Spaghetti with spinach and garlic

Do you ever have those days where you need comfort food real bad? Today was one of those days for me. I’m not sure if I’m fighting off a cold or something but I have been off for the past couple of days — tired and headache-y.

One of my favorite comfort foods is a heaping bowl of steaming pasta. I knew I had whole wheat spaghetti, spinach, lots of garlic and Parmigiano Reggiano on hand so I whipped it up. While boiling the pasta, I sauteed the spinach in EVOO (2 of my friends asked me what EVOO was — extra virgin olive oil, duh!), three gigantic garlic cloves, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. I topped the pasta with tons of nutty, melty Parm.

This dinner + a steaming hot shower + 3 consecutive hours of Grey’s Anatomy reruns on Lifetime + good night’s sleep = all should be well in the morning.

Newsworthy –

Have you heard about this backwards new regulation that passed last week? Only nine months after banning most fund-raising bake/food sales in NYC schools, a city panel voted on an amended regulation that would allow foods like Pop Tarts and Dortios to be sold in place of homemade goods.

Their reasoning? Homemade goods have no calorie count, no solid portion sizing or ingredient information which is important for kids with allergies. Ok, fine, that makes sense, but this is what they are allowing in place of homemade goods (according to The New York Times article):

To qualify as an approved item, a snack must meet 11 criteria developed by the city. For example, all products must be in marked, single-serving packages with a maximum calorie count of 200. Artificial sweeteners, like Splenda, are banned. Less than 35 percent of the item’s total calories may come from either total sugars or fat. Grain-based products must contain at least 2 grams of fiber.

The criteria led some foods not normally thought of as healthy to make the list. For example, approved items include two of the 21 varieties of Frito-Lay Doritos: Cool Ranch Reduced Fat, and Spicy Sweet Chili (1 ounce packages). The Cool Ranch variety contains three food colorings — Red 4D, Blue 1 and Yellow 5 — and two laboratory-produced flavor enhancers — disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate. The criteria don’t ban these additives.

In addition, the Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos appear to have only half as much as the required amount of fiber, according to the manufacturer’s Web site. (Could a new version have been reformulated for city use?)

The city has also green-lighted one of 29 types of Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts, the Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon (1.76 ounces), although the manufacturer’s Web site said the item has 210 calories. When asked about this discrepancy, the city sent over a copy of the nutritional facts for a different kind of Pop-Tart, Whole Grain Brown Sugar Cinnamon, which has 200 calories.

This is a disgusting development. It’s truly unfortunate that the panel has voted to allow highly processed, packaged edible food-like substances with tons of artificial ingredients in place of homemade baked goods made with real food: butter, sugar, eggs, chocolate, etc. I would argue that processed foods are a bigger contributor to obesity than some homemade brownies. And I’m not alone.

In “The End of Overeating,” Dr. Kessler finds some similarities in the food industry, which has combined and created foods in a way that taps into our brain circuitry and stimulates our desire for more.

When it comes to stimulating our brains, Dr. Kessler noted, individual ingredients aren’t particularly potent. But by combining fats, sugar and salt in innumerable ways, food makers have essentially tapped into the brain’s reward system, creating a feedback loop that stimulates our desire to eat and leaves us wanting more and more even when we’re full.

Come on, NYC. You’re supposed to be leading America in fighting the obesity epidemic. Hopefully parents with kids in NYC public schools fight this one.

On that note, Grey’s Anatomy calls. I am a huge McDreamy fan…that may be because Kevin just happens to kindasorta look like a blonde Patrick Dempsey.

Can you see it — the nose/mouth/chin?! What a handsome guy(s)! Kev may kill me for doing this, but oh well

Night!

Roasted asparagus with fried eggs

I’ve wanted to make roasted asparagus with fried eggs for awhile now. I was inspired by this Martha Stewart recipe. Rather than steaming and poaching, I roasted and fried — which, in my opinion, are the more flavorful options. This dinner was so simple, clean and delicious.

