sweeter salt

We got totally slammed with snow on Thursday. It came down all day long while I was at work, leaving me with the glorious hour long chore of shoveling out my driveway to get my car in. Sweet! Just what I wanted to do the second I arrived home!

Side note: why does anyone like snow? All it does is make every day life ten times more difficult. I digress.

Anywho, after shoveling my little heart out all I wanted for dinner was something warm and hearty, that wouldn’t take long to prepare. This meal fit the bill. Though it is almost entirely constructed out of pantry staples (cans are my friends) it still tasted fresh and delicious. Salty from the olives and feta, sweet from the tomato sauce and a little tangy from the artichokes, this was quite the tasty treat after a long day. Plus, with the whole wheat pasta and cannellini beans it packed plenty of protein and fiber.

Even if you didn’t just waste an hour of your life shoveling out your driveway, I highly recommend this meal for a little winter soul warming.

Vegetarian Mediterranean Pasta
*serves 3-4

Ingredients
4 ounces spaghetti or linguine (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
1 14 ounce can artichoke hearts
1 14 ounce can cannellini beans
1/2 cup tomato sauce (I used frozen leftovers of my Homemade Tomato Sauce)
2 tbsp. prepared basil pesto
1/4 crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup sliced olives (I used green because I had them on hand)
salt and pepper to taste

1.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt to taste and pour in your pasta. Cook to al dente (about 8 minutes).

2.) Meanwhile drain your artichoke hearts then rough chop. Set aside. Drain and rinse your beans and set aside with the artichokes. Slice your olives and add to the artichoke mixture.

3.) In a small mixing bowl combine the tomato sauce and pesto, as well as 2 tablespoons of the feta cheese.

4.) When the pasta is done cooking drain well and return the pasta in the pot to the stove. Lower heat to medium low. Add in the vegetables and sauce and toss to combine. Cook until heated through.

5.) Serve each dish and top each with one tablespoon of feta. If you had fresh parsley or basil it would be perfect here, but I didn’t have any on hand.

Life has been busy. Between the holidays, work, and buying a house (we’re under contract now – eep!) I’ve been neglecting my poor lil’ blog. That explains why I don’t even remember wearing this outfit. Sometime in December? Probably? I mean, I clearly wore it – there’s photographic evidence! I’ll get back to blogging regularly soon, I hope…

Teal skirt: vintage, thrifted
Black turtleneck sweater: H&M
Black healed boots (you can’t see the heasl in the grass, I swear they’re there): Century 21 in NY, can’t remember brand
Silver coin belt: vintage
Stainless watch: Kenneth Cole (via gilt)

This is actually one of my favorite skirts, a Goodwill find this summer. When I first bought it I figured it would be a great summer office piece, but I’m actually really liking it with tights for colder months.

Do you like winterizing summery favorites for the cold? It’s all about the layers!

Well, happy new year folks! I hope you’re enjoying a lovely 2012 and that you had a great New Year’s Eve! We had a lovely weekend, celebrating the holiday in Boston with friends. Though the holidays were great, I am happy to be back to the grind, and working on eating a little healthier and getting back to the gym more regularly. Although the thought of a meatball sub as healthy may be a bit laughable, this is actually a reasonably wholesome meal. Stay with me.

I LOVE banh mi. It combines two of my favorite things spicy, sweet and savory Asian flavors and crusty yummy French bread. Our favorite place to get them in Portland is at Kim’s Sandwich and Cafe. This funny little deli / gift shop serves up some pretty tasty banh mi, for only $3. Love it. Though I heart me some Kim’s, I knew I wanted to try making it at home, and lightening it up a bit.

I used a bon appetit recipe as a base, but used ground turkey instead of pork, baked instead of fried, and cut out a few calories when I could. To make it even healthier you could use whole wheat baguettes or serve it up as a salad instead of a sandwich. The verdict? Delicious, possibly better than Kim’s and other banh mi I have sampled. If you’ve never tried making them at home (or never tried them at all) give these a whirl. Your taste buds will be happy and you won’t have to toss away your new resolutions. Just don’t tell Mrs. Kim.

Meatball Banh Mi (based on this Bon Appetit recipe)
* serves four. I only made two sandwiches, so I froze the rest of the meatballs.

