The Best Zucchini Parm Ever!

Thanks to One Acre Farm, Melissa, David, Blaine and I enjoyed the best zucchini parm ever.  Here's how it went down...


Blaine and I went to visit Mike & Kristin and had a chance to check out One Acre Farm's new, totally impressive, digs.  Here's a peek...

And, then Blaine spotted the largest, most perfect looking zucchini I've ever seen and Farmer Mike told him he could pick it and take it home - SCORE!

So this humongous zucchini (note scale with Blaine holding it) turned into...

A lot of sliced zucchini...

And then a really delicious dinner for the four of us...I felt like I was breading zucchini for hours!!

I've also made some other great recipes using the CSA vegetables, which by the way, are from Stoneledge farm, who had some very serious devastation, no thanks to Hurricane Irene.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the farmers and their families as they try to swim out from under the water.  The vegetables may not last much longer, depending on what they find under the waters, but they have been delicious so far and I will certainly miss the weekly harvest!


With the Okra, I made this really great corn saute from Epicurious.com - it was super easy and super delicious and I basically was able to throw in whatever vegetables I had left from the farm that week!  The only problem with being a Flex is that what some may consider a side meal, you have to figure out how to make it into an entree.  So, I ended up making orzo with it, which was yummy, but ended up being very carb heavy.  The trick is what to do with the okra, and that's where the recipe came in - you have to bread it with corn meal and lightly pan fry it and then it's not so sticky.  Then you take corn, summer squash, onion and cherry tomatoes, saute them and add the okra.  It was great!

I also made a Weight Watchers tart for dessert.  The tart crust was actually not a Weight Watchers recipe - can't remember where it came from, but my first attempt using a WW recipe turned into a crumbly mess, so I went with the real thing.  Then I filled it with vanilla pudding (100 calorie packs, of course) and fresh sliced peaches on top.  Turned out really good and super simple!

Okay, now I'm starving and craving peaches...

It's been so long...so I apologize for the long post!

Apparently blogspot thought I was never coming back also, because they shut me out this afternoon...but I'm back!  It has been a long time since the last time I posted...so I apologize to my two fans out there (you guessed it, one of them is my mother).  

When I last posted I was heading to Germany and a little nervous about the frankfurter/hamburger situation in Frankfurt and Hamburg.  Well, since the frankfurters looked like this...

...clearly, nothing to worry about.  And in case you can't tell, that is a glass case with cooked frankfurters already on buns with weird cheese hardened on top.  Yum?  

And, the working lunch looked like this...

You might think to yourself, that picture is too small for me to really tell what it is, but I promise you, it is unidentifiable no matter how large the picture.

And, on top of that, the only pretzels to be had were in a photo at the train station...

But, all in all, Germany had much better food than I expected, at least when we weren't relying on corporate catering.  A lot of fish, and even a little bit of sushi!  Thankfully our co-workers hung out with us the entire time, so we weren't left to our own devices for translating.

Since then, the lifestyle has gone through its ups and downs.  I modified the rules a little bit.  The first modification was that seafood doesn't count when I'm traveling.  It's very hard to figure out what's sustainable and nearly impossible to not eat seafood and meat!  I'm also playing with modifying the sustainable fish situation to only when I cook, but not when I go out to eat.  That might be cheating though, so I have to mull that one over a bit.  I am also at the heaviest I've been in about 10 years.  I'm thinking this is owed more to the fact that I hit 30 than the fact that I am eating more cheese and bread than before, but we'll see if I can kick the 5 extra pounds...diet, here I come!

Now onto the good food!  July 4th weekend we were hanging with the best chef in the world (along with some other great family, friends and babies) and he made us a ridiculous feast, but the one thing I want to share with you is the eggplant!  It was sort of like a ratatouille, but way better.  I only have a picture, because when I asked Jason for the recipe his response was "I don't have a recipe" and after badgering Christina to push him to write what he did down, I still have nothing!  Maybe he'll read this and post a comment (hint, hint)...

From my stalking him while he was cooking, I can tell you it had garlic scapes, eggplant and raisins, and that's all I can remember, besides the deliciousness.

I recently made a cod dish that was really simple and delicious!  The recipe is from the epicurious app, which is one of my favorites.  It was inspired by the veggies from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm.  We had fresh basil and swiss chard. Here it is:

Ingredients:

1 pound plum tomatoes, cored, diced

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

5 anchovy fillets, minced

3 large garlic cloves (2 minced, 1 halved)

4 7- to 8-ounce cod fillets or other white fish fillets (such as halibut; about 1 inch thick)

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

4 1/2-inch-thick slices country white bread

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 475°F. Combine first 3 ingredients in large bowl. Add minced garlic and stir to blend. Season tomato mixture to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange fish on rimmed baking sheet. Brush both sides with 2 tablespoons oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until just opaque in center, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomato mixture. Cook until tomatoes soften and sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper.

Toast bread; rub 1 side with cut side of halved garlic. Top with tomato sauce, basil leaves, fish, and more sauce.

