simple cracked pepper pollock

One Sunday when we were in Michigan, yes, it has taken me this long to post this, the Trainer and I had to leave early in the afternoon. First thing in the morning Mom and I took him to see our local Whole Foods Market. After breakfast we were all sitting at the kitchen and Dad asked the Trainer: how would you like to do a little manual labor? So while I fretted over the taxes the Trainer learned how to rake a yard.

After he finished we packed up the few things we brought and made this pollock, using the simple recipe from the guy at the Whole Foods fish counter. We ate and I went upstairs to brush my teeth and do a sweep off the guest room and bathroom to make sure we weren't leaving anything behind. I heard voices from the top of the stairs so I waited until they stopped before going back down. A few minutes later I walked into the kitchen and the Trainer said: Mija, your parents have given us their permission to get married.

I was smiling so big as I hugged first Mom, and then Dad, and then the Trainer. I'm not a crier, but I have to admit there were tears. Then it was time to leave. At the airport Mom asked if it was official, and I was still so happy and surprised I could barely say anything.Later, after our return, I was able to pull myself together enough to confirm that, yes, we are engaged.

Cracked Pepper Pollock

2 pollock fillets
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
sea salt
fresh ground pepper
fresh dill

Preheat oven to 425 F. Arrange pollock on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In a small bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over fish and top with fresh dill. Bake for 15 minutes. Serve with a spritz of lemon juice.

bar-b-cue chicken

It's been a busy week. The Boss is going to a trade show on 'the Continent' which means lots more paper work for me to generate and proof read. Add to that a request, made Tuesday, that we make him a catalogue of sorts with pictures of our 25 most important pieces. (this, of course, requires me to take new photos in some cases)

Because the majority of the paperwork cannot be generated until the last minute three of us stayed until 7:30 last night working and I've got a lot more to do before the trunk gets picked up at 12:30 today.

On top of that, Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, an event I would have completely missed had there not been a green stripe and loud parade right down the middle of Fifth Avenue, directly under my office window. The ranks of uniformed police officers, firemen and soldiers left my coworker drooling and wondering how she could be single with so many uniformed guys out there. I endless marching bands made it harder than usual to concentrate on the tasks at hand.

When it was all over the boss braved the remaining crowds to visit a few other offices and brought back chocolate cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery. I must admit that they smelled fantastic when I went to the kitchenette to self-righteously heat up my bar-b-cue chicken and kale. When I was taking my meal back to my desk I realized that I would rather have my chicken and vegetables, and I don't regret being unable to eat those types of things anymore.

This could be a slow-cooker recipe, but I made it on the stove last weekend. It reminds me off food I used to have at camp or other summer picnic events. A bright taste to compliment the bright, but still cool, days that are heralding spring here in New York. I saw the first purple crocus buds peeking up in the church yard on Sunday.

Bar-B-Cue Chicken

1-1/2 pound chicken
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons honey

Place all ingredients in a medium covered sauce pan or slow-cooker and add just enough water to cover chicken. Stir to mix and cook on low for about two hours. Shred chicken with a fork and continue cooking slightly uncovered until most of the liquid evaporates.

Serve with salad, rice, on a bun or in a wrap.

roasted salmon with lemon oil

This morning as I was cooking my spicy-crispy kale I thought about how our bodies tell us they need, if we're only able to listen. In going gluten free, and even following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) I've longed for replications of baked goods and comfort foods that I used to have.

But when I think bake to me early childhood I wasn't a big fan of bread, or cake (even is I have always had a sweet tooth), or even pasta. I shied away from them when I was young, but somehow, when I learned that those thing made me ill, I wanted to find replacements. But those replacements don't agree with me either.

When I stop and listen to my body, it tells me that it wants protein. Meat, fish, poultry, any kind will do as long as it's protein. Fresh vegetables are great too, but right now my body wants meat. Whatever nutritionists may say, I know that I feel my all around best when I have more protein than anything else.

