Culinary Adventures

While this weekend was not the productivity fest I had hoped (such is the case with all my weekends, Hmmm, I'm sensing a pattern), I did get a chance to play in the kitchen tonight. This evening's attempt at vegetarian cooking was this little dish.

Zucchini fritters with Pasta Portobello
(... and I don't think it came out half bad, if I do say so myself..)


For the Fritters.
Grate 2 medium zucchinis and 1/2 sweet onion onto a clean dishtowel. Wrap tightly and squeeze all the moister out with your hands.

My original attempt with this was a paper towel. Kids, don't try that at home. My paper towel got soggy and ripped at the bottom and I had to then transfer my zucchini to the dishtowel I should have used in the first place.

Once drained, transfer to mixing bowl.
Add:
Two beaten eggs
4 tbs flour
2/3 cup really good pecorino Romano cheese. (grated)
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Mix it all up into a consistent "batter" and spoon into your hot skillet.

Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan over medium to medium high heat. I suppose you could use any kind of cooking oil like sunflower or canola, but I'm half Italian, I use olive oil on instinct. Besides, I think it adds a great flavor, and it's really good for you.

Spoon a healthy plop of zucchini mixture into the pan and gently work it into a relatively round patty. Cook about 3-4 min on each side or until golden brown. Cook fritters 3-4 at a time depending on the size of your pan. Remove to paper towel (those guys again) or a cooling rack placed on a cookie sheet. Salt immediately and keep warm in oven as you prepare the rest of the fritters, and your pasta. (I used a 250* oven).

For the pasta
1/2 lb of pasta. ( I used Pene, but you could use whatever floats your boat)
1 pkg sliced Portobollo Mushrooms
1/2 coarsely chopped Sweet Onion
1 good handful (about a 1/2 cup)of Romano Cheese.
1-2 tsp Dried parsley. If you have it you could use fresh, just be sure to up your amounts, fresh herbs aren't as strong as dried.

Once your fritters are going, you can start your water for the pasta and cook using the specifications on the box. Now would also be a good time to coarsely chop your mushrooms and onions.
I used portobello mushrooms because, to me, they have the taste and heartiness of steak, but you could probably use any other type you wanted (or even a mixture of mushrooms. Go crazy!).

OK, your fritters are done, they have been salted and are in a warm oven staying happy. Now drain the oil out of your pan (leave all the tasty bits, and the residual oil), and place back on heat, reduce heat to medium. Throw in your mushrooms and onions. Do not salt your veggies at this point, this will cause your mushrooms to release all their moisture and it will make them kind of soggy and tasteless. Saute in the residual olive oil (you can add more if you need to) until onions have started to brown.

Add a pat of butter to the mixture and stir it in right before you add your pasta. *this is optional, but it does add a richness in flavor*.

By this time your pasta should be done. Drain your pasta, but reserve a little of the water, ohh say about 1/4 c. Throw the pasta and reserved water into your skillet with he mushrooms and onions. Mix well and add a hand full of Romano cheese. Sprinkle with parsley.

Serve with one or two of the fritters.

How's it look?

Facing the Music (the healthy you challenge check in)

Here's a little peek into my psyche. You know I've had a bad week if my check in post is absurdly late, almost to the point of being nonexistent(believe me, I did have more than a few thoughts of just not posting at all). I got on the scale this morning and it wasn't good. At all. I'm not going to post the ugly details because, quite frankly, I find that counter productive. A bad morning on the scale can undermine me for weeks to come. It can toss me into a pit of self pity and self loathing so deep that all I want to do is binge. So we won't go there.

I spent the day trying to organize my thoughts about this post, or more to the point, my thoughts on what factors could have contributed to the temporary demise of my losing streak. I still feel very positive about my decision to give up meat, but I do think it needs some tweaking. A dear friend of mine, and one time vegetarian herself, cautioned me about overdoing the dairy. Evidently it's a rookie mistake, and one, on further inspection, I have totally run with. I also realized that while I have definitely increased my fruit and veggie intake, I have also exponentially increased my carb intake in the form of pasta and rice. Ooops. Note to self. Pay closer attention to carbs and dairy. Thanks Cindy!

And if we're being completely honest here, I have to talk about the big ass pink elephant in the room. It's an ugly one. It's the E word. Just saying "exercise" makes me want to curl up on the couch and veg. I really have to find a way to change my crappy attitude.

