sugar snap pea + cilantro slaw

When I chop a lot I think a lot. 

Even thought there's a lot of thinking going on when I'm chopping, it's the kind of thinking that clears my head the same way running or exercise would.

I am not good at not thinking, I wish I was a little better at it. In yoga when they tell you to quiet your mind, that's right about the time that my mind starts to wander to some far-off bizarre places. It probably sounds a little like this:

I want to adopt another dog that is a cross between a newfoundland and a king charles cavalier
ahh! I forgot to email so and so back
I really want a yellow mixing bowl
a nice wrap dress for the summer would be a great addition to my wardrobe
I need to get a pedicure

I've had a lot on my mind recently. Nothing crazy, but we just have a lot going on right now. It's impossible to stay balanced all the time, so when things are a little off kilter, I need to find ways to make it back to my center place.

Yoga usually gets me there (despite my wandering mind), and chopping. Lots of chopping.

Maybe that's how this slaw recipe came to be. Maybe I just needed to chop it out.

As I am sure you know, I am a sucker for twists on classic recipes. This recipe takes a classic slaw and adds a lot of fun surprises. The cilantro mayo dressing is light, bright, and happy, and the snap peas add this lovely little unexpected crunch. It all goes so well together that this side dish might become the main event. 

This slaw would pair well with so many things. It would be killer on top of these quinoa burgers I made recently, or maybe beside some shish kabobs, or a nice piece of fish .... or if you're like my husband, you can just eat it straight out of the bowl for lunch (yes, he did that). 

Now that summer is coming up, I love to have fun recipes like this handy for when we are grilling or if I need to bring something to a friend's BBQ. It's vegan (depending on the type of mayo you want to use) and gluten-free, so you won't have to worry about food preferences or allergies with this dish. 

I realize that fresh sugar snap peas are seasonal and are only around for a short time so make this while you can. They tend to taper off around mid-summer around here. If you want to make this and cannot find sugar snap peas, a snow pea would be a okay substitute, or you can just make it without the snap pea. Even though the snap peas are the real treat, the cilantro mayo and cabbage can still hold it's own. 

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spring pea + fava bean guacamole with root chips

Today is the start of one of my favorite weekends of the whole year. 

I'm a huge fan of summer and this weekend signifies the start of the summer for us here in the east coast. Although summer's official start date is not until late June, this is the weekend for us that the grill get uncovered, some new plants get planted, and the flip flops get dusted off. 

One of my favorite things about summer is cooking and hanging out with friends. Grabbing vegetables straight from the garden or the nearby farm stand, and having people over for a causal meal is just the best.   

Backyard BBQs, beach picnics, long leisurely brunches. That's what summer is all about. 

I love to have nibbly bits around whenever we are entertaining, and guacamole is always a popular snack. Sure, you can buy gaucamole in the store, but it is so much better (and impressive) when you make it at home. 

I love to fanci-fy otherwise simple foods. Adding peas and fava beans is a super easy way to make a regular guacamole a little fancier. Since it is not officially summer yet, this snack is a marriage of a few great spring vegetables that you can still find right now, and one of my favorite summertime snack foods. 

I am keeping this short and sweet, because I am off to cook for a big girls dinner tonight. I am so excited to kick off the summer with a huge home-cooked meal celebrating friends.  

Happy weekend!

 

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baked sweet potatoes with mustard greens, leeks, white beans + a cilantro tahini

I've been getting asked a lot recently how I come up with new recipes and where I get ideas from. Well, first things first, I think about food. A lot. Constantly. Probably more than the average person (but probably not much more than you, if you're taking the time to read this blog about food). Constantly thinking about food is a necessary starting point, but there are many outside influences, some obvious and others not so much. 

I eat out a decent amount. It's hard not to living in NYC. I love to eat out just as much as I love to cook. It might be my biggest source of inspiration, and it's nice to have someone else do the cooking (and the dishes). Every new restaurant experience from the most casual to the most fancy has a way of getting the ideas flowing.  

