Beating the heat

So like the rest of the country, Boston was in quite a heatwave these past couple of weeks, and I can't say I'm sorry that it's finally broken. I do not like heat. I would much rather freeze to death than burn. Heat makes me anxious and cranky and ill-feeling and worst of all - it steals my appetite. Being cold is preferable because a) you can warm yourself up more easily than cool yourself down, and b) cold weather is very romantic. Think about it, you get to wear fashionable coats, scarves, gloves and hats, and huddle for warmth with a special someone; the cold seasons bring magical weather with falling autumn leaves and sparkling snow; and of course, food in cold weather is all about heat and comfort and indulgence - roasted meats, baked root vegetables, savory sauces, mulled wine and cider and as many different hot pies as you can stomach.


And now I can't wait until Christmas... Anywho, so the heat made cooking with the gas range quite undesirable, and I went searching for something cool, fresh and easy to make. I found just what I was looking for at The Kitchn, Apartment Therapy's cooking blog. (Btw, Apartment Therapy is downright addicting and a really fascinating, fun and inspirational site - go now.) The recipe was for bún, a refreshing Vietnamese noodle dish that I had fallen in love with while in college in Worcester, MA, a city saturated with Vietnamese restaurants and shops. While I love the dish, I admit that I had forgotten how perfect it was for summer heat, and probably never would have attempted to make it on my own without a recipe.


It's extremely simple: a bed of vermicelli rice noodles piled high with raw leafy greens, herbs, cucumbers, bean sprouts and a protein (I used fried tofu), with a sweet tangy sauce of soy, lime and sugar.

While admittedly the boiling of the noodles and frying of the tofu required use of the stovetop, it literally lasted about 5 minutes, and was well worth a little sweat. This dish hit the spot with cold, sweet noodles and fresh crunchy produce from the farmer's market. GP and I made it several times and holed up in our one air-conditioned room to enjoy it.


But as I said, the heat has finally broken, and it's been raining for a couple of days. I did manage this before the sun disappeared:

because I wanted to do something 'summery' and go to the beach and eat seafood, my hatred of heat notwithstanding. So I'm a bit tender at the moment, treating myself with aloe outside and in. Tonight my co-workers and I headed to a newly renovated restaurant nearby, 49 Social, and I had the Cherry Bomb cocktail (cherry rum, aloe, lime and Thai basil). It was sour and tasty and the restaurant was very nice. I'll probably Yelp about it soon...


So that's all from me. I'm going to use this rain to my advantage and try some warmer dishes like udon noodle soup and a puffed pastry tart. Mmmmm.

In Defense of Jamie Oliver

So this is turning out to be my favorite birthday present that I received this year:

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution Cookbook is straightforward, funny, quick and delicious! I also find it cute that you can tell the book was originally published in Britain, for Britons, because it's got recipes for a full monty breakfast. yorkshire pudding, and plenty of fish dishes and curries. Some recipes also call for Marmite, a purely British yeast-extract spread similar to the infamous Australian Vegemite. (Never heard of it? Then you must never have seen this.) Though we have yet to dive into the seriously-UK recipes, GP and I have really enjoyed cooking and eating all of the meals we've tried so far, namely:

Shrimp and Avocado with an Old-School Marie Rose Sauce
(weird ingredients, great taste)

Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle
(in this case extra penne and fettucine was substituted for tagliatelle)

and

Thai Green Curry

But last week we made my favorite recipe from the book so far. Not only was it simple, very healthy and uber-yum, it was just gorgeous to look at:

Italian Pan-Seared Tuna

What made it so pretty? The bursts of color from a package of Trader Joe's heirloom tomatoes. I just couldn't get over how visually appealing they were! I gave them their own photoshoot:

Just look at those fresh, fragrant, colorful ingredients. I had never eaten heirloom tomatoes before, and had only ever heard the term used by chefs and the most epicurean gourmets. But, having fallen in love with this rainbow of Solanum lycopersicum, I bought a bunch more at the Harvard Square Sunday farmer's market and can't wait to use them.

So thank you once again Jamie Oliver, for exposing me to new and delicious ingredients!! A big thank you also goes out to GP, who perfectly cooked the Albacore Tuna. I usually make him cook the meat. It may be a gender stereotype for the man to, well, 'man' the grill, but I'm a little overly-freaked out about the potential for food borne illness that comes from improperly handling and under cooking meat.

