Vegetarian Madness! Veggie Wheat-Berry Salad with Warm Pita and Grilled Halloumi

But first, a confession. Had you asked me what "halloumi" was 6 months ago, I would've ventured a guess that it was a type of fish. I would have, of course, been absolutely wrong. I had been to countless Greek and Mediterranean restaurants and seen something called "halloumi" on the menu and immediately regarded it as a type of fish, perhaps a white fish like halibut or mahi-mahi or a bronzino. Although, now I see that I probably just equated the way halloumi sounded with a combination of the words halibut and mahi-mahi (I believe covered the fact that I'm weird. Moving on...) Regardless, I would've never thought it was a type of cheese. What kind of name is halloumi for a type of cheese anyway? Well, it is and my sincerest apologies for the island of Cyprus (and its inhabitants) where halloumi originated. Halloumi is, indeed, a cheese and I learned this at a birthday party earlier this year. What's wondrous about halloumi is that it doesn't melt, but one of its famed preparations is grilling it. I'm not sure what kind of magic keeps this brined sheeps' milk cheese from melting once applied to heat, but it remains intact and this delicious salty-briny-crispy crust forms on the outside. It's delicious and irresistible. My friend's boyfriend grilled some up for my friend's birthday party and it just tasted so damn good. Plus, it's super quick and easy. Just a non-stick pan is needed over medium heat. Plop down a few slices, grill a couple minutes on either side, then eat! Well, okay, wait for it to cool down a bit, but then eat!

Weirdly enough, I forgot about the halloumi until this weekend while leafing through this month's issue of Women's Health. Every once in a while they'll have a section on food and cooking chock-full of delicious recipes. This month's held a particular gem: Veggie Wheat Berry Salad. My husband, when presented with this week's menu, immediately said "I knew you'd pick to make that!" pointing to the recipe in the magazine. I asked him why he would think that I would be drawn to this recipe, despite the fact that it sounded delicious and perfect for a summer evening. "Because of the photo. It's in a small little glass, all pretty and colorful." Indeed the photo shows a small appetizer-sized glass full of colorful veggies and little fluffy-looking wheat berries. I can't deny that the photo drew me into the recipe in the first place (ironic considering one of this month's articles is on food porn...), but it was the potential for a delicious one-salad meal with fresh summer veggies and chewy wheat berries. I fell in love with wheat berries when I was living in London. One of the yogurt varieties/brands had winter wheat berries stirred throughout. The yogurt itself was sublime (so much better than the yogurt in the states), but the addition of the wheat berries...it made it more filling and you'd find these little chewy bits of deliciousness amid the creamy clouds of yogurt and sweet chunks of strawberries. I ate more yogurt while I was in London that I'd eaten my entire life. Anyway, for the longest time I didn't know what these little bits were in my yogurt. But now I know and I'm totally going to cook up a batch of plain wheat berries and sprinkle them in my yogurt from now on.

Anyway, getting back to the salad, and the meal as a whole, it was perfect: savory and fresh. I couldn't find any green bell peppers at the store, and wanting a bit more color than red, I found a few purple bell peppers and picked those up (of course, forgetting that the red onion is also purple, but they still stood out). The dressing is a great combination of tangy and savory, akin to the "broth" in a gazpacho (thanks, in part, to the red wine vinegar and Worcestershire sauce). Overall it had a very gazpacho-like quality, but much more filling due to the chewy and delicious wheat berries. Originally, I wasn't sure if this would be filling enough for a dinner, which is why I toasted up a pita bread and grilled up the halloumi. Everything worked so well together. After taking a bit of pita and cheese with a bit of olive oil, a bit of the salad would cleanse the palate. This would make an excellent picnic meal (either pre-grill the cheese or use a pan or be extra-special careful on the open BBQ). The salad itself, of course, is perfect for summer potlucks, too!

