If you know me at all, you know that one of my favorite things to do is eat. Thankfully, I've also learned to love cooking over the past few years. What started as a chore has become a great creative outlet and fun thing to do with my hubby after long days at work. After not eating yummy things in college because I didn't know how to make them, I decided one day that I would just learn. There is such a freedom in being confident in the kitchen! I am no where near as accomplished as I could be or hope to become, but at least feeling confident substituting ingredients or having intuition about how long something should cook, simmer, or bake for is a place to start. I'm always looking around for new recipes and inspiration and thought I'd share some of our tried and true favorites witih you. I have made these dozens of times and love the flavor, consistent great results, and ability to create my own take on each recipe. Plus, they are easy as can be and completely delicious. 1. Spanish Rice. If you haven't bought the Mad Hungry cookbook, go do it right now. I'm serious. Most of our meals come from this amazing, easy to read guide by Martha Stewart's Food Director, Lucinda Scala Quinn. Spanish Rice is the perfect one dish meal: hearty and homey. 2. Chili. Another favorite from Mad Hungry, we love the kick of this chili. I usually skip the first step (making your own chili paste) to save time and instead dice up extra pickled jalapeños to add spice. 3. BLT Chopped Salad. This is a new discovery and it has changed our view of salad forever. With bacon, feta, avacado, and cherry tomotos, this salad will not leave you feeling hungry. Plus, a homemade lime vinegrete takes it the extra mile. 4. Sloppy Joes. A little juvenile, but supper quick and supper yummy. I usually pair with mashed or candied sweet potatoes, or baby red roasted potatoes. The Joy of Cooking is a great resource for simple how-to's like, well, how to make the perfect mashed potatos. I use it as my kitchen goggle. It has a great index which you can use to look up questions from how to cut a pineapple to how to cook a duck. 5. Quiche Lorraine. This is a total indulgence recipe for those ever-special Saturday morning brunches. Thanks to my darling friend, Carol Anne, for finding and sharing! It's truely one of the best quiches I've ever had. 6. Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas. Easy Mexican: does it get any better? These are a great week-day dinner. Pair with fresh guacamole or chips and salsa. 7. Tikki Masala. Do you love Indian food? I've got you covered. This recipe from Mad Hungry: Cravings (Quinn's second cookbook, a guide to how to make the things you crave most) gives you a perfect resturant style tikki masala that you can make at home. Prep is minimal and the cook time isn't too long--you just have to buy a lot of spices before hand! I might add that Mad Hungry has a blog with a full recipe index! I couldn't find the recipes mentioned above--as they are part of the print edition books--but there are so many others to check out. Let me know your favorite recipes, week-day cooking tips, or more in the comments. Happy Tuesday cooking!
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I found myself walking north up 5th Avenue, towards the Park. It was Wednesday, very cold, and by 12:30 had already been a whirl-wind day, the kind of day where it takes you about five minutes to close out all the tabs on your work desktop before heading out to lunch. With unusual decisiveness I had made up my mind to take a long lunch; my mind needed a good airing out. As I walked hurriedly, fur hood pulled close around my ears, I almost ran smack into two girls I used to know at college. Running into people you know in the middle of the city is always a surreal experience. Many an author and movie and song pay tribute to New York's ability to hide you. This feature has its darker side, but it is also one of the things I love best about this place. You can walk happily along without any pretentions; no one cares what you are wearing or doing. Happily alone in the swirl. It shouldn't surprise me by now--I run into people I know all the time. Having lived here almost 5 years (!), I am bound to know a good number of faces. But still. To take a moment to brag, other's I've run into include Karlie Kloss, Taylor Swift's bestie. It was in the West Village, and she was on her post-Sunday-brunch-jog. Her neon Nike sports bra was fierce. At just about this spot--5th and 43rd-- a few years ago I also came across the cast of Glee while they were filming. It must have been in the winter because all I remember is that my hands were freezing when I tried to take a picture. But by far, the coolest person I have run into is Leonardo DiCaprio. Spring semester of last year, hurrying to class, head down like a true New Yorker, avoiding eye contact and buzzing past the slower lane of walkers who insisted on taking pictures of One World Trade Center from every angle. A curb approaching, I glanced up and spotted a very ugly, ragged looking man walking towards me. Dismissing him, I eyed his companion: a leggy, tottering blond with a smirk and a latte (not from Starbucks). "She's just the type Leo would date," I thought. Honest. It dawned on me. I was so close I could have touched him, which I did. Just joking. Instead I ran all the way to school, yelling to the security guard and all fellow students my good luck, and finally collapsing in a tizzy at Student Services, where Laura and Kendall helped me hyperventilate. (EDITOR’S NOTE: It must have been when he was filming The Revenant. It was his greasy beard that was so off-putting and veiled his otherwise lovely appearance). I was so flustered that I didn't have the wherewithal to snag a picture. Apparently in the time between freshman and senior year my celebrity-sighting-response-skills have decreased. Below, taken a few months after moving to New York, my shot of the wonderful Hugh Jackman, caught exiting a play on Broadway. I had just left The Million Dollar Quartet, and he was coming out of some talk show. I got him to look in my direction by screaming, creatively, "HUGH JACKMAN----LOOK AT ME!" But I digress. Despite the desperate cold, the city looked fine this week. Clear, brilliant, and fast. On my lunch breaks I ate yummy left overs at my desk, then darted out for brisk walks, sometimes on Park, sometimes on 5th, and sometimes even all the way to 3rd. I discovered a lovely French patisserie on a side street near the Library. Delightfully, a macaroon shop opened across the street from work. An old man gave up his seat on the train for me on Friday, so I got to read my book and it was a treat. Another day, a sweet stranger and I shared an inside joke on the train when I made an "I give up" face at the pushing throngs and she thought it was hilarious. And to top it all off, I have--all at once--some amazing food in the fridge: roasted butternut squash soup with apple, curry, and bacon; spaghetti with creamy meat sauce; and homemade tikki masala. It's been a good week. Here's to the next, in which I will try to remember the little things I have to be grateful for. |
Authorwife to a med student and mama to three under three, seeking the joyful and learning to live by faith. Find me on Instagram and Pinterest or shoot me an email. I'd love to hear from you!
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