vanilla. Stir in the oats until well combined. Coat a 9" deep dish pie pan with cooking spray, then press the crust into the base and sides of the pie pan, reserving 1/2 cup crust mixture.
~ To prepare the filling, combine the honey, pineapple juice, and cranberries in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes - until the cranberries begin to pop. Stir in the apples and spice rum, and simmer until the apples soften slightly.
~ Sprinkle the 1/2 cup reserved crust mixture atop the filling.
~ Pour the filling into the prepared crust, and bake for 35 minutes - until the filling is bubbly, the apples are completely tender, and the topping is golden...

Spicy Mushroom Melts

Remember the colorful sand art we created back when we were kids? Today, I had a moment of nostalgia as I made spice art instead...

As I'm sure you've already deduced from the long litany of biscuits and gravy, pecan waffles, and spinach-potato frittatas, Zach and I are a wee bit obsessed with weekend brunch dishes.

This weekend, Saturday morning arrived with classic breakfast burritos, including whole wheat tortillas, black bean and corn salsa, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cheddar cheese, scrambled egg whites, and homemade unfried refried beans:

I then worked last night, Saturday night, which, I have discovered, still provides the perfect timing for returning home Sunday morning, taking a refreshing nap, and then fixing brunch, of course...

This morning, though, I was in the mood for a little something different... I can't take full credit for the fiery spice rub, discovered within the current issue of Vegetarian Times, which inspired these mushroom sandwiches and was so perfectly and flavorfully balanced that even a notoriously disobedient recipe follower such as myself left the ingredients only a bit more than slightly altered, but I can take a modicum of modest credit for the end result...

Spicy Mushroom Melts

*Note: this recipe makes 2 main-dish sandwiches - feel free to double or triple accordingly...

*For the Vegetarian Times BBQ Rub (my version)*

1/8 cup raw sugar
1/8 cup paprika
4 1/2 tsp black pepper
4 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
~ Shake all the ingredients together in a spare spice jar until well combined. Store the extra for future spicy endeavors...

*For the Mushroom Melts*

8 oz sliced button mushrooms
2 T olive oil, divided
1 T Vegetarian Times BBQ Rub
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup shredded smoked cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
2 whole wheat pitas (or oat bran pitas, if you can find them - we just discovered them and they're fantastic!), each separated into 2 halves and lightly toasted
4 tsp light canola or olive oil mayo

~ Drizzle 1 T olive oil over the mushrooms, and toss to coat.
~ Add the BBQ rub, and toss to coat again.
~ In a skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onion in the remaining 1 T olive oil until the onion is limp and translucent.
~ Add the mushrooms, and continue to saute, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender and have released their juices.
~ Reduce the heat to low, scatter the cheddar cheeses on top, and allow the mushrooms to sit happily in the pan until the cheese has melted.
~ Spread each whole wheat pita with 2 tsp light mayo. Scoop half the mushroom and cheese mixture on top of 1 half of each pita, and top with the other pita half.
~ Serve immediately, all warm and gooey...

Asparagus with Lime-Parmesan Sauce

After a whirlwind start to the week, including a stretch of time from Monday until yesterday during which I went 48 hours without sleep (thanks to going straight from work, to class, to lab, and then to work again over the course of those three days), I'm back, well rested, and returned to the land of the energetic once more!

and I am incredibly proud of this dish... It's not conceptually unusual, per se, but it looked so lovely, a tower of asparagus and steamed soft egg perched proudly on the plate, that I couldn't resist squeaking "look, look!" multiple times during the assembly, calling Zach over to witness the plating...

Then Zach took a bite, and proclaimed this dish his "new favorite meal ever."

Who could ask for more?

Asparagus with Lime-Parmesan Sauce and Soft Steamed Eggs

2 T lime juice
3 T coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp spicy brown mustard
6 T olive oil
1 lb asparagus, woody ends removed (and saved for something else scrumptious, like soup!)
4 slices lean smoked ham or turkey (optional)
4 eggs