Ingredients

Hot Chili Mayo
2/3 cup low fat all natural mayonnaise
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sriracha

Meatballs
1 pound lean ground turkey
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

For the Sandwiches (I halved this for two sandwiches)
2 cups coarsely grated carrots
2 cups cucumber cut into 1/8″ thick spears
2 tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
four 10-inch-long pieces of baguette (cut from 2 baguettes)
Thinly sliced jalapenos
16 large fresh cilantro sprigs

1.) Stir all ingredients for hot chili mayo in a small bowl. Season with salt if necessary. Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.

2.) Combine carrots, sugar, vinegar and salt in a medium bowl. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, tossing occasionally.

3.) Pre-heat oven to 400*F. Mix all ingredients for meatballs together gently in a large bowl. Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray. Roll meat in to tablespoon size balls (I wound up with about 18).

4.) Bake for 20 minutes. I broiled them on high for a few minutes after to crisp the tops.

5.) Cut baguette into pieces, then in half horizontally (don’t cut all the way through, like a hot dog bun). Pull out enough bread from each bread half to leave 1/2-inch-thick shell. Spread hot chili mayo over each bread shell. Drain carrots and arrange on bread with the cucumbers. Fill each with 1/4 of meatballs. Place the cilantro and jalapeno slices atop meatballs.

For those who are not geographically close to French Acadia, pork pies are not usually a familiar thing. To be honest, they’re not entirely familiar to me either. Essentially, this French Canadian delicacy, is ground pork, cooked with onions, potatoes and spices, stuffed into a pie shell. Growing up I saw pork pies at family Christmases and events, but never wanted to try them. I mean, ground meat pie is not exactly something a young girl gets excited about. Well, this year I decided to stop the pork pie snobbery and try it myself.

You know what, PORK PIE IS DELICIOUS. I am a convert. Though it is yummy, comforting, savory and crumbly, the real reason I wanted to make it was because of family tradition. For years, my Aunt Dotty has been carrying on this recipe, which belonged to my grandmother. Now that I know how to make it, I somehow feel connected to this woman, my namesake, who I have never met. That’s the magical thing about family recipes, as long as someone carries it on, it never dies. I love that. I know I’ll continue to make this recipe, and one day I’ll pass it on to my kids.

I don’t expect you to make a pork pie, not unless you want to. But, I hope you will make a recipe your family holds dear. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah my friends, take some time to really enjoy this special time of year.

*You might notice this is not one large pie, but many mini pies. I was asked to make an appetizer for Christmas this year, so decided to miniaturize the classic dish. Big or mini, your choice. Makes about 36 mini pies.

My Grandmother Laura’s Pork Pie

Ingredients
Pre-made rolled pie crust. I know, not homemade, but my aunt does it this way so I decided to as well. Feel free to make your own. If you’re making one large pie, you just need one box of two crusts. If you’re making minis you’ll need three boxes.
2 lbs. ground pork
1/2 lb. 90% ground beef
2 small potatoes (I used russet)
1/2 medium onion
1.5 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cinnamon (plus more to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves (plus more to taste)

1.) Peel and chop the potatoes into one-inch chunks. Place them in a large pot of cold water. Bring the pot to a boil and cook until totally tender, about 10-15 minutes. Drain and mash very well.

2.) Chop your onion somewhat finely. Bring the pot to medium low heat and add 1/2 pound of the pork plus the onion. Cook, stirring and chopping up the meat, until onion is soft (about 5-7 minutes). Gradually add the rest of the meat plus the salt, pepper and spices. Stir to chop up the meat occasionally. Cook until done, about 10 minutes. Drain out the extra fat and juice. I just moved the meat to one side, then tipped the pot a little bit and used a ladle to scoop out the juice.

3.) Stir in the mashed potatoes until you can no longer see them. They are acting as a binder. Give the mixture a taste for spices. I wound up adding in a pinch more cinnamon and cloves. Cook, stirring occasionally on low for 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely.

4.) When the meat is cool, pre-heat the oven to 400*F. If you are making one big pie place one crust into a pie pan and scoop in all the meat mixture. Top with the other crust and pinch to close. Use a knife to slice a couple slits on the top. If you’re making mini pies use a glass to cut circles of the dough (about the size of a muffin tin) on a floured board. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and place the circles in the muffin tip and add in two heaping tablespoons of the meat. Top with another crust circle and pinch to close (be careful to make sure it is closed) then use a fork to seal.

