I am trying to avoid carbohydrates and starches as much as possible for health reasons (and not being very successful). For this reason, I like it when I happen upon a tasty looking Paleo recipe. I do not follow the Paleo diet by any means, but I do agree with some of their basic assumptions – like grains and processed vegetable oils are bad, and animal fat is good.
I liked this recipe even more when I saw that it was for the slow cooker. Loaded up with carrots, cauliflower, onion, garlic, and chicken stock – a pot of goodness!
Now, I usually don’t like chicken thighs, especially skin-on and bone-in, but I get that breasts dry out and fall apart so I followed the recipe on this one. Picking around the bone was still pretty irritating to me, but that skin that I crisped up (twice) in bacon fat? Yum city. I also threw a little fresh thyme in here because I grow it and why not?
The flavor is rich and satisfying, really great as comfort food. I will say that the proportions of this recipe as written are off. There is so little meat on these thighs that it would take 3-4 to fill someone up, especially if you don’t make some other kind of side (greens would have been so good!). And there was a huge amount of puree – I had enough leftover after serving to turn into a soup! So next time, I would double the amount of chicken and will reflect that in the recipe below. (more…)
This month is the 25th Anniversary of Virginia Wine Month, which I didn’t know about until last week. I also didn’t know about DC Wine Week, which kicked off it’s 3rd year last night, until I got a special invite to attend some of the events. You see, the co-founders are social media marketing experts, and they scour the web looking for locals who might get excited about their events. And let me tell you, I was excited.
Lisa Byrne and Vanessa French started DC Wine Week as a celebration of all things wine, but especially of local wines and the places that serve them. So it makes sense that they chose Veritas Wine Bar (one of the best wine bars in the city and, I’m told, one of the first) for their opening event.
This was my first time at Veritas, but I would love to go back. The selected wines were all new to me, and all fantastic; and the cheese and charcuterie pairings were outstanding on their own, but also some of the best examples of food and wine pairings I have ever experienced. These guys know what they are doing. Period. Special shout-out to Uri Martinez, who took really good care of us even though the place was packed. They do seem to serve their reds at room temp, whereas I like them around 55 degrees, but it’s hard to find anyone who puts a little chill on a red.
I don’t have many photos of the event, so here are some shots of me doing silly poses. You’re welcome.
Wines and Pairings
1) Sparkling, Rossignol de Moragas, ‘Brut,’ Cava, Penedes, Spain, NV – This was clean, crisp, and dry (everything I love in a sparkling wine) and paired with some fantastically meaty (read: not thin and dry) prosciutto.
2) Sparkling, Cricova, Spumante Original, Brut, Moldova, NV – As much as I liked the first wine, I liked this one even more. Also crisp and dry, it had a lot of floral going on that brought out the more complex flavors (like juniper) in the wild boar salumi it was paired with.
3) Chardonnay, Slo Down Wines, ‘Broken Dreams,’ California, 2012 – Oh my gosh, you guys – this wine. My favorite of the night, possibly my new favorite ever. This is not your standard buttery CA Chardonnay (which is good, because I don’t like those) – full bodied and fruity (think tropical), this reminded me more of a dry Riesling. It was paired with a firm sheep’s cheese from Spain called P’tit Basque. The guys who make Broken Dreams are hilarious, and the wine is less that $20 a bottle. Seriously, check it out.
4) Viognier, Barboursville, ‘Reserve,’ Virginia, 2012 – VA is famous for Viognier, so of course there had to be one on the list! This particular one was very nice, with a good amount of terroir (aka funk). We really loved the cheese it was paired with – a firm cow’s cheese with peppercorns from Oregon called Marco Polo. With the wine, I was picking up notes of citrus and herb in the cheese – super yum!
5) Pinot Noir, Laetitia, Arroyo Grand, California, 2012 – Light bodied and dry with notes of cherry, this was paired with a killer braseola. It didn’t set off the allergic reaction I get with some Pinots, so that was definitely a plus for me!
6) Tempranillo, Baron Ladron De Guevara, Rioja, Spain, 2012 – Medium bodied, dry, and jammy and paired with an outstanding duck rillete. Neither of us really likes pates or terrines, and we loved this rillete, so that says a lot.