Hello Dal-ly, Take Two: Curried Red Onion Jam with Simple Dal

I know it wasn't too long ago that I posted a delicious dal recipe. This particular post isn't necessarily going to focus on the dal, but rather on the condiment which elevates this simple dal into something incredible. You'll recall from my last post that I'm rather enamored with a new cookbook. It shouldn't surprise then that this recipe comes from the same book. While the onion is called "red", it certainly doesn't look RED like other truly red fruits and vegetables. Instead, the author quite rightly puts the red onion in the purple chapter. Yes, a look at a color wheel would show that the connection between red and purple is only a small amount of blue away, but it's still purple. Okay, how did we get on the topic of color? When I set about to make this condiment, I had no idea how much flavor a red onion could have. I have a slight issue with onions. Raw onions tend to not have the best affect on me; they leave me tasting onions for days afterward and my stomach is certainly far from happy. Cooked onions are better for me, but I tend to keep my distance from too much onion regardless. But this jam? Oh my... it's sweet, tangy, spicy, and, well, jammy. It's super simple to make and even though I made mine the night before making the dal, they can both be made at the same time and in about an hour. So, while it's certainly not a 30-minute meal, it can be done after coming  home from work. I have a feeling this jam would also make a great gift. Snag a couple of small jars and a few pieces of decorative fabric/cloth and you've got a gift for just about anyone. Cheryl, the author of Ripe, mentions you can use the leftover jam for sandwiches and I'm eager to give it a try. I figure some roasted chicken, mayo, and some spinach with plenty of this jam would make a kind of curried chicken salad sandwich. You could also use it in a pita with hummus and crunchy veggies for a flavor-packed vegetarian option. Either way, this jam can be an excellent condiment for just about anything in need of kick.

I did want to touch upon the simple dal. It really is very simple. I could barely believe just how simple it was to cook and yet so incredibly flavorful, creamy, and rich it came out to be. I'd never cooked with red lentils before, so this was a first. I think the last dal I made, using lentils of course, used the regular brown/green lentils (I think...it was a while ago). The red lentils don't retain their shape like French black lentils do, but instead break down into this super rich creaminess. The aromatics in this recipe also stand out. I mean, this dal only calls for lentils, water, star anise, ginger, and a chili pepper (I used jalapeno since I couldn't find a red chili at the store). Since it's only 1 chili, there isn't a whole lot of spice, but ginger makes up for the lack of heat. The star anise provides this sweetness and underlying tone, which I'd never noticed in other dal I've had. Honestly, this is probably the simplest recipe I'll ever post here.

I got a request from a friend to post more vegetarian-friendly recipes. I have another vegetarian dish, which I'll post next. I honestly love cooking vegetarian. Not only does it tend to be simpler to make, but it's also a lot lighter on the wallet. The times when I've spent the most at the grocery store have usually been when I had a lot of meat on the week's menu. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think I could ever turn completely vegetarian. I love fish, chicken, pork, and beef way too much to give it all up. I pride myself on being an omnivore and am lucky to have a husband who doesn't have to have meat on his dinner plate every night.

The Most Important Meal of the Day: Cacio Pepe Oatmeal with Spinach

I'll say this first: I never was one for breakfast. It wasn't until the last few years that breakfast has become a must-have. Before then, I could easily sail through the morning on a big cup of coffee and not much else. Maybe I'd throw in a piece of toast, but it usually was just coffee. I was worse in college. My first meal of the day was usually lunch. After, you know, the giant cup of coffee. I never ate breakfast in high school. Now, this doesn't mean I didn't like what was served at breakfast. I love eggs, bacon, pancakes, waffles, fritatas, quiche, sausage, hashbrowns, everything you'll find on any diner menu - I love. But, I have this weird thing where I just cannot bring myself to eat right when I get up. There has to be this delay. I don't understand people who get up and immediately eat. It actually makes me sick to think about it. But I've had to change my tune when I started Weight Watchers, which is when I really started to hone my breakfast skills. Of course, eating a solid breakfast helps combat snacking and helps your blood sugar maintain a steady level through the morning, so it was only natural to start eating breakfast. I used to make a pretty hefty breakfast sandwich with an egg, bacon, and spinach on a whole wheat English Muffin; all together not as point-heavy as you'd think. So, on a daily basis, I've come around to breakfast.

