Mango-Pesto-Choco-WHOA!

You know you're a blog-addict when: you don't update for one day and it feels like forever!

Ok, so that exciting something I mentioned last post?

Drum roll please....

I HAVE A CAR! With four wheels and an engine and everything. SO EXCITING!!!! Pictures to come, of course (it rained cats and dogs pumas and St. Bernards today). Still thinking of names - need to drive her around a little more. YAY!

Saturday was blissfully uneventful, starting with this:

Fage yogurt + applesauce + some random apple cinnamon granola I found, with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Ok, actually, this wasn't too good. The applesauce totally killed the wonderful thickness of the greek yogurt and only left the tang, and...well, one of my less enjoyable creations. Live and learn! And it was rather pretty :)

 Unfortunately, my brother's Saturday didn't begin quite as happily. The lucky devil had to be awake and alive at 7:30 AM for his SAT. EW with a capital E. He was very much in need of sustenance when he returned from the ultimate brain drain, so we went off to...

First of all, love the slogan. So true.

When I was in high school, my biffle (BFFL, in word-form) and I discovered this place when we took the T into Boston to go shopping for sweet prom dresses and were hooked. They have some A-MAzing fries, and for a looong time they were the only place I knew in Mass. that had sweet potato fries!!! One of my faves :)  They also have great burgers (you can get beef, turkey, homemade veggie, or chicken breast!) and yummmmy smoothies. I wasn't too hungry, but I did steal several fries of both varieties and sip a yummy mango smoothie.

I have to tell you about my improvised dinner!

I just mixed some tuna with dijon mustard and tabbouleh, threw it on some greens/slaw, and drizzled with some olive oil and herbs - SO good! Tuna and tabbouleh make a truly wonderful combo - I highly suggest trying this ASAP. (Works with salmon, too!)

Today was pretty fun, minus the random thunderstorms that lasted for 2 minutes at a time. I like thunderstorms - just not the kind where rain pours down onto your new car whose windows you may or may not have forgotten to roll up. Keeps a girl on her toes!

My dad makes either pancakes or waffles every Sunday morning (my brother's request), but I usually sleep too late to partake. This AM, I was feeling a pancake, so I whipped one up myself. We usually have Bisquick, but today he had used Fiber One's pancake mix. Just add water and go:

I halved the amount for 3 pancakes to make just one big one and try out the F1 mix - and I'm glad I did. It was, well, not good. It was really dry and unpleasantly crumbly, and even cinnamon and maple syrup couldn't fix it. Sad. I need to make Jenna's or Kath's p-cakes, pronto. Real food is always better anyway :)

Breakfast also included a bunch of melon (I could seriously eat a whole melon a day in this humidity) and this guy, in honor of the end of yogurt week:

Meh. If I liked cherries more, I would have liked it more. The flavors are dead on though - the cherry and vanilla and very present and well-balanced. And - no fruit-on-the-bottom! Although the few I have had recently, like other Stonyfield and Chobani flavors, don't bother me as much as I remember. Probably because it's fake-ingredient-free - it just tastes like jam that I often just add myself!

Took my new baby for a test-drive to the gym for some ellipticalling - btw, Glee + NSYNC make some of the best gym music ever. In fact, I'm waiting for Glee to do a 90s episode - boy bands, Britney, Spice Girls, oh my! Tell me that would not be epic.

Unfortunately, I did not eat enough before the workout; I was definitely lacking in energy today. I usually go later in the afternoon, and I think it makes a biiiig difference. I don't like eating too close to the workout, but it's really hard to get the timing right sometimes. We made a pit stop and Whole Foods and my madre and I got lunch, including this:

What is that odd yellow thing in my sushi? MANGO!!!! This was mango+salmon+cucumber+cilantro. Ohmygod, genius in a box. The flavors were just perfect together - and some of my favorites! Sweet citrusy mango, fresh cool cilantro and cuke, and the tasty sweet salmon = to.die.for. Would be pretty easy to make on your own, too!

My parents hired me as personal chef tonight (no complaints here, I've been itching to cook!), and I made one of my favorite pastas from my cooking class: trofie al pesto e pescatrice!

-400 g fresh pasta (trofie is that particular twisted shape, holds the flavors better in this dish)

-300 g cherry/grape tomatoes, de-seeded & cubed

-500 g monkfish - I used swordfish both times I've made this and it is de-LISH.

-1 spring onion (or leek)

For the pesto:

-20 g fresh basil

-20 g ricotta cheese

-10 g pine nuts

-1 garlic clove

-1 Tbs parmesan

-4 Tbs cold water

Start your water aboilin' for the pasta. It takes a while.

I made the pesto first - you can use either a blender or food processor. Throw it all in with a little salt and blend 'til it's a sauce. (Add more water if it's too thick - although in my experience, 4 T is plenty!)

Deseed & cube your tomatoes now. If you want, you can add the seeds to the pesto to make it even creamier and get all that healthy lycopene :)

It's probably a good idea to cook your swordfish before the rest begins. It's not important how you cook it - pan, grill, broil. When it's done, cute it into cubes and keep it near your stove.