This then presents the challenge of how to eat my meat and enjoy it too, without getting bored and eating the same thing all the time. I try to mix things up, having fish a few days a week and I found this great roasted salmon recipe. It's great fresh from the oven, the left overs freeze well, and it's especially good cold over salad, the lemon oil negating the need for any type of salad dressing.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I am.

Roasted Salmon with Lemon Oil

1 large lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
4 6-8oz salmon fillets
kosher salt
fresh pepper

Set rack in the middle of oven and preheat to 450° F. Zest the lemon and mix zest and olive oil in a small bowl and set aside. Arrange the fillets on a heavy baking sheet, skin side down, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the salmon for 10-13 minutes and remove from oven, immediately squeeze the lemon over the salmon. Arrange over fresh salad or cooked vegetable and drizzle with lemon infused olive oil.

pot roast

Maybe it's the weather, or the season, or maybe it's all the added stress at work due to the current economic situation. Maybe a girl doesn't really need a reason to crave comfort food. Something simple and satisfying that warms from the inside out after a day or romping in the snow or trudging through the cold.

Many of Mom's best recipes are so simple. Her pot roast is one of those, a few veggies, some meat, a dash of love and perfect meal is born. I was never a picky eater who pushed food around my plate or didn't let my vegetables to touch, but I still had my idiosyncrases. I remember that I used to eat my pot roast in a very specific order; first mash the potatoes and carrots to soak up the juice, then the pearl onions and then the meat (always save the best for last). Then, if there was any juice left, soak that up with a slice of bread, just like Dad. Oh, yes. I am my father's daughter through and through.

This pot roast is the simplest thing ever, and is perfect for any type of variation that pleases you. Every once in a while Mom would add peas at the very end, so that they didn't cook to long. I have left the potatoes out of this recipes, but Mom usualy used red skins or new potatoes.

Pot Roast

1 Sirloin 'spoon' roast, 3-6 pounds
1 tbsp olive oil
4 peeled tomatoes*
1 onion, quartered or a bag of pearl onions
2 carrots, quartered
3-4 bay leaves
Salt
Water

In a large, heavy pot heat the olive oil and salt the roast. Sear all sides of the roast, about a minute on each side. Turn down heat and rest meat in pot. Place tomatoes, onions and carrots around the meat. Pour 2-4 cups of water into the pot, at least until the meat is half covered, and add the bay leaves. Cover and cook on very low heat for at least 3 hours, preferably 5, turning the meat over halfway through. If the broth seems to thin, remove the top and cook uncovered for the last half hour.

*To quickly peel fresh tomatoes wash the tomatoes, cut out the stem and score the top with an X. Place tomatoes top down in a large bowl or pot. Pour boiling water over tomatoes** and allow to sit for several minutes. Remove tomatoes and rinse with cold water if they are too hot to handle. Skins should slip right off.

**I like to save this water and use it to cook the roast in, that way I don't loose any of the tomato juices.

go head honey...it's gluten free! veal scaloppini

A vandal, or as I prefer to think, a guerrilla artist, has put electrical tape 'Hitler' mustaches on all the advertisements around Time Square. A man in suite weaves by on a kick scooter with a tennis racket around his neck. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Or, in my case, Ann Arbor, MI.

Which is good because this month 'Go ahead honey, it's gluten free!' is being hosted by Nooshin at For The Love of Food and she choose Foods From Our Childhood as our theme. She wanted us to recreate something special from our childhood. Something that makes us feel warm and fuzzy and think of home.

We always had a home cooked meal (or 'planned overs') but when I think back I can only remember a few of Mom's stand-bys. I have already made her chicken soup, and I make Nonna's pasta sauce all the time. Grilled chicken is, frankly, fairly boring, and though I haven't had a comforting pot roast or stew in a while these I wanted to dig deeper. I wanted to fix a truly special meal from my childhood. A special occasion meal.

