Italian Cobb Salad

 

I have been craving salads and I have been craving Italian summer food. This is the time I usually get to work and live in Europe for 6 months, but this year I can’t because I have a real job:)

So I thought I would bring some Italian food into my American world. This is a simple salad with a bunch of goodies from my organic garden.

Rocket: A Handful of rocket. This is similar to arugula, but I like it better. It grows very well and quickly.

Mozzarella di Bufala: You can buy it at Publix. One will do. It is expensive but it is amazing.

Sliced Turkey: 2 slices.

Half raw zucchini sliced really thin.

One spoon of tapenade olive spread paste

Prosciutto crudo (2 slices) or coppa

one tomato (sliced)

Olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper.

Sliced all the ingredients and places them in glass container or tray. I brought it to work so I put it in a glass container. You can alter one slice of tomato with one slice of mozzarella, place all your zucchini in the middle and your meat on a side. Sprinkle with tapenade and olive oil and you are done.

 

 

 

Minestrone Gin

This is all I had in the fridge:

The only thing I could even imagine to cook was some sort of minestrone, stew, frantoiana. Frantoiana is the best soup you can ever eat. It’s a dense zuppa famous is #Lucca, #Tuscany. It’s made with cabbage, beans and roasted spicy bread. I decided to improvise and make some sort of #zuppa. Let me tell you, at first I was skeptical but it turned out to be delicious.

Minestrone a la Gin

one bag frozen peas and carrots

one bag frozen cauliflowers

half onion (diced)

4 cloves of garlic (chopped)

half lemon

some fennel

one shallot

one large patotoes

one can of tomatoes

one tablespoon of cumin

one tablespoon tandoori spices

one tablespoon oregano

salt and pepper

olive oil

one can organic pinto beans smashed

old bread to toast and make croutons (as well as a variety of dry herbs)

2 cups of water (half liter).

pecorino cheese

the butt of parmigiano reggiano cheese

fresh herbs (oregano, basil, cilantro, thyme, rosemary, etc)

I hope that’s all. I really put everything in here. I wanted to be tasty, so I experimented with a lot of different spices. I met not too long ago a PhD student from Iran and she told me how she use lemon with her stew. It was awesome.

The first thing you want to do is place all the chopped onions, garlic and shallot, fresh herbs in a large pot covered with generous layer of olive oil. Add the oregano, the cumin and the tandoori spices. Add the lemon and the fennel chopped finely as well. Let it cook until it is brown and gold.

Add the frozen veggies and the potato chopped. Salt and pepper and cook on medium/high. Cook at least for 10 minutes. Add a can of tomatoes and the water. Stir and let cook for 15 minutes.

In the meantime smash the beans (one can will be enough). Then prepare the croutons. Cut old bread in cubes. Place in a large bowl with dry herbs and olive oil. Mix well. Then place on a baking sheet and place in the over to toast. Delicious. Set aside.

Taste the soup now. If it tastes like nothing add spices/herbs to it. At this point it should not be as running as early. Add the bean paste. Stir. Cook on low heat for 5-15 minutes. I like mine when it gets a little bit burned on the bottom. It is very dense and not running.

Serve the bread on the bottom (or top). Pour the minestrone. Sprinkle with cheese and olive oil and serve hot.

Edible Organic Orlando Stuffed Pepper

Orlando it is not only to be associated with Disney or Univeral. We enjoyed some local and organic cuisine. The first day we had lunch/dinner at Pine22. The simple and clean restaurant makes hamburgers. The meat comes from grass-fed cows. I have been obsessed with grass fed beef, milk and cheese. It just tastes so much better. One option Pine22 has is that you can finally have your burger without the bun, instead it is served on lettuce. Side dish is sweet potatoes. Verdict: quality was good but too greasy. I believe we have this idea that if it’s local and organic it must be healthy, light and gourmet. No, the burger was a burger. It was too heavy for my taste, but I would recommend trying it out. I think since we paid $12 for a burger a nicer presentation would be appreciated. Though, I had an organic beer that was delicious Peak Organic Pomegrade — The owner of Pine22, I was told, runs also another restaurant in Orlando on 55 Church Street – The Rusty Spoon – We had dinner there, because again the food was local and some organic. It was good- I had a pork pate` and a dish with fish, broth and grits (very southern). Shawn had a goulash that was amazing. Really reasonable prices and really good food and good selection. The reason why we picked these places was also based on location. We did not have to take the car and we went to different lounges/bars after dinner.