7) Sparkling, Aecovi, ‘Penelope,’ Jerez, Spain, NV – This was another favorite. Very sweet, a sparkling dessert wine, with honeyed apple notes that reminded me of a Tokai. Paired with a creamy and salty blue cheese.
And here is Jasper – drinking and thinking. What a cutie!
This event was super fun. I learned a lot, I met some cool people, and I had some really great food and wine. Be sure to go to www.dcwineweek.com and sign up for one of the events!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but warm quinoa salads are kind of the go-to for my friend, Melissa, and I (like this one, and this one, and this one). So when we didn’t really have a lunch plan a couple of weeks ago, we decided to throw some her CSA veg into, you guessed it, a warm quinoa salad. I would apologize for the repetition, but these salads are healthy and filling and delicious, so I’m not sorry!
This time around, Melissa was drowning in fall squash. So we diced up a butternut and threw it in the oven with a sliced onion.
Meanwhile, we cooked up our pretty tri-color quinoa and tossed in some toasted pine nuts. You could easily sub walnuts or pecans instead.
In went the roasted veg and some arugula, along with some fresh thyme. Again, you could easily sub another type of green (I do love peppery arugula, though) and whatever herbs you have on hand.
Lastly, and certainly not least, we added in some goat cheese. We both seriously love goat cheese. We mixed half of the cheese into the salad to get it melty, and crumbled the rest on top so there would be nice pockets of it.
Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese
original recipe, click here for Melissa’s post
serves 4
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small onion, sliced in half-moons
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 cups baby arugula
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss the squash and onion in olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper.
Spread the veggies in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet covered in foil. Roast for 25–30 minutes, turning the veggies over halfway through. When the squash is tender, remove from the oven.
Meanwhile, combine the quinoa and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until the water is absorbed and the curlicues pop out. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir the pine nuts, roasted veggies, thyme, arugula, and half the goat cheese into the quinoa; crumble the rest of the cheese over top. Serve warm.
I actually made this the same day as the shrimp galette. Two galettes in one day? Girl. Get a hold of yourself. I can’t though, I have a problem.
No seriously, I have a problem. The second pie crust in that package needed a home, though! Right? Bad foodie, using store-bought. I don’t care, don’t judge me! Oh lordy, somebody please help me.
Fresh blueberries tucked inside pie crust with a smear of sweetened cream cheese – heaven (even if it springs a leak and starts bleeding purple juice) (more…)
This is one of those transitional dishes that takes you from one season into another – the last of the summer corn, combined with dark leafy greens in a warm tart. The original recipe didn’t have any protein, but it did use feta and dill, so I thought shrimp would be perfect.
If you don’t eat shrimp, then no problem – leave them off. The veggies and cheese are hearty enough on their own. (more…)
I am trying to eliminate, or at least greatly reduce, my carb intake. But, man, I just really love pasta. If anybody else is struggling with this, and I’m sure there are many, this is a really great recipe. I know what you’re thinking – it’s not the same – and you’re right, it’s not. But I don’t think you will miss the pasta when you discover how much flavor and texture these have!
Mmmm – veggies. I got my mandoline out, thinking it would make this a breeze, but it turns out that my particular one really sucks at using the whole length of the vegetable. So I switched to this bad boy and it worked brilliantly.
The colors! Now I really like using spaghetti squash if I have a great sauce, but this recipe has more color and flavor, making it great on its own.
Bonus – I followed the recipe and used red onion and garlic, but I think that you could use shallot in place of both and make it even simpler! Super bonus – it cooks in less than 5 minutes!
Sauteed Vegetable Julienne
adapted from Skinny Taste
serves 2-4
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz zucchini, cut into julienne strips (with a mandolin or peeler)
8 oz yellow squash, cut into julienne strips (with a mandolin or peeler)
4 oz (1 medium) carrot, cut into julienne strips (with a mandolin or peeler)
salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and onions and cook until fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more.
Increase heat to medium-high and add the remaining vegetables, season with salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the vegetables are tender-crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Adjust salt as needed and serve hot.
Here’s another quick, end of Summer post for you – melon pops! Half cantaloupe, half honeydew, all yummy.
They are made with just melon pureed with a little agave (optional). The layering looks really cute, and is easy to do, but you could do whole pops of one or the other melon. Quick, easy, healthy treats – yay!
