Leftovers with a New Face....

This week I'm breaking my weekly meal ritual in order to do a bit of late summer leftover consumption.  I always cook a bit too much intentionally in order to freeze some for those days that my cooking inspirations/ingredients are missing. I've noticed recently however that my leftovers from my meals have started to accumulate and so this week I'm going to work on eating through at least two of them so that next week I can begin cooking with fall vegetables... my FAVORITE. 

At the farmer's market on saturday however I couldn't resist buying this cute little purple pepper. The vendor assured me that it was the sweetest variety of pepper so here's what I'm going to do with it....

Remember that paella I made at the beginning of the summer? I'm going to freshen it up with a fresh pepper and enjoy it for another week. 

I also think this week is a good time to mention how I meal plan. As you know by now, I always cook based on what is in season.  Picking a vegetable, like I have done all summer and making a BIG weekly meal out of it that will tide me over for the whole week (if not more, hence my freezer selection) is the start... but there's more to meal planning than that if you are going enjoy a full week of healthy, hand prepared meals simply.

Here's my basic strategy;

I pick 3 recipes to cook.

1. grain + seasonal vegetable (my sunday evening meal)

2. protein  + seasonal vegetable  (I usually make this on monday or tuesday)

3. breakfast grain (I'll be sharing my favorite breakfast recipe using any grain you like shortly)

I jot down the ingredients to those 3 recipes plus any staples I might be missing (like some extra fruits or veggies to munch on or my favorite nut butters) and then make the fun outing to the store. 

p.s can I just tell you how much I love grocery shopping? Its actually kind of silly how much I look forward to it.

Anyway, establishing this routine and sticking to this basic outline has kept me from spending too much money on eating out or eating junkie food out of hunger. I bring this up now because fall is a great time to start new habits and incorporate healthy routines into your life. Meal planning might be one you want to try. 

You'll find it is super simple if you cook each recipe for about 8 people and then eat it over the course of 2-3 meals and freeze leftovers. 

Next week I'll start zoning in on the fall produce that is beginning to arrive and I'll have my good friend and master chef Kelsey in town to help me brainstorm a DELICIOUS meal. 

Until then, have a wonderful week. Plan some meals for me: )

Sweet Butter Corn: Delicacy of Summer

I'm determined not to give in to the end of summer blues as I still have another month left at home.  I have to say, it is hard with all the school buses roaming the streets and the back to school ads permeating the media. One of the ways I've managed to keep my summer spirits high is by indulging in the amazing produce that is starting to finally arrive. Last week's tomatoes were sweet but nothing compared to the corn that I found this week. 5 ears of corn found its way into a delicious meal this week that I hope you'll try.

Seeing as corn is over used quite often in the U.S industry and can have some really nasty things done to it during its growth, I don't usually buy corn. But this week I found this cute stand at the farmers market that assured me that they follow organic standards and get this... my corn was picked that morning. *Big Smile*.

What's even more fun this week is that my friend from UVA is in town visiting so she helped me conjure up this weeks blog meal and it was a raging success. (Thanks to her of course!)

After we got the corn at the farmers market, we made a quick trip to the store and bought the following:

-Mushrooms (use whatever variety are locally supplied. Luckily for us, oyster had come from Ft. Collins)
-Marsala
-1/4 Red onion
-4-5 Green onions
-Cilantro
-garlic
-olive oil

I was putting together a little baguette crostini with roasted garlic and goat cheese while Emily busily worked away on the corn dish that was a modified version of Vegetarian Magazine's corn and mushroom stew.

Here's what she did...
1. Heat 2 T olive oil. Add chopped red and green onions.
2. Add chopped cilantro, 2 cloves of chopped garlic, and a little salt and pepper.
3. Add about 1 cup chopped mushrooms (as finely chopped as you like).
4. Add about 1 or 2 T marsala and saute briefly.
5. Add raw corn and mix until warm. (We used 4 ears of corn cut away from the cob)


It turned out so well that I forgot to take a picture before I gobbled it, the crostinis AND  a kabob of halibut down. Ps if you ever need amazing kabobs custom seasoned, whole foods is your place. The seafood man made us come killer kabobs that complimented the corn so nicely. Wish I had a picture to show you but you'll just have to trust me that it was so good I couldn't even stop to photograph the creation. I did however take a picture of the corn creation leftovers so that you know what ours basically looked like.

I'm glad our dinner turned out so well because it fueled us through a 2 hour hike up Mt. Sanitas in Boulder and a wonderful day of exploring Pearl St. Sigh.

Keep on enjoying summer!! (Its not over...)

Tomato Time...

I can't believe summer is already half way over. The back to school vibe is in the air which has both sweet and sad connotations attached with it.  Now as I'm heading off to Grad school things are going to be much different yet I'm still going to settle into the busy yet predictable life of a student. More than anything, I'm just excited to be constantly studying what I'm in love with: Food: )

Speaking of which... This week I think its time that we try out some tomato goodness. You can't miss them at the farmers market or grocery as their bright red skin will make anyone stop in their tracks. Now that they are in season, they are bursting with flavor and nutrition. I picked some up this weekend, waited a few days for them to ripen and then made the dish below which was quite tasty if I do say so myself.

Raw Cheese and Caper stuffed tomatoes:


Ingredients needed:
-a tomato for each person being served
-1/4 c bread crumbs
- 1 T coconut oil or butter melted ( I used some goats milk butter )
-1.5 T capers
- 1/4 c cheese (guyere would be yummy. I used raw sharp chedder that was great too)
-dijon mustard

Basically all I did was
1. Cut the tomatoes in half, and scoop out the insides
2. squirt a little dijon mustard and divide the cheese into the bottoms of the "tomato bowls"
3 top with the mixture of melted butter, bread crumbs and capers
4 pop in an oven preheated to 500 for 3-4 minutes

Could it be any more simple?

I served them on a bed of lettuce and while eating realized how yummy it would be with some tuna or even turkey. I have some stuffed tomatoes left over and will most definitely eat them later this week with some different accompaniments.

Tomatoes are a great thing to snack on as they boast a phytonutrient called lycopene that has been extensively studied for its cancer-preventing properties. Isn't it amazing how nature provides foods that protect us from what the season may bring to harm us? Cancer is such an issue in the summer months so giving your body some armor from the inside out is a great strategy. I'm always amazed at the timing of the tools that nature offers which is why I'm so adamant about eating food that is in season. It puts our bodies in harmony with the Earth. Sounds amazing.... feels even better!

Keep enjoying the warm rays of summer. And make sure to eat some tomatoes this week now that you know what they can do to prevent those warm rays from harming you.