The recipe for today is inspired by the Edible Orlando magazine. Issue 7 of Spring 2012 had a wonderful recipe for stuffed green peppers. I took the freedom to adjust it with my preference for certain foods and availability in my fridge;)

Green Stuffed Pepper

4 medium size green pepper

1/2 cup of crumble feta cheese

1/2 crumble tofu (soft or hard)

1/2 shredded parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons red onions chopped finely

1 garlic clove minced

fresh cilantro to garnish

one chopped tomato

one tablespoon breadcrumbs homemade (you can also buy them)

salt, pepper, olive oil, oregano and thyme

Clean the peppers by removing the top, and internal seeds. Keep the top. You will need it later for decoration. In a bowl combine the feta, tofu, cheese, onion, chopped tomato, garlic, oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, a sprinkle of olive oil, and breadcrumbs. Set aside.

Here the trick – Preheat the oven at 375 – Stuff each pepper with the filling top with some more cheese and breadcrumbs.  Cook for 50-60 minutes. When they come out serve on a plate with the top on it and fresh cilantro.

Serve with Fresh Grilled Jumbo Shrimp and Grilled veggies

To make the shrimp, just rinse with water and place on the grill until they turn pink. Don’t overcooked, unless you like it like that. Buy some organic corn or eggplants, zucchini. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper and minced garlic. Place on the grill until cook.

Suck it up, don’t suck it in!

I have not really talked about working out or being physically active.  That’s because it is just more enjoyable talking about food and eating. Though, I do enjoy being active. I am not a big fan of the traditional concept of the gym advertised by Gold’s Gym or any of these types of business-oriented gyms. I feel uncomfortable and I can’t stand the smell of rubber.  When I think about working out I see fresh air, mountains, and the beach. Now, the gym is good because it provides structure and organization. The gym at school is awesome and the membership is included in tuition so that is one of the primary places in which I work out. I also jog by my house and do heat yoga at this cute place 5 minutes away from my house. Sometimes I do rock climbing, mountain bike, 5Ks, bricks and whatever I am exposed too. I like diversity because I get bored easily. I also noticed my body easily adopts to the same routine and hence I risk not seeing improvements.

For the first month I really concentrated on muscle building by doing Body Tone, steps, and abs classes. Those classes have been great. I am strong, have built resistance, but did not help me lose the 5 pounds of Christmas cookies that are comfortable sitting on my belly.

As a result, last week I finally decided to add cardio even thought it requires a lot of motivation because I am very lazy. I tried jogging for 20-30 minutes 3 times a week. On Sunday I do hot yoga. If you are not familiar hot yoga is a 90 minutes class of yoga in a room heated at 105 degree with humidity at 40%. It is not recommended for beginners. Actually it is very dangerous. I tried many years ago and almost puked and passed out. The only reason why I can handle it now it’s because I have built endurance by taking other yoga classes and body tone classes. What I like about hot yoga is that it detoxes you and RELAX you. I have never being that relax in all my life. Yes, you sweat and burn 900 calories if not more, but be smart: you are primarily losing liquids.

My goal is to do some kind of cardio 3 times a week and do body training twice a week. So far I have lost 1 pound since January 1, 2012. I lost a Santa Claus xmas cookie;) ahahhaah Damn you Santa:) I think it’s pretty good and healthy.

ps. I am sick. Drinking a lot of ginger tea, fresh orange juice, and soup. Let me show you the earrings I bought from this amazing artist from Chicago. Her name is Laura Lombardi. Reasonably priced. Check her website.

Fried Oysters

I am tired. Here another recipe from the Romantic/Valentine’s dinner. It only took me forever to type all the recipes….and I am not even done….

Last night I had a total abandonment of healthy diet. I came back around 8 after having worked out for one hour and half and I was starving. It’s reasonable right? I had wished my dinner would have been ready, but it was not and everything in the kitchen required a lot of preparation. The intention was there. I started baking a sweet potatoe and had half a orange. But that was not enough. For dinner I had one chocolate cupcake that had been sitting in the fridge for one week and a mini chocolate mousse. I know. I did not even enjoy it, but I was hungry. So moral of the story. Rely on yourself for cooking and ALWAYS have a healthy ‘safe item’ in the house.

Fried oysters

8 fresh oysters (we buy them from teh gulf since we are only 40 minutes away)

2 eggs beaten and placed in a bowl

1/2 cup of unbleached flour

1/2 bread crambs or panko

canola oil or olive oil for frying (if you use the olive oil the oysters will have a bitter strong taste)

one lemon, salt and pepper

You will have 3 different bowls each filled with one ingridient (one for eggs, one for flour, one for breadf crambs)

Dip each oyster in flour, eggs, and bread crambs. Then place in hot oil and fry for 2 minutes or until crispy and gold on the outside. Sprinkle with lemon once the oysters are set aside on a plate.

