All I Can Remember is the Potatoes

I was trying to think of title for my dinner tonight, but I could barely think of anything other than the potatoes I made.  I used two more items I received from Irv & Shelley's Fresh Picks produce box that I won in the raffle last week. 

The two Fresh Picks items were: asparagus and yukon gold potatoes.

 

I decided to pair them with some salmon I had the freezer. I'm going to do this kind of backwards, here's the final pic:

 I just baked the salmon, pretty much just like I how I do my asparagus... olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper! But I also added a little garlic powder, as well. The salmon was just OK. I feel like I've had better frozen salmon before :( 

Of course the veggies, stole the show!  Like I said before, I love roasting asparagus with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some grated parmesan.  It's simple and sooo delicious.  It tasted great!

These potatoes were new for me.  I received two small and 1 large yukon gold potatoes in my delivery.  For this recipe I used the two small ones.  I cut them into ~1/4 inch round slices, then topped them with a good pour of olive oil, 1/2 finely chopped shallot, and 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, plus salt and pepper.  Then I just spread them on the baking sheet and baked them for 20 min on 425, then flipped them and baked for 10 min at 375 with the salmon and aspargus.  

Prepped and ready to cook: 

All cooking together:  

Oh man were these potatoes gooood!  I will definitely be making these again! So flavorful and such a nice texture.  I love the creaminess of yukon golds, and then the way these were baked there was a nice crispy outside.  So perfect, you must try this!

Well I have some more dishes planned using my Fresh Picks produce and I can't wait to share them :) 

A Special Delivery

Last week at the Chicago Dietetic Assocation's monthly meeting, I entered a raffle for Irv & Shelly's Fresh Picks, a local organic delivery service.  Guess what!?! I won!  After reading more about their service on their website, I was super stoked!  Fresh Picks delivers a wide-variety of  local organic produce, meat, eggs, and dairy from sustainable farmers that they know and trust, which I love!  Makes me feel good about eating this food!

The raffle prize was a Fresh Picks Box.  Here's the description from their website: 

What is a Fresh Picks Box? 
The Fresh Picks Box is filled with the best local in-season produce of the week, and can be customized according to your individual needs and preferences. You choose the size and frequency and can add additional items to get the healthy foods you need.

Here are some pictures of my lovely produce:

Look how big the bag was !

This is what I received:  spinach, ramps, sorrel, nettles, watercress, asparagus, crimini mushrooms, potatoes, and maybe parsley.   It looks like parsley but it's not on my list that came with it.  I have to admit, that I had to look up ramps, nettles, and sorrel!  I'm super excited to use all these ingredients, especially the ones that are new to me.  

Thanks Irv & Shelley's Fresh Picks!! This was a great prize to win!  

Well onto my first dish with using my ingredients!

Whole Wheat Rigatoni with Ramps, Crimini Mushrooms, and Goat Cheese Sauce

I googled ramps recipes and came across a recipe on a blog called: A Good Appetite. I made some modifications, but followed the basics of this recipe. 

First I want to show you the picture of my ramps: 

Apparently, they are wild leeks.  They were so great in this dish. I used them all in this dish so I'm hoping I can find some more! I know they have a short season. 

Ingredients:

• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 3-4 oz of goat cheese (eyeballed a little less than half of an 8 oz pkg)
• 1/2 lb of whole wheat rigatoni (~4 cups)
• olive oil
• 6-7 ramps (cut the leaf part off, tear into lg pieces and set aside; chop the rest-bulb and stems into small pieces)
• 1-2 cups spinach
• 5-6 crimini mushrooms
• salt and pepper 
• parmesan

Directions: 

First make the sauce, so it's ready. I did this while my pasta water was boiling. 

1. In a small pot, combine the garlic and half and half and bring to a simmer (med heat).
2.  Let it simmer for a couple minutes to let it reduce a bit. 
3. Whisk in the goat cheese until its melted and smoothly combined.  
4. Set aside. (I took it off the heat and covered)

Now the veggies and pasta!

