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nuts and seeds August 24, 2010

Posted by molly in : fish , 2comments

while i continue my studies at bauman college (from afar) i keep finding so many tidbits about nutrition that i want to share on the blog. most of it is head-smackingly simple stuff: eat less sugar, drink less alcohol, etc. but sometimes, you know what you should be eating, but how to incorporate it?

the underlying philosophy behind bauman college is what’s called “eating for health“. it was originally designed as an alternative to the usda food pyramid (or in england, the eatwell plate). it adds in extra special nutrients called “booster foods” that will provide that extra dose of health in your daily meals. some might consider nuts and seeds to be an added extra in their diet – but bauman believes they should be a basic staple. booster foods include things like spices, algae, nutritional yeast, and seaweed. flaxseed, sesame seeds, almonds – these are perfect for snacking and sprinkling onto almost any meal of the day.

for example, the other night phil and i had fish with rice. of course, it was a bit more complex than that – the fish was beautiful organic salmon simply fried with olive oil, salt and pepper, and the rice was brown basmati with chopped apricots, chopped walnuts, toasted mixed seeds, and a mixture of spices. all of a sudden, our seemingly bland dinner turned into an omega-3 party!

seared salmon with brown rice pilaf

recipe adapted from waitrose magazine – serves 2

the particulars:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 garlic clove, finely diced
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 90g brown basmati rice
  • 30g dried apricots, chopped
  • 450ml vegetable stock, hot
  • 30g walnuts, chopped
  • 30g mixed seeds
  • 2 salmon fillets
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 1 lemon, cut into wedges
  1. over a medium-low heat, warm some of the oil in a pan and cook the onion for 8 minutes. add the garlic, cumin and coriander and cook for another minute.
  2. add the rice, apricots, and stock. bring to a simmer, then lower the heat, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes (until the stock has been absorbed by the rice). stir occasionally.
  3. meanwhile, warm a frying pan over a medium heat and dry-fry the nuts and seeds for 2 minutes until they are just fragrant.
  4. a few minutes before the rice is done, warm 1 tsp oil in the same frying pan used for the nuts and seeds over a medium-high heat. season the fish and fry for 3 minutes skin-side down, then for 2 minutes on the other side.
  5. stir the nuts, seeds, and parsley into the rice. serve with the salmon on top and the lemon wedges.

two week italian feast August 22, 2010

Posted by molly in : afk (away from kitchen) , 1 comment so far

some more recap goodness before things get back to normal with recipes and advice and whatnot… (all photos by the philtographer)

so, in between greece and italy, there was a week or so of absolute insanity – phil and i moved apartments (across the hall, but still), he baked a wedding cake in our small kitchen, we went to said wedding, had a caterer tasting dinner, and then less than 24 hours after that were on our flight to pisa. while our 15 days in italy were certainly relaxing (mostly), i think we were both a little anxious in the back of our minds about getting back to normal life, setting up our new place, getting some work done, having things installed, etc. which is why i’m actually not that sad about coming home after our holiday. i mean, of course, yes italy is gorgeous and wonderful and we had an amazing time – but it was unfortunately in the middle of a month where we probably could have used the time at home to settle things before taking off on another adventure.

but i don’t want to downplay the superb trip we took. it had been planned for months, and involved three distinct (and completely different) parts.

part one:

we flew to pisa airport, rented a car (try driving an automatic diesel engine car in italy and see what happens – it ain’t pretty), and drove to florence. spent 3 nights exploring that beautiful city. our quirky little hotel (rosso 23) was in a great location, right on the piazza di santa maria novella with great spots to sit and watch the world go by on a warm evening.

only one of the days was ruined by a raging thunderstorm (somewhat of a theme on this trip, more later) – but we happily spent a few hours in our hotel, waiting for the rain and thunder to pass, and went out for a fabulous meal as recommended to us by the hotel’s concierge. i’ll put links to all of the great restaurants we experienced in italy at the end of this post.