Chop up the onion. I used a leek, and if you do - only chop up the bottom white part! The green outer layers you can puree and make vegetable stock/soup with.

Saute the onion (or leek, or whatever you're using!) in some oil, then add the swordfish. The recipe says to cook for 3 minutes, but I didn't wait that long (didn't want the fish to overcook). Go with your gut - that's what cooking is all about anyway!

Is your pasta water boiling yet? Good - throw in that trofie!

Now add your tomatoes with a little S&P to the onion-fish saute pan.

After a couple minutes, check your pasta. If you used fresh, it's probably very close to done. Throw it in the pan and "quickly saute" - just toss it around and show it a good time ;)

Add the pesto sauce, mix, and plate into a perty bowl. Serve and watch as everyone bows to your sick-nasty-ill Italian culinary skills!

My mom made a nice green salad to go with it - can't get enough green!!

I also made dessert - feeling ambitious today! I have been wanting to try Dreena's Triple Layer Chocolate Cream Cake for a while - tofu frosting? This sounds too interesting to not try!

Because it was my first time and I wasn't sure how much it would make, I decided to halve the recipe. I made two layers instead of three, also - rather thin layers at that. I also added some chocolate chips to the cake batter (had a tablespoon or two left in the old bag). Well, it wasn't a total success aesthetically-speaking...

Oy. But, my mom helped me patch it back together:

Nothing a little strategically-placed frosting can't fix!

Can we just talk about how amazing this cake is? Oh yes. And the frosting - WHOA! I love tofu, but I love it even more now that I know it can turn into deep, fudgy ganache goodness. When I was making the frosting (for which I used vegan chocolate chips and damn those are good!!), I kept tasting it and here is what I added:

-a good couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder

-a hefty tsp of instant espresso (coffee will make chocolate flavor much more intense - I do it in my oats all the time!)

-cinnamon ---but this I regretted. Didn't like it as much as I expected.

-fresh mint leaves - YUM!

It was a hit. Even my brother enjoyed it - and he would run the other direction of anything with vegan or tofu in the title. If you never make another cake again in your life, make this!!!

I'm not gonna lie - I had quite the breakdown today. I felt gross, my cake was falling apart, and that evil ED voice in my head was screaming about how fat I was. And I just snapped. All I want is for it to not matter so damn much. I know I'm healthy, and I'm just so tired of fighting against that stupid voice in my head. It's so stupid that it can put me in such an awful mood so fast. I think this is another big part of why I am so focused on learning to east intuitively: I feel like if I can do that, I'll be more connected with my body inside and out. I just don't understand why I tolerate the negative self-talk - it REALLY pisses me off. Somedays it just feels like such an uphill battle. 

That said, I think this week will be Project: Positive Self-Talk. And I would love others to join me! At some point during the day, look in the mirror and be grateful for your awesome self - whoever you are right now. We all have flaws - they're a pretty important part of being human! But, I know I'm pretty disrespectful of my flaws, and that's just silly. They're just as much a part of who we are as our talents, and they deserve a little more respect. Yes, sometimes they trip us up and get in the way. I'm such an obnoxious perfectionist, I've had many a sleepless night spent worrying about a test the next day or that paper due next week. But, it's part of what makes me me, and I've accepted it. So, I look into the face of negativity and say: try me. It's on.

Thanks for letting me rant, y'all. It helps to just get it out, ya know? I'm very interested to see how this project ends up...I'll letcha know;)

In other news, I'm thinking of taking my blog in a new direction - still food and lots of it of course, but maybe a little more travel-centric? Well, I have lots of brainstorming to do.

~Namaste~

Unreal

On Sunday, my weekend adventures took me to Cinque Terre, five little hill towns on the Mediterranean coast on the northwestern side of Italy that are connected by a loooong trail. We went with Florence For Fun, a local travel agency that arranges spring break, long-weekend, and day trips for students in Florence. It was a great deal, too! Cinque Terre (literally, 'five lands') is world-renowned for its incredible natural beauty--it's on UNESCO's World Heritage List--and it has a fantastic hiking trail with some drop-dead gorgeous sites. It really felt like we were walking around inside a postcard. It was almost too beautiful to be real.

We arose at the obscene hour of 6 AM; well, my travel companions did...I fell back asleep and they jostled me awake at quarter to 7. Whoops! I also awoke to find my puffy face had returned; a mosquito must have bitten me last night. Grrr! It wasn't as bad as last time, and faded by the time we got off the train in the first town, Riomaggiore. It seems that it's not just Florentine weather that likes to trick us more than treat us, but all of Italy - it was cloudy and freezing when we got there! (Don't worry, we sang "Oh Mr. Sun" in Italian and he eventually came out to de-thaw us!)

The big deal history-wise with Cinque Terre is its muretti, "little walls." Despite its terrain being incredibly steep, rocky, and generally difficult to farm, its people have thrived as farmers from the first centuries AD. They propped up their farms and vineyards by building little stone walls - a lot of them. 11,000 kilometers (6836 miles), in fact, which is similar in length to the Great Wall of China. I know, crazy, right?? The craziest part is they did it completely by manual labor. SAY WHAT???