The swiss chard and potato side dish came from my new vegetarian cookbook - 1000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles.  My CSA partner, Jodie, always makes lasagna with the swiss chard, which I've had and is really yummy, but I couldn't handle more carbs and cheese, so I looked it up and found this new recipe:

Yellow potatoes with swiss chard, rosemary & garlic

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cups, peeled, cubed yellow potatoes (I clearly didn't peel them)

6 cloves garlic

2 tsp dried rosemary

2 cups chopped swiss chard

salt & pepper

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the potatoes and garlic, cook stirring until browned about 9 min.  Add the rosemary.

Add the swiss chard, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring until the chard it tender, about 2 min.

And I also made fresh tomato, mozzarella pizza - with some serious fresh basil - and a side of spinach and peas.  It was really yummy, but again, carbs and cheese. :-(

Until next time...which hopefully won't be as long as last time, but really, no promises!

Around the World as a Flex

As I prepare to take off on a trip to another country...again...I'm contemplating how this Flexitarian diet works in other parts of the world.  I was recently in India and Singapore, and not surprising, India proved to be pretty easy.  Not for the expected reason, because 31% of the population is vegetarian (and it is clearly indicated on menus and packaged goods with a green dot, similar to how Kosher is identified here), but because after the first day of me eating even a small amount of Indian food I got so sick that I ended up subsisting on basically bread and bottled water the rest of the trip (bottled from the Coca Cola or Pepsico companies only, of course).  Singapore, however, was not as easy.  It is a VERY modern society with your pick of cuisines (in fact, my first meal there was Chili's - a much anticipated event after India!), so in reality it shouldn't have been an issue.  But, the problem came with trying to determine which fish/seafood options were sustainable.  So, the net total of the India/Singapore week resulted in 3 meat meals (including my mouthwatering trip to McDonald's where I had McChicken nuggets - yum!...and Chicken Rice, which is a traditional Singapore meal, and of course my Chili's Quesadilla Explosion salad) and 3 fish/seafood meals (including the seafood buffet dinner on Friday night, which unbeknownst to me was $80!!!!  $10 over my daily meal allowance - whoops!).  I'm going off the assumption that at least one of those seafood meals was with sustainable fish, especially considering where Singapore is located, on an island in fish-friendly seas (totally making that up), so I'm going off on a limb saying I didn't go over the 5 meal quota.

 

However...tonight I leave for Germany.  I am headed to Frankfurt and Hamburg, which my grandfather astutely pointed out is the home of the frankfurter and hamburger.  And so, I fear my flex diet may be in a bit of trouble.  I mean, when have you ever gone to a German restaurant (I could put a full stop there, but I'm making a different point) and not eaten schnitzel or some sort of sausage or something meaty and greasy and totally filling.  So, in preparation for this trip I did not eat one meat or non-sustainable fish meal last week, thinking I might have to bank some points for this coming week.  Stay tuned to see how it turns out...

Another Interesting Article About Flexitarian Eating...

Thanks to my mom for sending - this one was found in the Rockland Journal News...it's an interesting read!


Meet the Occasional Carnivores


What I don't quite understand is when people do this for monetary reasons.  Unless all they're eating is canned veggies, I think fresh vegetables are expensive!  Maybe that's just the New York City in me speaking.


Plus, the article has a few interesting recipes in it that I'm going to add to my list of ones to try...especially the Craemy Cauliflower Mac!

Crossroads of Two Challenging Weeks

I haven't posted in a while, because for the most part, I've been chugging along without much to say.  I haven't had a chance to do too many new recipes, although Melissa did make me some very yummy fish tacos on Monday night (recipe below).

However, I am now finishing up (hopefully) this past week of being sick - fever, strep throat, sinuses - the whole nine yards!  And it is extremely difficult when you are sick, to stay away from chicken soup as a remedy!  Luckily, the rest of the week I was basically craving grilled cheese and peanut butter & jelly, so I was able to have some soup and not go over my quota, but it required a lot of pre-planning.  Blaine did try to get me vegetable soup, but I'm pretty sure all he came back with was vegetable broth and noodles (although I did see him take the sticker off the top of the container after he got home, so it's actually questionable if it was vegetable broth or chicken broth...regardless, as yummy as it sounds, it's still sitting in our fridge).

And, on Monday is the start of probably the most difficult week of the year - Passover.  Basically, my staples are out the window - no bread, pasta, rice, anything that will fill you up other than meat.  So, my only options this week are going to be potatoes and veggies.  And possibly the most difficult part of this week is going to be resisting the leftovers from the sedars on Monday and Tuesday, but luckily neither are being held at my parents or in-laws, so hopefully leftovers won't be an option.  It should be very interesting...so I'm hoping to come up with some creative ways to stay full...

Fish Tacos (from Epicurious)
Salsa
2 plum tomatoes, diced
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 onion, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro


Filling
1 lb halibut (or other flaky, sustainable fish)
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp chili powder
4 whole wheat tortillas
1 cup shredded green cabbage (Melissa substituted radishes for cabbage)
1 can black beans


Combine salsa ingredients


Whisk together oil, lime juice and chili powder - brush mixture onto both sides of each fillet, season with salt and pepper.  Cook 3 or 4 min on each side until fish is cooked through (can grill or sautee on stove).  


