Warm Chickpea Salad

This past weekend my parents came into town, which is a rare treat. While I do love them to visit as often as possible, when it comes to travel I prefer to be the one making the journey to my hometown. But this was exciting, my Mom had been to visit a little over a year and a half ago but my Dad hadn’t come to visit since 2006 so we really did it up. AND… since this might be the last time they visited while I lived in my lovely Brooklyn neighborhood, I had planned for us to hit up one of the hotspot restaurants I still hadn’t had a chance to go to- Al Di La.

Now if you’ve lived in New York, and/or have ever looked at a must-go Brooklyn restaurant list Al Di La almost always makes the cut. Innovative and delicious, it’s been touted as some of the tastiest Italian food in the area. But I wasn’t sure if the hype was worth it… so I took my parents. The verdict: after a fairly long, albeit expected, wait as well as a mishap with their credit card machines (the machines weren't working the whole night- so we had to be cash prepared) we had some pretty darn delicious food. Would I go back? Absolutely! Would I go back on a weekly basis? Probably not- but on a random weeknight when the crowds should be somewhat thinned out and I’m looking for a good place to eat out in the hood this would be a top choice.

Creamy Avocado Pasta

My goodness. This was super yum. And just what I needed after a stressful day followed by some much needed spin. With the upcoming move I'm trying to get into the "get rid of" mode, as opposed to my usual  nightly stops by the fancy market or deli to satisfy an immediate craving (i.e. the warm chickpea salad I'll be posting about soon). And if anyone has ever seen my freezer, it's filled to the gills. Mostly with frozen meats, veggies, and leftover meals to take into work, but there's also a pig head for stock, all variety of nuts, butter, cheese... you name it, it's in my freezer. So between that and my overflowing pantry, plus whatever I'll grab once a week from the market I'm set to start chipping away at my current food stockpiling.

So heading home on the subway, both hungry and exhausted I thought of what I could possibly make that would take less than 30 minutes, be somewhat healthy, but also satisfy my craving for comfort. I had pinned this recipe a few days ago and it came to me on the subway, and once I got home I tweaked it to fit what I had on hand. I also left it hot because... timing mainly. But I'll try the leftovers chilled tomorrow and see how it adds up.

Roasted Jalapeno Chicken Pot Pie

Food on Film

I've worked in plenty of restaurants, but always in the front of the house. None of them were spectacular places by any means but it always struck me, for as much as I love and am so inspired by movies revolving around fabulous food and misunderstood chefs and that scrappy restaurant that could, I have absolutely no interest to be in the back of the house. It's funny though because people always tell me "Oh you should've been a chef" or "Do you ever think about opening a place." No and no and absolutely no regrets or what-ifs. And it makes me wonder if those people telling me these things have ever even stepped foot in the back of a restaurant. Maybe that's the general thought, by everyone who has never been "hey mami'd" 20 times a night (and usually worse) or was screamed bloody murder at for being 5 minutes late dropping off a plate... that it's just like in the movies.

Loving to cook is only one tiny piece of the puzzle that makes up a good chef, much less a great one. It's not pretty and by no means glamorous. And it was never the lifestyle for me. Even running to the dry pantry to grab supplies or to pick up food being expedited, I knew I was not meant for that back of the house world. But I love watching the pretty, Hollywood-ness on film. It may not be my calling in life and I may know from the start that it's far from reality, but I can content myself with film. And something about watching these movies, seeing these passions play out, well that's inspiration enough. So it got me thinking about my most inspiring food movies. Here are a few:

Lamb with Roasted Jalapeno Harissa and Pearled Couscous

These days have been flying by, in a way that will never fail to amaze me. I didn't really connect that it was the middle of March until this morning, as I belatedly changed my clock radio for daylight savings and saw the date flashing as well, March 16th. The weather lately has seemed like an amazing gift, but in no way had I wrapped my head around the fact that spring was fast on my heels. But here we are, and I find more and more that instead of talking myself into embracing a day, I'm just rushed along into it and in a way that makes time just fly. And that's ok. That's the way spring should be.

Lamb is such a spring meal and with the shift in weather I've felt a shift in my taste buds as well. Roasts and stews and anything heavy or fatty is out. I'm craving salads, Mediterranean flavors, crispy veggies and puckery lemon. Cold hard cheeses like ricotta salata  and feta or chiffonade mint sprinkled over some pearl couscous with just a drizzle of olive oil and maybe a slab of grilled zucchini or eggplant. Perfection. But right now this is about lamb. And a delicious harissa.

Turkey Sausage and Collard Greens over Horseradish Polenta

Healthy, easy, fast. The theme of my meals thus far in 2012. I mentioned in my previous post that my most frequent go-to dinner lately was a poultry sausage of some kind, a green and a carb. Pretty basic. But then you jazz it up a little with a pretty spectacular turkey sausage with wild mushrooms and cognac, some quickly sauteed collards and garlic and then an amazing horseradish polenta and you have my meal tonight, in under 30 minutes from prep to plating.

I love chicken or turkey sausage mainly because it's pre-cooked and packed with flavor. Not that cooking an uncooked sausage or a chicken breast, for that matter, would take that long but it really does make all the difference. It's also great for portion control and keeping groceries within the budget... 1 link is perfect for dinner for me, and then I have 3 or 4 left for another night. And the green could really be anything. Collards, kale, broccoli... you name it and it'll more than likely work. But I particularly love how sauteed collards have a great texture that works so well with a creamy carb and a rich turkey link. The true piece that sets this meal apart and above though is the horseradish polenta. Just potent and spicy enough to provide a great punch of flavor and horseradish over say cheese or cream keeps it a lightweight base.

Caramelized Mustard Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Blogging has been near impossible lately. I can blame it on any number of things but mostly it stems from just the very basic human need to just eat and forgo the whole archiving of the meal which blogging necessitates. Also I've been making a lot of my "safe" meals, things I can put together in just a few minutes, or some half-hearted "homemade" meals, the type using pre-made chicken sausage with veggies and a carb. Nothing special, certainly nothing blog worthy. So tonight I decided to keep it simple, but interesting. Enter Brussels sprouts, which for any normal person this would be a great side. But after a long day at work, and then running around my apartment the minute I got home with cleaning, laundry, entertaining a kitty and then wanting to be on the couch by 8pm for my Bachelor night (ugh, but true), well a warm salad sounded perfect.

And I loved this combination. Tangy and sweet, a little crunchy and smokey... it was another mostly me throwing things  together I thought would work to create a pretty damn good dish. And while I love the perfect marriage of Brussels sprouts and bacon, the bacon isn't completely necessary, for any vegetarian or weight watching friends out there. There's already so much flavor, it's just one more layer. But the absolute best thing was how quickly it came together. Not even 10 minutes prep, then 15 minutes on the stove and then that's it, dinner is done. My kind of Monday night (or let's be honest, any week night) meal.