Pasta Inspiration

In light of my having to cut more gluten out of my diet, I followed up my breakfast of gluten free oats with fully gluten-ized penne pasta (didn't have any brown rice pasta, which would make this gluten free)!

My initial inspiration was carbonara pasta, which I deconstructed a bit. I had red leaf lettuce that I wanted to use up so I cut that in a chiffonade and used in place of the peas that I always include in my carbonara. I diced up the prosciutto and cooked that until crispy, using the rendered fat, and a bit of olive oil, to cook the onion and garlic. I added the prosciutto and pasta to the onions and garlic. While I poached the egg I added the lettuce so it would wilt slightly from the residual heat. I topped the pasta with the poached egg and Parmesan shavings.

The runny yolk coated the pasta very nicely and tasted great with the sweetness of the onions and garlic ad saltiness of the prosciutto. I thought it was reminiscent of a carbonara, sans the butter (which I was going for).

Penne with Red Leaf Lettuce, Red Onion, Prosciutto, Poached Egg and Parmesan Shavings

Breakfast Smoothies

I've been on quite a smoothie kick lately. With the added green powder, I know that I'm getting my daily vegetable servings in one glass, and the brown rice protein powder also enhances the nutritional aspect and is being dairy and gluten free, two things that I have to be more mindful of in my diet, apparently. The ingredients are few, the flavors solid and they are very filling (a tablespoon or so of ground flax would definitely add to the fiber filling-ness). Here are a few of my recent recipe developments.

Blueberry-Almond Smoothie


Ingredients
1 C frozen blueberries
1 C almond milk
1 t almond extract
1 T brown rice protein powder (vegan and gluten free)
1 T green food powder (I use Amazing Grass Green Powder, which you can get on Amazon)

Method:
In order to get a smoother product, incorporate the two powders into the almond milk. Add the extract and blueberries. Blend until smooth. (If you require a sweeter product, add a bit of stevia to taste, but I prefer not to.)

Variations

- Raspberry or Blackberry for blueberry

- Coconut milk yogurt (6 oz) or 1 C (light) coconut milk or rice milk or coconut milk beverage for almond milk

- Vanilla extract for almond extract, or no extract at all

Ginger-Peach Smoothie

Ingredients

1 C frozen peach slices

1/2 inch ginger, finely diced

1 C coconut milk beverage (So Delicious makes coconut milk, as well as coconut milk yogurt which I feature in other smoothie recipes, both which you can acquire at Whole Foods)

1 t almond extract

1 T brown rice protein powder (vegan and gluten free)

1 T green food powder (I use Amazing Grass Green Powder, which you can get on Amazon)

Method:

In order to get a smoother product, incorporate the two powders into the coconut milk. Add the ginger and peach slices. Blend until smooth. (Once again, if you require a sweeter product, add a bit of stevia to taste.)

Variations

- Mango chunks for peach slices

- Coconut milk yogurt (6 oz) or 1 C (light) coconut milk for coconut milk beverage

- Vanilla extract for almond extract, or no extract at all

Recipes I hope to try out later

- coconut-avocado

- cucumber-avocado-basil/mint

- pineapple-mango

- blueberry-raspberry-blackberry

- Cacao/Dark Chocolate (+ Coconut)

Basic Cooking Skills

I was reading one of my favorite cooking blogs, The Kitchn, when I came across a post about basic cooking skills that all beginners should know. I wanted to share this with you all and spend the next couple of days going through each technique so that you can slowly begin to add to your kitchen repertoire.

image via eoiguada.info

Bourdain’s basic argument, which has also been made elsewhere, is that every person should have the basic knowledge and skills to feed themselves a decent meal. This is knowledge that has been gradually lost with the demise of home ec classes in school and the convenience of pre-made grocery store meals.

Of course, no one really wants a return to the fussy, boring home ec classes of yore. (Yes, I’m old enough that I remember these!) So Bourdain’s idea is to make cooking cool. Or more to the point, to make not cooking decidedly un-cool. Wouldn’t it be great, he says, if in the future “it’s the kid who can’t roast a chicken who should be considered the ‘spaz.’”

But back to those basic skills. Here’s what Bourdain thinks everyone should know:

• Chopping an onion
• Making an omelet
• Roasting a chicken
• The correct way to grill and rest a steak
• Cooking vegetables to desired doneness
• Making a vinaigrette
• Shop for fresh produce
• Buying a fish, cleaning it, and making it
• Roasting meat
• Roasting and mashing potatoes
• Braising meats and vegetables
• What to do with bones (a.k.a. How to make stock)

New Year, More Posts?

I hate New Years Resolutions. I usually don't even think to make any until after the New Year and by then it seems as though there is no point. Same thing happened this year, and so I have no substantive or well-throughout plans to better myself throughout 2011.

I, surprisingly, have enjoyed my time at home. I've relaxed, slept late, tried to overhaul some of the horrible eating that occurs at my parents' home (fries and chicken wings for breakfast, chips for breakfast and waffles for lunch and dinner -- some of the more incriminating occurrences). Now I think it's time to get back on that blogging tip.

I am heading into this last semester with no meal plan and a goal to overhaul my grocery budget. And so there is lots to look forward to for this new year. I've got more recipes in development, shortcuts for cooking, tips for shopping and menu planning, and more.

On that note, let's hope for more willpower this year and happy new year,!