lentil veggie stew

 

Lentil veggie stew with dandelion greens, served with couscous and some mozzarella cheese. This was seasoned with all of my favorite spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, nutmeg... note to self: next time add a cinnamon stick!) and aside from the bitter dandelion greens - which I will not be bringing home again anytime soon - it was soso tasty.

rainbow pizza monster

 

Just playing with different flavor combinations. Used a yellow heirloom tomato for the sauce this time, which gives off the lovely peachy orange color that sadly is not very evident in this picture. Toppings: thinly sliced caramelized onions, red bell peppers, mozzarella, and loads of arugula (a little too much, actually... I had to take off some leaves and stems for the photo, woops). Super colorful, and vegetarian this time.

I'd like to use this space to complain that most of the dishes I make take half as much time to eat as they do to prep and cook. Based on this, I can only assume that I should (a) be more efficient in the kitchen or (b) learn how to eat more slowly, like the French. Option B sounds good. I should go to France and have them teach me firsthand. (And now you know the real reason why French culinary schools are très chic.)

halloween pumpkin-carving

I've been involved in pumpkin-carving activities exactly three times in my life. The first time was in pre-school, and my job was to take out the pumpkin guts with my bare hands (it was cold and gooey and seriously traumatizing). The second was over a decade later, during my freshman year at Cornell, when GCF held a pumpkin-carving contest. I don't remember it clearly - I know there was a lot of pumpkin-hacking going on. Mostly I watched the action from a safe distance.

This year I participated in APO's Halloween pumpkin-carving event. Pumpkins upon pumpkins upon pumpkins were provided, along with some really legitimate pumpkin-carving tools. I worked with three other girls and this is what happened (ghosties and Harry Potter pumpkin! - we were so proud):

 
 

couscous fritters with kale & crispy bacon

 

Terrible photos (Instagram, you've failed me!) of a really delicious dinner from the other night: couscous fritters with kale and crispy bacon. The couscous fritters were so easy to make. You just mix about a cup of cooked couscous with your choice of flavors - I used fresh cilantro, cumin, ground coriander, salt, and pepper. Add a glug of olive oil, a tiny splash of water, and an egg to bind it all together. A minute on each side until golden brown and you're good to go. This is probably an easy way to play around with different tastes... maybe for an extra fancy kick, leave out the cilantro and press a sage leaf into the couscous before frying it (something I saw on an episode of "Jamie at Home" over the summer).

Pair with a nice glass of wine (Chardonnay, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Zinfandel all seem to be appropriate options according to WinedIn) and a good movie (I recommend "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" - who cares that it came out way back in 2004? It's so dreamy and sad...) and enjoy.

pizza monster

 

Ridiculous (but easy) pizza concoction that I made for dinner on an equally ridiculous (but not so easy) day. I still have no tomato sauce, so I just made my own with one of my lovely heirloom tomatoes and a freakishly large clove of garlic. Topped with some torn up mozzarella, arugula, and a bit of bacon. And extra virgin olive oil. Of course. You'll notice that all of these ingredients are laying on a bed of green. That's because in addition to tomato sauce, I also have no pizza dough. I ended up using a spinach wrap instead. (I wasn't kidding when I said it was a pizza concoction.) Popped the whole thing into a 350º oven for 15 minutes and voilà, done.