By Ari, on April 6th, 2011%
Sorry for my prolonged absence! There’s this little thing – my Master’s thesis – that I’m frantically trying to finish. Between that (my day job) and wedding planning (my night job), one could say I’ve been busy. Gourmet, home-cooked meals are the farthest thing from my mind right now, and although I’m dying to test some recipes from my newly purchased bread cookbooks, I just don’t have the time.
What I do have time for are quick, easy meals. These days, I’m sporting a pescetarian (fish and veggies only) diet during the week, and saving poultry and red meat for the weekends. It’s part of my active goal to be healthier, and eating less meat and more veggies can’t hurt, right? I’m hoping I can make this change permanent, because I really love how I feel when I go for that “roasted veggies wrap” at the coffee shop instead of a sandwich with “turkey and chipotle cheddar.”
No, I do not plan on becoming a full-on vegetarian. There’s just no way I could turn down a good piece of seared foie gras, or beef short ribs that fall apart like butter, or (gasp!) pork belly/lamb belly/boar belly/anything-belly. I love these things too much. Thus, my “weekday pescetarianism.”
What? It’s totally a thing.
Continue reading Shrimp Cocktail
By Ari, on February 15th, 2011%
I spent the better part of Super Bowl Sunday preparing food for our small get together. There were three of us, and as it turns out I grossly overestimated how much food we’d consume. Continue reading Super Bowl Treats
By Ari, on January 28th, 2011%
Last weekend I had the good fortune of spending time with my closest grad school friends (Hi! I miss you already!). It was exactly what I needed. Catching up over bottles of wine, delicious food, more hugs than I can count. I’m incredibly lucky to have such wonderful people in my life that are such a short distance from NY.
While Northampton, MA has many fine food establishments — no really, for a small city, it’s not bad — one of my favorite local hangouts is The Dirty Truth. It’s a beer hall, and a good one at that, but given that I don’t drink beer, I refer to it as my favorite place for wine downtown. I’ll be posting about the a-mazing brunch I had there last Sunday, but for now, let me just tell you about their pretzels.
They are soft, they are dense, and they are huge. And covered with salt. Did I mention that? That would typically be my favorite part of a pretzel, but at Dirty (as I affectionately call it), the best part is the accompanying wasabi mustard dip. The menu description gives fair warning that this dip is h-o-t spicy, and it is fabulous.
As soon as I got back to the city, I decided I was going to try and recreate the pretzels and dip. After scouring the internet, I found a recipe that looked good, and off I went!
Continue reading Pretzels with Wasabi Mustard Dip
By Ari, on January 26th, 2011%
Did I hear you ask for a Superbowl Sunday appetizer?
Guacamole. Man, do I ever love you. I’m one of those people who will sit down with a large bowl of guacamole, grab a bag of chips, and about 30 minutes later look down and realize I’ve eaten the whole thing.
I know, it’s horrible. But have you tried my guacamole? If you had, you’d understand why it disappears so quickly.
 Continue reading Guacamole
By Ari, on January 25th, 2011%
When John and I traveled to Paris two years ago, we re-discovered our love for charcuterie. After eating French food for almost a week straight (not that I’m complaining), we needed something slightly less… buttery.
 Picture from our trip to Paris (March 2009) Continue reading Charcuterie
By Ari, on December 8th, 2010%
Have I told you yet how much I love classic pub food? Burgers, fries, nachos, chicken wings. I love them all. As with most extremely tasty foods, these items are high in fat and low in nutritional value (figures). When I recreate these dishes at home, I try to lessen the calories as much as possible: with burgers I use lean meat, for fries I bake off sweet potatoes, but baked chicken wings? The two best things about eating chicken wings are (a) the sauce, and (b) the crunch. This recipe had a delicious sounding, zingy Asian sauce, but would the wings be crispy?
I was definitely skeptical, but these wings pleasantly surprised me. I might even prefer them to the fried variety! And hello, how gorgeous did they come out?
Continue reading Crispy Asian Baked Chicken Wings
By Ari, on November 1st, 2010%
Amidst all the Thanksgiving recipes that are unfolding on the internet, I wanted to share something healthy to get you from one high-caloric meal to the next.
Hummus is one of those things that everyone loves. Seriously. I’ve never met someone who doesn’t like hummus. While chickpeas on their own might not be everyone’s cup of tea, the puréed, garlicy, lemony dip that I frequently see served alongside pita, veggies, and most Middle Eastern fare is simple and delicious. Continue reading Hummus
By Ari, on August 31st, 2010%
It sounds simple enough: fill, shape, fry, eat. The reality of making dumplings or potstickers, however, is a little more complicated.
My best friend and I decided on vegetarian potstickers, an easy choice as she does not generally eat seafood or ground meat. Foods that require fillings are normally pretty versatile, though (e.g., dumplings or ravioli). Chicken, beef, pork, shrimp; any of these would be delicious in place of tofu.
Continue reading Vegetable Potstickers
By Ari, on August 4th, 2010%
I grew up in Florida, so I’m used to unbearable heat, but NY is experiencing an unusually hot summer. The only soup I’ll currently go near is gazpacho, and there’s no way I’m turning the oven above 400. On days like these, I want something that won’t weigh me down.
I’ve always been a fan of crab cakes; light, sweet, and most importantly, no shells to pick through. This recipe has just enough filler to hold the cakes together, but in no way interferes with the sweetness of the crab. Yes, buying crab can be expensive, but if your grocery store or local fish market sells 8 oz containers, you can cut the portion in half and save some money. I was able to get seven large crab cakes out of this recipe, which is more than enough for dinner for two with leftovers.
 Continue reading Crab Cakes with Tartar Sauce
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