~ Vigorously whisk together the lime juice, Parmesan, salt, pepper, spicy mustard, and olive oil.
~ Steam the asparagus for 3 to 5 minutes - until crisp tender.
~ If you're using the ham or turkey, stack the 4 slices, roll them up tightly, then cut the roll into 1/4" crosswise. Gently heat the little circles in the microwave or a small oil-less skillet until warm.
~ Coat another skillet with cooking spray, and place over medium heat. When the skillet has warmed, add the eggs, sprinkle with fresh cracked black pepper, and cover. As soon as the top of the yolk regions begin to turn white, remove the skillet from the heat.
~ To assemble, place 3 or 4 medallions of ham or turkey on a plate, if you're using the ham or turkey. Neatly align 10 asparagus spear or so, either on top of the ham or turkey or on top of the plate. Place a soft egg gently atop the asparagus. Drizzle the egg and asparagus spears alike with 2 T or so of the dressing. Repeat the assembly for the remaining 3 servings, and, ta da...

Whole Wheat Macaroni with Spinach and Mozarella

I adore whole wheat elbow macaroni. It seems like such happy food, and it makes me feel like a kid again - even though I didn't actually have elbow macaroni as a child, because my mother didn't like it for some reason, but I always imagined it was the sort of food children would love. I think my hypothesis about kids and elbow macaroni is true, too - the first time I fixed chicken Parmesan for my friend Chalete's adorable, sweet, wonderful 5 year old son, who's usually very shy about trying "new" dishes, I served it over whole wheat elbow macaroni and he inhaled two whole plates, roasted garlic and chiffonaded ribbons of fresh basil and all.

I especially adore the very grown-up flavors in the Macaroni and Paneer Cheese from Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen. Lisa is an incredibly talented vegetarian chef, able to delight the palate with Indian dishes, Indian-fusion dishes, and any other cuisine imaginable! Every time I visit Lisa's blog I find myself bookmarking a recipe, from curries to scones! As soon as I read Lisa's recipe for Macaroni and Paneer Cheese I did a little dance of delight, pressed the print button, and could hardly wait until Friday evening to prepare it for our supper! Well, silly me even took a study break Friday afternoon to go grocery shopping, and still managed to come home with another 5 lbs of mozzarella (yep, I went to the bulk foods store again!) and no paneer. Sigh. Thus began the emergence of a variation on Lisa's gorgeous original. While I fully intend to fix Lisa's recipe properly very soon, the results of my experimentations were so scrumptious that I absolutely had to share them, with gratitude to Lisa for the inspiration!

Whole Wheat Macaroni with Spinach and Mozzarella
(Inspired by Lisa's Macaroni and Paneer Cheese)

2 cups whole wheat elbow macaroni
2 T olive oil
1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds
3 giant handfuls baby spinach leaves
1 large tomato, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp Cayenne
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups grated part-skim mozzarella

~ Cook the whole wheat macaroni according to package directions, reserving 3/4 cup cooking water before draining the rest of the water, rinsing the macaroni, and setting it aside.
~ In a large skillet over medium heat, stir-fry the mustard seeds until they begin to pop.
~ Add the spinach, a handful at a time, allowing each handful to wilt as you stir in the next handful.
~ Once the spinach has wilted, add the tomato, salt, Cayenne, and paprika, and stir just until heated through.
~ Reduce the heat to low, and stir in the macaroni, reserved cooking water, and mozzarella cheese. Continue to stir just until the mozzarella is melted... Then serve warm...

Humble Food: Vegetable Pot Pie

This week has been a rather strange one. Two of the days this week when I was supposed to work, I was switched to on call instead - right as I was about to head out the door to drive to the hospital. While I would normally be disappointed, as one of the best parts about loving your job is, well, looking forward to being at work, this week these days of on call duty have been such a blessing... because... I'm back in school again.

After 3 glorious months of no homework, reading novels instead of textbooks (I just finished rereading Walker Percy's The Second Coming, which is outstanding), catching up on home improvement projects, gardening, and, of course, spending countless leisurely hours cooking, I've returned to classes, endless note-taking, and tests. My goal of a master's degree as a Nurse Anesthetist beckons, and I do feel like I need a little more biochemistry in my life (I know, I should be embarrassed to say such things out-loud), so I've stacked up the textbooks beside my desk once more! I'm a part-time student at the moment, while I navigate the process of being "the new girl" at work - where I'm not yet "established" enough to require my supervisors to arrange my work schedule around a full class schedule - and while Zach figures out where he wants to go for residency, which might include another move to a new state and a new adventure in the next couple of years, but I've still managed to acquire homework aplenty! Consequently, as I have a test this coming Tuesday morning (preceded by working the night shift Monday night) and several hours to log in the histology lab, I breathed a grateful sigh when my boss called this morning to switch me to on-call.

