Category Archives: Uncategorized

Perhaps it isn’t such a surprise to find a kale and white bean soup on a food blog smack dab in the middle of January. Not only have we been confronted with weeks upon weeks of achingly cold weather, but the recipe fits well into the content niche of post-new-year’s resolutions but pre-Valentine’s Day indulgence. But that’s not why this soup is here today. In reality, this soup was no easy feat for me. I’m actually relatively new to the “enjoying beans” bandwagon, and I’m still taking baby steps towards liking wilted greens.

But that’s one of the fun things about cooking, and eating, and growing. Our tastes buds change, and we learn to like to ingredients and new flavor combinations. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have eaten beans in any form, but I’ve been moving from one dish to the next (starting with black beans tucked into cheesy quesadillas, moving to beans and rice), and finally made my way to beans and wilted greens. I have to admit, I’m not quite there yet with the wilted greens. Just this evening David made a tomato and wilted spinach pasta for dinner, and by the end of the meal I still had some wilted leaves on my plate. But I’m working on it, and trust me, this soup works.

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This fig salad is a bridge between summer and fall: the weather is warm enough to warrant something light and easy for dinner, but seeing fresh figs for sale at the store signals the coming of chillier weather. For us here in Boston, a busy summer is melting into a busy fall.  I’m settling into my job as a dietitian at the hospital, and David and I are still humming along as newlyweds.

We’ve decorated the windowsills of our apartment with the potted plants that served as the centerpieces at our guests’ tables. We knew early on in the wedding-planning process that we didn’t want large (or expensive) floral arrangements towering over the food, but thinking of a suitable alternative took some time. We worked with a florist who played off the blue theme of the aquarium setting to come up with a display of various plants and herbs housed in blue glass pots.

David put together an assortment aquatic animals as our table numbers, which he based on old ink drawings of sea creatures.

Not that potted plants or aquarium animals have much to do with the fig salad, but it’s fun to share what other creative avenues we’ve gone down this fall, apart from the food we’ve served at our table.

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It was a pretty wild summer. I finished the last rotations of my internship, which involved some very early mornings and very late nights, and somehow David and I managed to plan the details of our wedding, which took place on August 24th. We focused a lot on spending quality time together throughout the summer months to help manage the stress, so there wasn’t a lot of time left for cooking; this simple wrap became a frequently repeated dinner option. So simple that it’s what I chose to serve to my bridesmaids and mom as we all got ready together the morning of the wedding.

David and I planned a very Bostonian wedding. We’re both long-time residents of Boston’s North End, and we were so happy to have our venues highlight the best of our neighborhood. We got married in historic Old North Church (of “one if by land, two if by sea” fame) and snapped our portraits under the arbor at Christopher Columbus park, right along the harbor.

And we invited our friends and family to join us for dinner and dancing at the New England Aquarium. It was a beautiful night.

My mom, my two sisters, two bridesmaids, and I got ready in the parish house right next door to the church. We took turns doing our make up and having our hair done up by the stylists. Because everyone tells you to make sure you eat something on your wedding day, we planned ahead for a picnic (of sorts) that would be festive, celebratory, but not heavy or messy. My sisters brought champagne and I made these wraps.

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The cool thing about these burgers, aside from the fact that they taste good and are pretty easy to make, is that I got to develop this recipe as part of my job. My path to becoming a dietitian is somewhat winding, but now I get to combine my love of food and science with my ability to communicate well with others. I developed these black bean chipotle burgers as a healthy grilling option at the hospital for our summer menu rotation.

I was charged with brainstorming a couple of ideas for the different stations in the cafeteria, and this was one of the favorites. I also developed a healthier version of shrimp salad (which pairs fantastically with pumpernickel bread) and a spicy tomato and black bean soup.

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I returned Saturday from a great 2-week vacation to the Midwest, visiting both David’s and my family for Christmas. It was a great holiday, in part because I found this waiting for me under the tree on Christmas morning (thank you David!).

I am actually an owner (shareholder) of the Green Bay Packers. Of course there’s thousands of us, but it’s still fun. The Packers have had a great season, and since I’m no longer working Sundays at the restaurant, I’ve been able to catch every single game. And every Sunday I wake up thinking it’s a great idea to make cheddar biscuits, cheddar scones, or beer bread. But as lazy Sundays go, I never quite managed to get a batch together before the game started.

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I get a lot of e-mails with misguided questions: Yesterday I heard from a woman who thinks she needs to eat 1 raw mushroom and 1 raw slice of onion every day as part of a new diet — no cooking allowed. Last week I received an e-mail about the right way to get grocery store tomatoes more ripe; she thought she was storing them wrong because they always looked white and grainy when she sliced them and tasted like cardboard (rather than because they were bred for cross-country or international travel, not flavor).

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These crispy spring rolls were inspired by an appetizer at the neighborhood restaurant David & I go to whenever we want a low-key night out. Living in the North End, there are a ton of options for fancy Italian dining, but somehow David & I find ourselves drawn to Panza over and over again. I think a big pull for me is their generous use of goat cheese in pasta sauces. And, they have a spring roll appetizer stuffed with mushrooms. It’s always warm, slightly sweet, and wrapped in just the right amount of crunchiness. Continue reading →

We’re studying milk and milk products this week in my Food Science class at Boston University. We taste-tested several milk products and milk-alternatives that might be useful to recommend to patients who need to up their  calcium intake or are lactose intolerance. Understandably, the argument goes that if you’re counseling someone with milk allergies or lactose intolerance, you need to be well-versed in what other choices are out there to help meet calcium and vitamin D needs. And, don’t recommend something to patients without having tried it yourself. Makes sense, right?

There were several drinks on the list that were new to me, including goat milk (the apparently soon-to-be-mainstream foodie favorite) and Kefir. I know Kefir has been around for a long time and is popular with people because it has probiotics, but I’d yet to get on board. We tried different varieties in class: plain, peach, and raspberry. The plain version was mouth-puckeringly sour. But the raspberry one was delicious!

As part of my birthday present David gave me tickets to the Lady Gaga concert! Yay! I’m not usually a big concert-goer… I see most of my live shows at smaller venues in Cambridge, and my mainstream concert history is pretty much limited to the Spice Girls reunion tour. Yup, and that was amazing, too. So I thought Lady Gaga is such an amazing performer that her show would be a spectacle.

And, to top it all off, we started the night with some lobster Mac & Cheese from the Mercato del Mare, right in my neighborhood. As David said, the night was all about decadence.

Here are some pics:

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