So let’s talk about eating out. While I really love the whole process of preparing meals at home, from the menu planning to grocery shopping to cooking and finally eating my creation (best part when I see someone else enjoy my food as much as I do!), going out to eat is still one of my favorite ways to spend time with Adam, friends and family. Similarly to cooking at home, I love the whole process of searching for the perfect spot for the occasion, the anticipation of a great night out, then dressing up and finally experiencing the whole event. It is an event, isn’t it? From the atmosphere of the restaurant, to service to the wonderful food shared with lots of wine and laughs – there is so much to experience! There are nights and dishes I remember for years. They are special to me. Most of them I’d never dream of recreating but once in a while I eat something simple yet perfect and I vow to try creating a little restaurant meal right in my own home.

This is one of such meals.

This dinner was inspired by our favorite dishes from a spanish tapas restaurant, Jaleo, on our trip to Washington DC over the summer. The place was recommended to me by several readers and twitter friends, so one random day, we decided to rest our feet and have a glass of sangria with a few apps at the bar. There was no planning – it was a spur of the moment decision when we stumbled upon the place. I think because we had no expectations, it was especially surprising how much we enjoyed the few bites we had that first visit. So much that we had to go back 2 days later and have a whole meal!

Although every single thing at Jaleo was fantastic, hands down are two favorites were pan de recapte con anchoa (traditional Catalan bread with peppers, tomatoes and salt-cured Spanish anchovies) and gambas al ajillo (the very famous tapa of shrimp sautéed with garlic). These are my versions of these dishes.

For the play on pan de recapte con anchoa, I actually started with my mom’s recipes for perzzi (roasted peppers) and sinii (eggplant/tomato spread) and layered them over fresh slices of baguette, topped with garlic-marinated anchovies. I find the salt anchovies to be very pungent. They are fantastic melted into sauces or whipped into dressings, but I prefer the marinated kind when eaten “straight up.” The anchovies seem to mellow out as the vinegar breaks down some of that intense fishiness.

Aren’t these gorgeous? They were delicious

Next up, I followed America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for Spanish-style garlic shrimp. I love how garlic is used in three different ways in this recipe (to marinate the shrimp, infuse the olive oil and finally to cook with shrimp). I used a dried habanero (much spicier than the cascabel chile that’s traditional) so my shrimp also had a bit of a kick. We like it spicy in these parts

This turned out fantastic! It was hard to not soak up every morsel of that garlicky spicy oil with baguette slices. So simple yet so perfect. I think it would be a fun dish to serve to company too with everyone just digging in straight into the skillet.

Simple roasted cauliflower to lighten up the fare:

Are you a tapas fan? Do you ever recreate restaurant dishes at home?

Next up: I’m getting crafty with my super awesome food art project. Can’t wait to share it with you!!

So, here is what you missed…

• I joined Pinterest and have been pinning like it’s going out of style. I’m obsessed… and in love. It’s good kind of obsessed.
• We finished our guest bathroom. Today actually. It looks incredible. I promise to post pics once all the accessories are purchased and the whole thing looks complete (my mom literally forbid me from posting the current pictures because our towels “need to be retired.” I laughed out loud reading that email).
• It’s Adam’s birthday today. He now joins me in being on this earth for 29 years. You’re no longer younger than me, Adam. Sorry! Please wish him a happy birthday in the comments. I think he’ll like that!
• We went to Maine for 4 days. It was glorious. I cooked lots of deliciousness. Maybe you’d like to recreate them? You should!

The weekend started by me attempting to make s’mores (with homemade marshmallows, but of course! I’m becoming a marshmallow making machine… in case you were wondering. lol). I was so dissapointed when I realized that my little culinary torchdid not come with butane fuel. Father-in-law to the rescue!

Yessss

No bake s’more bars

Lunch on Saturday turned out exceptionally well with grilled maple chili salmon

served with black bean and corn salad which my mother-in-law made. Good team work

She made a few modifications… 2 ears of corn, 1 bell pepper, 1 cup of snow peas, some crushed red pepper flakes. It was unbelievably refreshing and a little spicy. Super addictive too (I didn’t mind that)! The salmon turned out smokey, sweet and spicy – this really was the perfect summer lunch. Both recipes are going on my favorite recipes list for sure!

This potato green bean salad was another winner. I loved the mustardy dressing. The potatoes and the green beans were from the farmers market and the peas came straight from the garden in Maine. It doesn’t get much fresher than this!

… and you know life wasn’t so tough when watermelon margaritas (from farmers market watermelon too!) seemed like the most natural thing in the world. What, you didn’t have one in the middle of Monday?

… yeah, tough life for sure.