Where did this aversion to exercise come from? Funny you should ask. I like to call it "Walk Nazi Backlash". I affectionately call my mother The Walk Nazi. She loves to walk, and thinks everyone should love to walk. When I was a teenager, and we were in the throes of our own brand of mother/daughter angst, her panacea for all my ills was to walk. During my Jr. year in high school we lived at the end of a 1.2 mile dirt road. I had to walk that road every day after school. Up and back, as "exercise". It was an expected chore, that and cleaning the kitchen after dinner. My father liked to get in on the fun by prescribing loooong Saturdays of indentured servitude doing yard work all under the guise of "exercise". Yeah right.

Of course they had my best interest at heart, and seriously, how bad can a walk up a dirt road in the middle of a beautiful farm be? And the yard work? Well, that sucked, but who didn't have to do chores to earn an allowance? Unfortunately I processed the whole thing as being all about poor picked on me. I was being singled out, suppressed, and put upon all due to my blooming weight problem. I haven't really gotten past the "exercise-is-a-big-bad-ugly-chore-set-upon-this-earth-to-vex and torture me" thing. Mature huh? Maybe its time to move on. But how to do that, well there's the rub. All I can do at this point is take it in little tiny baby steps. I've promised myself to go to the gym three times this week (we won't discuss the fact that I haven't gone yet). That's it. That's as far ahead as I'm thinking.

So, there you have it, my less than stellar week. I just have to keep in mind that in the grand scheme of things, it means very little, and I need to keep my perspective. If I can take something positive from it and apply it to my pursuit of a healthy life style, then all is not lost.

Calling all Veggies

After the last beef recall I made the mistake of going online to watch the video of the mistreatment of cows being processed through a slaughterhouse. It was horrific, and I don't recommend watching it if you enjoy a cheeseburger now and again. I then fell down the rabbit hole and started to link my way through more and more horrific tales of industrial/corporate farming. I will spare you the details, they are out there if you want to read up, but its not for the faint hearted. I do, however, recommend reading up on the ecological impact these large industrial farms have on the environment.

Once I resurfaced and quelled the bile rising in my throat I decided to go vegetarian for a while. Just to see if I could do it. I've given up red meat, pork, and all poultry (lamb goes without saying). I still keep organic dairy, eggs from local free range cage free chickens , and fish (wild, not farm raised) in my diet. Some might say that's not really being a vegetarian, but dude, I'm so not givin' up my dairy! I have to say it's been easier to stick to than I thought it would be. Probably because my decision has nothing to do with my own dietary needs, but out of my personal sense of ecological and moral responsibility. It's too bad there is no ethical dilemma in chocolate (and if there is, shut up, I don't want to know!).

I have toyed with the idea of being a vegetarian since my pseudo hippie days in college(yes, I was one of those), but have always loved a good cheeseburger or meatball every now and again, so have been hesitant to give up meat. But the more I hear about how we raise our livestock and process them for slaughter, I become more and more neurotic as I walk through the grocery store. I pick up a package of chicken, gross myself out, then put it back down. A package of hamburger? Ditto. I have to put it down again. I look like freekin' Rainman pacing back and forth down the meat section picking up things, muttering to myself, and putting them back. It's not pretty people.

Now I know, local organic meat is a responsible option, and I may do that at some point, but it is so prohibitively expensive, I don't think I could afford it, and I can't even begin to imagine how someone could afford to feed an entire family that way. It's sad really, that only the well off can afford to feed their families quality foods that haven't been so pumped full of poisons and chemicals that you can no longer even call it food. The cheap crap is just that. Crap. Whew! Don't get me started on that soap box, I'll never get down.

So now I'm having a big time digging around cookbooks and the Internets looking for groovy vegetarian dishes, and trying out different ways to rework dishes I always cook. The Stuffed Peppers the Tap dancing Queen posted the other day were a direct result of such digging. She added chicken, which is great, but it tastes just as good without.

OK, here's where you guys come in. I need ideas, recipes, general vegetarian tips. (Yes, I know, the minute anyone asks you for a recipe you draw a blank - I'm lookin' at you Miss B). So if you have any good ones, post em in the comment section. Maybe I'll start posting my culinary attempts here, complete with pictures.

Now I'm hungry.