You need:

• bundle of asparagus
• 2 eggs
• freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• salt, pepper and EVOO
• slice of toast (optional)

Preheat the oven to 425.

Coat asparagus with EVOO, salt, pepper and Parm.

Let the asparagus roast in the oven for about twenty minutes. Halfway through cook time, flip the asparagus.

At that point, put your bread in the toaster and then heat your pan (medium heat) to fry the eggs. Coat the pan in a little EVOO, crack the eggs and sprinkle with salt and pepper. My foul-proof method for not bursting the yolk is to not touch the eggs at all until they are opaque — takes about five minutes. At that point, I flip the eggs, turn the heat off and let them stand for about a minute.

Finished product with a light sprinkle of Parm:

I overcooked the eggs a bit, but hey, it happens. Ideally, I would have had more yolk flow, but this was absolutely delicious as is.

The dish takes about 20-25 minutes total to prep and cook. I’m not even sure if I can call this a recipe since it’s so incredibly simple.

Mid-meal!

I am a big fan of this dish and I highly recommend you try it! It’s a great example of how “healthy eating” can be fast, cheap and delicious.

Newsworthy –

According to ObFo, both the House Committee on Education & Labor and Senate HELP Committee will meet this week to discuss child nutrition and obesity. Hopefully these hearings will mean real progress for Let’s Move!

I hope you had a good start to your week. I’m so happy it’s March — spring is so close I can taste it!

Refried redo

Tonight I made a refried redo. My little sister, Sara (well, no so little anymore, she’s going to college next year) told me that last night’s burrito looked “disgusting.” Gotta love sisters. Maybe it did look unappealing? I swear it is absolutely delicious — Kevin and my roommate Hannah can attest to this — they both love these burritos! Ideally I would have used fresh tomatoes and cilantro, but I don’t always have those on hand. I was aiming for an example of how to whip up something quick and interesting on a weeknight. Oh well. To each her own!

So here is an example of how to use last night’s leftovers in a different way — lose the tortilla and layer everything into a “burrito bowl” with tortilla chips to scoop it up.

Hopefully this looks more appealing!

I keep the avocado from turning brown by leaving the half with the pit in it as the leftovers (apparently the pit helps from browning). Also, since I was already using lime in the recipe, I made sure the avocado was covered in lime to keep it from oxidizing.

Another quick, simple and delicious meal on a weeknight. It’s so easy! The only thing you have to do is reheat the beans (even that’s optional!) and slice the avocado. It seriously takes five minutes.

Newsworthy –

Speaking of disgusting…

Have you guys seen this blog? It’s called Fed Up: School Lunch Project. “Mrs. Q,” a teacher, has vowed to eat the lunch served at her school for the entirety of 2010. The meals are seriously disgusting and I recommend taking a look at the blog. The national school lunch program is in serious need of reform. Hopefully the First Lady’s Let’s Move initiative can improve what America’s kids are fed everyday at school.

Here’s an example of how we can improve. Take a look at Wisconsin’s REAP program.

From REAP’s site:

“Connecting Children, Farms, and Food”

REAP’s Farm to School program is a grassroots initiative whose goal is to enhance Wisconsin schools’ existing meal programs by introducing fresh, nutritious, local and sustainably grown food to children. The program, like similar “farm-to-school” programs around the country, provide opportunities for children to reconnect with their natural world, strengthen links between the classroom and the lunchroom, and help establish a stable market for local farmers and processors.

This should absolutely be the model for the entire country.

Thoughts?

Vegelicious

I tried my first vegetable juice today! I ordered the mixed vegetable juice at Karen’s for lunch. It had: carrots, beets, spinach, celery, cucumber and parsley. Vegelicious! It took a minute to get used to, but it actually tasted pretty good! The carrots and beets sweetened it up and the parsley gave it a nice kick.

I also had a split pea soup with a lovely roll on the side

And for dinner…the last of my pasta with pesto, broccoli rabe and cherry tomatoes. This just got better and better as the days went on. I definitely recommend it as a cold salad!