Whenever I bring up what I eat these days for breakfast, I'm usually met by a confused expression on my companion's face. Last year, I came across a section in an issue of Womens Health that was all about oatmeal. It included 4 or 5 different recipes for oatmeal, some sweet and some savory. I tried a few of them and fell in love with one: Cacio e Pepe Oatmeal. Cacio e Pepe, when describing a pasta dish, is simply fresh pasta tossed with Parmesan cheese, lots of freshly ground black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil. Sounds pretty great, huh? Well, I thought it'd be great, too, for breakfast. It goes without saying that not all oatmeal needs to be sweet. I grew up on the instant packets of Maple Brown Sugar and loved every sugary bite. I never really cared for fruit in my oatmeal; I liked it more plain than chock full of stuff. Before I found this article, I would've never thought to branch out my oatmeal tastes. I never really thought oatmeal could be savory, but I was oh so wrong. The result of my first batch of this particular dish was delicious: creamy, warm, savory, and peppery. It reminded me of a big bowl of cheesy risotto. Originally, I made this with standard rolled oats (never instant). I then made a move to steel-cut and I've never moved away since. I love steel-cut oats: they're chewy and they retain their overall texture when they've been cooked. The only thing against them is that they take a long time to cook, but I've adjusted my morning routine to accommodate the time required. Luckily, it's not like risotto in that you have to keep stirring, but you certainly don't want the pot to go completely dry.

This particular oatmeal dish eventually evolved over time. One of the other recipes in this article was a Florentine-style oatmeal, with Monterey Jack cheese and an egg on top. This seemed a little TOO heavy for every morning, but I loved the idea of adding something green to my bowl. I honestly am not a huge fan of raw spinach, but I'll happily add cooked spinach to pretty much everything I can. So, I snagged the spinach from this other oatmeal dish and added it to mine and I got a dish that was cheesy, creamy, peppery, now with a slight bite/crunch from the wilted spinach. It also turned my rather indulgent breakfast into something much more nutritious. Chock full of protein, iron, and Vitamin C, it keeps me full through the morning. Within the last couple of weeks, this bowl has evolved again. One morning, as I stood at my counter making my breakfast, my eye was caught by the little container of cherry tomatoes. "I wonder..." I grabbed a handful and plopped them on top of everything else. I was pleasantly surprised with the result. As you can probably imagine, this is a very heavy meal. The sweet-tart burst from the cherry tomatoes cuts through the thick oatmeal and really brightens up the meal overall. I love the combination and it's elevated my breakfast into something I eagerly tuck into, instead of picking at while driving to work.

A personal note

A little over a year ago, my cousin, James, unexpectedly passed away. It was sudden and very painful for our family. He was a giant bear of a guy, always quick with a joke, a story, and a big huge hug. Before he passed, he was looking forward to turning 30 and getting married to his fiancé. Instead, our family ended up holding a memorial service for him. It was a simply amazing event, to be honest. He was a sales manager at Google and it seemed that everyone knew who he was. His managers at Google were incredibly generous and offered one of their cafés for the remembrance. The place was packed. The impact he made on everyone was evident. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know my cousin very well. Even though we were only a year apart in age, we led very different lives. I learned a lot about him at his memorial, which, had I the choice, I would've not wanted. I would've wanted to opportunity to get to know him from him. One thing that I had only partially known was his love of food and his passion for cooking. Our grandma once said when my cousin and I were both young that we should open our own restaurant: Micky and Jim's. We laughed about it, but obviously nothing happened. We lived our own separate lives and it wasn't until a year before he died that we attempted to get together as friends. Our schedules never meshed, unfortunately. We did end up running into each other at our local Pizza Antica one night, while looking for a place to take some friends of ours who were in the area. I will say that, for how brief that run-in was with him, it has made a lasting impact. Whenever I pass by that Pizza Antica or go there for dinner, I'm half-expecting my cousin to pop up out of nowhere, yell my name, and pick me up into a big hug.

My uncle (his father) and James' mom got together with Sprouts Cooking Club and started the James Cole Sprouts Scholarship Fund. Sprouts is a cooking club whose purpose is to promote cooking and healthy eating to children of all cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. They host hands-on cooking classes with professional chefs for children in the San Francisco Bay Area in the hopes the next generation knows how to eat and how to cook good ingredients. The scholarship fund started in memory of my cousin helps fund classes and events to foster the passion for cooking my cousin had in all children.

Being my cousin's birthday today, I thought I'd use my cooking blog to plug Sprouts and, in particular, the James Cole Sprouts Scholarship Fund. If you feel like donating, please feel free. Do not feel you are under any obligation whatsoever.