What have you been up to?

This corn was picked that morning!! Look at these juicy kernels!!

Dinner is served!

We ate out on the patio. I love summer nights!!!

On the menu (see links to recipes):

• Grilled Pacific ocean perch (it’s nice and firm and grilled up beautifully just in a few minutes)
• Fresh pesto from the Sweet Basil cookbook(aka the best pesto in the world!!)
• Arugula and zucchini carpaccio salad
• Grilled corn with bacon butter and cotija cheese

This salad was spectacular! I loved the spicy arugula paired with the lemon drizzled zucchini disks and shaved Asiago! Going on my favorite recipes list

We had a hard time making the bacon bits stick to the corn (I think I didn’t use enough butter to that much bacon and didn’t cut it up finely enough) and then the cheese didn’t really want to stay on the corn because it wasn’t wet enough… but we made it work. One delicious smoky, cheesy, corn-y (lol) bite at a time. [Edited to add: Jessica let me know that if you chop the bacon into teeny tiny pieces, it works great... so go ahead, make it! ]

Fresh, tangy, cheesy, buttery… so many textures and flavors. This was the perfect summer feast!

My kitchen is full of dirty dishes, which is a sure sign I’m finally back to what I love

You need the right batter than will not absorb too much oil and the oil needs to be at the perfect temperature (too low and the fish would absorb too much oil, too high and it will burn on the outside before cooking on the inside). 375* is usually the sweet spot. Get your food thermometers out!

I used this recipe for fried catfish (using halibut instead) and it was incredible!! I loved not only the taste of the cornmeal crust but also the crunchy texture).

The fish was perfectly crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Not one bit greasy. Amazing!

My weird obsession with frying food just got stronger. Something about the oil bubbles… they mesmerize me and make me giddy. I don’t know…

Baked truffle fries didn’t hurt either [Coat sliced potatoes in EVOO and dried thyme, bake at 450* for 10 minutes, finish with a drizzle of truffle oil.]

Healthy-ish fish and chips. Mission accomplished!

Have you ever deep fried anything? I want more bubbles.

I joined WW 3 months ago for the group support and the weekly weigh-ins. I never followed their actual program because I thought that counting points was a less accurate way of counting calories; so on-and-off I’d toy with the idea of going back to calorie counting instead, lasting maybe a day or 2 at a time.

And then I went to a meeting last week. The new program encompasses all the nutritional research that has been done over the past 13 years (since WW launched their original points system). The Points Plus program focuses on how each macro-nutrient is used by our bodies (with protein being much harder to use for energy and carbs and fat processed easily). The bottom line is not all calories are created equal and I’ve been a strong supporter of this system. The program also encourages you to eat as many fruits and vegetables (the fiber in these is what makes them power foods); lean meats and low fat dairy are next on the list and carbs + fat are the most “expensive” points plus wise.

I would really like to be able to eat intuitively one day and not count anything. However, at this point of my life I need to do something structured and this program encompasses everything I was already aiming to do… just adding that structural component that I need.

I’m dealing with my emotional eating issue as well. This is my biggest obstacle that no diet can fix. I’ve been questioning the reasons for eating outside of hunger. In situations where I can’t deal with the discomfort/anxiety/whatever I’m feeling at the moment, I’ve been grabbing fruit (zero points, baby!). And I’m seeing results so far. It’s only been a few days since I followed the program to the T and I’m very encouraged to keep going. I think this is really going to work!!

With my new focus back, I’ve been really focusing on nutrition and enjoying some really wonderful meals lately. Let’s check out dinners from the past 3 days…

Savory Mexican pancakes

I used TJ’s pancake mix and loaded these babies up with corn, baby spinach, black beans and tomatoes.  A little salsa and low fat sour cream on top are a must!

Adam has a mild obsession with black beans so he was a very happy camper. I loved how quick and versatile this recipe is.

Moroccan spicy chickpeas with whole wheat couscous

I didn’t have ras el hanout (traditional Moroccan spice blend) so I used garam masala, so this was kind of an Moroccan/Indian dish. The sweetness of the dried apricots and the crunch of the almonds added a lot of complexity to this simple entree.

Today’s kick-ass lunch was the leftover chickpeas served over salad greens, tomatoes, hot peppers and cottage cheese. MmmMmmM.

Beer-battered fish tacos with tomato avocado salsa

One of the star ingredients (Adam really wanted me to show it to you )

I always have some kind of fish in my freezer. Last night I dug out a few mahi-mahi fillets and tonight the rest of the meal came together in about 10 minutes. Fresh, light, just the way I love my meals. Yum, yum, yum

My clothes are starting to fit a bit better, I’m having more homemade meals, and my focus is back. I’m feeling GOOD.