Even just wandering around the streets, walking by a restaurant and checking out their menu in the window will get me inspired. This city loves food, and sure does it well. I'm constantly being bombarded with awesome ideas. 

It also helps that most of the people I know love food and love to talk about food, and if they have a good idea or a recipe or a restaurant to try they are always willing and excited to share it with me. These conversations are my favorite sources of inspiration.

Last week we had dinner with friends at the Fat Raddish in the lower east side (yum). I got a lot of inspiration that night, not only from the food from that restaurant but also from our friends. They're very into food, Andy is by far the most talented home cook I know, but they work late hours so home cooked meals on the week nights usually consist of something that can easily be throw together. Julie told me that she made stuffed baked sweet potatoes the other night, and it sounded so awesome ... I warned her I might be stealing her idea.

I couldn't stop thinking about baked potatoes. I love how easy it is to just throw one in the oven, but also how you can load it with all sort of healthy and delicious toppings. It quickly becomes an easy, tasty, complete meal. 

I'm sure you've heard the expression "eat the rainbow", and that's easy to do when you're starting with a bright orange potato. Greens were of course my next color of choice to add. You can use any green you like, but I really like the taste of mustard greens. They're hearty and have a bit of an edge to them. White beans round out the protein and add another element of color. Lastly, I wanted an awesome sauce to finish this off, and cilantro has a way of balancing everything out. 

I'll be making this many of the nights that I am not eating out. Thanks for the inspiration Julie. 

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white bean chili

I thought about starting this post with" I love chili" ... then I realized that I start almost every post with "I love .....".

I guess I just can't help myself, I love food. 

Okay, but seriously, I do really love chili. Especially when it gets cold. First frost on the grass cold. First log on the fireplace cold. First time you whip out the puffy jacket to walk the dog cold. 

There is something so warming and comforting about the beans and the spice. It makes you feel gooood. It's one of the most satisfying meals you can make in one pot (I'm pretty sure I say that a lot too). 

 

I've been working on a few chili recipes recently, not just because I love chili, but because I am teaching a class on vegetarian chili next Monday at my new favorite place: Haven's Kitchen, in NYC. 

It's the first class I am teaching there, so I want to be sure my recipes are super stellar. In addition to a more traditional chili, I also wanted to include a chili recipe that was a little less traditional. Something different. I am thinking this one might do. 

If you live in NYC or will be in the area, check out my class and all of the other classes at Haven's Kitchen. I'd love to see you there!

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how to make a green smoothie

Recently, I've been getting asked [a lot] what it is that I have for breakfast. My answer is: on most days, a green smoothie. Then, the question that usually follows is: aren't you hungry shortly after? To which I answer: Nope. Not with the amount of veggies and greens I'm consuming. 

Because of this, I decided to post the recipe [well, actually it's more of a guideline] for how I make my green smoothie. I have to warn you though, there is no exact science to this, and some days it tastes amazing and some days it's ... well .... to be frank, not so amazing. It all depends on the freshness and/or the ripeness of certain ingredients. But the one thing remains the same is that I love the way I feel when I drink a green smoothie in the morning. 

Smoothies are different than juices. There are definitely stronger arguments that smoothies are better simply because the vegetables are being consumed whole, the way they were meant to be. I also find that for a meal in the morning, the green smoothie is much more filling and will hold you over better than a green juice. 

So what are the benefits when you drink green smoothies most mornings? Lots. Besides getting a boat load of vitamins and minerals from the gorgeous variety of greens, you are also getting a hefty dose of our best friend, fiber. Fiber helps us detoxify, and helps keep our insides happy. When our insides are happy our outsides look happy ... simple as that. 

With that, I bring you some directions for crafting your smoothie. Play around with different ingredents, see what you like and what you don't like, and always switch things up depending on what you find is fresh, local, seasonal, and organic. 

Happy Smoothie-ing!

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