Mom had a meal that she prepared she prepared once or twice a year, if that. A recipe that she learned from her Nonnie, my great-grandmother and namesake. Another family recipes passed down from the Old World. We had veal scaloppini for Christmas, and for my birthday when I asked for it.

I remember going to the butcher in Kerry Town, still surrounded by the original red brick paving, the old world feel of the shop. The butcher there was the only one who cut the veal thinly enough to please Mom. I loved the whole process of visiting the butcher, working in the kitchen with Mom: mixing the milk and egg, dipping the veal in the bread crumbs, and the crisp golden crust on the veal, the whole event, not just the meal, was a special occasion for me.

Once, when the Trainer and I were first dating and I lived in Brooklyn I made this for him with gluten free bread crumbs, egg and milk and he really liked it. My challenge this time was to try to replicate the flavor with out the standard bread crumbs. So, with my thinking cap on, I served the Trainer his second plate of veal scaloppini and it tasted just the way I hoped.

Veal Scaloppini

1 cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup blanched almond meal
1 Lb veal scaloppini
2 egg whites
salt
olive oil
lemon wedges

Quickly grind pine nuts in a blender until they form a course meal, being careful not to over grind and create a 'butter'. Mix ground pine nuts and almond meal in a shallow bowl or deep plate. I a second bowl quickly beat eggs whites. Line a baking sheet with brown paper and paper towel. Heat a large skillet and pour in enough olive oil to well coat the bottom. While oil is heating prepare the veal: dip each piece of veal first in the egg whites and then into the nut meal, making sure both sides are coated. Lay veal in a single layer in the skillet. Cook on on side until golden brown and then flip. When first batch of veal is cooked lay it on the paper towel in the prepared baking sheet. Add more olive oil to pan as needed and cook the remaining veal

Serve with a squeeze of lemon

If you have a problem with nuts, use gluten free bread crumbs. If you can't do eggs, use egg replacement for two eggs.

inside out lasagna meatballs

Last night the trainer and I got to see that fantastic Chilean band Inti Illimani and it was amazing. We've been waiting over a two years to go to an Andean concert together. He invited me to one when we first started dating but I couldn't make it. (Listen here)

At intermission I bought their CD to give my parents for Christmas and after the show we had the opportunity to meet the musicians. Neither the Trainer nor I had a pen, but we begged and borrowed and I got all their autographs for my folks. I was so giddy, I've never been to a concert like that I hardly knew what to say to them. Of course, most of them spoke only Spanish which made speaking to them even harder. Good thing I had the Trainer to get me through.

We got home late and lazed around in bad this morning. I dragged myself out of bed and into my sweats for my big cooking day. Burger day, to be exact. I tried a few new things and I got to work on something that's been swimming circles around behind my eyeballs for the last several weeks.

I've been craving lasagna, and when I made that first batch of mock ricotta I thought I knew how to do it. This one pretty much speaks for itself, and I think the squirrel in the tree outside are window wanted some too, he was crying the whole time these were in the oven.

Inside Out Lasagna Meatballs

2 lb ground beef
8 oz ricotta or SCD mock ricotta
1/4 c. (3/4oz) grated Parmesan regiano
1/4 c. (3/4oz) grated pecorino Romano
3/4 c. diced parsley
1/2 c. (1 1/5oz) grated Gruyere
quick tomato sauce*

Mix ricotta, Parmesan, Romano and parsley in one bowl.
Divide ground beef into 2 oz portions. Create thin patties, put tablespoon size portions of cheese mixture in the middle of patties and mold meat around cheese. Place a wire rack in a baking dish or cookie sheet, arrange meat balls on wire rack and bake for 20 min. Serve covered with quick tomato sauce and a sprinkle of Gruyere.

Makes 16 meatballs

bison chili in a squash bowl

Oh, man! Let's chalk that one up to the folly of youth.

