Here you’ll find everything I’m preparing in my kitchen - from veggies, to leftovers and pasta. I eat simply, and I cook for one, but love cooking for others. And no matter what, I always pause to plate pretty.
Most of my meals are often times the result of freestyle recipe free ingredient riffing and a trip to the vegetable market. Produce is my passion, and I hope that you won’t simply come here for a recipe - but that you’ll read, cook and create a new story of your own.
I believe there’s power in a stocked pantry and freezer. From traditional Italian dishes to alternative sweets, vegan and vegetarian swaps - there’s something for everyone.
Growing up Tuesday’s and Wednesday night meals were often Sunday reheats or leftovers. I always say that eating like a peasant never tasted so rich. Often times for dinner we ate stale bread with tomatoes, pasta with potatoes, canned tuna with olives and sauce, fagioli and leftover Sunday dinner bits and pieces. Our meals were home cooked every night of the week and rooted in preparation, leftovers and simplicity. This is how I developed my cooking style once I was able to understand how I was using food to support me emotionally. Now this process supports me emotionally, creatively and in an entirely new way.
For tonights meatless Monday tribute, I’ve got zoodles with a new green sauce, but not just any green sauce. This pesto uses the greens from radishes, often times discarded without thought. So, next time you have a radish green, spare its life from the trash or compost and make it into a pesto. At the very least, toss it in your salad. They add another layer of flavor to any dish (saute it, process it, eat it raw) and cannot be beat when it comes to taste and their naturally peppery flavor which makes them quite ideal for a raw sauce like a pesto.
I spent about $15 at the market to refresh my produce and I'll combine that with leftover produce, pantry items/staples to make meals throughout the week. Because of my teaching and coaching schedule I've been eating many, many more veggie based bowls lately. Lots of colors layered with whole grains, sauces for flavor and in the evenings mainly soups/salads and toasts with avocado or hummus.
This is a system that's been working for me and to be wholly honest I probably wouldn't be cooking in such volume for myself if I wasn't trying to keep my food costs down.
Routine is wonderful and keeps us in check, but stepping outside of our comfort zone is essential for growth - in life and food. And keeping things saucy is certainly one of my secrets to making meals consistently fun and tasty. I don’t know if I could eat chicken, rice and broccoli or the same one pot meal over and over again throughout the week - not without some special sauces.
If you like the kitchen and if you don’t mind getting in it, dare to keep it saucy.
I grew up eating Sunday sauce with a family where we connected folding tables in a basement, ate meals bumping elbows and talking with our mouths full. We fought for freshly fried meatballs and seconds at the table. Obtaining the final meatball could be likened to winning the WWF heavyweight championship title belt.
In the world of romantic love I'm pretty much clueless, but when it comes to cooking vegetables I can close my eyes and reimagine a whole new world in each and every one. True health is about making new habits. I've made it a habit to cook, explore, map and write. Repeat.
I cook for and out of love and consider every meal I touch to be a confession that takes place in the diary that is my kitchen.
Once a week I do a produce refresh for my lunches and dinners and I wrote about it here.
Today I'm gonna go a little more in depth with regard to what landed on my table from that one cooking session. And please don't think this is how you have to cook, not in any way, I'm simply sharing the possibilities that come with making a tray of veggies and how they can have use in your day and meals beyond a simple side eaten as is. This is inspiration. A recommendation. Maybe some motivation.
Veggies can be used to create the base for a multitude of meals (at least in my single lady world)
Say goodbye to the thought of frying your tofu or sautéing it into a mushy mess when concocting your next stir fry or adding to a bodacious bowl of soup.
1. This tofu is perfect as a building block protein for the week in meal prep, whether you use it for lunch or to create a quick weeknight dinner.
2. Fantastic for a sneaky little bite when you do a little late evening fridge run.
In an effort to use remaining roasted cauliflower, broccoli, kale and some tomatoes that were on their way out - I threw them into a pan along with zoodles I had sitting in refrigerator storage for over a week. Yes, over a week. It was about 10 days of sitting which usually never happens in my world but ... never say never.
So, zoodles, also known in my world as Faux-Pas-Ta and zoodles DO NOT replace pasta in my book. I still eat pasta, my body was built on spaghetti (and Sophia Loren said it best and said it first "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.") but I do love being able to sneak more fiber into my maw and very much enjoy how all of the bright colors make me feel. I also love the spirals, the twirling, the shape and how these hold up alongside other veggies.