I miss you, James.

I Heart Broccoli: Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Croutons

Last weekend, my two very good friends from college took me out to give me my birthday present: mani-pedi's. We also threw in some eating, drinking, and shopping, too. While we were sauntering around and window shopping, we ended up at Anthropologie. I honestly cannot wear anything in that store, try as I might. I don't have the right complexion for the majority of the tones they play with and I definitely do not have the body, either (a wide body + flowy skirts, dresses, and tops = not that great). The thing that Anthropologie does have that I love to browse is their kitchenware section. Most of it is tchotchke items, but if I had the money to throw, I'd buy a handful of their beautiful mugs and linens. Anyway, while browsing, something caught my eye: a beautiful...brightly colored...cookbook. I love big splashy cookbooks with pages of photographed dishes and food. The book is Ripe: A Fresh Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables. It's a gorgeous book, first separated by color, and then by ingredient. I'd never seen a cookbook organized by color, but I love it (even has a website)! It helps illustrate the approach the author, Cheryl Sternman Rule, is going for. What grabs your attention in the produce section or farmer's market? Color. Color is was signifies ripeness, it signifies nutritional value, it signifies deliciousness. I quickly grabbed the book and brought it home. I haven't treated this cookbook like the others I have on my shelf. I have treated this cookbook like an actual book. My husband found me in the chair in our office curled up with this book, reading it, and he chuckled. "Who reads a cookbook?" Well, I do, I suppose. Each ingredient is prefaced with a vignette from the author, talking about her relationship with the ingredient. Her writing style is humorous, sarcastic, and genuine. It's similar to how I talk and even a bit how I write. I know I'll find myself leafing through this book a hundred more times, and you'll see plenty of her recipes posted here, as I find something new and exciting to make. But, of course, the first ingredient I turned to was broccoli.

I think I've mentioned my love of this particular member of the cabbage family before. I love broccoli. I've always had. It's not like it's a newly found favorite, like brussel sprouts (shh, don't tell my mom...), I've always loved broccoli. When I was a kid, my favorite vegetable side was steamed broccoli, topped with a splash of red wine vinegar. I never understood my cousins' infatuation with cheese sauce. Why drown these little tender trees with heavy thick cheese? Don't get me wrong, I love cheese sauce, but broccoli has this great flavor - why cover it up? Plus, I loved the texture of the stalk and the "leaves" of the crowns. It's a little sweet, a little bitter, and a whole lot of delicious. In college, my dorm fridge was stocked with bags of prepared broccoli florets. I'd throw them in a bowl with a bit of water and pop in the microwave for a minute or so. Pull it out and snack on them while watching TV or chatting online. The second half of my senior year consisted of broccoli florets and microwave-baked potatoes (plus its various toppings: hello baked beans!). My husband would shake his head whenever he'd visit and open my fridge to find these two items in abundance (amid bottles of beer, of course). No one could ever say my diet was unhealthy. It certainly wasn't a varied diet by any extent, but at least I wasn't living off of Hot Pockets.

So, what did Ms. Rule have in store for my favorite vegetable? Why, soup, of course! I love a good soup, but unfortunately the majority of broccoli soups at restaurants tend to be heavy, thick, and full of "cheese", with absolutely no flavor of broccoli, unless you count the sour taste of overcooked cabbage as the flavor of broccoli (which no one should). This soup has but a little bit of cheese in it and no cream. It uses an immersion blender and a bit of Greek yogurt to thicken at the end, but otherwise it's all broccoli on the inside. The thing that really caught my attention for this soup, though, was the combination of spices used to flavor the soup: whole cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and ground coriander. This elevates the soup entirely and places it into more Indian fare than American. Oh, and did I mention it's topped with cheddar croutons?* I love croutons in my soup (one of the reasons I LOVE French Onion Soup) and these add a lovely sharpness against the spicy thick soup. As the author notes before the recipe "As with most soups, its flavor improves over time." The spices are super potent even after a day after the soup is cooked. Total powerhouse of flavor, it definitely stands on its own. Or, you know, paired with an open-faced grilled cheese with tomato, which is what we did with the leftovers.