Yesterday the Trainer and I lounged around for most of the day. Between the cup of coffee I really shouldn't have had around 4:30 Saturday and daylight savings time i didn't get much sleep and was pretty zapped by the time we decided to go to the gym. When I shuffled out in the late afternoon to fetch some cinnamon the weather was a perfectly nice fall day.

It didn't occur to me, as I was hauling the bikes out of the basement, that the sun was going to set earlier and that the temperature would drop along with it. I was concentrating to hard on the machines, and then the warm fuzzy feeling I got when the Trainer called me his "strong woman". However, this strong woman forgot her gloves

The ride to the gym wasn't to bad, although my fingers were cold and stiff when we arrived. I prised them from the handle bars and fumblingly help the Trainer with the lock. The ride home, after the sun set, was seriously cold. Riding through Queens in the cold and dark felt like we were doing something forbidden. Besides the frigid fingers it was a great ride. I love feeling my body working, pushing toward my goal.

But, back to those frigid finger. As mush as tried to pull my sleeves down over on fingers, but it's awfully hard to shift and break with your fingers pulled up inside your fleece. I was afraid that I would lose the use of my fingers for the rest of the evening, having suffered from raynauds phenomenon before going gluten free. I was pleasantly surprised that my fingers did not turn white and I did not lose feeling in them for hours. Very exciting! Of course, this does not mean that I'll be running around without gloves all winter.

The best part of the whole ordeal was the bison chili baked in a squash that was keeping warm for me in the oven. A little grated cheese and I had the perfect dark cold night dinner.

Bison Chili in a Squash Bowl

3 smallish acorn squash or pumpkins,
1 Lb ground bison
1 yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, mined
1 carrot, diced
1 large celery stalk, diced
2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
fresh ground pepper
sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350°F

In a skillet add the onion, garlic and spices. Saute for about 5 minutes, until onions are tender. Add the carrots, celery and tomatoes, reduce heat and simmer while you prepare the squash.

Wash the outsides and cut the tops off the squash. Try to cut on an angle so that the tops will fit back on, like a jack-o-lantern. Scoop out seeds and pulp, try to get as much pulp out as possible.

Fill each squash as full as possible with chili. Press the chili firmly into the squash and fill them completely.

Place tops back on squash and place on a sided baking sheet on pan. Pour enough water into the pan to cover the bottom.

Bake for 45 minutes

Allow to cool for several minutes and garnish with grated sharp cheddar cheese.

*Eat the squash along with the chili, the contrasts in tastes is amazing! If you aren't going to bake the chili in the squash I recommend peeling, dicing and cooking the squash along with the rest of the chili.

pork and fennel stuffed apples

Lately I feel like we're stuck in the intermezzo of Monty Python's "Holy Grail", the season flip-flopping willy-nilly, confusing our bodies and wardrobes. (thankfully, I have not yet been forced to eat Robin's minstrels) Last week we plunged into winter, bright nippy days that had to be faced with long coats and scarves. Today it is decidedly, gloomily fall. Big fat raindrops are being blown through on an icy wind. Weather that drives even the hardiest New Yorkers indoors. It is time for comfort food.

Lately I have been craving something sweet and savoury, like Sunday morning sausage sopping up the last of the maple syrup. Something juicy on my tongue. A mix of unexpected flavors to spice up a cold evening awaiting the Trainer's arrival. A meal to take me home.

Last Sunday I joined S and her husband for a walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to take a gander at the DUMBO Farmer's Market. A small affair with a guy who sells fantastic, organic, SCD 'legal' roasted nuts and nut butters. The apple seller's table was piled high with red, gold and green offerings, juicy slices teasing my tongue. I picked out some fantastic Gala apples and another type I have never tried before. I'm embarrassed to admit I've forget it's name: Sugarcrisp perhaps. This large golden green gem was just to beautiful to eat with disregard, it needed special attention.

