Ratatoullie

Yesterday, we went hiking at Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls.  

One of my friends recommended this hike.  So we were pretty excited. We left pretty early in the morning which was a good thing because the parking lot was packed after we got done hiking. The hike is 8.2 miles round trip with a gain of 2000 feet. So, it was quite a challenging hike for us since we've done shorter ones that don't incline as drastically. 

There were quite a few bridges and stairways. It took us around 1.7 miles that lead upwards to Bridal Veil Falls. It was steep stairs but it was nice when we got to the falls. The mist from the falls was refreshing. 

Wayne - being Mr. Explorer

Bridal Veil Falls

After Bridal Falls, the trail went on for 2 miles gaining about 1,300 feet. Oh man, my legs were feeling it. We saw a lot of hikers with poles and definitely could see how useful they would have been. 

The terrain got really rocky and steep with stairs. It was funny. Wayne was like, "Why are we hiking upwards to a lake?"

Although the hike up was tough, the views were worth it. 

I sometimes have to pinch myself that I live in the Pacific Northwest. It's so breathtaking.

When we finally got to Lake Serene, we could see why it was a popular hike. The view of the lake was gorgeous. 

A lot of people were at the lake with their dogs and eating their lunches. It was like a lovely hidden oasis.  It was funny when we climbed up though. We realized that there are like different groups of hikers. The early birds/serious hikers that are out at 4am or 5am. The low key hikers and crazy runners around 7am. Then afterwards come the tourists, athletic girls in lululemon gear, the fraternity bros, and the families. We like gong out around 7am when it is still chilly out and less people out on the trail. The crazy runners were insane though. There was one guy that was running up the rocks as fast as he could go. There's no way I would trail run. I'd probably break my leg doing so! 

Although we were tired afterwards, this was one of of the best hikes we've done so far. My legs were shaking but it was definitely a worthwhile accomplishment of the day.

Today, I was nursing my legs. 

I'm excited because summer has the best produce and I love making one of my favorite summer dishes, ratatouille. I love how versatile this recipe is. You can eat it warm or cold.  My mom's recipe is a bit different than the one I made today, but nonetheless, it conjures up good memories - making this dish together with my mom, or coming home from college to have a steaming hot bowl waiting for me. 

Let's get started!

First, I pretty much chopped up the eggplant and let it sit with some salt. 

Then I cooked the eggplant till lightly browned. 

Next, I chopped up some onion, garlic, basil, red & yellow peppers.

 

So colorful!

Then I added some chopped up summer squash and zucchini and then added the eggplant and tomatoes. The recipe called for fresh tomatoes, but I was 

Ta-da! Finished product. The recipe called for a lot more garlic than I normally add. Which was fine by me, because I love garlic. But it wasn't as good as my moms. :)

I know I've probably mentioned this a lot, but Food52 is probably one of my favorite websites. I love how it is a collaborative site where cooks of all degrees can share their recipes. I recently bought Food 52's recipe cookbook. This was one of the recipes in it.  

You can find Alice Water's Rataouille recipe here. 

Stay tuned for more adventures and food.

Emma

Beet Ravioli with Goat Cheese, Ricotta and Mint

Today I made Beet Ravioli with Goat Cheese, Ricotta and Mint filling. Well, technically it took a majority of yesterday night to prep.

Ta-da! :) Pretty little red raviolis!

I've been on a beet kick lately. They sell these pre-marinated beets in little plastic boxes at Whole Foods. Those are absolutely delicious with your lunch. Plus I love the color of beets. The crimson burgundy color is so pretty.

I've been feeling much better. Still congested and tired but a whole lot better than I was on Monday. It was nice because Wayne helped me make these. When I got started, I quickly realized how time consuming making pasta can be. But then again, it was well worth the time because we both had a lot of fun making it. We even got in a flour fight :)

I always feel calm and in the moment when I cook or bake. Two of the questions I get a lot are, "Why don't you go to cooking school? or, "Why don't you become a chef?"

I don't want to make cooking/baking into a career because it would be ruined. Right now, this is my me time where I am utterly relaxed and in the moment. No worry, no stress, nothing. Cooking is something I can control and enjoy without interruption. I can be creative and learn new things. Or try out interesting recipes that sound exotic or unique. Cooking is something I can control and enjoy with out interruption. I can control what recipes I want to try out, what techniques I want to learn and whom I want to share it with. Cooking is a part of me. When I share it, a piece of my pride and soul comes out of it and you know what, sometimes I don't want to share it with people who will critique or waste it. And I think that's okay. Right now, I'm okay doing what I'm doing which is sharing photos, writing blog posts (when I can), enjoying good food and taking pride in the awesome meals I create.