* Haha, okay, funny story about the croutons. The recipe says to line a baking sheet with parchment when making the cheddar croutons. I pulled out my roll of parchment and grabbed what was left of the roll: a 18" x 1" strip. Well, that wasn't going to do me any good. So, I grabbed what I thought would've been a fine substitute: aluminum foil. Boy, was I wrong. The cheese immediately stuck fast to the foil and took the cubes of bread hostage. I did what I could with my spatula when trying to flip and turn the croutons during baking, but it was a big fat mess. In my final step, attempting to rescue the croutons from the metal clutches of the foil, my husband peeks over my shoulder and says "Wouldn't a silpat worked better?" I shot him the look of death over my shoulder and he high-tailed it out of the kitchen. How stupid of me? I have 2 silpats in my arsenal. Why didn't I think to use them?! As I went about picking little bits of foil off of the salvaged croutons, I yelled to my husband in our office: "And, yes, a slipat would've worked better."

Best Salad Ever - Now with Shrimp!: Shrimp Club Salad

Remember a while back (you'll need to go a ways, considering the speed at which I post things...) when I made the best salad ever? Okay, well, if you a) can't remember, or b) don't feel like clicking the link I provided to you TAKE you to the "best salad ever", this was the BLT Salad. It was everything in a BLT, but in salad form. Creamy garlic dressing coating cool crisp romaine leaves, juicy sweet and tart cherry tomatoes, with crunchy salty bacon sprinkled throughout? That jogging your memory? What if I told you to add sweet, succulent shrimp to the mix? How would you feel about that? Well, I, for one, love the little buggers. Shrimp is on the top of my "favorite proteins" list. It's versatile, tender, and delicious. Ever since I was little, I loved shrimp in all its forms. Remember those shrimp burgers I posted about? Yum! Shrimp is delicious on its own, or dipped in tangy spicy cocktail sauce, mixed with vegetables in a stir-fry over rice, roasted, BBQ'ed, boiled in Cajun spice, I really could go on (much like my good friend, Bubba Blue). So, when I saw Martha Stewart's Everyday Food June issue boasting an entire section dedicated to shrimp, I snatched it from its check-out rack and threw it on the conveyor belt.

Martha's Shrimp Club Salad did not disappoint. Now I must state that this isn't just the BLT Salad with cooked shrimp thrown in, although it certainly contained all the same ingredients, but it was definitely different. A big difference is the dressing. It's creamier than the BLT Salad dressing and it doesn't contain any garlic. The thing about this salad is that the flavors in the bowl complement the shrimp. The big garlicky dressing from the BLT Salad would overpower the delicate pink pieces of meat (now, next to just the lettuce, tomato, and bacon: the garlicky deliciousness of that dressing adds to the flavor powerhouse; nothing is drowned out). Instead, the dressing for our Shrimp Club Salad is a simple mixture of mayo, chives and lemon juice. That's it and it's perfect. The dressing coats everything with this velvety and tangy goodness that brings out the sweetness of the shrimp, the saltiness of the bacon, the tang of the tomatoes. This is a great summer salad and perfect for those nights when it's just too damn hot to cook and too damn hot to go out. Okay, so you'll have to endure a little heat from cooking the shrimp and the bacon, but the final product will cool things down immediately. Serve with a crisp and fruity Savignon Blanc or perhaps a frosty Pilsner (or iced tea, if wine and beer aren't your thing) and you won't even notice the 100-degree weather outside!