Our apple tree at home offered up copious amounts of small, sweet heirloom apples, perfect for baking and apple sauce, not quite up to our antiseptic culture's idea of an eating apple. Whatever these little guys lack in polished appearance they make up for in flavor. Every fall we picked them from the tree, gathered the windfall and retired to the kitchen to 'process'. The largest apples were always saved for baking, cored and stuffed with oatmeal, cinnamon and clove while the smaller ones were turned into apple sauce.

All winter long Mom always served her pork tenderloin with our homegrown applesauce, to great critical acclaim. Not having the means to make such lovely sauce I stewed and chewed on this combination of pork and apples. Looking at my beautiful local apple I knew what to do with it. Instead of cooking the pork tenderloin with fruit in the middle, I would cook the apple with the pork in the middle.

Since I was cooking this for one, I made the pork stuffing, stuffed my lone apple, and cooked the rest of the pork in a separate dish. This combination would make a great stuffing for chicken or turkey as well.

Pork and Fennel Stuffed Apples

for three stuffed apple:

9 oz pork tenderloin, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup diced fennel bulb
1/4 cup diced yellow onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
3 large sweet apples
salt
cinnamon
cloves

Prepare the stuffing by mixing the pork, fennel, onion, garlic and salt to taste. Allow to sit at room temperature while preparing the apples

Preheat oven to 425 F

Wash the apples and cut the top third off. Scoop the flesh of the apple out of both top and bottom, using a small paring knife or grapefruit spoon. Leave about 1/4 inch of flesh with the skin. Coat the inside of the apples with ground cinnamon and cloves.

Arrange the apples in ramekins or in a small baking pan. Fill the apples with the pork stuffing, packing well, pile the stuffing so that it fills the top of the apple as well. Mix the apple flesh with any remaining pork stuffing and fill an additional ramekin.

Bake for 45 minutes.

stuffed tomatoes save the day

This past Thursday I was fortunate enough to have the day off work for Yom Kippor. I did not fast on this Jewish day of atonement, but I did spend the day in meditation. In the kitchen.

Since it is so unusual for me to have a day off, the Trainer decided to stay home for the morning to spend time with me. His day did not begin so well. He awoke to find that we were out of coffee filters and had to trek out in search of them, finally finding them at the place I would have assumed would his first stop.

While making the coffee he burned his pancake, then tore it up in a pique, muttering how it was going to be such a bad day. I salvaged breakfast with some Tropical Squash Bread from the freezer and things calmed down as we sat with our coffee for a few minutes.

Soon after retreating to our nest it was time to start the special lunch or Bison Stuffed Tomatoes that I had planned for our morning together. I was interrupted in this by the real day saver, thanks to my friends C and J. Knowing that I would be home, C sent me an Edible Arrangement as a belated birthday gift. (J is currently deployed overseas) The Trainer answered the door, and nearly turned the delivery guy away since we weren't expecting anything, let alone a huge bouquet of fruit.

We were so surprised, and the Trainer so impressed, that everything had to stop so that I could open and photograph the masterpiece before the fruit was eaten. This, of course, put me behind in my lunch preparations. On the other hand, it brought us together and I've never seen the Trainer eat so much fruit at one time.

I quickly got back to our lunch, preheating the oven, sauteing the meat, scooping out the tomatoes. All with the Trainer hovering at my shoulder asking when we were going to eat and reminding me that we said lunch would be at 11:30. Never tell a Hungry Man (or as I sometimes call him, my Very Hungry Caterpillar) that something will take 30 minutes in the oven. With hungry masculine selective hearing they hear 30 minutes and can't comprehend the prep time. Luckily I got the tomatoes into the oven and they didn't take as long in the oven as I had estimated.

We enjoyed our lunch, and the Trainer was quite impressed with the stuffed tomatoes. The day was officially saved! I had him to myself for another short hour before he headed to the gym and I got down and dirty making burgers for the next two weeks.

