Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Caramelized smoked salmon. Need I say more? It's hard to write out this recipe, because I rarely make it the same way twice. I use whatever vegetables I have, I change the ratio of egg-to-other-stuff to suit my whims, and I adjust the cooking methods accordingly. To summarize: Definitely include: -Smoked salmon (today I used garlic-pepper smoked salmon) -Goat cheese -Dill -Egg Optionally include: -Caramelized onions -Non-caramelized onions -Spinach -Asparagus if it's in season -Shredded potatoes -Some number of egg whites in place of some of the eggs It's hard to go wrong here. The only hard part of making frittatas, for me, is remember that after a frying pan comes out of the oven, the handle is hot. I always use my oven mitt to take it out of the oven, but after that moment, I REPEATEDLY forget that the metal handle can't just be grabbed as if it had been used on the stove top. One day I will learn. All layered up, read...

They kind of look like chocolate chip cookies that are getting moldy. In the second and final installment of  Project Use Up The Leftover Pistachios , we make cookies. Cookies with pistachios, chocolate, and sea salt. They are delicious. This is clearly going to be something good. I used  this recipe  without changing it. The base is a pretty straightforward cookie recipe. Then you fold in the pistachios and chocolate. And finally, after placing the balls of cookie dough on the cookie sheet, you sprinkle each one with a little bit of sea salt. I'm a fan. The Recipe: 1 1/2 c flour 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more for sprinkling on top 3/4 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 c unsalted butter, softened 1/4 c sugar 3/4 c brown sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 3/4 c pistachios, shelled and chopped 1 c dark chocolate chunks Combine flour, sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda Cream together butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla...

Crunchy, herby, tasty. I bought too many pistachios a very long time ago for some recipe. The remainder have been sitting in my freezer ever since. An unknown number of months and one move later, I decided it was time to find another pistachio recipe. I landed on  this Food Network recipe  for pesto with kale and pistachios. I pretty much followed the recipe except for increasing the amount of garlic. One clove of garlic in a pesto recipe? Blasphemy.  If I weren't spoiled by the creamy, delicious wonder that is  Spinach/Avocado Pesto , I would probably make this my new go-to pesto recipe. But alas, that one's still better. And now that I'm used to avocado pesto, this one was just so un-creamy in comparison. It's kind of clumpy and has a little bit of crunch. The kale doesn't get melty the way basil and spinach do, and then you add pistachios into the mix, and it's less creamy even than your standard non-avocado pestos. Was there life before ...

Just like take-out, if the take-out kind had tofu and mushrooms inside. These are outstanding. They completely fulfill my pot-sticker cravings. They have great flavor and texture, they're nutritious, they freeze and reheat well, and they're basically perfect in every way except the amount of work that it takes to make them. As I was filling them and balancing baking sheets in the freezer to freeze them, I was thinking that there was no way this would be worthwhile, and I'd just chalk it up to being a fun experiment. But then I tasted them. I dare say that if you have the time, they're worth it. Though in the future I might try putting this filling into something bigger (egg rolls?) to simplify things. In this case, though, I went with traditional pot-stickers. I filled all 50+ wrappers in the package and still had some filling leftover, because you can only put a tiny bit of filling in each one. The leftover filling was a great starter for fried rice. Veggie...

So many flavors. Yum. My fish tacos are based on  this recipe  by the fabulous Ellie Krieger. The chipotle sauce is the magic. It fulfills the creaminess, spiciness, and smokiness that one might want in their fish taco. I used to avoid anything requiring chipotle in adobo because it seemed like a waste to buy a whole can just to use some small amount. But then I learned that you can freeze it in a freezer bag and just grate or shave off a bit of it when needed. Now it's a staple in our freezer. Favorite taco topping. As far as the fish goes, I'm not consistent. It could be tilapia, halibut, cod, or mahi-mahi. It might be baked or it might be cooked in a pan. It may or may not be marinated or squeezed with lime. None of this really matters when you're dousing it in chipotle yogurt. Cook the fish as you wish. My favorite toppings are fresh lime, cabbage, cilantro, avocado, and red onion. Corn is also great (it's in the  original recipe , and tomato is go...