And while we're talking Jamie Oliver, I'd just like to make it clear (as if I haven't already) that I love his ideas and what he's doing to change the way the western world eats. We need someone loud and noticeable, with substantial resources to raise a stink and get people to eat well again. I'm bugged by people who write him off from both sides - on the one hand, people like the (fairly scripted) radio DJ from the first season of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, a red-faced, thick-necked West Virginia man who chomped on his takeout burger while telling Jamie he and his fellow townspeople didn't want to eat lettuce all the time. Jamie's reaction: *cockney accent* "I'm not gonna make you a lettuce!"

Then on the other hand, are the super-health foodists who think Jamie isn't helping overweight people enough, because he shows them how to cook skinless chicken breasts with olive oil, as opposed to encouraging them to pull a dietary 180 and become no-added-fat raw food vegans. (In all fairness, SoulVeggie does ask if this would be too drastic a transition and supports Jamie overall, but I'm sure his sentiments echo many uber-health eaters.) If both sides would just look at Jamie's website, read his cookbooks and learn about his campaign goals, I feel that they would understand him better and realize that their criticisms are unfounded. Jamie isn't pushing any particular health food agenda, and yes he uses mayonnaise and bacon in his recipes, but his overall goal, in his own words, is "saving lives by inspiring everyone to get back to basics and start cooking good food from scratch." He's trying to get people to stop eating processed crap and start eating real food. So while raw vegans may bemoan that he teaches kids how to make ice cream, he at least teaches them how to make it with sugar, milk, cream and fruit, not 57 artificial ingredients from unknown sources. And for those who are most comfortable with comfort food - Jamie's got burgers and pizza on the menu, but they're better for you and tastier, because they're full of veggies and encourage you to visit your local butcher and actually know where the meat comes from.

My problem is just that people jump to conclusions without looking into things (an earth-shattering revelation, I know), and in this instance, where there are so many people dedicating their time, money and goodwill to make all of us, and our kids in particular, healthier - why are you complaining?

Food on the Fourth

Happy Fourth of July!

I think the advent of the Fourth has finally reminded New England that it's summertime, because today the heat finally showed up - with a vengeance. I may just have felt it more because the boyfriend and I have not yet been able to install an AC. So what do I do on my day off right after I wake up in an 85 degree apartment? I preheat the oven to 400 because I'm going to make a pie.

You need pie on the Fourth of July - remember that apple pie has long been synonymous with America. But while I didn't make an apple pie, I made a peach berry pie to finally take advantage of the summer berry crop. Berries also tend to be another popular facet of Fourth of July eats, as shown by the ubiquitous American flag cake which cleverly arranges blueberries and strawberries (I wonder if France or England use the same berry color schemes for national celebrations?).

I modified this recipe, reducing the sugar and replacing the 3 cups of blueberries with about 2 cups of chopped white peaches and 1 cup of chopped strawberries. It's a long story, but I don't eat blueberries. Taste of Home is one of my varied sources for recipe ideas. I like that the recipes are both site- and user-generated, and that you can browse them by the hundreds using very specific criteria, i.e. healthy cooking, quick meals, vegetarian, eating for two, etc. While admittedly there are plenty of comfort food recipes that call for lots of mayo, sour cream, cream of whatever soup and 'processed cheese food', there are also plenty of healthier, whole food options that provide lighter takes on classics.

My peach berry pie is only the third pie I've ever made, and the first I've made where the filling didn't come in a can. I figured I'd go for broke and even make a lattice top. The result:

Not gorgeous, but not too shabby if I do say so myself. I'm eating it now and I'm very happy with it - it's not too sweet, the crust is flaky and it definitely gives me that 'mmmmm...pie' feeling. Now I actually didn't make the pie for any Fourth of July gathering. For the past few years the bf, GP, and I have gone to his family's annual cookout where there's always huge amounts of snacks, salads, grilled meats and plenty to drink. We went to that yesterday and, neither of us being very keen on crowds, have spent the Fourth puttering around the apartment, cooking, cleaning and working on weekend projects in between bouts of heat-induced catnaps.

And for dinner? I was planning on an Asian chicken salad of my own invention - lettuce, radishes, carrot, edamame, mandarin orange and chicken - but for some reason both packages of chicken I bought on Saturday from our local Trader Joe's smelled awfully like rotten eggs and had a strange white bubbly skin on them. Needless to say we tossed them both. As a side note, I absolutely love Trader Joe's, though ours tends to have a lackluster produce department, but I have never had a problem with their meat before. Not sure what happened. Anywho, we made a straight up 'Asian salad', incorporating some extra bok choy and scallions we had. We also modified a dressing recipe from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook and made it with soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, ginger, sesame seeds and sriracha (rooster sauce). It was delicious and cool for a hot evening, and left plenty of room for PIE!