Bison Stuffed Tomatoes

1lb- ground bison meat, or other ground meat
1- red onion, chopped
3- cloves garlic, chopped
6Tbsp- chopped fresh cilantro
1Tbdp- chili powder
1tsp- ground cumin
1tsp- kosher salt
1/2 tsp- fresh ground black pepper
5- large ripe tomatoes
1/3 cup- almond meal
1Tbsp- olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large skillet saute the onion and garlic with a small amount of vegetable oil.

Add the bison meat, 3Tbsp cilantro, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and brwon the meat, breaking it up into small chunks.

While the meat is cooking prepare the tomatoes. Cut of the tops, about 1cm from the base of the stem. Scoop out insides into a bowl. Save the flesh and discard the seeds.

Chop the tomato flesh and tops and add to the meat.

Arrange the tomatoes in a foil lined baking dish.

Fill each tomato as full as possible with the bison mixture. Sprinkle reserved cilantro on top.

In a small bowl toss together almond meal and olive oil.

Top each a tomato with a small amount of almond meal mixture and shake a little salt over the whole pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tomatoes have split thier skins and almond meal topping is toasted light brown.

Slow Food For Fall

I'm a few days late for Naomi's Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten Free event, but maybe she'll let me slide under the wire. This month's theme is slow food. The slowest food I can think of is my mother's turkey soup. Every Thanksgiving, except one, Mom roasted a huge turkey for our family of three, or four while Nonna was with us. I'm talking 20 pounds, in the oven ALL day, big kinda turkey.

After everyone ate turkey for several days Mom would cut the remaining meat from the bones and boil the bones in her huge soup pot. Th pot stayed on the stove for several days, simmering away. After two days of simmering the bones she removed them from the stock and placed the pot outside on the deck to cool. The next morning Mom skimmed the fat from the surface and began freezing bags or turkey stock.

We always had a big pot of turkey soup made from the last of the Thanksgiving bird, and homemade turkey soup was Mom's answer to all of winters sniffs, sniffles and dark days. Her soups were always peppery sharp and hearty. She added chunks of roast turkey or chicken, onions, carrots, celery, lots of garlic and pepper. Rice got fat soaking up the stock and fresh grated parmesan and pecorino topped these love filled bowls she placed before us.

If that's not slow food, I don't know what is.

I have neither the tools, space, or kitchen time to cook this the way Mom did. Maybe one day I'll have a kitchen of my own, but until then, I can always make Mom's feel better soup like this.

1 bone-in chicken breast, with or without skin

2 white onions

6 cloves garlic

3 stalks celery

1 bunch parsley

1 huge carrot

3 bay leaves

olive oil

fresh ground pepper

kosher salt

In a large soup pot, stock pot slow cooker place the rinsed chicken, 1 onion, 3 smashed cloves of garlic, 1 stalk of celery, 1/2 the parsley and bay leaves. Simmer for at least three hours.

Allow stock to cool, then remove chicken, onion, garlic, celery, parsley and bay leaves. Discard the vegetables.

In a large bowl or on a plate, pick all the chicken meat from the bones, shredding it into small pieces.

Chill the stock and skim the congealed fat from the surface if desired.

Chop the remaining vegetables. Heat a skillet with olive oil and begin sauteing the garlic and onions on low heat. When they are translucent and the carrots and let them sweat, covered, until they are slightly crisper than you would like. Add the celery and continue cooking until the celery is cooked.

Return the chicken and vegetables to the stock, add remainder of the parsley, chopped, and season with salt and fresh ground pepper.

If you can eat rice or grains, add any cooked rice or grain of your choice and serve.

* Mom always cooked the rice separately and added it only at the very end, into each bowl separately. If we stored the leftover soup and rice together, by the next night the rice had soaked up all the liquid and it no longer resembled soup.

