Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

Super Bowl Sunday (SBS) is just one week away, which means I need to plan out the menu before the craziness of my coming week gets the best of me!  Some important things I need to remember while planning this menu-

1. I am a Saints fan.

2. There will be lots of hungry dudes at the party.

3. I do not want to spend an entire day with something like a bowl of cheetos or fried wings in my face (b/c inevitably I would eat them…all…...simply just because they are in front of me).

4. I do not want to spend a fortune.

These things brought to mind an awesomely themed SBS menu. And here is it is-

• 2-bean and vegetable salsa with multigrain tortilla chips
• Caramelized onion dip with whole grain pita wedges and snap peas
• Andouille sausage and chicken jambalaya
• Shrimp etouffee with steamed brown rice
• Fruit kabobs
• Mini black bean brownie bites (don’t get freaked out, they’re awesomely delish!)
• Dark chocolate covered whole wheat pretzel sticks

The menu conception was a collaborative effort of my boyfriend’s and mine.  Once New Orleans won their spot in the super bowl we knew we wanted to make some classic Creole dishes, and jambalaya and etouffee immediately came to mind.  From there I thought about how I could balance out the menu with some more vegetables while still having some fun party foods that also wouldn’t come with a high price tag.  And, of course, dessert is an integral part of the menu. And when I say integral I mean- the most important….

 So from today until the SBS I will be posting the recipes for the aforementioned menu.  And even if you don’t make those recipes, hopefully I’ve inspired you to create a tasty, healthy and affordable SBS menu.  Go Saints!

Oldie but a Goodie.....

I recently revisited a delicious vegetarian pasta dish for a cooking lesson I taught to one of my favorite vegetarian couples this past weekend.  My everyday schedule gets so hectic with cooking for clients, catering, teaching, writing and testing recipes that sometimes I forget about my simple recipes that are tried and true and delicious!

The following recipe is a nice simple dish, with minimal ingredients and quick cooking time.  It is an all vegetarian dish but would easily take to some grilled shrimp, some shredded chicken or even some cubed pork tenderloin.  It is also a fantastic summer dish, made even better by the addition of some farmer’s market arugula or spinach, even some microgreens. Yum!

The recipe is one of many pasta recipes that is void of tomato sauce.  Most people think of red sauce over spaghetti noodles when they think of pasta, but there are so many delicious ways to prepare pasta (whole wheat or multi-grain of course)!  This recipe uses a light sauce of caramelized onions, pasta cooking liquid, lemon juice and goat cheese to coat the noodles.  I try to use a local herbed goat cheese whenever possible since it’s such a big flavoring component plus it melts better as the small batch goat cheeses tend to be creamier.  So with that said, whip up a batch of this delicious pasta next time you need a quick dinner and I guarantee you won’t miss the tomato sauce at all!

Pasta with Charred Eggplant, Caramelized Shallots, Lemon and Goat Cheese

Serves 3-4

• 1 medium eggplant, sliced lengthwise and then cut into 1x3 strips
• 2 T. olive oil
• salt and pepper
• ½ lb. fusilli or penne
• 1 T. unsalted butter
• 4 shallots, sliced thinly
• 1 large garlic clove, sliced thinly
• ¼ t. crushed red pepper
• 2 oz. fresh goat cheese, crumbled (avoid the pre-crumbled, it’s not as creamy)
• juice from ½ lemon
• zest from ½ lemon
• 2 T. toasted slivered almonds
• 2 T. fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano
1. Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, put the eggplant on the paper, drizzle the oil over, sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.  Put in oven and roast for 30-40 minutes until deeply browned.
2. Meanwhile, heat a pot of water and cook the pasta according to package instructions.  Drain and set aside.  While the pasta is cooking put the sliced shallots and the 1 T. unsalted butter in small fry pan.  Set over low and cook about 20-30 minutes (while the eggplant is roasting).
3. Once the eggplant is done, get out medium size saucepan.  Warm pan over medium heat 1-2 minutes, add the caramelized shallots, sliced garlic and crushed red pepper and warm about 1 minute.  Then add the pasta, eggplant and goat cheese and toss until goat cheese melts and coats the pasta noodles.  Finally, squeeze the lemon over the pasta, sprinkle the zest over and mix to combine.  Spoon some pasta into individual bowls and top with the toasted almonds and parmigiano-reggiano.

Perfect Timing....

So the holiday season is over, phew! As much as I love it, I have to tell you as a private chef and caterer it is a very stressful time of year as my schedule becomes double and triple booked. Luckily the week of New Year’s Eve is usually a bit more relaxed (aside from the standard cooking on New Year’s Eve!). I was grateful that I had that week all to myself and was able to enjoy a bit of “vacation” time with my boyfriend and have some fun before heading back to work.

Well…. The beginning of my week back went just fine and then Wednesday came along. I had my coffee in the morning, went down just ok.  Tried to eat a Lara Bar, only half made it into my body.  Ate a full orange and then was done with work.  Came home and spent the rest of the night on the couch praying what little I ate earlier that day would stay down!  So it is now Sunday and I am beginning to feel like a human being again, thankfully.

But it made me think about how people eat when they are sick, what sort of flavors don’t make you feel even more nauseous than you already are and how to keep foods nutrient dense while feeling under the weather. 

The way my eating pattern went was this- English muffin (sprouted grain would be preferred) for breakfast with a teeny bit of butter, a smidge of all fruit jam. An orange would be my midday snack and sparkling water (and the occasional Fresca, so good!) was about the only drink I could get down.  Anything fizzy sounded good.  Dinner was (sometimes) a bowl of chicken soup and a piece of bread.  Towards the end of my sickness I started craving things like rice pudding (what?!) with frozen fruit on top and frozen kefir.  Orange juice also sat well in my poor little tummy.

So, I have decided to make a list of the things that I found helpful and still nutritious while I was bed-ridden.  I hope these will help you while you are sick to put you on the path of healing sooner.

-naturally sparkling water with lemon, orange, and fresh ginger slices. Drink with a straw, big gulps tend to upset tummies that are already unhappy.

-clementines and oranges. The fresh juiciness of the fruit helped quench my thirst and sat well with me.

-any broth based soup with noodles and maybe some veg. it’s important to keep your body nourished, so as long as you can stomach (ha!) getting those smells near your sniffer and those flavors into your mouth it can be very helpful with getting rid of that shaky weak feeling.  If you can, heat your soup (low sodium, preferable) with some Kombu on the stove for about 30 minutes.  Kombu is a kind of seaweed that helps impart some fantastic minerals into your soups and is practically flavorless. Score!

-sprouted grain English muffins, or at least whole wheat English muffins. A tiny pat of butter and some all fruit spread.  Start with half a muffin, see how that goes.  Some days it would take me half an hour just to eat that half….ugh. But I always felt better after.

-crystalized ginger pieces. Chew on these sugar coated candied pieces of ginger and your stomach is sure to be put at ease. It’s a natural remedy for an upset stomach. Sweet!

-oh, and if you’re a coffee drinker and you’re too sick to have your coffee….get ready for that mid-afternoon caffeine headache.  You can help prevent this by drinking some Mate tea (I prefer cold beverages when I’m sick, so I drink the Mate-Lime bottled tea sold at Whole Foods) or prepare yourself to take some pain-reliever around 2 or 3.

Hopefully you won’t need to use these tips this winter season and you will stay nice and healthy.  But if you do catch any sort of sick bug, try and use my tips to help your body bounce back as quickly as possible!