Berry Delicious, An Obsession

Kyle and I made a trip to Costco this week and I must admit, we went a tad overboard.

The thing that cracks me up about the place is that you head in there to grab only a "few necessities" for cheap, and end up dropping half your bank account. Then, you return home, empty your goods into the fridge and realize that you can't, in fact, make a meal with six canisters of old fashioned oats and a three pound block of Parmesan.

Luckily, we did take advantage of the great selection of fresh organic berries, and they have been making appearances in my lunch every day since. In fact, I'm about to share with you an easy and decadent dish of mine that I think even berry skeptics/non-cooks alike can appreciate.

It has three ingredients. They are as follows:

Blueberries, blackberries and a blood orange. Looks good, yes?

You put the berries (washed, of course) in a bowl, helter skelter, however you like it. You can use any berry you like, for the record.

You then take the blood orange halves and squeeze all the juice and pulp onto the fruit in the bowl.

Voila. It's that simple.

There is an order to eat this side, of course. First, I savor the berries, as slowly as possible (although, when I eat by myself, I have a tendency to choke down food as though I were a ravenous dog. It's a bad habit). Once done, what's left in the bowl will look like this:

Then, I slurp all the juice out of the bowl. Wowza, is it all kinds of tasty. And don't you just love the shade of red? OPI should make a nail polish color after this; it is beautiful.

If you get around to whipping this up, let me know what you think... I'm a berry good listener, after all.

Happy Friday and have a fantastic three day weekend!

Breakfast of Champions

I'm about to share my current breakfast obsession (current's really not the appropriate word since I've long been obsessed with this dish... but I digress). Like most of the posts on this blog, there's a quick story behind it.

There are two things you should know about me: 1. I am a lover of toast and 2. I am NOT a lover of butter. People normally associate the two together, and I used to as well, until my sister ruined my enchantment with that particular breakfast pair. When we were kids, my mom would make it for us every morning: hot toast slathered with melted butter, and goodness, was it amazing. I took my smearing on the lighter side while Ginny equated more with better (as most are inclined to do, I think). However, her method of eating said toast was as follows: she'd hold up a piece to her lips and suck all the additional butter off the top before eating the bread. It would create a greasy ring around her lips, and even as a child, I was so thoroughly disgusted with the glistening butter on her face, I stopped liking it. I stopped eating it.

I began to eat dry toast... for the next 20 years. What can I say? When food aversions are created in my psyche, they last an awful long time.

Around the age of 25, I learned of pan con tomate. A Spanish dish, pan con tomate is thinly sliced bread, toasted crispy, rubbed with garlic and tomato pulp, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt. It is delicious. DELICIOUS. Once I started making and eating it, I realized how much easier it was to have with a little somethin', somethin' on it and my love of toast with olive oil and salt was born.

I am a believer in gourmet finishing salts, Maldon being one of my favorite brands. I think their texture is superior to the average sea salt you can find at your local grocer, and don't even get me started on the iodized table variety: it is for baking and baking only. A little fleur de sel or smoked sea salt sprinkled on top of any dish adds just the right amount of salty pop, and I'll use truffle salt for snacks like popcorn or yes, even on toast (gourmet breakfast, yes please!). 

I started playing around with different combinations and eventually realized how creamy avocado is on, well, anything. When that green fruit is on sale, I don't start dreaming of guacamole; I start salivating for avocado lemon toast with smoked sea salt.

It's very simple. Get a piece of bread and toss it in the toaster.

This is a choose your own adventure scenario: the bread type doesn't matter and neither does how toasty it is (although I will say it will hold the avocado better if it's texture has a crunchy surface with a chewy middle). We had a sourdough boule from TJ's laying around, but I often make this with grain toast.

While your bread is toasting, cut up your avocado and lemon. I find that half an avocado split between two pieces is perfect, and the juice of half a lemon works for both as well.

Once your pieces pop out, layer them with the thinly sliced avocado and douse them in a good squeeze of lemon. Top with a nice pinch of salt (and pepper if you so choose). This is the preferred salt I mentioned previously:

And voila (or viola, if you're inclined to string instruments)! A scrumptious, satiating breakfast is yours for the taking.

Don't be dubious of this if the combo sounds a little off to you. My BF spent the night at our place a few months ago, and she hesitated when I offered to make her some for breakfast. After some prodding, she finally said yes and couldn't believe how tasty it was.

En serio.

I should also mention it pairs perfectly with a cup of PG Tips tea with milk and sugar.

And how.

Happy Monday and happy eating...

Rainy Day Funk

Usually rainy days offer serious bursts of happiness for me. I'm currently typing this in a huge, bulky gray sweater, sipping tea and working on a few different projects, and while this should just add to the joy level of the blustery bad weather, here I am in somewhat of a total funk.

Does this ever happen to you? I like to think I'm a pretty upbeat person most of the time, but I've just been down since yesterday afternoon. No worries, I plan on getting out of it soon, but since I don't allow myself to wallow in self pity all that often, I'm declaring this a day for Elizabeth to be sad.

I'll go ahead and blame part of it on this cleanse. Day Two of no caffeine and only fruit and vegetables has made me lethargic and irritable. I don't think I was cut out for this way of eating; I need some grains and cheese and stat!

So, whilst working away, I've been listening to The Wombats. Have you ever heard of them? They're one of my favorite bands and, having seen them in concert, I can tell you they put on a massively good show.