**I always loved to add lots of fresh cheese to the left overs, I guess that was me making my very first risotto.

Fall Comfort Food

Here I sit, at my small home desk with my cup of Sleepytime tea and a small dish of incinerated nuts (my last attempt at roasting in an unpredictable oven), the first fall rain is pattering against the window and I am finally trying to decompress after a very long four days.

It auction season, all the big houses have sales in the next few weeks, Doyle's, Sotheby's, Christie's, so things are hectic at work to say the least. Our neighbors were evicted and the landlord decided to fully exterminate both the vacant apartment and ours, we're the only two on the floor, on Wednesday. Tuesday the Trainer and I, and his family, had to remove all our clothes and books from the apartment, only to put it all away again Wednesday evening. The past few evenings they have been doing work next door as well, last night until after 11pm.

I'm very glad that I had the foresight to prepare some comfort food last weekend. I roasted a large spaghetti squash and prepared a batch of my Nonna's pasta sauce to go with it. I hadn't planned on eating it every day, but it's warm and comforting, and it's all ready for me to grab from the freezer. I learned how to make this pasta sauce from my Nonna and my uncle and I certainly don't follow a recipe, but I do follow a few guidelines.

Spaghetti Squash

Clean the outside of a spaghetti squash and cut it in half. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place both halves of the squash cut side down on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the squash. When it's cool enough to handle scrape the meat with a fork to create the spaghetti-like strands and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

Nonna's Pasta Sauce

1lb- ground beef
1- onion
5cloves- garlic
6- Roma tomatoes
4- vine ripe tomatoes
1/2bunch- parsley
2tsp- Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, majoram, thyme, savory, sage & rosemary)
Olive oil
Sea salt

To prep- chop the onions and garlic, wash the Roma tomatoes and remove the stem part and peel the vine ripe tomatoes*

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil with 1tsp seasoning until translucent.

Remove 2/3 of the onion mixture and place in blender.

Add ground beef to remaining onions and sautee, breaking up into clumps of desired size.

In blender, puree onions and Roma tomatoes.

Transfer meat and tomato puree to a sauce pan, add peeled, chopped vine ripe tomatoes, remaining seasoning and chopped parsley. Simmer for at least 1 hour until flavors are well blended.


*to easily peel the tomatoes score an X over the stem and place tomatoes top down in a heat proof bowl. Cover with boiling water. After a few minutes, rinse in cold water and remove peels

Jalapeno Cilantro Chicken with Spicy Sweet Potato Rounds

I might be crazy. Actually, anyone who knows me, the Trainer included, would say might skeptically and with a raised eyebrow. This evening I was working out, pumping my heart out on the elliptical trainer and reading a cookbook and thinking about the dishes I had to prepare.

But just a few days after cutting grains and sugar (and cheese) I have so much energy and I'm not pulling myself wearily along, muddy headed and exhausted to the next meal in hopes that food will revive me.

I could have gone on if I hadn't had responsibilities (read: gerbil who needs to be hand fed) and cooking. Last night I was awake until almost 2am and woke before my alarm.

Tonight I made a stab at a version of my father's favorite dish at my parents Asian haunt.

Jalapeno Cilantro Chicken for two

2 boneless skinless chicken breast, in bite size pieces
1/3 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped
4 limes, juiced
2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 small vidalia onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Canola oil

•The night before set chicken to marinate with cilantro and juice of 3 limes.

•Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet and cook the onions and garlic until transparent.

•Turn heat to low and add chicken and marinade. Sauté until chicken is cooked.

•Add jalapenos and a little water if necessary. Simmer for a few more minutes.

Spicy Sweet Potato Rounds

I have to give credit The Good Eatah for planting the seeds of this side dish

1 sweet potato or yam, sliced as thinly as possible
Fresh ground pepper
Sea salt
Light oil for frying

•Arrange sweet potato on a plate or tray and season both sides of slices with salt and pepper.

•Let stand for10-15 minutes

•Oil and heat a skillet until very hot

•Fry sweet potato slices until they are cooked through

•Remove to a paper towel to stand.

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