Since I was supposed to work day shift today, though, I had lunged out of bed at 4AM and was already showered, dressed in scrubs, and making coffee when the phone rang at 5AM. Finding myself thus awake and enlivened at such an early hour, what else is one to do but - clean the house! Seriously, I fully admit that scrubbing and vacuuming before the sun has even arisen is not an especially tantalizing prospect, but having everything gleaming and pristine before the day had fully taken a deep breath and readied itself did make me feel inordinately productive.

Since I still have a long day of studying ahead, though, I'm definitely turning to a classic comfort dish for our supper tonight...

When I was very small, my mother used to fix pot-pies quite regularly, and I never grew weary of the creamy, texture-laden interior and soft, doughy exterior. By the time I was around 10 or so, though, my mother had set pot pies aside, perhaps thinking we had tired of them, or perhaps in favor of more "fashionable" dishes. It's taken me several years of adulthood, but I've finally resurrected the recipe... Since Zach was raised with pot pies too, this casserole is pure, simple, unadulterated nostalgia for us. Unlike the prepackaged pot pies one can find in the freezer section of any grocery, however, this pot pie is a haven for vegetables - onions, carrots, mushrooms, and corn, all swimming blissfully together under a fluffy dome of golden whole wheat biscuits...

Vegetable Pot Pie

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup light vegan marg or butter
1/2 cup 1% milk

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" cubes, OR 1 lb firm tofu, cut into 1" cubes, OR 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained
3 T canola oil
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, diced
2 vegetable bouillon cubes, crumbled
1/2 lb button or portabella mushrooms, sliced
5 T whole wheat flour
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 1/3 cup vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 cup corn kernels, fresh or frozen

~ To make the biscuit dough, stir together the flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Using a food processor, cut in the vegan marg or butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour in the milk, and pulse again in the food processor just a couple more times, until a sticky dough ball forms. Cover, and set aside.
~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat at 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
~ In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the chicken, tofu, or chickpeas in the canola oil until browned.
~ Add the onions and carrots, and continue to saute until the onions are limp and translucent.
~ Stir in the bouillon cubes and mushrooms, and saute a bit more - just until the mushrooms begin to release their juices.
~ Reduce the heat to medium low, and stir the flour into the vegetables until well combined.
~ Quickly pour in the milk, broth, and bay leaf, and stir just for 2 minutes - the sauce will thicken rather quickly.
~ Remove the skillet from the heat, and stir in the corn kernels.
~ Pour the mixture into the casserole dish, and top with rounded tablespoonfuls of biscuit dough until the whole top of the dish is covered with little dollops of dough.
~ Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes - until the biscuit topping is golden brown...

Almost-Perfect Meatballs (and Tofu-balls!)

So many causes for celebration! How fortunate are we!

It seems just a fleeting moment ago we were celebrating the completion of Zach's board exams, and now, a brief month later, we are able to solemnize both the conclusion of Zach's first clinical rotation and the arrival of his successful, impressively-high board exam scores! While it seems to me as though the past month hastened past, I know to Zach those days elapsed torpidly and painstakingly as he spent each day checking the computer for his exam scores, so our joy over the good news is completely unbounded.

To celebrate, Zach selected a Greek taverna in Atlanta, called Avra, where we savored the best tzatziki sauce we'd ever tasted - which is extraordinary praise indeed!

Our entrees were equally tantalizing - Zach's lamb with orzo and tomato confit,

and my gyro platter, containing an abundance of deliciousness that resulted in plentiful leftovers to bring home even with Zach diligently sampling my plate as well! (I confess, I chose my entree largely based on the fact that it was accompanied by more of the heavenly tzatziki sauce, which I must attempt to recreate at home in the near future...)

Back at home at the moment, though, I am immensely proud of the fact that I approached the subject of meatballs (and tofu-balls!) once again, with the utmost of success. Meatballs are, of course, an essential, staple menu item - and one of Zach's favorite dishes - with which I've been fiddling for quite some time, trying to achieve the meatball perfection shown to me by my friend Kathleen while we were still back in undergrad, fixing lasagna on the temperamental electric stove I shared with my 4 roommates. I must impress upon y'all that sampling Kathleen's meatballs and veg meatballs alike - which she creates completely with intuition and without a recipe, the product of generations of Italian culinary wisdom - is like sighting the holy grail of meatballs, and then spending the rest of one's days in the kitchen on an endless quest to return.