Sad to have finished this…I’ll definitely be making it again! I ate dinner at like 4:45 today. Does that officially make me an old woman? Yikes. I have a water deficit going on today and that was most likely the culprit. Split pea soup almost always holds me over!

Yum-O.

Attention: I updated my Food Politics page, so feel free to check it out!

Newsworthy –

I loved the Amateur Gourmet’s Ten Rules for Food Blogging. Check out what Bart wrote on the chalkboard: I will not use a flash in restaurants. Ha! Ask any of my friends who’ve been out to eat with me recently — I am super embarrassed about using the flash, but my camera is so crappy that I need to! Please excuse my horrible photos guys, I have a feeling I’ll have a new camera once graduation rolls around

Case of the Mondays

Morning. I most definitely have a case of the Mondays today. I really dislike my classes this semester and that makes getting out of bed on Mondays (and Wednesdays) especially hard. Blah. Onto breakfast!

PBBT with freshly French pressed coffee.

I didn’t post any meals yesterday because they were not especially interesting. I also never mentioned that getting up my post on Blue Ribbon Bakery took about an hour and a half. Firefox crashed on me not once, but twice! Yikes. I finally found a way to upload the photos in a decent way, though.

Newsworthy –

Fooducate has a guest post by Chef Rob Endelman called Who Said Cooking is Hard? I agree with this post wholeheartedly, especially the following:

Cooking, despite what Big Food wants us to believe, does not have to be a time-consuming chore.  I’ll argue that waiting in line at the doctor’s office and pharmacy is the real energy-draining bore.

You do not need much to successfully cook for yourself and your family, save for simple ingredients and basic cooking technique.  I can’t shop for you, but I can help you realize that often just a little sautéing or stirring is all that is needed to produce meals that are far superior to packaged and processed foodstuffs.

Have a great start to your week!

Relaxing snack

Here is the never-ending lentil-quinoa soup. I still have at least three more portions in the freezer!

To relax after finishing my school work I made some green tea and snacked on a few small pieces of dark chocolate.

My “back on track” day:

• Breakfast: PBBT
• Lunch: Zucchini potato soup, roll and pear
• Dinner: Lentil-quinoa soup
• Dessert: Dark chocolate

I have been so dehydrated today. Blah. Hopefully I feel back to normal tomorrow.

Newsworthy –

Here’s Why Coke is Stronger Than Government

What do you think about Big Food and the food lobby?

More of the same

I know, I know…my meals are always more of the same! I at least started spicing up my PBBT with cinnamon (pun intended).

Is it weird that it takes me at least 30 seconds to decide which mug I want to use each morning?

Today, instead of watching the Superbowl, my girlfriends and I are going to cook lots of goodies. I don’t really like sports (sorry, Kev) and we decided that instead of going to a party and being forced to watch the game, we’d do our own thing. Guacamole is definitely on the menu. Maybe some nachos…maybe some chicken wings…maybe some prosciutto crostini with fig jam? They all sound like they go together right

Newsworthy –

ObFo has a post this weekend about an attack on Michelle Obama’s child obesity campaign. Basically, people are calling her out for possibly triggering eating disorders and violating her kids’ privacy by sharing with America how she became concerned about her family’s eating habits. These accusations are pretty outlandish and I think ObFo makes a great point:

The First Lady’s office has declined to comment on all the pre-campaign criticism, and rightly so. Why respond to criticism that’s based on not knowing facts about the campaign, or ignoring them? But beyond that, Mrs. Obama is telling a real family story about food and health. She’s describing how the family journeyed into epiphany on the relationship between food and health–and that’s the kind of epiphany that millions of Americans also need to arrive at–or we wouldn’t be in the middle of an obesity epidemic. Even better, the Obama epiphany occurred before the family arrived at the White House, when Mrs. Obama was just like plenty of other working parents in America–overstressed, juggling career and child rearing. It’s a good story to share. Mrs. Obama has spent months encouraging parents and families to make the kind of small changes that have big results–and whenever she’s spoken about it, she receives big lauds from her audience. Until now.