PS – I’m going to be visiting my sister in NYC this weekend and I’m meeting Joanne on Saturday night for dinner. Anyone would like to join us? I’d love to meet some of my readers!!

PPS – In case you missed it, check out my Real Food Diet cookbook review and giveaway.

See you tomorrow!

So let’s see, what have you missed…

Eggplant “meatball” subs (it tasted like eggplant parm in a baguette!)

Dover sole picatta (I used this recipe, originally found through Meals & Moves, but of course subbed fish for chicken).

I actually made the chicken version first and it was so amazing (quick and incredibly flavorful and healthy!) that I wanted to try it with other proteins. Fantastic recipe! It’s definitely going to make the best of 2010 list! Saucy…

After over a year, I finally made the brussels sprouts recipe everyone raved about after the 2009 Foodbuzz festival. I know I’m late to the party but it was worth it! No leftovers here…

Thank you, Shannon, for all the weirdo ingredients! I used pancetta instead of guanciale.

There was one baking disaster – protein banana muffins, aka banana flavored rubber in muffin form [I won't link to the recipe I modified... and clearly screwed up.]

There were definitely baking successes. Oooh yeah. In cupcake form. Namely oreo cupcake and margarita cupcake form. Yes, you read that right and you should really find an excuse to make them right away. Especially the margarita ones. Tiffany, you are a genius for setting up a cupcake party!

I also met one of my baking idols – Joanne Chang, the owner of Flour bakery. But you probably already know this if you like me on Facebook (you do, don’t you?).

I spy someone on the right

I already bought all the ingredients for the granola bars. Can’t believe I get to make them myself!!

Ok, looks like there were even more sweets. Chocolate sausage:

… and FRIED food? Say what? Hey it was for the blog! Chicken Kiev:

… and I did have salad with it!

In fact, based on what’s on my camera, there were a few salads…

Mixed greens, grapes, grape tomatoes, goat cheese, pecans and rotisserie chicken (my new favorite thing… I get 1/2 a chicken at Whole Foods for just $5 and it lasts a few days!!)

Mixed greens, strawberries, tofu, pecans and goat cheese

And here is that chicken again in a chicken salad with dried cherries, walnuts and greek yogurt

Aside from the food, there were a few workouts. But not nearly as many as I wish there were. I’ll talk more about my lifting program in a separate post. Gotta give you something to come back to.

How have you been? Did you miss me?

I missed you, although not blogging didn’t really free up my schedule as much as I thought it would. Watching tv is extremely time consuming.

If you have a food blog, do you think you’d eat differently if you took a break for 2 weeks?

I did “force” myself to take pictures of my breakfast and dinner today. Lunch was yesterday’s dinner leftovers.

BREAKFAST

2 multi-grain waffles with Maranatha almond butter, fresh local organic strawberries (amazing!!) and strawberry rhubarb jam. Good stuff.

After writing my previous post, I actually did end up making a virgin bloody mary to-go. It was gone too soon. I was dreaming of having another one all day. And I did when I got home. Yes, I’m addicted.

Snacks throughout the day included an orange, a banana bread clif bar, some cookies, cheese, bread with baba ganoush and I feel like there was something else but I really can’t remember.

DINNER

Grilled lemon-soy mahi-mahi with noodles and snap pea-radish salad (based on this recipe from Cooking Light)

This dinner had so many components, I was pretty proud of pulling it together in roughly 40 minutes. It was pretty yummy but nothing extraordinary. I actually think the leftovers will taste better (I doubled the recipe) since the sauce will have time to absorb into the fish, noodles and veggies. The noodles were definitely my favorite part. The mahi-mahi is also a great meaty fish.

Local snow peas and radish

Mmm, noodles. I felt pretty fancy making the carrot ribbons.

No workout today but I do have a pilates session scheduled tomorrow morning (eek, I am NOT a morning person) that I have to attend, otherwise they’ll charge me for it. Hopefully starting the day with exercise will put me in the right healthy mindset. Plus it’s farmers market day. That always makes my day.

See you later, alligators. I’m hoping my next post will be a lot more upbeat.

This is when my new rule (and the fact that my husband was in fact at the gym that very moment) came in handy. I planned on going for a run (if thousands can run 26.2 miles on this day, surely I could do a few miles, no?) but I told myself that just going out there and walking for 20 minutes will be enough, if that’s all I feel like (redefining success). I changed into my running gear, grabbed my ipod loaded with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and took off.