Again with the lack of patience. Imagine the powdered sugar sifted more beautifully if you'd like. Sometimes friends leave beer in your refrigerator and you have NO CHOICE but to make things like beer cheddar soup, rarebit sauce, and chocolate cake. No choice. Stout would be preferable here, but other beers work too. I was drawn to  this recipe  because it did was I was planning to do: find a standard recipe for chocolate beer cake and then replace most of the butter/oil with applesauce. It came out great. The only changes I made were leaving out the chocolate chips in the cake itself, simplifying the egg situation to 2 whole eggs (rather than 1 egg and 2 whites), and leaving out the white sugar. The glaze, pre-melting. Some men would probably eat this in its current state. As far as serving goes, I think a dollop of sour cream on top would be absolutely fabulous. But I didn't have any, and no one's complaining around here. The Recipe: 1 tb ...

Cheese.  Finally, victory in my quest to make baked ziti more nutritious! Protein and green vegetables outweigh the abundance of cheese, I say. I went overly ambitious on this one, making the ricotta cheese and the tomato sauce from scratch (with tomatoes that I canned last summer). We definitely enjoyed the fresh cheese and sauce shining through, but one could make this recipe more easily by buying those ingredients. I made the cheese first, and it was done draining by the time I had prepped everything else. The kale was kind of an accident because the store strangely had no decent-looking spinach when I shopped, but the kale looked great. I bought boxed baby kale and steamed it on top of the pasta pot before dumping in the pasta to cook. I had some leftover spinach, so that went in as well. The tempeh was excellent, lightly browned with onion and garlic and then simmered in the sauce. If you do store-bought sauce, I would still take the time to bro...

One of the few salads I get really excited about. I used to be kind of neutral about kale, and I certainly wouldn't eat it raw. Then I read about a massaged kale salad and it looked like fun so I tried it. Now I like kale. With a little bit of salad dressing and clean hands, you literally just massage the kale until it wilts into a cooked-type texture. It's immensely satisfying.  Tip: Massage your kale in a LARGE bowl to avoid flinging it all over the counter. As far as the salmon goes, sometimes I marinate it in the dressing and then pan-fry it. But the easiest and least messy way, I think, is to bake it in a foil packet with some dressing and then just flake it onto the salad. This also eliminates any need to buy or cut filets in any particular size for each person. I just get one big piece, cook it, and distribute the flaked salmon when serving. Foil packet, pre-sealing. I use  this recipe . The flavors in the dressing are perfect. My onl...

It's calling to me. It's kind of shocking that I haven't posted this yet, because we eat it all the time. Like, really, a lot. It's absurdly easy. It's really quite healthy, depending on the amount of chocolate chips you add. We generally have all of the ingredients on hand. And it's so, so good. In terms of method, the best way I've found is to spend about 3 hours freezing it in a covered container, stirring a couple of times along the way. But it also works to just let it completely freeze without stirring, and then thaw it a tiny bit and run it in the food processor until it's soft. Also, if you don't cover your container in the freezer, it'll freeze faster (but get more icy and less creamy). I've always loved mashing bananas. The change in texture is kind of fascinating, right? The Recipe: 1 ripe banana 1 tsp vanilla 1 tb honey (adjust according to how ripe the banana is) 1/4 tsp sea salt 1 c plain yog...

Black sesame seeds. Not ants. I promise. Sekihan is apparently made in Japan for celebrations, but we definitely had it when we were there for non-festive occasions such as "let's stop at this counter in the station and grab some food to eat on the train." It's sticky rice and adzuki beans with just a little bit of seasoning, and it's delicious. Shortly after we came back from Japan, I made it for a potluck for Japanese middle school students who were visiting Oregon. They were tentatively walking through the line, looking timidly at the assortment of weird American foods (pizza, pasta, and salads) and passing by the sekihan until one of their chaperones pointed out what it was. Then they got really excited and started spooning it onto their plates alongside their pizza. Serve this with something that has a bright, fresh flavor (as in, NOT pizza). Today, I served it with seaweed salad. That was perfect because we could also mix the seaweed into th...

Party pleaser. I'd love to tell you that the above concoction is healthier than it looks. Surely I would NOT be posting a recipe that combines cream cheese with sour cream, right?  Well, at least the salmon is healthy.  Every time I make this, people rave over it. I only make it for parties, because Jess and I would probably eat it in one sitting if I had it in the house for the two of us. I follow  Ina Garten's recipe . No need for modifications here... it's perfect. I use lox-style (cold-smoked) salmon because I think it melts into the dip better, but hot-smoked salmon would probably be good too. The Recipe: 8 oz cream cheese, softened 1/2 c sour cream 1 tb lemon juice 1 tb dill 1 tsp horseradish 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper 4 oz smoked salmon, minced Crackers, chips, and/or vegetables for serving Mix all ingredients. Devour. The Verdict: Overall grade: A Overall reason: Absolutely delicious. Not healthy enough for an...