Well, that was my Fourth feast. I can hear the fireworks booming outside right now. What's your favorite Fourth of July food?

I think I've found my passion

So here it is. The beginning of my honest attempt to keep a blog - something I promised a friend I would do, and something I have been wanting to do for some time. Why now? It could be that after 8 months in my new apartment, my interior decorating projects are coming to an end and I need a new focus. It could also be that it's July 3 and we're getting into the thick of summer with the promise of more time off work, more outings with friends and new summer flavors to explore and document.

And why food? Anyone who knows me will probably be surprised that I plan on making food the central theme of my blog, so allow me to explain. Last fall, I moved to Belmont, MA into the first place I could call 'my own', after an emotional roller coaster of a summer - fresh out of college, unemployed, living with the parents, then under-employed, moving out of state, living with the boyfriend's parents, then getting my dream entry-level job but living in a friend's closet with a 2 hour commute. As soon as I was settled, I decided to take advantage of the town library just down the street. I happily signed up for a card and checked out a book I had been meaning to read for a long time:

I knew nothing about The Omnivore's Dilemma, or about Michael Pollan, but I remembered my close friend and vegan roommate reading it while we were in college, and I was intrigued by the title and admired the rich colors of the cover photo. That's where it all began. This book opened my average-consumer eyes to the hidden world of industrial food production in the U.S., as well as to the varied food cultures that exist throughout the country. Nothing I had ever read previously had made me so equally appalled, enraged, intrigued and inspired. Appalled and enraged because I felt like I had been deceived; that the true stomach-churning origins of so many common commercial food items - beef, chicken, soda, salad dressing - had been hidden from me and most other consumers, the ones who trust that a chicken nugget is made with chicken, cornmeal and oil, and don't consider investigating the matter further. But I also felt intrigued, as I became desperate to explore this hidden world of food production and the disjointed food cultures of America's many diverse consumers.  I was also inspired to make a radical change in the way I approach food, and to encourage my loved ones to do the same.

Therefore, to ensure health and happiness, to respect nature and my body, and to reject the corrupt and inefficient industrial food system, I've now made it my goal to purchase and prepare real, whole, unprocessed and organic foods as much as possible. Okay, there's my crunchy statement. I've really never been an activist, and I've never waxed poetic about the environmental or health benefits of a vegetarian meal, but with all that I've learned, I'm really pissed off. Reading Michael Pollan's books and Eric Schlosser's classic Fast Food Nation, along with watching Food, Inc. and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, has proven to me that it is a social, political, economic, cultural, medical and environmental struggle to eat right in this country - and it shouldn't be that way. How sad is it that children these days are the first generation to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents? Or that 3 (#1, #2 and #7) of the top 10 leading causes of death in America are largely caused by poor diet? Something is seriously wrong, and I need to at least make it right for myself and my family, if not for everyone.

And making it right is fun and easy, and means you get to eat! To get away from frozen burritos and pizzas I've had to teach myself to cook. That has led to exploring and experimenting with different cuisines and ingredients, and that has led to my learning tons about cultures, traditions, nutrition, health benefits, cooking techniques, wines, restaurants, politics, science, farms, animals, plants, flavors, textures, the list goes on! I'm loving it. I have re-discovered food, its beauty, its mystery, its excitement, and all of the rippling effects of choosing what to put on your plate and in your body. Food is personal - its what keeps us alive, so we should celebrate it, share it, and frankly, not let anyone f*** it up (as unfortunately they have).

My new-found passion also excites and encourages me, as I am in that phase of life where I need to figure out what I want to do and who I want to be (not that either of those should ever be definitive). I've known for awhile that I want to go to law school and my interests and academics had been steering me toward immigration law. But now with this fire in my belly, I'm thinking that public health may be more my style. I'm eager to do whatever I can, for whomever I can, to represent the cause for responsible, sustainable policies and practices that safeguard and encourage a healthy populace.

So there you have it. For months I've been filled with mounting 'positive anger' as Jamie Oliver would say. I've attended a couple of food-related events and webinars, have begun networking with like-minded individuals, and have inundated myself with books, articles and documentaries, and I only want to do more. This blog will be a place for me to share how I progress with my food passion - what I'm reading, what I'm cooking, what I'm feeling - along with random posts about the interesting bits of my everyday life. I hope you'll enjoy reading!