When Fandoms Attack: Spicy Dark Chocolate-Coffee Cupcakes

So, about two years ago, the husband was advised, nay ordered, by a friend to play a new (well, newly discovered) video game. it was around the time that World of Warcraft died down in our household and, while I was still busy with grad school, my husband was looking for something to fill the time in the evenings and on weekends. World of Warcraft (or WoW) was a huge deal in our house until then. We were part of a guild and we ran raids and did dungeon runs together. But, just before our wedding, we decided that we needed to focus our attention on, well, our wedding, and both agreed to stop playing. We both realized that WoW wasn't holding our attention as much as it did before and a few months after we got married, we cancelled our accounts. One of our good friends had recently picked up a game called Mass Effect. It was a sci-fi space-faring RPG and apparently it grabbed our friend more than any other game before it. The husband was intrigued and borrowed a copy from another friend who had played it and finished it. The husband was, for lack of a better word, enraptured by the game. He couldn't put it down. He dove headfirst into the world of Mass Effect (or ME) fandom and joined all the fan communities on LiveJournal, even got a handle/profile on the game forums. Soon after he finished the first one, the sequel came out and I don't think I saw him for days as he consumed every bit of that game. His fandom grew and he started to write fanfiction, the sort of level-cap to any fandom. During this time, he kept suggesting that I play, too. Given the timing, I didn't really have much in the way of free time, but during one of my breaks I picked up ME1 and started playing. I loved it. I couldn't get enough of it. While my fandom never fully capped like my husband's, I was in it for the long-haul. I played through ME1 multiple times and imported all my saved games into ME2; bought the downloadable content; bought ME-themed apparel; the works. When ME3 released earlier this year, we both ordered our own copies of the Collector's Edition of ME3. While this certainly isn't the forum for expressing how we eventually felt about the trilogy's ending, suffice it to say we're still hooked. ME remains a huge deal in our household. While I might not be writing my own fanfiction, I help proofread the husband's works and I follow a few choice fanfiction authors online now. So yeah, pretty big deal.

But, La Petite Chef, how is this related to food? Oh, dear reader, everything in my life can be related to food. Sometimes I feel like Monica on Friends when she's told that the only reason she became a chef was so people would like her (that's another fandom entirely, believe me). I tell you about this Mass Effect fandom to lay the groundwork for what I did last year.

Last year was the husband's 30th birthday. One of those milestone birthdays and we went all out. I even organized with one of his best men at our wedding to come up from LA to visit and celebrate with us. We had a ton of people over at my parent's house and cooked up a huge variety of street-style Mexican tacos. We had carne asada, carnitas, grilled chicken, and even some grilled portobello mushrooms for our vegetarian friends. Accompanying these we had all the condiments: homemade guacamole, pico de gallo, salsa verde, pickled onions. Let's just say the crowd did not leave hungry that day. The thing is, the husband did all of this himself. Well, okay, I helped a lot with the prep-work, but he manned the grill, and served everything up on his birthday. He loved it. I, on the other hand, kept the dessert a secret. I only asked him what kind of cupcakes he wanted. He simply said spicy chocolate. Off to the internet I went and found a beautiful recipe for Spicy Dark Chocolate-Coffee Cupcakes with Cardamom Buttercream. I ran it by him, he approved, and I made them. What the husband didn't know was how they were going to be decorated. Little did he know, I had been making sketches of my idea a few weeks leading up to the party. I wanted it to be perfect. I researched what I wanted to draw, bought a whole mess of food colorings, pastry bags, and piping tips. I spent the night before the party at my parent's house, baking and decorating and getting everything set up. I loved every minute of it. Only thing I wish I had was a picture of the two of us holding the tray of cupcakes on his birthday. Oh well, let's just say, he was pleased.

The cupcakes and buttercream was easy enough to make, really. I find cupcakes to be easier to bake than whole cakes and for almost every special occasion in the last 3 years, I've been happy to bake cupcakes for birthdays and other events. I made 2 batches of Root Beer Float Cupcakes for my niece and nephew's 5th birthday party, as well as cupcakes for the last few birthdays for the husband. These particular cupcakes were quite delicious. The spice was a little more subdued than I was expecting; there was definitely more coffee than spice, but I don't think I would try and add MORE spice as I wouldn't want the cupcakes to end up bitter. The cardamom buttercream was an excellent complement, although I was rather sick of cardamom after making these, considering how much I had to handle the frosting during the decorating phase. My nephew, who isn't big on cupcakes at all, said they were his favorite. The reason being is that I lightly ice my cupcakes. Like my nephew, I do not like a ton of frosting or icing on my cupcakes. It's too sweet, especially when all I want is the cake. So yeah, the cupcakes, both as food and a gift, went over well. Not everyone in the crowd understood the significance, but it was my gift to my husband. While my fandom will never surpass his completely, at least he knows I'm just as much of a fan in my own way.

