I am once again about to head out on the road for a bit to San Francisco, DC, San Diego and Belgium, so I decided that last night I wanted to actually spend sometime in the kitchen cooking a nice farewell dinner for my mom. I had to cook a meal to hold her over for a month or two of my cooking. I needed to make something that was not super time intensive, but also didn’t want it to be too easy. I like to exercise my skills in the kitchen just the same as any other skills. I had enough things rattling around in my brain however that I was not able to go strictly original recipes. Instead, I thumbed through the Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2009 and selected a few for inspiration. Turned out that I only actually followed one recipe strictly, one similar but using a few exchanges and one using elements from several different dishes from the massive 440 page compendium.

It was truly a beautiful spring day yesterday. Like most years, Seattle went from the dark murky depths of winter to a bright brilliant spring, practically overnight. I swear it was snowing last week (ok maybe two weeks ago) and now the sun is shining, the birds are chirping happily outside my window in the morning and the sun comes up early, early, early. Spring makes me carve light and fresh ingredients. Spring makes you lighten up, I always can tell when spring is coming as I stop craving winter veggies and heartier preparations. The roast vegetables of yesterday become the steamed crisp veggies of today. For my salad course, I decided to make Food and Wine’s Green Bean and Tomato Salad with Tarragon Dressing. I halved the recipe actually, though I found it entertaining that that still made a supposed 6 servings. I guess I forget that I eat about 10x more vegetables than the general population. 1 serving under that auspice would have amounted to about 3 green beans, 4 cherry tomatoes and a 1/2 tsp dressing. Ok maybe I am exaggerating but still. I made the 6 servings and that was the perfect amount of food for two people with the rest of the items I prepared. To accompany the salad I also made a Broccoli Soup with Cheddar Crisps, which is a vegan soup (without the cheddar crisps of course) and is incredibly light. The creaminess comes from pureeing instead of cream, so the soup itself is very healthy and light. Even the Cheddar Crisps are surprisingly light and pack a huge amount of flavor in a small package, so you get an intense (and crunchy) cheddar flavor in the soup, without infinitely decreasingly the health value. I made the Broccoli Soup recipe very much my own, but kept the Cheddar Crisps as Food and Wine suggested. Though admittedly, it is hard to change a recipe that has 1 ingredient! Finally, I made a Dijon & Horseradish encrusted Salmon, which was tangy and moist. The soup was definitely the favorite item of the meal and I am looking forward to the leftovers today.

All in all, it felt so great to be in the kitchen. I miss it, I miss my kitchen, my tools. I love spending a good 4 hours a day in the kitchen, thoughtfully making each of my meals, but it is just not a reality right now for my day to day life. Someday, when my job is to cook, write, eat, share and enjoy (and run, of course) then perhaps I will have that opportunity. I hope that happens, I plan on making it so somehow! In the meantime, enjoy these recipes and happy Spring!

Dijon-Horseradish Encrusted Salmon

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Place the oven rack 4-5 inches from the broiler.
2. In a small bowl, blend the horseradish with the salt, Dijon mustard, italian herbs, ground pepper, sugar and sherry vinegar to form a paste. Slather the paste all over the top of the salmon filets and place skin side down on the foil covered baking sheet.
3. Broil salmon for 6-8 minutes, until the top starts to get golden. Turn the oven down to 375 and bake for an additional 6-8 minutes until the salmon is opaque.

Broccoli Soup

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. Add the leeks, celery and garlic and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes.
2. Add the broccoli and stock to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderate heat until the broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes.
3. Transfer the contents of the saucepan to a blender and puree until smooth. Season the soup with paprika, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and serve with the Cheddar Crisps.

My nutritionist would be proud. I made a smoothie. I like smoothies, especially after hard runs or races, they are a great way to get in calories without taking much digestive effort or space. My nutritionist recommended that I start drinking a smoothie in the morning before my first run in an attempt to increase my calories. And for me, breakfast is so limited by not being able to do gluten, eggs or dairy that smoothies provide an opportunity for creativity and a variety of flavor profiles. Also, what is easier than throwing a bunch of ingredients in a blender and flipping the switch. Voila, deliciousness and nutrition-ness. Ok, so I just made up another word but thats ok. In fact it usually takes me longer to clean my blender than it does to actually make the smoothie. I tend to keep a bunch of bananas on hand and keep my freezer stocked with 3lb bags of various frozen organic berries and fruit, which makes it even easier.  Whether you need a quick meal on the go (what is easier to transport and eat on the move than a beverage!) or a quick and amazing recovery drink, smoothies are the way to go. There are endless possibilities! I am keen on designing a peanut butter chocolate smoothie (chocolate almond milk!) as well as a mocha smoothie. Most smoothies (even a peanut butter chocolate smoothie) are about 250-300 calories, are packed with antioxidants and teeming with nutritional value.

Acai berry peach smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 small banana
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 frozen packet acai berry juice
• 1 heaping tablespoon of Berry Greens or other powdered greens
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
• 1/2 cup frozen peaches

Directions:

Blend and enjoy. If it is too thick, thin with more almond milk or water!

I pledge allegiance to myself and my commitment to creating wonderful food. This is my monthly lament that my hectic travel schedule has kept me out of the kitchen as much as I’d like. It is a big bummer to me. Makes me feel unlike myself. I want to be moving further into the food world, instead of away. I dream every day of opening a little SLOW food cafe (gluten free of course) or a little food shop. I dream of writing, enjoying, living, breathing food. That is what I want for myself. I have realized over this time of “homelessness” that while dreaming is a beautiful thing, hoping and wishing only go so far. Sometimes when it comes right down to it, you can’t wait for the right time, you just make it so. And I have decided to make it so. I do not know how I am going to make my way and stay in the food world, be able to carve out a life and means therein but I am keen to try. I am committed to try. That means renewing my pledge to myself to create and cook and blog. It means exploring the possibilities of taking culinary courses or even (should funding find me) going to culinary school. Work on my books, both recipe and novel. I am taking the plunge and creating my world.