Okay, enough of my rant.
Let's get to it.

First, I roasted the beets in the oven for an hour and removed the skins when they cooled down. Then I pulsed the beets till they were a smooth mixture. Then added the flour, salt, and eggs to make it into a dough. Then we placed the dough in the fridge to set.

Then I mixed the filling ingredients all together! The ricotta, the goat cheese, mint, parsley, salt and pepper!

The directions said to let it sit for 2 hours. We rolled out the dough after an hour and 1/2. It was getting pretty late and we wanted these done! Wayne helped out with the rolling!

Then I cut out shapes, dolloped the filling and added an egg wash to seal the ravioli. I think my favorite part was making the fork indentations. It's quite fun actually. 

Don't they look like little itty bitty savory pies? lol

Then you want to boil them until they float to the top like a buoy. 

We also cooked up a NY Strip Steak and mushrooms.

Tada! Finished product and a delicious meal. The dough was a little doughy but the filling inside the ravioli was absolutely divine!  

Beet Ravioli & Goat Cheese, Ricotta and Mint Filling Recipe here.

Emma

Coconut Corn Soup & Vegan Chocolate Shakes

Last night I made a Coconut Corn Soup and Vegan Chocolate Shakes.
I felt like it would be good to say au revoir to summer with a nice dish. Although, the first day of fall is September 23rd, it feels like summer is over. Sure, we had a few days where it’s nice, warm and sunny. But I have a feeling chilly weather will sneak up very quickly and then winter will come and beat the crap out of us again.

 Tada! Finished product topped with the jalapeno salsa and the chocolate shake.

Last winter was way too cold! Once it drops down to -40 degrees with a windchill I want out. If this is a continuum in Chicago, I may have to look at investing and going to a beach in the winter time. Truthfully, I would love (as it's one of my goals) to go to a tropical place for Christmas. Maybe Bora Bora or the Bahamas? I like the thought of spending one Christmas in a bikini. Then again, Seattle is supposed to have milder winters. Either way I am not looking forward to winter. So, I am going to enjoy Autumn as much as I can!

I digress...originally, I wanted to get fresh ears of corn and grill them for that smoky flavor but sadly we don’t have a grill. I’d love to have a grill. Chicago has restrictions about grilling which sucks. But then again I get it because you are cramped together on a street.  Part of me can’t wait till we move out to Seattle (fingers crossed for 2016) then hopefully we can get a grill.

For this I chose frozen corn because I wanted something quicker. I also was a bit hesitant to use fresh corn because I couldn't get out to a Farmer’s Market. But the last time I got corn was from Trader Joe’s and it had a chunk that was rotten. It really sucked. I like Trader Joe’s but I prefer more of their frozen or bagged items. But Trader Joe’s is way better than Mariano’s. To be honest, I don't like Mariano’s. Maybe I just went into a bad store...but the last time I went in there, the produce was utter crap. The mangoes were bruised, apples beat up, and vegetables were wilted! Blah. I guess I am finicky with fresh produce. Wayne wants to try Peapod, but I don’t think I’d feel comfortable getting my fresh produce from a truck. Maybe it’s the inner chef inside telling me, “YOU MUST PICK YOUR OWN VEGGIES!” Or it could be years of socialization of watching my mom cook. Who knows really....but I like to pick the vegetables/fruits out myself.
Pretty much my list of place to shop is:
1. Farmers Market
2. Whole Foods
3. Trader Joe's
4. Mariano's

Anyway, let's get to it!
First, Wayne helped me by making the Vegan Chocolate Shakes.

Used some Almond Milk with protein.

Chocolate Coconut milk ice-cream. Yum!

Zest of 1 orange.

Then Earl Grey tea!

Wayne had to put the milk in a pan and heat it up. Then add the Earl Grey tea bags, and orange zest. We were a little skeptical about if the earl grey tea would be too strong. We added the Chocolate Coconut ice cream, a bit of maple syrup and 1 tsp. of vanilla extract. Then blended it.  By golly! Was this amazing. You could taste each individual flavor. Yet each of them were in harmony. I really loved the orange zest because there was a small hint of it but it complimented the chocolaty flavor!  

For the ZOUP!