Hello Dal-y: Broccolini and Chickpea Dal

Last year I started a subscription to Sunset. Yes, I am my mother, and I've accepted that (to be honest, she is a pretty cool lady). Anyway, I didn't quite know what to expect when I got my first issue in the mail. I knew there were going to be a lot of articles about gardening (have I not mentioned my rather brown thumb?), home renovations (although drool-worthy, can't use them), and travel (okay, that fits into our life a little more). I had a feeling there would be some recipes involved (I mean, what else are you going to do with your perfectly grown summer squash in your homemade redwood raised beds?), but I wasn't sure what kind. I didn't want a repeat of Mario Batalli, in which he goes on in a pompous manner about how readily available he finds monkfish at his local fishmonger's and how his father owns his own charcuterie (or the Italian equivalent) and makes his own salumi and other dried meats and sausage. Oh--you don't have these things available? Too bad, no substitutions for you, peasant! *ahem* Where was I? Oh, right... I was pleasantly surprised to find that Sunset's recipes were easy to follow and were, of course, delicious. Plus, since Sunset is all about the seasonal availability of everything, the recipes coincide with the seasons and use fresh ingredients, which you can find in abundance at your local store, in my case Whole Foods (anyone who follows me on Twitter will know I have a bit of a Whole Foods addiction). 

One of the first recipes I tried from Sunset was this one, Broccolini and Chickpea Dal. Alright, pun aside, I love a good dal. As I've established a number of times before, I cannot get enough of legumes. I think I could easily go vegetarian, as long as I subsisted on nothing but legumes (and, of course, pairing them with the right grain as to ensure I'm getting my complete protein). Of course, this would mean no meat and that would make me a very sad omnivore. Nonetheless, I have been known o make a vegetarian meal every so often and this has become one of my absolute favorites. I also love anything that starts with "brocco-", whether it's plain ol' broccoli or perhaps its bitter cousin broccoli rabe or its sweeter and more tender brethren broccolini, I love it all. I've been known to live off of broccoli (okay, it was broccoli and baked potatoes, but still, my college dorm's mini-fridge wasn't complete without a few bags of already prepared fresh broccoli florets). This dish is perfect: it's spicy, tender, creamy, and perfect for all occasions. I'm sure if you can't find broccolini, you can simply use regular broccoli. Although, I would recommend just trim up the stems a bit more so that it cooks in the time allotted without overcooking the chickpeas. Seriously - this is a meal I would easily make year round. Who cares if it's the middle of summer and you can't get off the couch because your thighs are stuck to it? This will make you sweat just enough to loosen things up and off you go!

No excuses! Okay, some excuses...

So, here's the deal, I could run off a litany of excuses as for why I have seemingly abandoned my food blog. It certainly isn't for lack of eating, although I did spend the majority of the past year submerged in Weight Watchers (my love of butter had caught up with me and I had to do something about it). Of course, this doesn't mean that I stopped cooking while on WW; in fact, I did more cooking, since going out on WW isn't the best option. Who knew you had so much control over your own food in your own kitchen!? /sarcasm I could cite school as being a huge obstacle in my way of cooking and blogging about my cooking. Truth be told, I'm not the only one in school in our household anymore. The husband started his MBA program last fall, which has thrown a wrench in our otherwise routinized evenings. Him being in school for a few days each week has led to the "cooking for one" dilemma. I love myself, but sometimes I just don't have the energy to cook for just myself.  In the last few months our weekly schedule is even more crammed as the hubby and I have both started attending classes at our local gym (Smash Fit is pretty darn awesome; check it out if you're in the area). This meant I had less time to cook on the evenings my husband and I were together, thus leading to more grabbing something to eat on the way home from the gym. When your class ends at 8, it's tough to cook a complete meal without finding yourself eating at 9:30 at night. So, while I could do the thing I just said I wouldn't do, but quite easily did, I will instead say that I am back to writing and cooking and doing all manner of things to keep this blog active. While I cannot promise future hiatuses won't happen (the upcoming fall semester is my portfolio semester, which means finalizing my masters degree and attempting to graduate), I will do all I can to make sure they don't last a full year.

Deal?

OK, deal.

Now that all that's sorted, I'd encourage you to stick around for some upcoming dishes and posts. I'll have some new favorites, like Broccolini and Chickpea Dal, and some incredible expressions of love and fandom, such as my Mass Effect themed Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes I made for the husband's 30th birthday, plus much more as the summer progresses! Seriously, it'll be great.