Thus, until Kathleen and I are able to spend a day in the kitchen again, refreshing my memory as to how exactly she prepares the perfect meatball, I shall need to - in the interest of complete honesty - call these Almost-Perfect Meatballs...

(Which means we think they're seriously awesome.)

Almost-Perfect Meatballs (and tofu-balls!)

1 lb lean ground beef OR 1lb soy/tofu crumbles (such as Morningstar Farms brand)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
2 T minced fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried)
2 T minced fresh parsley (or 1 T dried)
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup whole grain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

~ In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients by hand until well combined.
~ Shape the mixture into balls approx. 1 1/2" in diameter.
~ In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the lovely orbs in 2 T olive oil, turning to allow them to brown on all sides, until they're cooked through! Serve by themselves, or with marinara sauce or guacamole for dipping, or, best of all, serve them scattered atop whole wheat pasta along with your favorite red sauce and some fresh mozzarella...

A Simple Summer Pasta

Ah, July 4th weekend. Except I had to work. All weekend. Oh yes, and while I was at work last night, a patient tried to strangle me. Literally.

Occupational hazards aside, though, it was still a great weekend - even when I'm simultaneously saddened that Zach and I have to spend a weekend apart, I'm still always content to be at work, having chosen a career which, I fully accept, both

A. requires working on most holidays, and
B. as I'm sure you've already gathered from my first paragraph, is never boring.

(The patient, by the way, was completely not of her right mind when she lunged at me, and was thankfully not strong enough to be of any real danger, so no hard feelings or scars remain!)

I switch between night shifts and day shifts most weeks now (which is actually much easier than it sounds, surprisingly), and after nearly 2 whole months working night shifts (which equates to nearly 2 whole months working at my first job as a nurse - hooray!) I've developed my own quirky little routine - whenever I wake up in the afternoon before I drive to work on a night shift, I always sit up, look about, and say out loud, "Good Morning." If I am awakening on a weekday, when Zach is at the hospital on a clinical rotation, this means I am saying "Good Morning," very decisively, to the cats, but I continue with my routine nonetheless, as though a simple phrase could convince my slightly sleep-addled brain that plenty of normal people really do arise for work at 4PM in the afternoon.

When I first started night shifts, not only did I develop the above-mentioned dialectical routine, I also started cooking more meals ahead of time, trying to plan (against my predilections for spontaneity in the kitchen) my cooking for the days when I wasn't working, such that leftovers would always be available on the days when I was. While I'm still continuing to fine-tune my weekly menu planning skills, I've also discovered that on some days, when the urge to cook just ceases me unshakably, it's entirely more enjoyable to simply forgo an hour or so of sleep, and savor the joys of cooking in summer's bountiful kitchen...

Good morning... Supper's ready...

A Simple Summer Pasta

6 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground turkey OR 1 lb. tempeh, crumbled
3 T olive oil
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup vegetable broth
3 large tomatoes, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/8 cup thinly sliced fresh basil
6 0z whole wheat spaghetti, cooking according to package directions, with 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water reserved
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

~ In a large skillet over medium heat, saute the garlic and the ground turkey or tempeh in the olive oil until the turkey or tempeh is cooked through and browned.
~ Stir in the red pepper flakes, broth, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, de-glazing the pan with the broth while you're stirring in the rest of the ingredients.
~ Reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer just until heated through, then stir in the basil and season again to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Reduce the heat to low, fold in the cooked whole wheat spaghetti and 1/4 to 1/2 cup reserved cooking water (just enough to moisten the sauce a bit more). Heat through again, then turn off the heat, fold in the Parmesan, and serve with a bit more Parmesan sprinkled on top!

Okra Pie

For better or worse, okra usually generates very opinionated responses. I've heard it vehemently descried and passionately defended, each with equal fervor.