I just can't resist a musician with a British accent (or three for that matter). All of their music videos are a bit out there, so I'm going with the song that seems to encompass my gloomy mood. However, if I can also suggest this, this and this song, you won't be let down, promise!



Everyone needs a rainy day bum sesh once in a while, oui?

Decaffeinated on a Monday

Lame-O post today, everyone. I've officially started the Reboot cleanse I was telling you about last week, and let me tell you, all work and no coffee makes Elizabeth a dull girl.

My brain is not functioning properly which is making me feel all the more pathetic being so dependent on caffeine, thus I thought I'd share one of my favorite poems to make up for the less than sparkling read. I'm sure many of you have read it before, most likely during the poetry section of your high school senior English class.  It's Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken," and since all poetry is open for interpretation (right?), I think it has to do with mocking people who regret the decisions they've made in their life. 

I will admit sometimes I have bouts with these feelings, the "what if I had justs?" They offer solace, but they can hinder you in the worst way possible. 

A dear person to me once said, "There are no do-overs for us in this life," and while the weight of that sentence can be downright depressing, solace can be found there as well, I think.

The Road Not Taken

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Fresh Thai-inspired Salad

I'm preparing to do a cleanse. This cleanse to be more specific. My friend, Fantastic J, nonchalantly asked if I'd like to join her last Tuesday as she decided (on a whim) to do it the following day, but still suffering from the wrath of Tetanus and looking forward to a party on Saturday with amazing food, I told her I'd hold off for two weeks.

I did watch the film that accompanies the Reboot Your System program which is "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead," and while I think they could've shortened it by oh, I don't know, 40 minutes, it was still eye opening.

Truthfully, I eat quite healthfully already. If it wasn't for sushi and the occasional awesome burger, BLT or baby back ribs, I'd probably be a vegetarian. Whole grains, veggies and fruit are my friends, and I try to visit with them at least a couple times a day. The only thing I'm really dreading about the 15 days straight is the no caffeine clause.

No morning cup (or three cups) of coffee plain old sucks.

Last week I whipped up this Thai-inspired salad and I've been obsessed since. The thing I love about it is you can pretty much use any veggie in your fridge and it will work beautifully. The dressing itself is simple and I should warn those of you who are afraid of fish sauce that it is a major contributor to the sumptuous, umami flavor of this healthy dish. It will not be as good without it... trust me!

Thai Veggie Kaboom
(please excuse the over-the-top cheesy name!)

Any chopped veggies or nuts you want (the salad in the photo has romaine lettuce, purple cabbage, jicama, red bell pepper, carrot and chopped almonds. Last night's had chopped basil and bean sprouts as well)


Kaboom Dressing
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce (or nuoc mam in Vietnamese... I like Tiparos brand and you can get it at some supermarkets and all Asian markets)
1-2 Tablespoons Water (taste after 1, add a little more water if it's too fishy... it will not taste fishy once it's on your salad)
Juice of 2 limes
Chopped cilantro
Chopped mint
Chopped red spicy pepper (only if you can handle heat)

Add all ingredients of Kaboom dressing. Arrange salad veggies/nuts on plate. Top with dressing (don't be afraid to use a lot to thoroughly coat the elements of the salad). Enjoy!

And actually, now that I think of it, fish sauce is another reason I can't be a vegetarian. Sorry, Alicia Silverstone!

Also, please share your variations with me. I think flaked, unsweetened coconut or coconut curried noodles would be a great addition to this recipe... What do you think?

My Favorite Drink (Currently)

Have you ever heard of Vitamix?

It's quite possibly the best kitchen appliance in the WORLD. Granted, for the cost of the thing, some people probably think it should be outfitted in gold (or at least dipped in silver), but I'm telling you, the price is worth it.

The blade and motor on this thing could make a smoothie out of pretty much anything, and it has the capacity to not only bring food to room temperature, but warm it as well. Also, it's blades are razor sharp, meaning it can finely chop or pulverize any skin or fiber that you would normally have to remove in the cooking process.

Whole foods = Happy body.

I've been trying to whip up a delicious green smoothie every morning for the last month and I think I may have gotten the recipe just right. I wouldn't recommend using just any old blender to make it (because honestly, it won't work). I'm sure there have to be a few high powered blenders out there that aren't Vitamix though, that will get the job done.

It has kale and coconut water and banana as well as other feel good food! It's also incredibly filling and satiates my appetite well past lunch.

Maybe being a Vitamix demonstrator is next in my bag of tricks? (I can see a couple of my friends reading that last sentence with horror)

In assembling this in your machine, make sure to do it in the right order. I made the mistake of being flippant about that, and through trial and error, have figured out why it is the way it is. 

Elizabeth's "It's Not Easy Being Green" Smoothie

Place ingredients into high powered blender or Vitamix in the following order:

• 3/4 cup coconut water
• 2 cups of kale (well packed)
• 1 grated, thumb size piece of ginger
• 1 banana peeled and broken into three pieces
• 1 green apple, with core removed
• 10-15 mint leaves
• 2 TBSP honey
• A lot of ice!

If you're using a Vitamix, start the variable on low and work it up to 10 speed, then flip it to "high." Blend for about 30 seconds, until everything is well incorporated.

Enjoy!

PS For the Moe lovers out there, his surgery was a success and he is now resting comfortably at home! Here's a photo of the car ride home, as well as him luxuriating while I spoil him to assuage my guilt!