5.) For the mini pies, bake about 15-20 minutes, until crust is browned. If you’re making a full size pie it will probably take longer.

6.) Serve something that will hopefully make a French Canadian grandmother proud.

Recently, I, along with a number of other Portland bloggers, received an email from Corey from Portland Daily Photo about his “Blogging for Good” project. He asked us to write a blog post this week about a local nonprofit organization or cause that we support or admire. As you may or may not know (you should) I am a crazy dog lady (as is evidenced below by Ross and my Christmas card this year). My extreme love of dogs (ok, cats are cool too) led me to write about The Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland.

Yes, that would be a Franklin the Puggle sweater Christmas card. My lovely and talented designer husband Ross made it. You should hire him to design things for you (cough, shameless plug, cough).

Anyways, back to dogs and cats in need. The Animal Refuge League’s mission is to “provide temporary care and shelter for stray, abandoned and relinquished animals, and to place as many as possible into responsible and caring homes. The Animal Refuge League also works to create awareness and support for the humane treatment of all animals and to end animal overpopulation through education and the promotion of spaying and neutering.”

Ross and I adopted a rescue pup, our sweet little Franklin, almost five years ago. Though he never spent any time in a shelter, I love knowing that we gave him a home when he didn’t have one. It is my personal belief that adopting animals from shelters and rescues is the most responsible and loving choice you can make. Sure expensive pure bred puppies are tempting (damn it if I don’t love pug puppies more than anything in the world), but there is nothing more rewarding than giving an abandoned animal a loving home.

To learn how you can support the Refuge League, click here. They need volunteers, food and supplies, and cash donations to support their mission. You can also become a member by donating every month. I just sponsored a cage, so I know that for one month a dog has a warm and safe place to call home.

Ok, if that guilt trip didn’t do it for you, have a look at this face. He means business!

Today I’m over on Fore Front Fashion with the outfit I plant to wear on Christmas day. Come check me out and send FFF some love!

Last weekend my mom’s side of the family had a Christmas brunch. We do this every year, and while a bit unconventional it works really well. We get to enjoy time spent together, then have the rest of the day free (to do things like spend two hours in Ikea only to buy $30 worth of odds and ends).

Anywho, I was tasked with fruit salad this year. While I could have just slapped some berries in a bowl and called it a day I knew I had to spice it up… literally. Get it? There are spices in it, oh man, I kill me. This salad features seasonal fruit: pineapple, clementines and pomegranate, as well as warm spices: ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Everyone seemed to enjoy a little twist on what can be a boring dish, so I was happy. Plus, it makes you feel a little bit better about yourself as you nosh on less healthy things. Make it for Christmas morning or a holiday potluck this week.

One other thing, cutting open a pomegranate can be a royal pain in the boo-tocks. I followed this under water method and it worked really well.

Spiced Winter Fruit Salad

Ingredients
1 pineapple
10 clementines
1 pomegranate
1/3 cup honey
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and cut into 1/4″ thick rounds
1 cinnamon stick
10 whole cloves
zest of one lemon (I used a meyer lemon cuz I’m fancy)
juice of half a lemon
a few pinches of ground cinnamon and ground cloves

1.) Pour the honey into a small saucepan and add in the ginger, cinnamon stick and whole cloves. Simmer over very low heat for about 20 minutes.

2.) Meanwhile, peel the clementines and separate the segments, place in a bowl. Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple, then cut away the peel. Cut it in half lengthwise, then cut each half in half lengthwise. Cut away the core. Cut into chunks about the size of the clementine segments. Cut your pomegranate and separate the seeds (aka arils) from the pith. Add them to the bowl.

3.) When the honey has simmered for 20 minutes remove it from the heat and remove the ginger, cinnamon stick and cloves. I wanted a bit more spice flavor, so I added a few pinches of ground cinnamon and cloves (you don’t need to). Stir in the lemon zest and juice.

4.) Toss the fruit with the honey sauce and serve. I made mine the night before and refrigerated, which let the flavors marry, though it did get a little juicy and the red from the pomegranate bled a bit. Still pretty and tasty though!