Over on Fooducate they’ve revealed that the FDA may be cracking down on “serving size” labeling. For example, why should a single serving bottle of Coke contain 2.5 servings on the label? At first glance, you’d think the entire bottle has 100 calories, but in fact it has 250. It’s deceiving to Americans and likely contributing to the obesity epidemic.

Also — really enjoyed this article on high school students in Brooklyn learning about the slow food movement.

Thoughts?? Enjoy your Superbowl Sunday — whatever you’re doing

Newsworthy

Breakfast this morning was an egg sandwich — I almost always have this on the days I work (Tuesday and Thursday).

Ezekiel bread is so dry! :-/

I had a refreshing iced coffee at the office.

And a PBBSandwich for lunch.

Without further ado, here is the salted caramel chocolate truffle recipe via Epicurious.

You need:

• 20 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, divided
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2/3 cup whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• Additional fleur de sel

You do:

Place 8 ounces chocolate in metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is smooth. Remove chocolate from over water.

Combine sugar and 2 tablespoons water in small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, occasionally brushing sides of pan with wet pastry brush. Increase heat; boil until syrup is deep amber color, brushing down sides and swirling pan occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add cream (mixture will bubble). Stir over very low heat until caramel is smooth. Mix caramel and 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel into melted chocolate. Chill until truffle filling is firm, at least 3 hours.

Place cocoa in bowl. Using 1 tablespoon truffle filling for each truffle, roll into balls, then roll in cocoa. Arrange on baking sheet. Cover; chill overnight.

Line 13x9x2-inch baking sheet with foil. Place remaining 12 ounces chocolate in medium metal bowl over saucepan of barely simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water); stir until chocolate is melted and smooth and thermometer inserted into chocolate registers 115°F. Remove bowl from over water. Working quickly, submerge 1 truffle in melted chocolate. Using fork, lift out truffle and tap fork against side of bowl to allow excess coating to drip off. Transfer truffle to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining truffles. Sprinkle truffles lightly with additional fleur de sel. Let stand until coating sets, at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature before serving.)

These truffles are truly amazing and totally worth the effort. My friend Amanda and I made them to give as gifts over the holidays and she recently made them again. I made them a second time on Christmas and followed the commenters’ advice to double the caramel. I also did not brush down the sides of the pan as it was bubbling away. My mouth is salivating just thinking about them!

Tonight I am eating dinner at Mercat for a friend’s birthday. I love Mercat and am so, so excited. I will be back with a review and photos tonight or tomorrow

Newsworthy –

My friends often ask me why I am or am not eating certain foods. Though I don’t rule out any food at all, I usually only eat meat in restaurants, when I consider the meal “worth it.” I also try to limit refined grains, especially white bread and pasta. I always have a hard time summing up my reasons in a simple way, but this review of Michael Pollan’s Food Rules sums it up:

Two fundamental facts provide the impetus Americans and other Westerners need to make dietary changes. One, as Mr. Pollan points out, is that populations who rely on the so-called Western diet — lots of processed foods, meat, added fat, sugar and refined grains — “invariably suffer from high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer.” Indeed, 4 of the top 10 killers of Americans are linked to this diet.

As people in Asian and Mediterranean countries have become more Westernized (affluent, citified and exposed to the fast foods exported from the United States), they have become increasingly prone to the same afflictions.

The second fact is that people who consume traditional diets, free of the ersatz foods that line our supermarket shelves, experience these diseases at much lower rates. And those who, for reasons of ill health or dietary philosophy, have abandoned Western eating habits often experience a rapid and significant improvement in their health indicators.

Good news –

Calming fears that scientific research would be hurt by the Obama administration, the budget request for the Department of Health and Human Services was $81.3 billion, up from $79.6 billion a year ago. And the National Institutes of Health saw its budget request rise by $1 billion, to $32 billion, more than was requested last year.

See ya!