Build tacos - oh, and Melissa also made guacamole, which is always a welcome addition!

The Cat's Away, the Mice Will Play

In this case, the Cat is Blaine and the mice are the vegetarian recipes I tested, in case you can't figure that out.  So, Blaine's been traveling a bunch for work, and I've been able to test a few new recipes.  The first was vegetarian chili that I made in a slow cooker - I was trying to replicate the veggie chili from Stratton Mountain Lodge, which is super yummy, but to my disappointment comes out of a sealed bag, which makes me believe it's not homemade.  The bread bowl they serve it in doesn't hurt the allure of their chili, to be honest, but this version was pretty good:


2 28oz cans crushed tomatoes
2 15oz cans chili beans mix (black, kidney and pinto), drained
1 15oz can of kidney beans, drained
1 16 oz. canned corn
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup zucchini, chopped
1 cup yellow squash, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. salt


In slow cooker combine all ingredients and stir. Cover and cook on low, 6-8 hours. Serve with shredded cheese, chopped onion, sour cream, over a baked potato and/or a bread bowl, if you have one!


And I just realized that this is one recipe I didn't take a picture of!  I still have some leftovers in the freezer, so I'll be sure to snap one when I take it out of the freezer to eat.


The next recipe I made when I convinced Ana to come over and try to cook fish with me.  I'm sure it was a scary proposition!  But, she was definitely the brave one, because when we were at the fish counter at Agata & Valentina she was the one that confirmed the tilapia was US farmed, per the sustainability guide.  Luckily, the fish man behind the counter knew the answer, did not give her a strange look, and the answer was yes!


So, here is the recipe from Epicurious, with a few revisions to our liking (per usual):


1/4 cup olive oil (we used a bit less than this)
2 pounds tilapia, red snapper, or orange roughy fillets
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives, chopped (we used capers instead of olives)
6 garlic cloves, minced


Heat olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Add half of fish to skillet and sauté until just opaque in center, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer fish to platter. Repeat with remaining fish. Add parsley and crushed red pepper to same skillet; sauté 1 minute. Add tomatoes, olives, and garlic; sauté until tomatoes are soft and juicy, about 2 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper; spoon over fish.


All in all, a super simple fish recipe, had a great kick of flavor and was sustainable!  This one I did take a picture of, but with my old phone, so I'll have to get it off my phone to post it.


And finally, after perusing the cook book aisle of Barnes & Noble, and asking for suggestions about vegetarian cook books, I finally invested in one.  It's 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carol Gelles.  Stay tuned to see if it was worth it!

I Hit 4 - Twice!

Last week was somewhat of a milestone...and not in a good way.  I hit 4 meals of meat, whereas my previous high was 3.  I did it again this week.  Not a proud milestone, but I did give myself a ceiling of 5 for a reason.  I think the reason I got to where I was is because the past two weeks have been packed with plans, and when you go out to eat, are too embarrassed to ask about the sustainability of fish and don't generally eat traditional vegetarian options (mainly because they all consist of mushrooms as the main ingredient and I don't like mushrooms), you get yourself into a pickle.  


The week of the 13th I went to dinner at an Italian restaurant that is known for their meatballs - Lavo - and it was delicious (highly recommend - it just opened in the city)!  Then I wasn't feeling well the rest of the week, and sometimes comfort food has to come in the form of a chicken parm sandwich, or at least it does for me.  That weekend a bunch of us went up to Vermont and you can't be too picky about dinner on the way up on a Friday night.  The weekend before we went to a diner where I found a hair in my food, so that option was clearly out.  We went to a bar type place called The Penalty Box. Besides the slow service and the arcade games that slowed us down even more, it wasn't too bad.  By the time we ate though, we were all starving and the idea of asking for a salad without protein just made my stomach growl even more.  And then the following night we went to a steakhouse at the base of the mountain (the one attached to The Fat Spy, the location where we rang in 2011) and I'm pretty sure there were no options on the menu except for meat or non-sustainable fish, so I indulged in a burger.


And this week was no better.  I thought I had my meat meals planned out carefully - taco salad using leftovers from the weekend, a work dinner that was partially tapas style and a steakhouse for Aden's birthday.  I even refrained from eating the turkey tacos on Sunday night for dinner because I really wasn't hungry and it didn't seem worth wasting a meat meal on them when I wasn't going to eat too much at all.  But then last night happened and I found myself at Corner Bistro - home of arguably the best burger in Manhattan.  So, I saw 4 again.


The worst part about all of this is that I don't even have an interesting recipe to share!  I did not experiment once over these past two weeks on a good vegetarian recipe.  Luckily I have plans to change that this week, so hopefully I'll get my act together a bit and give you an update with a good recipe in a few days...


One question I have, Mike asked me this over the weekend and I didn't have a good response - anyone know of a good vegetarian cookbook?  I did go to William Sonoma yesterday to look for one, and they do have a lot of farm fresh cookbooks, but I couldn't find a vegetarian one.  Suggestions please!