1. Heat a large skillet with a "once around the pot" of olive oil, on med-low heat. 
2. Add the pasta to the boiling water, then start the veggies right after so they are ready together. 
3. Add the ramps and mushrooms to the large skillet.
4. Once the mushrooms are tender, add the ramp leaves and toss until covered with oil and start to wilt slightly (takes about a min). 
5. Add the spinach to the skillet.  
6. Before you drain the pasta, set aside some of the water for the sauce. Then drain the pasta. 
7. Pour the pasta over the veggies and add the goat cheese sauce.  If it thickened too much, add some of the pasta water to thin it out. 
8. Top with grated parmesan!

The finished dish: 

My bowl: 

Hillary came over for dinner and we both loved this dish!  I'm so excited for my leftovers I'll be having for lunch tomorrow:) I got to use 3 ingredients from my produce delivery (mushrooms, ramps, and spinach) and I loved them!  I would say my first experience cooking with ramps was a definite success.  

 

Because They Are Sooo Pretty

Morning!  I had to snap a picture of my pretty, pretty raspberries that I had with Vanilla Chobani and vanilla almond granola.  They tasted as good as they look!  I'm pretty happy about berries becoming cheaper because their season is starting. 

I won a raffle last week and I'm getting my special delivery today!  Stay tuned to see what it is!

Re-inspired!

As I'm sure you have noticed, I've been taking a break from The Tasty Balance.  Long story short, I've been trying to figure out what direction I want to take the blog.  I'd originally planned to do the "food journal" type of blog that I like reading, but that just didn't work for me apparently.  It is too hard for me to keep up with considering I already have a full-time job! 

Over the past week, I can't believe how many people have told me they miss my blog!  I didn't even know that many people were reading it! That made me sooo happy to hear that people actually enjoy reading this blog.  Thank you all soooo much! So I am obviously re-inspired to blog again!  But this time I am going to take an approach that will fit in with my life a little better!  

Now I plan to blog about whatever makes me excited in the world of cooking, food, nutrition, fitness, and just overall healthy living.  I have a feeling it will still mostly be my recipes since cooking has become such a big part of my life, but hopefully it will be more.  I'm also not gonna beat myself up if I don't have time to post every, single day! It was just a lot of pressure for me. Hope you understand and continue to read The Tasty Balance!

Green Zebra

About a month or two ago, Hillary and I bought a groupon for Green Zebra.   We've been DYING to try this place!  It's mostly vegetarian- we had the one seafood dish on the menu- and also offered many vegan options.  But most notably, it is DELICIOUS!  From the bread through the dessert, Hillary and I loved everything we ordered.  Plus, as you'll see in the pictures, the presentation was gorgeous, which made it even better!

I forgot to take pics of the first two things that came out.  First, we ordered a bottle of 2007 Charles Baur Pinot Blanc, which we both were just loving.  With our bread, we were brought tastes of what I think was parsley puree with lemon puree, but I'm not sure because I scribbled it down too fast, it was not legible! I think it was meant to be a refreshing palette cleanser before our meal. 

We each had a piece of multi grain bread with salted butter (I should actually say butter topped with salt, because you could see the course crystals on top).  This was great, as us Jones girls love our salt, but we laid low here because we knew a lot more food was in our future.  

For the first course, Hill and I ordered two dishes, but the kind chef kicked in another!  Thanks Chef! The three dishes:  Grilled Heart of Palm, Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Terrine, and Soft Boiled Farm Egg Salad.  ** Menu item descriptions are straight from the Green Zebra menu**

Grilled Heart of Palm, citrus, avocado, salty macadamia nuts, osaka greens.  

Of all three dishes this course, this was by far my favorite.  I loved this flavor combo! I kept trying to make these "perfect bites" of the heart of palm, citrus, avocado, and macadamia nuts (in that order haha).  We cleaned the plate on this one!

 

Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Terrine, hazelnuts, brown butter vinaigrette. 

I have to say that this was the only dish that I wasn't wowed by.  I think I wanted it to be more goat cheesy. This is probably just a personal preference.  I like beets, but I've always had them mixed in things and never the main ingredient and I think I like them better "in the mix."

Soft Boiled Farm Egg Salad, brioche, tarragon, gaufrette potatoes, malt vinegar. 

Coming from a girl who would NEVER order egg salad or even choose it on a buffet table at a party, I actually really liked it!  The flavors were great, not as heavy/mayonaisse-y/(gross) like the typical egg salad I usually run from when I see.   

