Beets Me!

I always have this delicious salad in my refrigerator, I eat it ALL the time.  It's quite the popular pot-luck dish, if you're in need, and what's our favorite word, people?  E-Z!  Wicked easy, as my Boston-bred hubby would say, (but he doesn't like beets, who IS this man?!)  I made this up, here 'tis:
First, you roast the beets.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I use large beets, and I generally roast three at a time.  Place them in a baking dish with about an 1/8 inch of water on the bottom, salt, and cover with tin-foil.  Cook for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the size of the beets, they're ready when a fork easily pierces them.  Take them out and let them cool.
At the same time, make two cups of quinoa.  (Read the package, it's 2 to 1, come on, even I know this!)
Once the beets have cooled, the skins will peel off very easily with your fingers, and, just f.y.i., your hands WILL get beet red.  Gotta get dirty!
Dice the beets, dice cucumbers, chop some dill, smash some walnuts, crumble some feta cheese, and add all of this to the quinoa.  I mix in some olive oil and either red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar, but any favorite salad dressing will do, salt and pepper, toss it all together and chill.
I eat this with a scoop of tuna, some grilled chicken, a veggie burger or turkey burger, it's really yummy and satisfying, also very enjoyable on it's own, you choose.  I dare you to not keep whipping this up!

Hi my name is Leslie, and I'm addicted to...

MY VITAMIX!!!

Our spicy, tomato, veggie morning juice

Is this gorgeous or what?!
Okay fine, GUILTY, I actually follow things that Gwenyth Paltrow likes, uses, and passes along to her followers, but there are SO many chefs that swear by the VitaMix, I just had to indulge, and SWEET BABY JESUS, it's astonishing.  It can do so much, (yes, peanut butter), and WAY more than I know or have experimented with thus far, but there's something I make every morning for my family, juice.  It's awesome, you can sneak in greens and things that a lot of kids won't touch with a ten foot pole, AND it's not a juicer, so it's beyond easy to clean, but it's more than a blender because it purees the hell out of everything.  Whether it be a fruit smoothie or a juice, you can put so much in that's not detectable, even cabbage, blech, and no one's the wiser.
This particular juice consists of:
4-6 Tomatoes
1/2 Carrot
Bunch of Kale
Bunch of Spinach
Couple Slices of Ginger
One Stalk of Celery
2 Splashes of Cholula Hot Sauce
2 Tablespoons of Chia Seeds
Ice

Blending in "Lincoln Park After Dark" nail color

The whole family wakes up and enjoys a juice

Obviously, I'm not THAT vain, because this here is me in the morning for all to see.  Oy.
Oh, and cleaning this sucker, all you do is put in some water and a squirt of soap, hit the blender, (don't forget the top!), let it run a minute and rinse her out.  HELLO!  She's not a cheap machine, but I believe it's a great investment, one that'll be around a long time.  It's got a 5-7 year warranty, and I recommend calling Vitamix directly rather than buying it in a store, because they're so helpful, have great deals, and shipped it to me FREE!  (You may be getting the point that I love FREE!)  www.Vitamix.com 1-800-848-2649.

MacBook vs. Marinara

I have the most delicious, easiest roasted tomato sauce for y'all, but first, a story reflecting my profound moronicness:
Henry and I were skyping with my mother, and I was telling her about this amazing tomato sauce I made.  I explained it to her, but she wanted to know what happens to the tomato skins, so I said, "Oh wait, I'll show you, LIVE!"  So I got the tupperware from the fridge, opened the top, and tilted it toward the camera on my very PRICEY MacBook Pro.  Yes, that's right, I poured the sauce all over my computer keypad.  ALL OVER IT!  Henry proceeded to dip his fingers in it and lick it, (because it IS that delicious, even on a Mac), and I ran into the kitchen to get something to lift it into, all the while trying not to pee in my pants I was laughing so hard, (as was Grammy in Michigan).  Thanks GOD she's a thick sauce, so there was no liquid damage, just chunks of thick tomato sauce.  This may very well be the stupidest thing I've ever done, and believe me, there's a lot of competition for that spot...
IN ADDITION, may I just give a shout-out to the lovely and talented, MATT, at the Apple Genius Bar, who replaced the entire keyboard and mousepad on my laptop F.O.C!!!  (Free of charge)  I think my story made his day, but I didn't ask any questions, I just thanked him effusively, validated my parking, and snuck out of there.

Vanessa,with her two boyfriends

And now, the recipe, brought to me by my step-son's amazing girlfriend, Vanessa:

Before the oven

After roasting

Blended!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Take about 3 pounds of grape tomatoes, spread them onto a baking dish, about 15 inches wide, add about 12 whole, peeled cloves of garlic.  Sprinkle everything with salt and pepper, some fresh oregano, or whatever spices you so desire, and a little bit of olive oil, maybe 1/3 of a cup or less.  (You don't need very much olive oil because there's already quite a bit of water in the tomatoes.)  Roast for a 1/2 an hour, then pull the dish out and turn the tomatoes and garlic over with a spoon, roast for another 1/2 an hour.  done.  Blend.  FINITO!!!  I'm telling you, this shit is DELISH!  Of course you can put it over pasta, chicken parm, or whatever you like.  She's a thick sauce, so if you like it a little less so, just add water.  Give it a go!

Holy Halibut!