I had some Trader Joe’s mini-pearl tomatoes that were getting wrinkly and I didn’t have the heart to toss them, so tossed into my omelette they went. I love getting turbo charged on tomatoes 1) because I’m Italian I don’t have a choice, this body was built on that great red fruit 2) they have something called lycopene which I’ve read from fancy health people is “potent antioxidant against disease.” I mean, I think they’re delicious and they have health benefits so I’m like - win win - you know? 3) there are also Vitamins and minerals in them like magnesium and potassium, Vitamin K which are less complicated to me than lycopene because I have more familiarity with magnesium and potassium because I read a lot on muscle cramping, PMS and pooping - which you need those things to help with.
This week I’m off from substitute teaching, but I’ve still got private and corporate health work to attend to with a No Bake Treats workshop happening at a law firm in NYC on Friday, then one in DC and CT the following 2 Friday’s while I balance sub teacher life. That said, this week promises to be quite busy as do the coming weeks ahead. Filled with teaching, treat making, writing and figuring out how to get new clients and wondering how I'm supposed to date in the middle of so much newness. I digress.
A meal strategy going into a week is key for me and, I’d imagine for you too. And, I’m in the zone when it comes to my own food and time. I know what food I like, I'm committed to eating well (and all within reason, hello, Nutella) and I’ve already prioritized cooking as an integral part of my life that I don’t plan on sacrificing. Cooking makes me feel good
At 11:35am I made myself a hummus and almond bread sandwich with a cucumber and tomato salad on the side. Lunch doesn't get any simpler than hummus and veggies. Packed with fiber, protein and pleasing texture thanks to Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel Seasoning.
My tip: this is a traditional hummus, but not as strong with the lemon. I use only the juice from 1/2 a lemon, a little bit of zest and a shake of cumin as I don't want the lemon and cumin competing with the Everything Seasoning.
Yesterday I met a 5 year old who now eats a few bananas a day because Minions eat bananas and he wants to be funny and strong like a Minion. Thank you my new small friend for making me laugh and sharing in a love for bananas. While he loves bananas because of Minions, I love bananas because they are another vehicle to get chocolate into my mouth. I go wild for Trader Joe’s Gone Bananas, you know, those dark chocolate dipped frozen banana wedges? If you haven’t had them 1) you’re missing out 2) I’ve go you covered 3) don't tell me you do not like bananas, my new buddy will be very disappointed in you!
Listen, I know most folks want gourmet meals prepared and chicken cordon bleu on Tuesday nights - but I've reframed meals to mean anything that satisfies me and hits my vegetable quotient for the day. Perhaps you're rolling your eyes, more vegetables, and I say - the more veggies and simple food you eat, the more you actually crave them.
A good bean or veggie based dip can be used to top off your grain bowls, salads and roasted veggies. It can get smeared on bread
I'm not paleo or gluten free. I'm a champion for delicious, simple food and getting in the kitchen. The bread is no fuss, with 5 ingredients total (6 if you count the squeeze of honey I add to the batter). No flour mess, one spin in the food processor, an easy bake - and you're done.
There are many reasons I cook, health is an absolute. The others have more to do with tradition and what’s come to truly be a plain old dirty love for cooking. I love getting dirty, wiping my hands on my pants, cutting all crooked because I have zero knife skills. I love plating food and when I’m not feeling beautiful it helps me to see that I can put something beautiful into my body and my mind for that matter. Then, when I add music into the equation, shit gets next level. I fall in love with the process, I dance like a lunatic, I think I’m Shakira, I believe I’m Shakira and I cook with every part of me. My hips don’t lie. They can’t.
When I got too lazy during my carrot cake bite experiment (one lady can only roll so many balls and eat so many on her own), I decided to take the remaining batter, refrigerate it and save it for later use.
By adding the remaining carrots I grated, along with 2 eggs, some coconut oil, a splash of vanilla extract and some baking powder - I created a new batter that was fit for PANCAKE OR MUFFIN making.
The base for these here truffles is the great cacao nib, chock full of REAL HEALTH benefits. It's not your over processed, sugar and chemical laden grocery store chocolate, no no no. And the cacao nib health realness surpasses that of the dark chocolate bar (even those of the fancy fair trade variety). Cacao comes from the seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. It's chocolate in its realest and purest state.
And since I'm all for eating to feel good and to look good, let's be real people - eating real food makes ya skin glow like a lightbulb, brings clarity to those peepers,