The second course...

BBQ Black Eyed Pea Dumpling, hoisin, ginger, Chinese mustard, scallion. 

Yummy!  This definitely is something I wouldn't have ordered, but Hillary suggested it.  Soo happy she did, because I absolutely loved it.  The mustard was spicy and gave the perfect kick!  

Sunchoke Ravioli, grilled ramps, medjool dates, preserved lemon, quail egg.

This was an obvious choice for Hillary and I.  We both agreed on this one immediately.  The preserved lemon was like this special little afterthought that you notice last... so perfect! 

Smoked Mushroom Tortellini (Off chef's tasting menu so I don't have this description). 

After trying this, Hillary and I were trying to figure out what this flavor in it it reminded us of, and then we were like - oh duh!  The smokiness reminded us of bacon haha!  This was awesome!

The third course....

Creamed Spinach Filled Crepe, oyster mushrooms, confit artichoke, parmesan. 

 These two dishes were freaking amazing!  I haven't had a savory crepe since I studied abroad many years ago!  I bet you could guess from the description that this was right up my alley.  My kind of flavor combo! 

Marine Sea Scallops, braised wild mushrooms, yukon potatoes, pomegranate. 

Ok, yum yum yum! It's really hard to say, but I think looking back this was my favorite!  I would have licked the plate if no one else was in the room.  The pomegranate was perfect here.  I would've never thought to use it with mushrooms or any other vegetable for that matter.  This is one of the most memorable of the night!

Dessert...

Rhubarb Cheesecake, crumble, creme fraiche, ginger. 

Freaking fantastic!  What a great ending to such a delicious dinner!  I told Hillary that I would've been satisfied with a spoonful of the creme fraiche, so the fact that the cheesecake was so good was an extra bonus :) I don't find much rhubarb on menus too often so it was definitely a special treat!  

We had such a great experience at Green Zebra.  Not only was the food phenomenal, but the staff was incredibly warm and helpful and you can tell that they were also so into the restaurant! It was a tad on the expensive side for my budget, but not too over the top.  Let's just say, for me, I'd have to save my next trip for a special occasion. But I hope I won't have to wait too long!  I highly recommend this restaurant!

A Special Oatmeal Treat

Good morning!  I haven't had bananas in about 2 weeks!!! So I decided to make a special banana oatmeal this morning.  The "special" part is the chocolate.

In the bowl: 

• 1/3 c oats, skim milk, and water
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 spoonful ground flax
• 1 spoonful PB 
• Sprinkle of vanilla almond granola
• small sprinkle of mini chocolate chips

Sooo yummy! I missed banana oats!

Last night I made a delicious zucchini and tomato pizza.  I used a whole wheat Bobli crust then added:

• olive oil 
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 chopped up zucchini
• 1 chopped up tomato
• ~ 4 oz fresh mozzarella
• torn up fresh basil

I love homemade pizzas.  The leftovers will be my next two meals!

Matza Lasagna

Yay! I made my favorite Passover creation tonight. It's pretty simple to make, but it takes a while to cook!  I made a vegetable lasagna using whatever vegetables I had, which was a 1 bag of spinach, 1 1/2 zucchini, and 1 red bell pepper.  

Before the layering of the lasagna happens...

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Take a little bit of pasta sauce and spread it over bottom of the a 9X13 casserole dish. Mix the rest of the jar of pasta sauce (I think it was 3 cups) and 1 14.5-oz can of of crushed tomatoes in a bowl so it's ready. 
3. Mix 2 cups low-fat ricotta with 1 bag of shredded mozzarella (with 1/2 cup set aside for the top) and about 1/4 cup parmesan.  I also put in some garlic powder and black powder. Set this one aside, too.
4. You'll need 6 sheets of matza (2 per layer X 3 layers).  Lightly wet the matza before adding it to the lasagna. 
5. Layer matza--> 1/2 the cheese creation --> half of the vegetables--> 1/3 sauce.  Then repeat
6. The top layer is just sauce, then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese and more parmesan.  
7. Bake covered with foil for 30 min, then uncovered for 15 more min.  Leave it out for about 10 minutes before cutting into it!
   

I am going to have leftovers for days and I'm quite excited about it!