Pete and my pound of halibut

So I was wrong!  There IS still halibut in season.  Saw Pete, the fish guy, (aw, isn't he cute?!), yesterday, and he had some all ready for me to take home.  (Always ask him if he's hiding anything special...)  He told me that which kind of fish he can get is based on quotas, and I guess they hadn't fished the halibut quota yet, so Henry and I luck out tonight.  Such a delicious, easy fish, don't know what I'll do with it yet, but probably something simple, with a little kale, always lemon, and garlic.
We'll also be carving our pumpkins this week, hope to toast up those seeds and nibble on 'em!

Mamma Ghanouj

Henry and sister Gillian feed the monkey.  Success!

This is a real crowd-pleaser, and believe me, I've NEVER made a crowd-pleaser before.  Yes, it's true, the bar is set wicked low when I bring a dish somewhere, but my husband is brutally honest, so I know this one is good.  (And I like to think the bar is getting higher and higher.)
I bought some eggplant from the farmers market, just 'cause they were so purdy, not knowing what the hell I was going to make with them, so I went looking around on the internet.  Epicurious.com had a nice, easy Baba Ghanouj recipe, but I modified it to my liking.  Generally, the first time I make something, I'm a little stressed, never completely confident that I won't end up with an overly seasoned pile of crap, or worse, a tasteless pile of crap, but this was a very pleasant surprise, a recipe I've repeated many times since.
I get two eggplants about the same size, (the bigger ones), so they roast in the same amount of time.  Preheat oven at 375 degrees, generously oil a baking sheet, cut the eggplants into halves, and place them cut side down on the sheet.  I salt them, though I'm not sure why, I think someone told me to and I do what I'm told in the kitchen!  Roast them until they're soft to the touch, the big ones for about an hour, but I check on them at 45 minutes, because I'm paranoid, a common theme you'll recognize in my cooking...  Take them out and let them cool, depending on my schedule I leave them out from 15 minutes to an hour, I don't think it really matters.  Then you scoop out the eggplant, or pull off the skins, and place the pulp in a strainer over a bowl for 30 minutes, letting some of the liquid drain out.  This all may seem a bit time-consuming, but the workload is actually minimal, as you can walk away from most of these steps--have a nap, read a book, watch Real Housewives of Botox.

Before the oven

Ready to eat!

Irma Thomas

Transfer the pulp into a blender or food processor, I use a blender because I like it smooth.  You heard me, I like it smoooooooth, like Irma Thomas smooth, (download her!)  Add a 1/4 cup of olive oil, a 1/4 cup of sesame seed paste or tahini, a peeled clove or two of garlic, (depending on your taste for garlic.  One clove is surprisingly strong, so I usually taste it after one clove, then add another one; note aforementioned paranoia.)  I squeeze about five small, organic lemons into the mix.  I LOVE lemon, I think the recipe calls for 3 tablespoons, which I think is waaaaaay too little and just plain stupid.  Add salt, pepper, paprika if you like, and I'm sure other spices, like cumin are great, then blend it all up.  You can blend it a little so you have some chunks, or until it's smooth.  The feedback I've gotten is that people can be a little skeeved out by the texture of chunky eggplant, but gobble it up once it's pureed smoothly.  Cover it and chill, this can certainly be made a day earlier.  I keep this on hand in the fridge a lot, it's always nice to have when people stop by, serve with some chips, pita wedges, carrots or other veggies.  OH, and when you serve it, drizzle a little olive oil on top, with a sprinkle of paprika, looks nice, makes it look fancy.  Let me know how it goes!

Greetings

I'm a pretty new mom, Henry's 2 years old, and I'm also VERY new to the kitchen.  (I mean NEW, new, like I didn't know how to boil an egg five years ago, and I'm not being hyperbolic.)  I had no idea I would love cooking this much, although I'm rather "challenged" when it comes to all-things-cooking, I've discovered a hobby that I really love practicing.
Also, May 1, 2010, I decided to STOP SHOPPING.  I proclaimed that for one whole year I wouldn't buy any clothes, shoes, or accessories for myself, (I couldn't stop buying things for my son, who do you think I am?!), and in place of my shopping escape, I've taken even more to the kitchen.  A great diversion.
Here's a dish I make regularly, and please excuse my terminology, I'm certainly NO expert here!
I get this Halibut from the Plummer Park Farmers Market in Hollywood (Mondays, 9am-1pm), from Pete, the fish guy, such a sweetheart, very knowledgeable, and quite a character.  (He accepts cash, checks and credit cards!)  Although Pete sadly informed me that Halibut is now out of season, you can still get it at your local market, and he'll gladly recommend which fish to buy on the day you're there.  Trust him!
I wrap the Halibut in tinfoil, surround it with grape tomatoes, pour a couple of glugs of olive oil on it, salt and pepper, and squeeze a lemon.
I throw it on the BBQ, (but it can also go in the oven), for about 30 minutes, depending on the thickness.  You want the fish to turn opaque white, but don't overcook it, keep an eye on it.  If you're like me, "challenged," you'll have to take a peek or two before removing it.  Once it's ready, the tomatoes are also nice and steamed and flavorful, then just add some quinoa, rice, harvest grains, what have you, and a nice green veggie, I like sauteed kale with sesame seeds and garlic, and voila, you're done.

I like Halibut because there are so few bones and I don't have to worry about my toddler eating it, which he does, and loves it!  My hubby, on the other hand, finds cooked fish rather vile, so he's on his own when it's fish night!