Melon Pops
Makes 10 pops
1/4 cantaloupe, cubed
1/4 honeydew, cubed
agave, to taste (optional)
Place the honeydew cubes in a blender and puree. Add agave, if using, keeping in mind that the pops will be less sweet when frozen.
Pour the honeydew mixture into an ice pop mold, being careful not to fill more than halfway. Freeze until slushy, about an hour. (Don’t be like me and let it freeze solid, preventing the layers from sticking together – doh!)
Repeat the process with the cantaloupe, being careful when adding it to the mold not to mix the layers. Insert wooden sticks and freeze until solid.
Ugh – sorry folks, I’ve been bad about posting this last week! And this post is going to be pretty short, too. We are finally on our way into Fall, but the transition has been slow and there is still some stone fruit to be had. I am still really into tartines at the moment, so I paired sliced nectarine with goat cheese, prosciutto, and basil for a quick lunch.
Then the store finally had some burrata in (this is a seriously random occurrence, you never know), so I paired that with some ripe peach, basil, EVOO, balsamic, and sea salt.
We finally got to try out Top Chef Alum Mike Isabella’s DC restaurant Graffiato. Of course by now the buzz has died down and he has opened 2 other restaurants, doh! But that’s okay, it means it was easy to get a table, even on the weekend. The restaurant is trendy and urban and almost a little hipster, with rustic wood tables and graphic, cartoon wall murals. The cocktails are inventive and the wine list is good; they are even using a new type of device that let’s them pour from a bottle without removing the cork and without introducing oxygen, so that they can do wines by the glass that never would have been available before. Nifty. The food is Italian style small plates, which overall were quite yummy. It is overpriced, though, which is what you get with “celebrity” chef’s in already pricey places like DC. So just be prepared for sticker shock if you go.
First small plate was burrata with kumquat and shaved smoked pork loin. A beautiful mix of creamy, sweet, tangy, smokey, and salty – A+.
Next up was the charred octopus, which was good but wasn’t as charred as I would like it and definitely wasn’t better than Nostos’s.
We also had the focaccia with Mike’s famous pepperoni sauce, which I didn’t get a photo of. I was surprised at how good the sauce was, considering I am not a fan of pepperoni. Jasper, who loves pepperoni, was a big fan.
Ravioli special – chicken and mushroom. This, along with the sweet corn agnolotti that I didn’t get a photo of, was the best dish in my opinion.
This pappardelle with rabbit was good, but not great.
It was the same story with the seashells pasta with snails and bone marrow – good, but not great. Here I think the problem was a mint pesto that was overwhelming.
We were focused on ordering small plates to get a sampling of the menu, so we weren’t able to order a pizza. I hear that they are fantastic, so I would like to return to try one (the countryman, in particular). I would say that the stuffed pastas are smaller portions than the other pastas, but have much better flavor; the burrata was a standout; and the pepperoni sauce is worth the hype. If I hadn’t been with my meat loving husband, I would have loved to try some vegetable dishes. Isabella treats his ingredients with care, so I imagine that he could make a simple vegetable dish amazing.
Overall, worth a try if you can afford it. Valet is available, but it is right next to the Chinatown Metro stop.
I saw this on Pinterest and thought it looked like a great idea! Put a bunch of ingredients in a pot, boil it for 10 minutes, and the cooking water becomes the sauce – cool!
Unfortunately, the first time I made this I followed another blogger’s recommendation and used vegetable stock instead of water for extra flavor. Big mistake. The stock I used was darkly colored and had a very strong flavor. The end result ended up tasting like pasta with gravy – gross. The soupy flavor totally overwhelmed the tomato and basil, and it was really just not good.
But it seemed like such a good idea that I wanted to give it another try. Water, not stock, this time; and no red pepper flakes (too spicy for me).
This time it worked great! The starchy pasta water cooks down and clings to the pasta like a sauce, and the tomato basil flavor is nice. I still prefer a traditional Pomodoro, but this is great if you don’t have a lot of time and only want to use one pot. Some things to keep in mind – stir frequently or it will stick to the bottom; make sure to cut the onion really super thin because it doesn’t cook for very long; fresh roma tomatoes will give you the best flavor; and don’t break your pasta to make it fit into the pot, after the water starts to boil the ends will become soft enough for you to fold the pasta down. (more…)
