Green, not the leprechaun kind

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This weekend, I did not indulge in any green beer festivities. I had the same feeling I had last year about the holiday. While today is the official holiday, the only greens that seem to speak to me are in my salad.

Below is a recipe I created over the weekend called Easy Greens. It features a few simple ingredients for a bitter, tart salad with goat cheese adding some indulgence. Also to note, when I tried to write broccolini on my phone, autocorrect changed it to neocolonialism. Enjoy!

Easy Greens

• half a bunch of broccolini (little broccoli) 
• half a bunch of Tuscan/dinosaur kale (important to choose this type) 
• one clove of garlic
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt
• spoon of goat cheese
  
• Note: expand recipe based on what kind of dish you are making. A side dish, or a larger salad. 

1. Heat oil and one smashed clove of garlic on a frying pan. (I use coconut oil for this part)
2. Coarsely chop broccolini and add to frying pan on low to medium heat
3. Remove ribs from the kale (ribs are the tough green middles/stem) and break or cut into small pieces
4. Add olive oil to kale pieces and massage with hands until fully coated (this massage helps to soften and break down the kale's bitterness)
5. Remove broccolini from heat after 5-6 minutes, add to kale
6. Add an additional glug of olive oil, sea salt, and one (or more) spoons of goat cheese
7. Enjoy!

How to make Zoodles (and still love gluten...)

I grew up loving gluten.

Pasta was a staple in my Italian-Canadian family's diet. At my grandmother's house, I was the grandchild who loved pasta the most. I requested seconds. I wanted to twirl and twirl and twirl until my hand got tired.

Confession: I still love gluten.

These days, it seems the latest health messaging is very anti-gluten. I know that for some people this is not just a superficial choice, but a serious health concern. The woman who taught me how to twirl my pasta, my mother, is now extremely sensitive to gluten and has cut back her twirling habits drastically. While I try my best to eat healthy grains (whole, unprocessed, spelt etc.) I will never turn down my grandmother's homemade pasta. I even tried to make my own tagliatelle in Italy this summer.

However, day to day, on my own, I rarely touch the white stuff. Last night, when wondering what to pair with a jar of tomato sauce, I experimented with Zoodles. Zoodles, or zucchini noodles are made by shredding the zucchini into ribbons using either a mandolin (which I don't have) or a julienne vegetable peeler (which I do have). Once shredded, lightly sauté the ribbons in a pan with olive oil and dress the way you would pasta. I added some homemade tomato sauce and parmesan cheese to mine. 

Once complete, twirl to your healthy heart's desire. 

Recipe here! 

Cooking with Didi - Homemade Ravioli

This year, I skipped St. Patrick’s Day festivities for the first time in five years to make homemade pasta. On Sunday, I walked to Diane (my cousin, fondly known as Didi) and her husband Chris’ (remember them?) apartment while people swarmed around me in mini-golf grass green attire on the streets.

We got to cooking.

Their loft kitchen is a dream. They have a stainless steel island the size of a twin bed, natural light streaming in from floor-to-ceiling windows and plates and bowls and cutlery that match!! This was an apartment for two, not the mismatched twenty-something kind.

I said I'd get married just to register for the stuff. (*Clearly indicates that I'm nowhere near ready for marriage).

Didi indicated that skipping a day-drinking event is the first sign of “getting old.” I rambled all of my life updates and she deduced, as my wiser, older cousin that I’m torn between two worlds: one of settling down and one of setting off.

“You’re going to confuse the universe,” she said.

After all of our hard work, we realized that we didn’t even have enough food for leftovers, so we started again. We commented how our grandmothers could have made triple the amount in the same time it took us to make a dozen. I introduced her to Girls, and she let me wear her apron even though we both agreed it was too girly for me. At the end of the afternoon we were both exhausted, but the results were worth it.

Below is our cooking adventure making homemade ravioli with ricotta cheese & parsley stuffing. Similar recipe version here. Enjoy! x

^^Someone is in need of a TAN^^

Cooking with Carly - Pierogies

This past weekend, I went over to Carly & Kiel's house to make homemade pierogies. (Who can spell it without google?) You may remember Carly and Kiel from their vineyard wedding on Not A Model.

I've been really into cooking lately, because it seems that creating my own sustenance is the only thing that clears my head. The vigorous chopping. The extended standing. The quick body movements. From the moment Carly told me about her ability to make this homemade specialty, I vowed to make my way to her kitchen.

We used Carly's grandmother's original (note: secret) recipe for cheddar cheese and potato pierogies. I stood and stuffed dozens of dumplings while a bronzed Buddha giggled, Kiel read The New Yorker and black cats begged to lick the bowl. (They weren't allowed, obviously). The hardest part of the process was sealing the dough edges and making each one look professional.

By the end, I was exhausted but Carly and I did daydream up aspirations to start our own double heritage food truck with pierogies and on my Italian side, ravioli. Next cooking adventure to come.

Until then, here are some photos from the day. If you're feeling ambitious try this similar recipe here.

Enjoy! x