About a minute later my garmin died. Normally this would freak me out and I’d treat it as a sign that a run was not in the cards, but all of a sudden the sun came out and it was gorgeous out. I checked the clock on my ipod and just started running. It was an easy jog, I ran while listening to my book and I swear I could keep running forever. It was amazing!! I think I can partly contribute this to the book “on-tape” because my mind was occupied the entire time (and it wasn’t occupied with ways to convince myself to stop). I finally stopped because I got really close to home and wanted to do a short cooldown walk – 46 minutes my ipod said. I’m guessing I just banged out 5 miles. Sweet! I felt like a million bucks. From now on – 20 minutes, that’s all I’m committing too. I’m sure some days that’s all it will be, but on others I may just surprise myself with a 5-miler. Now I can’t wait to go for another run!!!

BREAKFAST

TJ’s European style nonfat yogurt, 1/2 mango, All-bran flakes, apple butter + coffee

The mangos were not sweet enough and the whole mixture was pretty sour so I added a serving of TJ’s nutty american trek mix. The chocolate chunks transformed this breakfast into a new level of deliciousness.

MID-MORNING SNACK

LUNCH

This lunch was such a treat because both Adam and I got to eat a freshly cooked meal at home during lunch. It didn’t take long at all! I followed Cara’s recipe for sizzling haloumi with roasted asparagus and tomatoes but Whole Foods was out of the haloumi (which was supposed to be on sale) so I subbed some fresh tilapia for it instead.

I stir fried the fish in a sprayed skillet + 1T of EVOO, cooking it for maybe 3 minutes (if that) on each side. Wow, this was beyond fantastic!!! It was bursting with flavor. The delicate fish drizzled with the EVOO/lemon/caper sauce was so beautiful paired with the young roasted asparagus and the roasted tomatoes that popped in your mouth.

Both Adam and I were floored at how delicious and fresh tasting this was. Very spring-y. It’s going on our favorites list!!

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

A little brownie with walnuts from our secretary (my treat for the day)

Chocolate peanut butter granola for a pre-run snack

DINNER

During my lunch break, I also plopped all the taco soup ingredients into our crock pot. I love that the chicken breasts go in whole so there is no prep work. This literally took less than 5 minutes to “make” and dinner was waiting for me after my run. Adam already sampled it and “warned” me that it was amazing. 2 for 2 today?

I topped my taco soup with a bit of lite mexican cheese and a dollop of nofat yogurt + 1/2 tortilla wrap toasted and cut into pieces. After mixing the yogurt and cheese in, the soup got super creamy and man was it flavorful! A nutritious and delicious dinner in less than 5 minutes of prep? Sign me up. We’ll be making this again

I got used to having dessert after dinner but I’m trying to stick to one treat a day and see how that goes. Since I already had a brownie mid-afternoon, I chugged a bunch of water after dinner and it totally did the trick. Some tv, cuddled up with the hubs on the couch, also took my mind off snacking.

Are you a morning, afternoon, or a night exerciser? Is it hard for you to get out there if you’re thrown off your regular schedule? What are you tricks?

“BREAKFAST”

I wasn’t hungry and this orange was the only thing I really wanted. It tasted like a juicy heaven.

LUNCH

A little while later I thought it was time to have some real food, so I reheated some leftover Cuban braised beef with peppers, avocado and cilantro over ww couscous

Adam really hates cilantro but I purchased it for myself since this dish and another one I plan on making later this week called for it. I realized how in love I am with cilantro. It really made this meal extra special. Yum!

All messy…

MID-AFTERNOON SNACKS

Another juicy orange…

A caramel oikos

And 3 cookie dough servings…

After polishing off these babies, I looked up Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution online and decided to watch the first 2 episodes of his show. Within the first 5 minutes, it made me sick thinking about the fact that just I fed myself cookies that I didn’t even bother baking. Sure they don’t have junk ingredients but that’s not exactly nourishing food either. Ten minutes into the show, I realized that I’m a far cry from the people in Huntington. I wonder how a culture where majority of the population consumes over-processed unidentifiable food forms. Sure pizza, burgers and fries taste good but I truly had no idea that some families’/entire cities’ worth of people’s diets mainly consisted of these three “food groups.” It made me sick seeing children being fed pizza for breakfast and chicken nuggets with mashed potatoes (out of potato pearls – WTF is that?!!) for lunch, but the most shocking scene was when Jamie Oliver asked the kids to identify some fresh veggies he brought in. The kids didn’t know what a tomato looked like. Seriously – a tomato??!!! This is not exactly advanced stuff here. Out of 20+ kids, not even one could properly name a fruit or a vegetable. I think someone guessed an eggplant was a pear. They were basically just naming random fruit and veggies they’ve heard of but clearly have never seen in their natural form. This makes me sad, very very sad.