Okra is gloriously celebrated in a variety of global cuisines, and in the U.S. the slender green pods are typically associated with Southern cooking. Even within the South, however, okra is subject to constant debate. My mother, a devoted Southerner in all other ways, cannot abide okra. I still remember my mother picking me up as a small child from my grandparents' house one day, and promptly recoiling in shock at the site of me sitting happily at at the kitchen table with my grandmother, nibbling on a bowl of cold sliced okra. I had never eaten okra before, and, blissfully unaware of the list of biases one could levy upon okra, I had, with a child's innocence, proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the magically chewy little slices.

Today, despite my mother's continued protests, I still adore okra.

Granted, okra can be a temperamental vegetable at times. When the raw pods are sliced they tend to adhere tenaciously to the knives and cutting boards at hand, exuding a slightly sticky juice, and, especially if boiled, they can turn an alarming shade of gray when cold. If one is willing to take a leap of faith deep into a bowl of roasted, sauteed, or stewed okra, however, one finds a crisp-tender exterior and a delightfully tender, creamy interior. I even find that okra has a rich, cheese-like flavor in a completely vegan, low-fat form!

Thus, I pause this brief paean to okra to introduce the okra pie I fixed for our supper last night, which, I venture to say, might even create an okra convert or two...

Okra Pie

1 onion, chopped
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 lb okra pods, cut into 1/2" slices
1 1/2 cups corn kernels
1 T light vegan marg or butter
2 large tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup whole grain bread crumbs
1 pie shell, made from your favorite pastry crust recipe

~ Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Press the pie crust dough into a 9" deep dish pie pan.
~ In a large pot over medium-high heat, saute the onion in the olive oil until limp and translucent.
~ Add the sliced okra, and continue to saute until the okra is tender and slightly browned.
~ Stir in the corn and the vegan marg or butter, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn is heated through.
~ Stir in the tomatoes, and heat through once again.
~ Remove the pot from the heat, stir in the bread crumbs, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Pour the okra mixture into the pie crust, and bake for 15 minutes - until the top of the okra mixture is slightly golden brown. Serve warm...

I admit, this pie does lack white and blue, for the particular holiday celebrated in the U.S. today, but it does offer have plentiful red... :-) And it's quite a colorful pie... :-) (Hmmm, a new slogan - "As American as Okra Pie," perhaps? :-) So, if you're in the U.S., or are buoyantly looking for an occasion to celebrate anywhere, Happy July 4th!!

Avocado Omelets

I'm always enthusiastic about recipe ideas and inspiration, but every once in a while a recipe arises that halts my world. As in, literally, all other dispositions come to an abrupt pause, I am completely distracted from all other tasks, and any advance meal planning is rapidly supplanted. Perhaps I am not alone? Does this ever happen to you, my dear readers?

Last week, for example, Kathleen wrote me an email following her recent research trip to New England, describing, at my eager request, the most exciting meals she had encountered during her travels. Contained within the email was the simple, understated line, "I had an avocado omelet..."

My universe pivoted on its axis. Avocado omelet? Avocado omelet? How had I possibly managed to have never fixed an avocado omelet before? So great was my glee at the prospect of preparing an avocado omelet that I couldn't even wait until the weekend, which is when I usually fix us more elaborate breakfasts... No, I absolutely without hesitation had to get up at 4:30AM the next morning in order to create an avocado omelet for Zach and I to share before he had to drive to the hospital for his clinical rotation shift...

I'm fully willing to admit that arising at 4:30AM purely for the sake of cooking an omelet is a wee bit obsessive... but was it worth it? Oh mercy, yes...

Avocado Omelet

*This omelet serves 2 quite nicely - feel free to double and make additional omelets accordingly...

3 egg whites
2 whole eggs
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 avocado, cut into 1/2" cubes
2 oz low fat cheddar cheese, cut into 1/4" cubes
1 T minced parsley

~ Vigorously beat the egg whites and eggs together, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
~ Coat a medium sized skillet with cooking spray, add the olive oil, and heat until the olive oil begins to shimmer. Reduce the heat to medium, and pour in the beaten eggs.
~ Lift up one corner of the cooked egg at a time, tilting the pan to allow the uncooked egg to run underneath, until the eggs are set on the bottom and no more egg is running off the top when you tilt the pan.
~ Scatter 1/2 of the avocado cubes, 2/3 of the cheese cubes, and the parsley down the middle of the omelet, and the omelet over the fillings. Allow the omelet to continue to cook until you see the cheese begin to melt.
~ Divide the omelet in two, and sprinkle each serving with the remaining avocado cubes and cheese cubes...