FoodFitnessFreshAir

Euro-trip in Food

May 20, 2013

So a lot has happened in the past few months. And I’ve learned a lot in the past few months. And I’ve had an ongoing serious of wake-up calls in the past few months. And I’ve learned to relax in the past few months. And I’ve felt happier than I’ve been in awhile in the past few months. And I really don’t know what the next few months will bring. But it’s spring. And what I’ve learned is to go with the flow. And to work hard. And life will be okay. Cheers.

I recently quit my job. A job that was bringing me down in multiple ways, and upon leaving, has made me feel liberated. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still more confused than ever about life. But I’m not stressing out every 5 minutes about what to do. Instead, I’ll be here freelancing my butt off and taking some space to be creative and let the right opportunities arise.

Something I learned recently after graduating from college is that you have to figure things out for yourself. But you don’t always have to have everything figured out. Coming to terms with this has helped me a lot recently.

A month or so after leaving my job, my friend Logan told me he was visiting some friends in Paris and Brussels. Knowing my newly flexible schedule, he kindly invited me to hop on board. I figured, what the heck, why not. My thoughts: free places to stay, who knows when I’ll have this flexible schedule again, and Europe in the springtime, um, yes please. Plus, as a writer, seeing and experiencing more of the world only ever helps development. (…meaning I should probably just keep on traveling, right? Kickstarter anyone?)

I booked my plane tickets and a week later hopped on a plane to Paris. I don’t regret the decision one bit.

So enough about my life, let’s get to the trip. The route: Paris –> Brugge –> Brussels –> Paris –>Nice –>Paris. Two weeks of excursion and lots of photo-taking. Photography and traveling are the current loves of my life. And waffles from Belgium. Sadly no French boys are in that equation, yet.

I’ve included mostly food-related photos below to give you a glimpse into the trip. I’ll be posting more photos throughout the next few weeks/months of people I met and landscapes that blew me away on my Tumblr. Feel free to stop by.

Since we already got the obligatory Eiffel Tower photo out of the way, let’s get straight to the food. Starting with a gigantic chocolate Gorilla head.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE…

Minestrone Soup

May 16, 2013

Fifteen baguettes later, I’ve arrived home to Philly after a two week excursion in France and Belgium. There was a serious amount of baguette action on this trip. And brie, and pastries, and bottles of wine, and poorly accented bonjour’s and bon appétit’s. You can expect a food-related post on my trip soon. First, however, I need to sort through my 1,000 photos, memories and jetlag, stalk the chef I met on Facebook, and remind myself life will be okay without cute French boys on every block. I also need eat some greens and whole grains. And grab this soup from the freezer.

Wanting to clean out my refrigerator, I whipped this up just before heading to France. It was literally the perfect light and veggie-packed meal I needed before jetting off to a foodie haven of artisan cheeses and pistachio macaroons. Luckily, some soup still remains waiting for me…waiting for my detox of daily croissant consumption. I admit, the thought of saying farewell to that makes me want to cry.

Oh well. Oatmeal simmers away, energy-restoring smoothies whiz in the blender, and breakfast and life goes on — with or without pain au chocolats. On the bright side, I’ve come home to ridiculously lovely weather in the midst of my favorite season. For that, I will continue to ride my life high. Come home in the winter, on the other hand, and I’m sure this would not’ve been the case. Good thing its springtime. Cheers to that. I also stumbled home to my tax return in the mailbox yesterday afternoon. After Paris, it needn’t even be mentioned I’m cheersing to that too.

If the thought of soup and warm temps makes you want to slap me and proceed to go flag down the ice cream man, well, then bookmark this one for later. But considering it’s still May and sweat-drenching days have yet to arrive, I’m going to argue on behalf of this meal. This minestrone is certainly not a hearty, gut-warming winter stew. Rather, it’s a light soup, fit for a wide range of seasons, and packed with tons of nutrition. Given what was in my fridge the day of its creation, this also happens to be heavy on the green beans. If green beans aren’t your veggie of choice, feel free to add in a handful of spring greens or any other seasonal ingredient that might sound good to you.

Make this minestrone a meal by simply serving it with a slice of crusty bread and a side salad. That’s what I’ll be doing — baguette on the side, pretending I’m still in Paris. Au revoir.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE…

I’m in Paris!

May 6, 2013

Hey!

Please excuse me while I take a brief blog-cation. I hopped on a plane for a rather last minute trip to Paris this past Thursday. I will be traveling around France and beyond for the next couple of weeks!

Time permitted, I’ll post some yummy photos. I expect to consume much more cheese, pastries (and perhaps wine) than I’m used to…but when in France, do as the French do, right? Small portions, strong coffee and lots of great eats, indulgences included. Sounds good to me.

Millet Cauliflower Caraway “Mashed Potatoes”

May 2, 2013

Cauliflower is trendy. It’s become the hip, harlem shakin‘, Sriracha loving, Ray-Ban wearing vegetable of 2013. It’s hot on demand and is quickly sneaking its way onto restaurant menus nationwide. Can’t say I predicted that.

I could’ve predicted the past year’s kale boom, the one that’s quietly beginning to slow. Leafy, vibrant greens packed with nutrients – it was only a matter of time before they shifted beyond garnish status on the plate. This whole cauliflower craze though, it really snuck up on me. I definitely didn’t see the day coming where cauliflower “steak” would push beef aside and become the highlight of a menu (at $34 a plate)! I could certainly argue with that price, but cauliflower shining across menus is fine by me.

Cauliflower doesn’t make my grocery list all that often, but I admit, its crowns have been the favored ones ever since I was kid. My mom would often steam it up alongside broccoli, the green monster I’d grimace at after every bite. For the cauliflower, however, there was never any kind of the “you won’t get dessert if you don’t eat…” convincing needed. Today, I probably eat more of the green crowns than the white, but again I admit, cauliflower is still the favored one.

Its relatively neutral flavor makes it great for dishes like this (and apparently pizza crust too!). Here, cauliflower is paired with a slightly nutty millet, and then whipped up in a food processor. The result is a creamy, mashed potato-like texture yielded without any butter or cream needed. In fact, you could call this a no-fat version of mashed potatoes, although with the caraway seeds, it’ll bring just a tad more complexity to the table. Feel free to skip the seeds altogether if you’re looking for a neutral side or straight-up mashed potato replacement. However, I find the caraway to really add a nice, unique element you seldom find outside of rye bread.

I served this up with a batch of sautéed baby portabella mushrooms and garlic. To do the same, simply slice up 8 oz. baby portabellas along with a couple of garlic cloves. Saute in a little olive oil, deglazing the pan with a splash of balsamic vinegar, and seasoning with salt and pepper. Feel free to add in thyme or other herbs, or keep it simple and let the millet mash speak for itself. The mushrooms will add a nice depth of texture to the velvety smooth cauliflower. CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE…