Get The Fat Outta Here

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Creamy, delicious, amazingly satisfying...CAULIFLOWER!

Creamy, delicious, amazingly satisfying…CAULIFLOWER!

A few weeks ago while I was at the gym I got the most intense craving for something creamy. Mac and cheese? Mashed Potatoes? Vichyssoise? I almost got up and left the gym in the middle of my ab workout. I could barely control myself. However, Neil and I are on somewhat of a healthy pattern (I use the term lightly). So instead of jetting out of the gym and bulldozing anyone who stood in my way, I finished my ab set while trying to think of a way to create something really creamy, delicious, flavorful AND healthy.
Cauliflower. That was my ticket to cheat a world of creamy-overindulgence. I have read a million different recipes that use cauliflower as a substitute to make them healthy. Pizza. Steaks. Mashed Potatoes. I could totally do this!

I exited the gym, carted myself to the grocery store. Leeks were on sale (because to be honest they looked like they had about 15-minutes of life left in them) so I grabbed those along with some cauliflower. I also picked up some nonfat Greek Yogurt (I prefer Fage over other brands because of it’s thick consistency).

I headed home and created this recipe that tasted unbelievable. I actually impressed myself with how simple the recipe was and how devilish it tasted. Next time you’re craving something super unhealthy but don’t feel like blowing a bazillion calories, search the wonderful world wide web for what you’re craving and just add the word “healthy”. You’ll be amazed at what you can find!

Overindulgence Inspired Health

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All this took 15-minutes. BOOM.

All this took 15-minutes. BOOM.

After a weekend of binge eating in Bloomington, Indiana, Neil and I were craving a simple and healthy dinner. We had been at Indiana University, my alma mater, with Neil’s brother and our sister-in-law to watch the Little 500 bike race. Neil’s brother Brian also went to IU so we were both very excited to get back to our college town and show our significant others all of our college memories. Most of my memories included food.

I hadn’t been back to Bloomington since I graduated in 2006, so it was a special treat. We ate a giant dinner Friday night at Scholar’s Inn. I demanded that we hit up Scotty’s for waffle fries and ranch dressing for lunch on Saturday before the race. Scotty’s came out with a gluten free menu and a few days before we left for the trip I noticed both the ranch and the fries weren’t on the menu. I figured this would happen, but to be safe I gave them a call while I was still in New York so I could prep myself for depression. Of course, the lovely Scotty’s hostess confirmed that both items were not gluten free. I cried for a minute, but then took solace in the fact that at least I had the memories of how amazing those delicious spiced waffle fries were, especially paired with the most amazing ranch dressing on the planet.

I also had to hit up Jimmy John’s. They serve an unwich, which is just a lettuce wrap, so it’s not all that exciting – but on principle I had do go. And here’s why…Neil (unintentionally) took away my last shot at ever eating a proper Jimmy John’s sandwich. It was October of 2009. Neil and I were in Athens, GA – his college town – to watch the UGA play LSU. The dreaded celiac had not been diagnosed yet and I told Neil that my only request while we were in Athens was to hit up Jimmy John’s. NYC has no Jimmy John’s. I missed it. It was a quick and simple request. Well…we ran late to to the tail gate (and G-d forbid we miss out on 10-minutes of drinking) so Neil promised we would stop at Jimmy John’s on the way out of town. Well…on the way out of town everyone wanted to go to some calzone place (which honestly wasn’t all that good, if you ask the person who was craving a Beach Club sandwich). Needless to say, time ran out and there was no stop-off at JJ’s. I was devastated. Neil told me cheer up – “You can always get Jimmy John’s next time we are in Atlanta. It’s not like you’ll never eat it again!”. I believe in that moment he put a gluten hex on me. Three months later I was diagnosed with celiac.

So after stops at all the Bloomington highlights – including the ever famous my-parents-are-in-town-so-let’s-go-to Malibu Grill – we got home, felt gross and needed to do something healthy. I was craving a fancy meal, but didn’t feel like doing much prep – as per usual. My friend Stephanie makes incredible salmon and always talks about how simple it is. She inspired me to come up with this disgustingly easy baked salmon recipe. I paired it with this simple watercress salad as well as some bagged frozen rice that I doctored up with a little lemon, scallions and salt. Dinner took a total of 15-minutes. And it was so good that I made it again on Friday night for company.

I made a Cake…and Some Soup

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Neil went out of town last week to head to Vegas with a bunch of his guy friends to celebrate a buddy’s birthday. I’m sure they all got drunk, acted like idiots and had the times of their life. I on the other hand had an extremely productive weekend which included a potluck dinner with some gals, writing, reading, a concert, a book fair, an 8-mile walk with a new amazing friend, the gym and cooking. I packed in a lot and still managed to catch 7 episodes of Felicity on my couch with my cat. (We recently purchased Hulu Plus which has proved to be the best thing that has happened in regards to my love of late 90′s television.)

Neil is out of town for the entire week – after Vegas he had to head to San Francisco for a work conference. For some reason his exodus sparked the Suzy Homemaker inside of me. I decided I was going to make a giant pot of soup for the week – it’s so friggin’ easy to make and that way I would have dinner for the week and I could come home every night from work, jump on the couch and get lost in Kerri Russel’s hair debacle from season 2. With all that extra time on my hands not cooking dinner every night I could get through at least 3 episodes an evening!

I had a ton of leftover broccoli from potluck dinner. I made this broccoli salad for the potluck I mentioned above and the typical Jewish mother inside of me purchased two extra heads, just in case. My mom had mentioned an easy soup recipe, so I headed to the grocery store to pick up a few items I needed. This is a combination of her recipe with my own tweaks.

While at the store I suddenly had a craving for cake. I marched myself down the baking aisle and picked up what I needed to create this delicious vanilla cake with chocolate frosting.

A few hours later I was in the kitchen with the soup on the stove and the cakes in the oven. I NEVER bake. It’s not my thing. But this was truly simple. And the soup. Oh man. It was DISGUSTINGLY easy and so delicious.

Our Anniversary & Ben Affleck

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Neil & Me on our wedding day.

Neil & me on our wedding day.

Some thoughts on marriage – and I swear I’ll bring it back to food.

April 3rd was my two year anniversary. It’s kind of hard for me to believe that I have already been married for two years. I adore my husband. He is my rock. And sometimes, I want to kill him (and he wants to kill me).

Neil is a few years older than me and we grew up in the same hometown. We went to the same high school and when I was 16 and he had just graduated we went to a toga party where I got way too drunk, chased him around a basement, kissed him for a fleeting moment before I ended up dry heaving in his mouth and promptly escorted myself to the bathroom. Needless to say the story went down as my most embarrassing moment and I was happy that I didn’t see him again. That was, until 10 years later when a mutual friend mentioned that Neil was moving to New York. I semi-repeated history and chased him down via Facebook. We started chatting over gmail and a few months later when he moved to New York we started dating. I was smitten early on and knew that this was the man I was going to marry.

I had previously been in a 6-year relationship with a really great guy, but we weren’t right for each other. As much as we fought to try to make it work, the bottom line was we wanted two different lives. It was difficult to end, but from my professional stalking skills I see that he is happily married to a beautiful woman living the life he always wanted to live. I like to think we groomed each other for the real thing.

So when the real thing did come along I clung to it. 16-months later we were engaged and here we are, married for two years. While watching the Oscars this year I teared up during Ben Affleck’s acceptance speech. And when he got to thanking his wife, I just about lost it. In all honesty, I was pms-ing, so I was a bit more sensitive than usual, but still. I thought it was the most heartfelt, honest and loving thank you to his wife. Marriage is hard work. It’s not a constant walk in the park with rainbows and sunshine. But it’s the best damn thing I’ve ever done and I wouldn’t want to be walking through life with any other partner. The next morning I was raving about the speech and most people who I talked to about it had the complete opposite reaction – they thought he was insulting his wife.

I stumbled upon this article that states, “If you’re partnered for life, if you’re fighting this good fight against biology, then you understand that — and you see that there is nothing Affleck could have said that would have honored his wife, and HER work, more.” I couldn’t agree more.

Now back to food. Neil and I decided we wanted a nice home cooked meal for our anniversary. My best friend always talks about a lamb recipe she makes, so I called her up for the details. Rosemary, garlic, honey, lamb-loin chops. Delicious! I tweaked her recipe just a bit and added some dijon mustard. This is what I came up with, and it was honestly the best meat I’ve ever made in my life. I paired the meat with roasted potatoes and asparagus and started the meal off with my aunt’s caesar salad. Neil played bartender and made a round of delicious cocktails and then we opened a fancy bottle of red wine.

The evening was perfect. After dinner we watched our wedding video. In my dad’s speech he talked about how when times get tough during our marriage, which they no doubt would, that we should look at each other, think about our beginning, reminisce about our wedding and say “I remember why we did this.” While we watched the speech on our second anniversary Neil took my hand, squeezed it hard and said, “I remember and I promise never to forget.” While my stomach may not flip anymore with his every phone call and text message, and his half-smile and affectionate stare can no longer immediately get him out of trouble, he has my heart. Forever and always. He is my partner and our marriage is the most important job I have. It’s good, it is work, but it’s the best kind of work, and there’s no one I’d rather work with. Thank you, Ben Affleck.

Ridiculously Easy Caesar Salad

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My aunt makes the most incredible Caesar Salad Dressing and recently my husband and I have had mad cravings for the salty-deliciousness. There is something about cool crisp lettuce tossed with creamy dressing and topped with shredded Parmesan and crunchy croutons. I emailed my aunt for her recipe, but she was in Israel for a family wedding, so I had to fend for myself. I found a recipe by the one and only Martha Stewart. It was so easy to make and was fantastic. It was not creamy like I remember my aunts recipe to be, but it hit the spot when I was in a moment of Caesar desperation.

I combined Martha’s dressing recipe with a few touches of my own for the salad to create this final recipe. I topped the salad with some warm grilled chicken. I LOVE the way a warm protein mixes with the coldness of a Caesar salad.

My husband and I were recently on an “ordering-in binge” which can happen quite easily in NYC with over 10,000 restaurants at your fingertips. It becomes sort of a habit to peruse a menu quickly, call in an order and sit and wait. That whole process can take about an hour and end up costing a pretty penny. This entire meal took 20-minutes to make, which includes prep and cook time. Plus it only cost me $9 (I had to buy anchovies, Parm and lettuce- outside of that, I had everything else in my freezer, pantry or fridge).

The finished product.

It’s All in the Timing

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I know, I know. I’ve been gone for a while. I needed to spend some time on some personal stuff. But I’m back! I never really left – just needed a mental break. But I’ve been thinking about Simply in the Flavor every day. :)

Often my friends will ask me how I’m able to time meals that I’m cooking so that everything is ready at the same time. My trick is simple. Everything that I cook is pretty easy and does not need a lot of attention. For example, tonight I’m making ridiculously easy roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts with even more embarrassingly easy pork chops. The potatoes and sprouts all go in one baking dish and get popped in the oven for a little over and hour. Meanwhile the pork chops take about 10 minutes total. I’ve had the potatoes in for about 40 minutes and am taking the down time to write this blog post. Multitasking is so hot right now.

Anyway, this bone-in pork recipe makes incredibly juicy and flavorful chops. The potatoes and sprouts add a colorful and tasty pop to the plate. While the overall time on this meal takes about an hour and thirty minutes, you’ll have time to throw in a load of laundry, play a few rounds of letterpress, update your blog and check Facebook 27 times before you even have to worry about throwing the chops on the grill pan. Bon appetit!

Simple Things I Wish I Knew

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I’ve been absent for about a week. Unfortunately I received some news that has been a little difficult to digest. So today’s post won’t include a recipe. It will however include ramblings from me about some things I know now…that I wish I knew before.

As children we resent our parents for protecting us from growing up. We want to be independent. We want to do what we want, when we want to. And as we grow up, and responsibility falls at our feet, suddenly we start to acknowledge why our parents tried so hard to protect us. We have our whole lives to be adults. We have so few years to live innocently before the reality of what life is sets in. And as parents (from what I imagine, since I am not a parent yet) we want our children to bask in the gift of innocence.

*I wish I knew when I was younger how lucky I was to have parents that wanted me to be a kid for as long as possible.*

As children, most of us are at some point are completely mortified by our parents in situations as simple as a mother counting out change while going through the drive-through. (OK. Maybe this was me, but I remember being horrified that my mom would dig through her purse trying to find change instead of just handing the person behind the window a $5.)

Me: MOM. SERIOUSLY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?????

Mom: Honey, I just need to get rid of this change.

Me: You’re holding up the line! Come on! (huff. eye roll. cross arms. pout.)

*I wish I knew how annoying it is to have a purse full of change.*

Holding a Starbucks cup became a cool thing when I was in middle-school. For a treat my mom would occasionally take me in the afternoon to grab a coffee. When her latte would appear at the counter, without a doubt this conversation would take place:

Mom: Are you sure this is decaf?

Barista: Yes, ma’am.

Mom: I don’t want to be up later. I can’t have too much caffeine late in the day.

Barista: It’s definitely decaf, ma’am.

Mom: OK. Well I just wanted to double-check.

Me: (mortified. huff. eye roll. cross arms. pout.)

*I wish I knew that when I turned 29 suddenly caffeine after 2pm would keep me up until 4am and that I would be having the above conversation with many a barista.*

I have a quick tongue. A very quick tongue. And when I was younger it got me in a lot of trouble. There were times when I said really mean things to my parents.

*I wish I knew that my parents do indeed have feelings and that my words had the capability of hurting them.*

When I was in middle-school my mom and dad tried to hug me. A lot. Hugging my parents when I was 13 just wasn’t on my radar of coolness. Growing up my dad and I always did pick-up hugs, where my dad would literally pick me up and give me a giant bear hug. Needless to say at 13 I’m pretty sure I took the year off of pick-up hugging.

*I wish I knew that at 29 I would still be asking my dad for pick-up hugs. I wish I could get back that year of lost pick-up hugs. I also wish I knew that at 29 I’d be asking my mother for double-extended hugs.*

I used to HATE leftovers and roasted chicken. My mom was the queen of leftovers and roasted chicken.

*I wish I knew that I would grow up to adore leftovers and roasted chicken. Two items that make weeknight meals a cinch!*

My parents did buy me a car in high-school, but not exactly the coolest car. At first I was embarrassed to drive ol’ blue around. But then I embraced it – though i I always secretly (and sometimes not so secretly) wanted something fancier. My parents always helped me, but they never really handed me an easy life on a silver platter. At times I truly resented them for this.

*I wish I knew at the time my parents were teaching me how to be independent and self-sufficient. If I wanted something more than they were willing to give, I needed to find a way to pay for it myself. I also wish I knew that my parents were teaching me to value experiences over materialistic objects. I will always be grateful to them for this.*

My mom likes to gamble occasionally at the slots – the nickel slots. I always thought this was ridiculous, until she won 5,000 nickels. Recently I was in Atlantic City for a work trip and in the evening hit the nickel slots where I won 2,059 nickels. I was beyond excited and wanted to tell my parents. My mom was in Israel at the time so I called my dad. After getting off of the phone with him I realized that every time something exciting in life happens I want to call and tell my parents. I immediately emailed him and asked him how it’s possible that he and mom raised two children, one who is in his 30′s, who want to chat with their parents every time something good happens.

*I wish I knew that I would want to raise kids that will want the same relationship with me that I have with my parents. I would have taken better notes when I was younger instead of eye rolling, huffing and arm crossing.*

This list could go on and on. And over the next little while I might post a few other simple things I wish I knew. But most importantly – I’m so glad I know now just how damn lucky I am to have the parents that I do.

The people responsible for me and my brother. :)

The people responsible for me and my brother. :)