Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Charred cheese! Unintended and wonderful. Jess and I often get joint cravings for a few specific things: sushi, ice cream, and the jalapeño poppers at  Cafe 440 . Today was our first effort at re-creating the poppers, and I must say, it was a success. They were at least as good as the restaurant version. Maybe better, because I like our turkey bacon better than their prosciutto.  Their sauce is listed in the menu as "mango-lime coulis." So I took out the mini food processor and blended up a mango with lime juice, garlic, honey, and salt. I imagine they cook the sauce down and/or strain it, because theirs is smooth, but ours tasted great. We think it would be good on smoked-salmon sushi, too. About to become sauce. Some important things unless you enjoy pain: 1) Wear gloves while working with the jalapeños. 2) Be thorough about removing the ribs and seeds from the jalapeños, and also rinse the insides to remove any hiding seeds and mouth-burning residu...

There's feta cheese hiding in the upper right corner, in case you didn't notice. A few years ago, I was inspired by that part in "Eat, Pray, Love" when she's eating an Italian meal that just has separate components on a plate together... I remember that there was asparagus, and I think there was a hard-boiled egg, and I can't remember what else she had. But that idea of just putting several good things on a plate without necessarily integrating them has stuck with me, and it kind of guided this meal. My plate consisted of: grilled chicken, grilled zucchini, slices of feta, hummus, arugula from the garden, and grilled pita. Jess's plate also had a lamb patty. If one liked olives, that would probably be good here. We ended up wrapping some up some bites in pita and eating some bites on their own. It was delicious and felt like a very leisurely way to dine on a warm, sunny day. Jess's lamb. We're pretty proud of our growing skil...

Mmm, tacos and sunshine. Having already prepped guacamole and cabbage slaw for  yesterday's burritos , it seemed like a good idea to get out into the sun and grill some shrimp for tacos today. The Recipe (serves 2): 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 tb olive oil 2 tb lime juice 1 tsp salt 1 tsp chili powder 6 corn tortillas 1/2 c guacamole (avocado, lime, salt, and red onion) 1/2 c slaw (cabbage, carrots, cilantro, green onion, garlic, honey, lime juice, and salt) Combine olive oil, lime juice, salt, and chili powder. Pour into bowl with shrimp and marinate for 30-60 minutes. Thread shrimp onto skewers. Grill shrimp skewers approximately 3 minutes per side. At the same time, grill the tortillas for about 1 minute per side. Top each grilled tortilla with guacamole, shrimp, and slaw. The Verdict: Overall grade: B Overall reason: Good (how could it not be?), but not mind-blowing. Time to prepare: 20 minutes, plus marinating time Husband quote: ...

GRILLED PINEAPPLE. My favorite thing from the grill. We are relatively new to having a barbecue, so we've been running through the basics. So far, we've done (in this order): burgers and veggie burgers with grilled potatoes, bananas with chocolate chips wedged into them, sausage and portobello mushrooms with asparagus, grilled pizza, and now, shrimp skewers. With PINEAPPLE. Have I mentioned that I love grilled pineapple? I worked vaguely from this  Betty Crocker recipe . It's easy and turned out great. We scarfed these things down. Alllllllmost ready... I ditched the marinade as soon as the skewers hit the grill, and still these were plenty flavorful. Next time, though, I think I'll cook it down in a pot to make a sauce that we can put over rice and/or use as a final glaze on the skewers. The Recipe: 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 8oz can of pineapple chunks (reserve the juice) 1 red bell pepper, sliced 1/4 red onion, sliced ...