First, I took the corn kernels then covered them with cold water and salt. Then I boiled it for 3 minutes and drained.

Next, I chopped up the onion and added coconut oil to the pot. The recipe calls for olive oil, I felt like if I was going to use coconut might as well have coconut oil!

Then I chopped up the celery. The recipe calls for one medium celery but I figured might as well add two of 'em. Then I threw it in the pot and let it cook down for a couple of minutes. 

While all of that is going on in the pot, I moved onto the salsa. I chopped up the avocado and put it aside. Then I chopped up the red onion, added corn, lime juice and cilantro. Wayne then chopped up the jalapeno pepper. I have very sensitive skin and sometimes the spicy juice irritates my skin.

Isn't it pretty? I still need to throw in the avocado...

After they were cooked down a bit, I added the celery and onion mixture to my Ninja blender. Then added 2 cups of Organic Chicken Broth and 1 cup of water. 

It's beginning to look like soup!

 The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of shredded coconut, but I felt like it was a bit too much. I threw in 1 cup.

Then you add 4 cups of corn. Don't make a mess like I did though! The bag exploded on me while trying to open it!

Blend baby, blend!

 Kind of looks like baby meal at first...but the results were delicious!

BONUS!

We had a leftover (and very ripe) avocado. So I decided to make them into Dark Chocolate Truffles. All I did was mash up the avocado, heat up the chocolate in a separate bowl. Merge the two and mix. Then put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. After it cools down, we made them into balls and rolled them in crushed almonds! The result was delicious! They're super easy and tasty too! This could get deadly as there's only 3 ingredients. lols!

Coconut Corn Soup Recipe here.
I found Jennifer Pallian's blog on a random search for top food blogs in 2013 but never really gave her blog a second look. But in the Bonapetit September magazine, I stumbled across her advertised soup recipe.
Vegan Chocolate Shake Recipe here.
I can't quite remember how I found her blog, but Laura has a lot of great vegan recipes. Plus this shake is fantastic.
Dark Chocolate Avocado Truffle Recipe here.

Here's some other recipes I peeked at that look really good!
Butternut squash and mascarpone ravioli with hazelnut brown butter
Roasted Squash Lasagna
Ginger Rhubarb Crisp
Dark Chocolate and Fig Cinnamon Rolls
Vegan Cauliflower & Roasted Garbanzo Rice and Peas
The Green Drink

Emma

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

So today, I made Portobello Mushroom Pizzas from Comfy Belly for dinner.
I've made this several times over the past year. This has been one of my favorite recipes because it is super duper easy!

Ta-da! Finished product. Very easy and delicious too!

I love finding new and unique recipes but one thing that will deter me is if it takes too long! I love cooking and baking but if it takes more than 2 hours, I'll seek something else (unless it's for a special occasion or something then I'll put the extra time in.)

Alright, let's get to it!

First thing I did was open and wipe down my portobello mushrooms with a damp cloth. This helps remove the dirt. I then put on the oven to 400 degrees and put parchment paper in a baking sheet pan.

Wipe on, wipe off! (get it? hint Karate Kid movie)

Then, I drizzled some balsamic vinegar and olive oil on them. They can absorb water and oil, so that's why you want to make sure they're wiped pretty well. 

Then I chopped up some fresh basil to toss on top of the mushrooms. 

I had taken a knife skills course downtown in the fall and the Chef instructed us to roll the herbs like a joint then slice into thin ribbons. He did smoke cigarettes, so maybe that's why he referenced joints. lols 

Then I tossed on a bit of garlic powder, oregano and red peppers flakes.

Pretty huh? :)

Then I baked them for another 20-25 minutes. Here they are all done and warm. Before you put you're toppings on you want to drain all the liquid off of them. 

Then, after you take them out, you want to put on some pasta sauce. Here I used an organic pasta sauce from Whole Foods. 

To change it up a bit, I chopped up two roma tomatoes into slices and put them into a pot. Then put about 1/2 of a jar of pasta sauce in the pot. I brought it to a boil to cook down the tomatoes. Then simmered it for a couple of minutes. I couldn't remember why I bought the tomatoes, so I used it for the sauce so they didn't go bad. :)

Then I topped it off with parmesan cheese. Yum.

Portobello Pizza by Comfy Belly here

Erica has a nice collection of healthy recipes. She offers gluten-free and paleo recipes but keeps them pretty simplistic yet yummy. I'm looking to explore her site some more for some good recipes to try. 

Emma