part two:

a two and a half hour drive from florence brought us up towards the alps, on a very windy mountain road just outside the bustling town of castelnuovo di garfagnana. there we found our huge villa where we would be living for the next week with 10 of our closest friends. the villa’s manager, giovanni, was so gracious – made us lunch when we arrived as he and his team finished cleaning from the previous tenants’ stay and told us some general top tips about the area. when our friends arrived later that day, we all took full advantage of the solar-heated swimming pool and had the first of many homemade dinners out on the terrace.

this was by far my favorite part of our whole trip – just being in a big house with friends, soaking up all the italian goodness, the food and wine, the sights and smells, the local villages and towns, our property’s wildlife (hope you like lizards and scorpions!), and relaxing in the sunshine for as much time as possible. we did a couple of day trips during our stay: once to lucca, a beautiful old town about an hour away, and another to barga, right after the second massive thunderstorm phil and i experienced during our trip. the clouds were amazing, hovering just below the peaks of the mountains for most of the day, creating a very surreal atmosphere – very unsettled but beautiful. our last evening saw us in castelnuovo for a big meal followed by the town’s opening night of a weeklong festival – we saw flag waving, italian dance parties, marching bands, and it seemed as though everyone in the town was out in the streets celebrating, saying hello to their neighbors. a great way to end the week.

part three:

back on the road, phil and i said goodbye to the villa and our friends and headed south, past livorno and on towards grosseto. our third location was somewhere in between the two cities, the nearest village called scarlino.

it was a very sleepy area of tuscany, and would have been beautiful had it not been for the horrific weather we endured on the drive down. after getting lost in the general area of our hotel for a little while, we eventually arrived only to find they were on their 3 hour lunch break (god bless the italians) – so we hopped back in the car reluctantly and found a great little spot for lunch in a nearby town where i had some amazing seafood salad – we were definitely by the coast now. our five nights at tenuta col di sasso were not as we had hoped, but still we made the best of our beautiful surroundings. we spent the day at a waterpark, went to a natural thermal spa another day, enjoyed the hotel’s beach the next, and wandered around the swanky of port town of punta ala another. but the highlight had to be the vineyard and restaurant across the street from our hotel – we brought back a bottle of red after the gratis wine tasting and enjoyed a truly special meal at sunset in the restaurant next door. our final day in italy was spent exploring pisa, as our flight didn’t leave until the evening. yes, we saw the leaning tower and took the obligatory photos…

so to wrap it all up, i can say that i: gained a ridiculous amount of weight from all the bread and pizza rosso… got a decent tan… feel confident enough to drive like a maniac on the autostrade… had a blast with phil and my friends… and can’t believe that the next time i leave the country (other than a visit to the states for new years) will be for our honeymoon in april!

delicious spots in tuscany:

back in action August 21, 2010

Posted by molly in : afk (away from kitchen) , 1 comment so far

hello hello! the summer craziness is finally winding down – it has been full of action and adventure, travels, delicious food, learning things, costume parties, suntans, sightseeing, friends, and just general summery goodness. i’ve got a few photos to share with you here – the first of a few recaps i’m planning on writing. i did manage to cook a meal and take photos of it last night – which felt strangely like learning to ride a bike again – so that will be posted in the coming days as well.

but first, GREECE!

this feels like such a long time ago. i joined my friends suzanne and nilo for 6 days in greece – 3 in athens and 3 on the island of mykonos – for an exciting holiday that i’ve been wanting to take for a while. greece is one of those countries i have always planned on visiting at some point in my life, so i’m happy to be able to tick it off my list! to be honest, i was looking forward to some hot weather and sunshine, but i was most excited about the food. greek food has always been a favorite of mine – give me dolmades and baklava any day of the week and i’m a happy girl. so i’m glad the girls took lots of food photos on our holiday!