I did not grow up in this country. I can’t remember what our cafeteria served at school (Innz, mom, dad – any clues?). I know it wasn’t anything to write home about either, although I’m pretty sure it was still all made from scratch. To be honest, I think it wasn’t because our food culture was superior – this was just what was available to us and I wonder if chicken nuggets, burgers and pizza are now part of the cafeteria repertoire at my old school.  All of our food at home was also made from scratch, and it was good food despite the fact that food was limited in quantity and things like sugar and flour were bought with food stamps and meat was purchased when my parents were lucky enough to “catch it” at the store (likely after standing in line for hours). Every weekend we went to the market to get fresh produce. Sometimes we’d be treated to a snickers bar or something like that. One weekend I recall we got lucky with a whole bunch of strawberries. I think I ate a whole bucket full of them and broke out in hives. It was just such a treat that I went overboard and my body freaked out. My memory is definitely spotty about all of this.

I shouldn’t really compare myself to the kids in the show but at the same time I can’t really help it. I am not judging, it’s just interesting. How did all this technology and food availability contribute to complete lack of food education? Could you identify a tomato at the age of 6? What about broccoli or cauliflower? Too advanced? I really wonder what schools around Boston serve. I believe that Huntington is not a true representation of every school in America. At least I hope so…

DINNER

It’s CEiMB Thursday and tonight’s dish was hosted by Veggies and Valentino. She picked Ellie Krieger’s miso glazed cod which has been on my to-make list for ages. I even bought the miso paste about 6 months ago to finally make it but never did.

The cod was phenomenal! It was so flavorful and tender – I swear this week’s dinners have been the best I’ve made in ages. Every night I am just astonished at how easily I am able to feed my family (of two) such quality food. Adam said this was restaurant quality! We love, love, loved it!

Can you identify this vegetable?

I steamed this asparagus and then stir-fried them in some EVOO, soy sauce, balsamic and S&P inspired by this recipe from Good Things Catered. Simple ingredients, tons of flavor! That’s a meal I am proud to eat and serve to my loved ones.

Have you had a chance to catch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution yet? Do you remember what your school served? What role did food play in your childhood and what kind of food was it?

We’re going to have 70* weather all weekend. I hope I am able to recover asap so that I can enjoy some of this beautiful weather.

Our house smells like Christmas!!

Fresh flowers in the vase…

And the dining room table set…

Everybody – have some wine! [This was a fantastic Chianti my dad brought.]

FIRST COURSE

We started with a nice salad: mixed greens, arugula, roasted apples, pomegranate seeds and hazelnuts

I thought all the salad ingredients complemented each other really well – the sweet and savory balance was spot on (she pats herself on the back…).

I followed this recipe for the dressing (cut the oil by 1/2).

I also decided to make little appetizers with the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry (I received a free coupon for it from Foodbuzz).

These guys were inspired by a pasta I used to love at an old local restaurant in New York.  They’re topped with vodka sauce, roasted asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts and a graded parmesan. Delicious!!

My plate:

SECOND COURSE

The star of the show: sweet-spicy glazed salmon. This is one of my favorite salmon recipes – I follow this recipe from Cooking Light, substituting 1/2 honey mustard and 1/2 country dijon mustard for Chinese-style hot mustard.

Haricot verts, steamed then sauteed in a tiny bit of EVOO with garlic.

Couscous pilaf (recipe based on p. 12 of The Best of Cooking Light, Great Plates) – ww couscous, dried cherries, almond slivers, lemon zest and S&P.

My plate (I ate 1/2 of it… getting stuffed!)

The salmon was a hit! This glaze is fabulous!!

The cherries in the couscous were my favorite. I <3 cherries

Let’s not forget the veggies. Simple preparation doesn’t mean simple taste.

DESSERT

The almond, cherry chocolate clusters made their appearance on the dinner table. This recipe is already becoming a staple in my entertaining repertoire because it takes just minutes to make and everybody loves these clusters!

All 12 were gobbled up!

My aunt also brought a dessert – a local specialty called “chuck chuck.” Her mother-in-law made this particular batch with nearly every ingredient home-grown. This is little homemade pastry noodles, fried then covered in a honey glaze. The eggs are from the chickens they have and the honey is from their own honey-combs. Pretty awesome. We picked on this sticky mess all night. Mmm…..

Teas galore

My first portion (I had a whole lot more of the chuck chuck)

Family pic for evidence Happy bellies…

I’m really in the holiday spirit now!! Thank you, parents, for my early Chanukkah cash. I’m off to shop! Oh, I have to go to work first? Ok, ok…

See you guys later!