Forage: 2-Ingredient Ice Cream Bread

This is wizardry. Like, serious magic. This YouTube Video from the Simple Cooking Channel was being passed around on tumblr and I figured I'd give it a shot:

Spinach salad with feta, blackberries, honey-glazed walnuts, and balsamic dressing

Yeah, there has to be a better (re: shorter) name for this recipe. I'm not really in the right headspace for contemplative blogging with thoughtful recipe names right now. I'm about to graduate from school and it's finals time and I'm desperately looking for fulfilling employment. . . . You might say I have bigger fish to fry than wordplay. Maybe.

Adventures in eating

This past weekend, I went to the Passport DC event with some friends. 55 embassies opened their doors and allowed the public to walk through their embassies, ask questions about their countries, and even sample their food. We went to Iraq, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, Botswana, and we almost made it to Australia and the Philippines. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing the art, hearing the music, and hanging out with my friends before we graduate.

Green smoothie

I am no health nut. I think maybe the blog speaks for me, in that respect. I do love vegetables though, even if I haven't posted a lot of veg recipes yet. Brussels sprouts, bok choy, broccoli--it's all good. One of my favorites though, is spinach. It's so versatile. It shines in salads, alfredos, and, one of my favorite Korean banchan dishes, sigeumchi namul.

However, this post is not about highlighting the glories of spinach. It's about burying it deep in a blend of yogurt, banana, peanut butter, and almond milk. It's about hiding its flavor so well, you can't identify what makes this smoothie green. I discovered this recipe last year and drank it frequently last summer. I gave it up during the cold months, because smoothies don't appeal to me when it's snowy outside. It's spring though, so now it's time to break out the blender!

Banana chocolate chip donuts with peanut butter frosting

I've mentioned my donut maker before. It gets way more use than you'd think a specialty kitchen appliance would get. This is really only because my brother's top requests for food are donuts and buttermilk pancakes with bacon, in that order. ::le sigh:: I envy his young man's metabolism.

Microwave omelette, forage

I am so sorry for not keeping up with the blog lately! Grad school is winding down and I'm looking for jobs and writing my thesis, two things that don't mesh well with finding time to write out my cooking process and recipes. While you're waiting for me to put up something more complicated (I have meatloaf and banana chocolate chip donuts with peanut butter frosting coming up!) why don't you try making an omelette in the microwave?

Cacio e pepe, forage

Look at me, bella. I'm like mac and cheese, only classy, because I'm Italian.

I'm in my last semester of grad school, which is so awesome. And so terrifying. And so busy, coincidentally. This means I've been eating out more than usual and eating meals that take less than 20 minutes of active prep time to create. Thankfully, some of these meals might be things you may need instruction on how to replicate, so I have something about which to write on the blog. I don't think you guys need my help, for example, recreating my delectable PB&J crackers lunch from yesterday or the hard-boiled eggs, spinach and blue cheese dressing I tossed together for lunch today. 

Cautionary citrus

I am not a lawbreaker.  I hesitate to break most rules, in fact. Unless they bother me. Or I think they're unfair. Or they get in the way of the cranberry orange muffins I didn't know I wanted until I saw fresh citrus almost within my grasp. OKAY FINE. Ya got me. What's that statement they ask on personality assessments? "I sometimes think the rules don't apply to me." I may be more of a rebel than you'd think. Don't worry though, my days of being a hardened criminal are over and done with (. . . slash never lived).

Chocolate mousse with the most secret of ingredients

Seriously though, if you want less than adventurous people to try this, don't tell them what's in it. It tastes so good and it's worth a little treachery to get your friends and family on board with TOFU chocolate mousse.

Here it is, dressed up with salted peanuts and pretzels. You don't need them to really enjoy
this mousse, but since I didn't have a pie crust, this was a good textural element.

Summer rolls with a cheater's peanut sauce

After almost a week of eating gelato and tacos and pizza and iced coffees with house-made cinnamon syrup and condensed milk, my friends and I decided we needed something a little lighter. I also wanted to make something simple that would allow us all to participate. I mean, it involves a heck of a lot of chopping, but after the initial prep work, everybody can prepare their own rolls and it's like a healthier, more fun taco bar. At least, that's what we all thought. I think it's because the "cheater's peanut sauce" was really good and you could pour it over anything and people would eat it.

A delicious summer roll. Most of them ended up looking oddly overstuffed
because we were so hungry and wanted to put everything in them.