Monthly Archive for April, 2011

Here Here!

Published on April 29, 2011 in Holiday. 0 Comments


Congratulations to the happy couple, HRH the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge!

Did you get up at the crack o’ dawn to take in the festivities (or did you cheat and DVR it like me)? Did you don a fascinator (shout-out to Nadia and the British crew in BsAs!)? Have a cup of tea? Were there tears (I must admit, I shed a few — I always cry at weddings, and I also couldn’t help but think about how proud Diana would’ve been; I’ll save my Princess Diana funeral story for another time).

In celebration, I give you this gift (although a vintage Aston Martin wouldn’t be too shabby either).

*sigh* I love weddings.

Photo by AP

Wanderlust

Published on April 29, 2011 in Inspiration and Travel. 0 Comments

So, I’ve been crushing on This Battered Suitcase, a new-to-me blog, for the last few weeks. And it’s high time I shared it with you so you can live vicariously, as I have been. If you’re anything like me, it will also kill you to read it because Brenna, the author, is basically traveling around Asia for a year. Lucky girl! Some of the places I’ve been, some not, but it’s all fun to see it through someone else’s eyes, particularly such enthusiastic and open-minded ones. She’s having adventures, meeting people, bouncing from beach to temple, bustling city to sleepy village, and while I’m just along for the ride, it’s a damn good one.

More importantly, it’s inspiring me to plan our next trip. I’m overdue for a visit to my friend who’s been living in Hong Kong for 10 years(!), which could be a great jumping off point to explore some countries I have yet to visit, like Laos and Indonesia.

Then there’s Berlin, Turkey, Croatia…and those are just my top three. There are so many places I still want to see and adventures yet to have. So, what’s your travel fantasy? Where are you dying to go next?

I’ll give you the weekend to think about it. Have a great one!

All photos © This Battered Suitcase

Healthy Eggplant Parmesan

Published on April 28, 2011 in Italian, Main Courses and Sauces. 1 Comment

I really do love eggplant. I feel like it’s one of those vegetables that gets short shrift. Eggplant is misunderstood — first off, it’s sort of weird-looking, it’s purple. People fear the purple factor. And there’s this whole mysterious salting thing — necessary or not? (answer: depends). To peel or not to peel? And so on. But it really is so very tasty, and it’s excellent made this way. This way being a healthier baked-not-fried eggplant parmesan and frankly, the eggplant part is so good, half of it didn’t even make it into the rest of the dish (little hands kept dipping into the stash in the fridge, and I don’t mean mine…my hands are huge, but not in that Tina Fey Bossypants way. No man hands here, really, I swear).


I also ended up doing a shortcut version* first, which also depleted the eggplant supply (and why you’ll notice that in the photos I ended up using an 8″ square dish instead of a 9″ x 13″). I’ll probably do this version more often than the actual full-on recipe because you get all that great eggplant flavor and tomato-cheesy goodness without having to do the assembly and baking steps. Whichever version you end up making, it’s a win-win.

Notes:
A lot of recipes say to peel the eggplant to reduce any bitterness, but I was reading this book (which is amazing, btw) and she claims if you have fresh eggplant, it won’t be bitter. You also don’t have to do the salting step because you’re not frying the eggplant, so there’s no worry about it soaking up a ton of oil (because there isn’t any!). You can make it super-healthy by using all tofu rather than ricotta for the filling or half and half, which I did this time around. You can also use part-skim mozzarella instead of whole-milk, and you really don’t miss it.

Healthy Eggplant Parmesan

2 (1-pound) eggplants, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon buttermilk (water works fine too)
2 cups whole-wheat panko (the store only had Italian-seasoned ones, which worked out well)
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated (use Pecorino Romano if you’re lactose-intolerant)
Salt
Black pepper

Filling:
1/2 cup torn fresh basil
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 container firm tofu, crumbled (or you can use ricotta or a mix of half and half, which I did this time)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

3 cups tomato sauce (like this or a good-quality jarred sauce like Rao’s)

1-1/2 cups (12 oz) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded or sliced
4 tablespoons Parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 375°.

Whisk the eggs and buttermilk or water in a shallow bowl. Combine panko and 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano in another shallow dish. Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, then dredge in panko mixture, evenly coating the slices including the sides. Place the slices on a Silpat-lined sheet pan (or use a spray) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden, flipping each round once and rotating baking sheets halfway through.

Combine the filling ingredients (basil through egg) in a mixing bowl.

To assemble, spread 1/2 cup of the tomato sauce in bottom of a 9″ x 13″ baking dish. Layer half of eggplant slices over pasta sauce. Top with about 3/4 cup tomato sauce, followed by half of the tofu mixture, then a third of the mozzarella. Repeat layers once, ending with about 1 cup of the tomato sauce. Top with remaining third of mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover with aluminum foil if you have it (I didn’t). Bake for 25-30 minutes, taking off the foil for the last 5 minutes or so. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

* SHORTCUT VERSION:

After the eggplant rounds are baked, spoon a bit of tomato sauce on top of each, followed by some shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Top with a sprinkle of fresh basil and broil for about 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Serve on a bed of greens.

Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

Published on April 25, 2011 in Desserts. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Game Off! Yes. I am finished with my little experiment and while our team captains* total our scores and we wait for the results, why not celebrate with some ice cream? Except this isn’t ice cream, it’s frozen yogurt. And it’s not even whole milk frozen yogurt, it’s low fat. And you know what? It’s still pretty damn good. And it feels like a splurge. See? I’ve already changed my approach to eating. Success!

And this is coming from someone who’s pretty serious about her ice cream. I mean, I know ice cream. Many of you may not realize that I am speaking as a former Baskin Robbins employee aka B ‘n R buddy. This is serious business here, folks. Picture this: Shoppingtown Mall, upstate New York, circa early 80s, brown corduroys (I refused to wear those horrible polyester pants), pink, orange and brown striped shirt and too many hilarious teenage high jinks to count, some involving cans of whip cream, some not. That’s all I’m saying without my attorney present.

But I digress. So, this frozen yogurt. It’s really quite good. It’s made with Greek yogurt, which means it’s also packed with protein, so yippee for that. While I used the 2% fat version, I think you could get away with the 0% if you were feeling really virtuous, but next time, I may have to try it with the 4%. Also, the chips. You really must use a bar of really good chocolate and roughly chop it into shards. Chocolate chips are too big and get too hard and don’t disperse a high enough chocolate-to-yogurt ratio (I know this because I was not thinking clearly when I opened the bag of chocolate chips; I was too busy pouring them into my mouth and then, not thinking, just dumped them into the ice cream maker. Oops. Nothing a quick whir in the blender couldn’t fix). Or you can do what David Lebovitz does with his chips, he of the genius ice cream cookbook, The Perfect Scoop. I’m going to try this next time too. Oh hell, I’ll probably be really bad and just make full-fat ice cream next time. But I will definitely make this yogurt and different variations on a regular basis. Because of my new mindset. Yup. I’m a changed woman.

So, when you finish a diet or juice fast or whatever, what’s the first thing you stuff down your gullet? Inquiring minds wanna know.

Notes: You can strain the yogurt in a cheese cloth-covered fine mesh strainer over a bowl to extract more liquid and make the yogurt thicker, but I didn’t find it necessary.

Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

Based on a recipe from Sweet Paul magazine

1 bunch fresh mint, roughly chopped
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup sugar (granulated or cane)
3 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups Greek yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup dark chocolate nibs/shards/slivers

Combine the mint with the water, sugar, honey and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for a couple minutes until the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and let it steep for an hour or so. Strain the mint mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Add the yogurt and buttermilk to the bowl and whisk to combine.

Follow the instructions for the ice cream machine you have. I have the Cuisinart, so here’s what you do if you have that one. Take out the frozen bowl from the freezer (it’s ready if when you shake the bowl, you don’t hear any sloshing of the liquid inside) and pour in the yogurt. I ran the machine for 25 minutes, then added the chocolate shards and ran it for another 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture into an airtight container and freeze for another couple hours to firm it up, but take a few bites first, just to make sure it’s not poison. Nope, not poison.

This wouldn’t be terrible with a few slices of banana, some chocolate syrup and maybe a healthy dollop of whip cream on top. Mint sprig garnish optional.

* Happy Birthday to Julie — even though technically you’re the enemy, I still love you!

M.I.A.

Published on April 12, 2011 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Hello. It feels like an eternity since I posted, although technically it was only last Friday. I must say, being on the Game can have a detrimental effect on food preparation (not to mention consumption). For the last 3-1/2 weeks, I’ve been subsisting on a lot of Greek yogurt, almonds and cheese, which doesn’t actually sound like a healthy diet, now that I write that down. Of course, I’ve been drinking tons of water, exercising six (six!!) days a week and eating all kinds of veggies, but the fact is, I’m not really cut out for this whole “restraint” thing. Or let’s just say it doesn’t come naturally to me. I am a woman of whims and whim-type behavior just gets you into trouble when you need to control your food intake.

Having said that, I’ve been remarkably good…haven’t cheated even once! Of course, on the Game, you get one meal and one whole day off to eat like a Survivor contestant who’s won some food challenge (is that show even still on?). The weird thing is that when those days roll around, you’re so focused on making your weight for the week and getting all the points you can, that you don’t really want to go hog-wild. It’s weird. I was discussing it with Janice, the nutter who roped me into this madness, and we agreed that it’s part competitive spirit and part not wanting to let your teammates down. I suppose the idea of this whole approach is that you are learning to eat in a healthier way and that’s what’s going to stick with you even when you’re not playing the Game.

Anyway, that’s where I’ve been food-wise. I find that I’m falling back on the same three or four  super-healthy dishes that I know, but I also am starting to rethink some recipes that I have and how to make them Game-friendly. In fact, I’m working on what would normally be considered a very unhealthy dish and will post soon with what I hope will be the successful result.

There’s only so much you can do with tofu.