Easy Guacamole

I have to tell you a story about the time I studied abroad in Mexico.  It was a hot September afternoon, and my friends and I decided to take a side trip to see the Aztec ruins.  We'd been touristing all day, and I was tired, sweaty, and in need of a break.  I told my friends to carry on without me, and sat down on a shady patch of grass to drink some water and relax.  A few minutes later, a fellow tourist came and sat next to me.  He was a handsome man in his mid 40s with salt and pepper hair and a mustache to put all the hipsters in Brooklyn to shame.

Want some sunscreen?  He offered me the bottle he was slathering on his nose.

No, thanks! I actually reapplied a few minutes ago.

Ah, good.  I just figured we gringo's have to stick together! He chuckled to himself.

The two of us sat and chatted in this shady patch of grass.  His name was Paul, and he was an actor back in the states. We talked about movies and cars and, eventually, we began to talk about food.  I learned that Paul, in addition to his other talents, was somewhat of a chef.

I make a lot of sauces, he said, my marinara is pretty famous, but I also really like making salsas, salad dressings, you know, stuff like that.
Oh ya? I'd love to try them sometime! I've been struggling to come up with a salsa recipe for a while.
Well that's the secret to great guacamole you know.  To make great guacamole you have to make great salsa.

And then, my friends, he gifted me with the most amazing guacamole recipe of all time.  The secret, is in the salsa.

-Recipe after the jump-

Summer Orzo with Basil Pesto

All of the tell-tale signs of autumn are ever so slightly starting to appear.  It's not quite light out when I wake up, the morning walk to my car is getting a little too brisk to be sleeveless, and many of my favorite summer food prices at the supermarket are beginning to drift back up (why can't we just have $2.50 pineapples forever??). I love love love fall, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet to say good-bye to long days and abundant sunshine. 

When summer nostalgia hits, the only thing to make is pesto.  There is nothing more summery than fresh basil. It's like those bright little leaves have stored up all the flavors of sunshine and are just waiting to burst out into a party on your tongue. This particular pesto is very easy to make and, tossed with an assortment of summer foods, was the perfect dinner to remind me that warm days are still here.

Side note: Patrick would like me to inform all of you that this is "So so good. Want more in my belly. Now." ...So there's an endorsement for 'ya.

-Recipe after the jump-

Savory Orange-Roasted Tofu and Asparagus

Up until I made this recipe, my entire life experience with miso consisted of two dishes: miso soup, and my father's oatmeal.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my Dad puts miso in his oatmeal.

Usually he accompanies this addition with the comment "Hey Katie! What does THIS remind you of?" while ceremoniously displaying a spoonful of brown gook.

As you can imagine, the obvious correlation he drew between miso and...other things I won't name here...didn't exactly turn me into an 8 year old miso fan. In fact, I've spent my whole life avoiding miso and assuming it tastes like some gross cousin to peanut butter. Recently however I've been trying to branch out of my normal food rut, and when I saw this recipe in my favorite cookbook I had to try it.

You guys. This recipe. Is sooooooo delicious. Thank goodness I was just cooking for myself, because after taking a minor break when my better senses said, "Katie stop putting food in your mouth!!" I returned to finish the whole thing in one night.

Miso is a bit expensive to buy upfront, but you don't use much at a time, and just a tablespoon has considerable nutritional benefits (what's up vitamin b12!). If you are also a little afraid of miso I think this is probably a great training wheels dish - the sweet of the orange juice perfectly counteracts the more salty qualities of the miso, and the tofu just soooooaks up all the goodness! Yummmmmmmm

-Recipe after the jump-

Spicy Tomato Bisque and Grilled Cheese

My best friend Jess and I have a relationship that borders on unhealthy.  We met as dorm next door neighbors our sophmore year of college, and by the end of our senior year we were literally spending 72 hours at a time together.  I'm talking sleeping over at each other's houses like 4 year olds, eating lunch together, going shopping together, joined-at-the-hip-weirdo friends.  Of course since college we've been forced to cut the umbilical cord a little bit (I'm sure neither her nor my boyfriend would be thrilled with exclusively double dates), but we still try to get together as much as possible.  This weekend we had the rare opportunity to spend more than 24 hours together again and it. was. glorious. All of Sunday was essentially devoted to a law and order SVU marathon, coupled with the creation of epically delicious comfort food.  I headed up the soup project, Jess took control of the grilled cheese, and then we ate everything in sight.  This soup is pretty spicy (cut back on the red pepper flakes for less burn), but paired perfectly with our more mild grilled cheese.  Jess made the grilled cheese on a caramelized onion focaccia, and used both sharp cheddar and mozzarella to get the perfect degree of ooey-gooey-goodness.  Seriously so good.

(recipes and more photos after the jump)

Tomato, Garlic, and White Wine Steamed Mussels

Good morning everyone!

In anticipation of what I'm sure will be a FANTASTIC FOURTH OF JULYYYYY I present you with yet another speciality a la Pat's dad.  If you missed my post yesterday, suffice to say he's awesome.  

This dish is great for three primary reasons: 

       1) Mussels are tasty 

       2) Serving steamed seafood is ooooh so chic and New England-ey

       3) It's actually preferable that you make this a few glasses of wine deep

Now I'm off to an island somewhere to set off fire works and do other things that might qualify me for a Darwin award

America! America! La la la America!!!!! SEE YA LATER!!!

Sloppy Joes

I think we all remember that scene in "It Takes Two" where Mary-Kate shows the world the correct way to eat a sloppy Joe.
...No? Just me? Why aren't you all huge Mary-Kate and Ashley fans?????
Suffice to say, girlfriend knew how it was DONE when she was 9.

Just to be clear, the way it is "done" is pretty much to just smash the sandwich into your face, getting meat and sauce everywhere.  Thoroughly enjoy the sticky, gooey mess and red stained cheeks that result.

In case you haven't noticed yet, I'm not big on red meat, so when I started craving the sloppiest possible meal last week I decided to come up with a leaner turkey alternative.  I seriously modified a beef recipe I found on allrecipes.com, and I couldn't be happier with the results!  This sloppy joe is just as it should be: simple, no frills, delicious, comfort food.

Spicy Quinoa with Black Beans, Corn, and Tomatoes

Whenever I hear the word "superfood" I imagine a cucumber flying around in a superman cape sprinkling vitamin dust on little children's cereal.  MAYBE superfoods aren't actually as cool as that....but I'm gonna go on believing that they are.  

Take quinoa for example.  To start, it is hands down the trendiest food in town.  In the last six months or so it catapulted from a relatively obscure health food, to practically dominating food magazines, the foodie blogosphere, and restaurant menus across the city.  Why shouldn't it?  Just 3/4 of a cup contains a whopping 14g of complete protein, 6 g of fiber,  and copious amounts of B vitamins, iron, potassium, and tons of other nutrients.  

Ask not what quinoa can do for you, but rather what you can do with quinoa.

This recipe is (once again) something that started as a mash up of foods already sitting in my pantry, and ended up being awesome.  It's excessively easy (the actual amount of work probably takes a total of 10 minutes), and although I ate it as a main dish, it would be equally great as a side dish to add some color to your plate.  The cheese is optional, but in the words of Julia Child, "You can leave it out....but you'll regret it."