We placed the oysters on top of the filet mignon

What’s the big deal with HFCS High Fructose Corn Syrup

Every time I watch the TV guide channel (I don’t have cable, so I rely on the TV guide channel to entertain myself) I get stuck watching the commercial sponsored and paid by the Corn Refiner Association (surprise!) where they assure that HFCS is “fine” in moderation. Too bad they don’t tell you that HFCS and corn syrup in general is not consumed in “moderation.” It is impossible because it is pretty much in everything we eat (bread, yogurt, cereals, cookies, chips, etc).

Corn Syrup (http://youtu.be/W40yHDFxkAY)

So in response to this campaign, this video was made explaining why indeed HFCS is not that “fine.” It’s a parody to the previous commercial.

Response to Ad (http://youtu.be/hYiEFu54o1E)

 

 

 

 

Salad World

I had a super busy and long week. But before I get into that I just want to share my passion for good salads and good dressings. Whenever I get invited to someone’s house I like to bring something fresh and green. I have noticed that we tend to bring heavy dishes like casseroles or desserts and you end up filling up with sugars and fats. So for that reason and because it takes no time I always bring a salad – a magic salad. I have to admit my friend Sophie got me into salads because she is vegetarian. For Thanksgiving she made this amazing everything salad. Here it’s my take.

Feta cheese (one block)

shredded carrots

lettuce (whatever you like)

sunflowers or pumpink seeds

dried cherry or cranberries

grapefruit (one diced)

green pepper (diced)

red onion (optional – less than half)

fresh mushroom (small package)

tomatoes (one big one)

Avocado (diced -one)

Olives (one big spoon diced)

(pretty much anything that you like)

Dressing (This is my own creation from yesterday)

Olive oil (extravergine – 1/3 cup); orange juice (half cup); 2 lemons; (1 table spoon mustard- the one made in France- can’t remember the name now); Balsamic Vinegar (2 tablespoons); salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients together and then mix with the salad.

I always, always use mustard for my dressing. Sometimes I just mix it with vinegar, without the orange juice. It’s a very healthy and light version of traditional dressing.

You can see now how great it looked on the table of the party. Every year we get invited to this fab Rattle Snake party. You might wonder what it is….There is a festival in Cairo Georgia, where for one day you get to chase rattle snakes….I usually just go to the after party organized by some friends where we just eat and drink and engage in delightful conversations.

 

Dieting

I decided to focus my blog on diet, eating healthy, and working out. I want to share with everyone what my regime is to stay healthy and look awesome on the inside and outside. Now, I really don’t have to lose weight beside the few pounds (6) I gained over Christmas eating cookies and chocolate. What my goal is to build mass and look tone and to have energy. I always felt tired when I was not working out or eating in a certain way. Anyway so here what you will get from this blog. First I will share my eating habits including recipes and tricks. Second I will talk about health benefits and why we should avoid certain foods. Third I will talk about my work out habits. In no means I am a doctor or expert in nutrition. Everyone is different and diets and work outs will affect people differently. I am just sharing my experience.
Today I went to Publix to get some basics for the week. I am a pretty lazy and busy person so I am always expecting to get food in my belly as soon as I AM HUNGRY! I don t eat large quantity, but I eat frequently, I mean really frequently. I should give a background of my life. I am a graduate student, I teach two classes, I am writing my dissertation, working on getting a job. I have a husband, a dog and a house. So I am busy. I spent an average of 9-10 hours in the office. I wake up at 6:30am and don’t get home until 6pm on a good day. You get the point. Time is money and a bitch for me.
Anyway going back to today. I cooked a omelette with 4 eggs and some milk (organic. I will get into the organic business soon), then as a side I salted in olive oil 1/3 of an onion, half red and green pepper, and one small tomato. I added 5 strips of steak I had from a previous dinner. I also added to the side black beans I had from another previous dinner. I served everything with a glass of oj or organic juice (no sugar).

I am not counting calories because I know this is good food. It is not process and it is high In proteins. The point is that I cook everything, at least I try, and that my friends already make a huge difference.

So there are a lot of things I want to share but you will have to wait. Oh I only had few bites of the veggies. I had some more as snack around 2pm. Tonight I am making a Thai curry soup with the remaining veggies. I hate wasting food so most of my recipes recycle stuff I had used for other dishes in previous days. Enjoy!