check out the beautiful CALAMARI (i hope squid doesn’t make you squeamish):

the one and only piece of baklava i ate in greece, and it was a good one:

that last one is particularly attractive – but i was SO HUNGRY after ordering a salad at the pool bar, finding it was doused in a mayonnaise-y dressing, reluctantly having to explain to the greek bartenders that i had to ask for another salad sans dressing, and being harshly interrogated and rudely tutted at because of it. certainly learned my lesson on greek salads (that aren’t greek salads, if you know what i mean) that day.

i’d love to explore some of the other islands in greece eventually. it’s a beautiful country – and i go weak in the knees for a gorgeous seascape. our hotel in mykonos – i can’t recommend it highly enough. mykonos bay hotel. it was a 5 minute walk from mykonos town, where all the action is. has its own beach (although not the best beach on the island) and salt-water swimming pool (which i loved). the rooms are minimalist but you barely spend any time in there anyway. the morning breakfast buffet was wonderful. so much fresh watermelon, lots of greek yogurt and honey (wish i could have partaken), huge dates, and some cheeky baklava if you really want to be on holiday. if you do end up staying there one day, please say hello to nikos (the hotel’s main man and chauffeur)!

it was a very long day of traveling on our return home – a 4 hour ferry ride, followed by a muddled walk through piraeus port in athens (hot sweaty athens), then an hour and 15 minute metro ride to the airport, a 4 hour flight back to london, and then the standard hour journey on tube and bus back home!

but all in the name of some summer sunshine and fun fun fun. i can’t complain too much, can i?

after greece, came italy. but that is another recap for another day.

αντίο!

p.s. here are the restaurants we enjoyed, for future ref.

crazy summer August 1, 2010

Posted by molly in : afk (away from kitchen) , 2comments

offering you a quick update here amidst a seriously hectic summer to say hello and make sure you know that i haven’t forgotten about the particular kitchen and will be back with regular updates on my return from italy. we’re off on a tuscan adventure on wednesday – two weeks of italian bliss!

and hopefully by the time we get home, we’ll have internet in our new flat and life will resume to some degree of normalcy.

in the meantime, greetings from a pub in sheffield where they have free wifi and where phil’s whole family is staying for his brother’s wedding (which was last night and unbelievably gorgeous)! i will be back with you before this summer ends – got a serious backlog of posts lined up!

grilling lightly July 14, 2010

Posted by molly in : Uncategorized , 3comments

phil and i were all prepared to barbecue last night. we had a brand new bag of charcoal, a (semi)clean barbecue from the 4th of july, and a whole slew of vegetables. but then the rains came. oh the rains. and it was COLD. an evening straight from a textbook about the british summertime. so, instead we decided to cook indoors, using a griddle pan and the oven grill.

there’s always a way!

that being said, this is a very summery and light meal, and would probably be best enjoyed outdoors by the glow of the bbq. prepare the dressing and yogurt sauce ahead of time (with goats yogurt of course) warm up some pita bread under the grill, and relax with dinner.

grilled veggies with honey dressing and spicy yogurt

serves 2

the particulars:

  • 1 red pepper, cored and cut into strips
  • 1 aubergine, cut into thick slices
  • 2 courgettes, cut into diagonal slices
  • 1 tbsp pine nuts, toasted
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 wholemeal pitta breads
  • 100g plain goats yogurt (or plain yogurt of your choice)
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp harissa paste (or 1 tsp cayenne pepper)
  1. while the grill or griddle pan heats up, combine the honey, olive oil, and cumin seeds. toss the chopped vegetables with the honey dressing in a bowl and then transfer to the heated grill or pan. keep a high heat going and flip as needed.
  2. meanwhile, prepare the yogurt sauce by mixing the yogurt, lemon juice, and harissa or cayenne.
  3. once the vegetables are done, toss them with the toasted pine nuts. place the pitta breads on the grill to heat and crisp up a little bit before serving everything together.