This mural was painted in recognition of those who built the walls. They deserve this and more! 11,000 KM!!!!

We didn't actually go in to Riomaggiore; we pretty much got off the train, went to the bathroom and started hiking! Didn't stop me from snapping away, of course:

The bar where we used the bathroom listed the ingredients used in the breads/pastries they sold. TOO COOL!! Look at all that real food - no artificial unpronouncable chemical ingredients here! This made me happy. [coughfoodgeekcoughcough]

The first trail, from Riomaggiore to Manarola, is called Via dell'Amore - The Lovers' Walk. It was actually named by a journalist who was writing a story was walking on the path and found a note left by two young lovers. Awwwwwww!!!

Doesn't everyone proclaim their love on a cactus leaf? I would.

When couples come to Cinque Terre they bring a lock and put it on rails, plants, nets, anything, then lock it and throw the key into the ocean. So sweet!

Ok, get ready for some serious picture overload. I'll try to let the pictures speak for themselves and narrate only where necessary :)

Town #2: Manarola

Follow the "Indiana Jones" bridge to...

Town #3: Corniglia

LUNCH BREAK!!!

After all that walking + 382 stairs to get to Corniglia, our collective blood sugar was very low. BUT we were determined not to let our stomachs take us to the first (or second or third) touristy restaurant we found and wandered to find the "right" place. Jackpot!!!! We found a wine bar with a restaurant upstairs. Quiet, music in the background...and some seriously incredible eats & drinks.

We started with a necessary bottle of wine:

Cute label, right?! 

They only produce white wine in Cinque Terre, and I am not complaining - this was delicious! A little fizzy, a little sweet & sour. Very tasty. (and for 16 euro, I should hope so!)

I also split an appetizer with Alaina:

Anchovies!!! They are the specialty fish here, and I see why - these were amazing. Soft, tender, almost silky in texture, and they were drizzled in a garlic-infused olive oil with I think a bit of pesto on top. I need to find anchovies at home.

For our main course, we all ordered the same thing and it was brought on one big platter:

Pasta in a tomato sauce & pesto

Cinque Terre is in Liguria, where basil is grown and hence is the region from whence comes the holy pesto sauce. And I must say, this pasta was a downright divine experience. The pesto was a beautiful, vibrant green color and the basil used was sooo fresh. Mixed with the slightly sweet tomato sauce, I was sad when my plate was empty and there was no more sauce to sop up with bread. We were happy little hikers!

After lunch, the trek continued to...

Town #4: Vernazza

^Corniglia from the trail^

Vernazza from the trail

This trail called for some serious hiking & rock-scrambling! It was a little rough at first, what with that big lunch sitting not fully digested in my tummy, but after a quick breather I was good to go, and by the time we got to Vernazza, it was definitely gelato time!

Frutti di bosco (mixed berry yogurt), mint chocolate chip, dark chocolate

It was amazing gelato, but the dark chocolate was quite good. We had more chill time in this town and we got to walk and shop a bit - I found one store with some faaaabulous turquoise jewelry and I wanted to wrap the whole shop up and put it in my pocket!

We also, as usual, made some furry friends:

The hike from the 4th town to the final 5th is the longest and most difficult, and because we were quickly running out of time before out train left in the last town at 6:30, we took the very fast 5 min. train ride to...

Town #5: Monterosso

Loved the turquoise/coral colors of this house!

What a charming little beach town! We have been planning to go to a beach in May before we leave, and we are thinking about coming here to explore it more and do the last hike we missed out on (it's also supposed to be the prettiest).

Before leaving, I had to try the limoncino, which is Liguria's take on the southern Italian limoncello (basically lemons, sugar, and alcohol - it's a very typical after-dinner drink). The only difference between the two is the lemons; limoncino uses lemons from the north.

I could definitely taste a difference between the 'cino and 'cello - the lemons had a distinctly different flavor, more mellow and sweet maybe? I liked it well enough but just like limoncello, I can only handle a few sips and after that my tastebuds just get bored. Even though it's poured in a small dessert-wine glass, it still seems like a little too much to enjoy. But I'm still happy to have satisfied my curiosity!

[More gelato may or may not have been consumed at this point. I am powerless to anything melon-flavored.]

We also bought some focaccia for dinner on the rather long train ride home. Focaccia is the bread specialty of Liguria, and my cooking teacher expressly specified that focaccia con formaggio (with cheese) must be tried in Cinque Terre. No arguments here! I got some with cheese, tomatoes, and more anchovies (so amazingly good here!), and swapped half for some of Alaina's cheese and tomato piece. It was really good, especially with the anchovies. Very light, airy and buttery (well, olive oil-y, in a good way). Although I think I prefer the focaccia we made in class last week for being denser and doughier, both have their own place in my carb-loving heart.

A long, glorious day of walking, eating, oohing and aahing. Now it just seems like a dream! Every moment was like stepping inside a picture on a postcard. It was breath-taking, awe-inspiring, mouth-watering, exhausting, rewarding, and above all...

Unreal.

~Namaste~