Food And the Fury: Return to DC

I realize I disappeared for a bit. Ok, for almost four months. Without notice.

It's a key struggle, which I realize balancing profession and passion is a petty complaint compared to juggling things like job and family, or finances and necessities.  But Albert Camus once said that pain is a gas, great or small it fills a room. I think that applies beyond just pain.

While I was gone, I did not have time or access to my kitchen to experiment, but I was able to try some interesting foods and learn a little along the way.  And I continued my self-education in flavor, texture, and techniques.

One food I ate A LOT was soup.  Soup is comforting, versatile, and flavorful.  My favorite soup right now is lentil. I learned how to make it in the traditional Arab way (my favorite), which is much thinner and And get this, it is EASY to make. Seriously!

You need the following: small lentils (the orange kind--I brought mine back from the Middle East but you can get them at most stores), part of a yellow onion, stock or broth (chicken, beef, veggie or combo), cumin, (I also add cayenne pepper), lemon, mint, cilantro, salt and pepper:

So I used about 1 c. lentils for 4 c. broth. I had to add water, so I would say maybe 2/3 c. - 3/4 c. lentils for 4 c. broth. I sauteed about 2/3 onion minced in the bottom of a large pan.  After they were nice and golden and mushy, I added the broth and lentils. Let it simmer; add cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper to taste. Keep simmering until the lentils are almost dissolved into the soup. The soup should still be relatively thin.  This will take about 40 minutes.

Finely chop the cilantro and chiffonade the mint. Add.  Right before serving, squeeze the lemon in individual soup bowls for added freshness.

And serve--it's that simple!

Summer in the City: Bastille Day and Basil Watermelon

"And babe, don't you know it's a pity the days can't be like the nights in the summer in the city, in the summer in the city..." Lovin Spoonful a la Mark Sebastian

It's hot, stormy and muggy in DC. And while the rain is good for the flora, there are times when the rainy season reminds me of the DC winters--dark, grey, and foreboding. In the Most Powerful City in the World, the fragile egos seem to reach their expansive boundaries and bump into each other, sending needless jolts of electrifying, un-directed frustration and anger into the sweltering air.

A good way to cool it down is a trick we learned from our Grandbob down in Texas: Watermelon soothes a multitude of angst.

When I was young, Grandbob gave us large boat-shaped sections of watermelon (it was Texas, afterall), which we would carve into various shapes as we ate. Sometimes we'd add salt, but it was always the antidote to the Texas heat.

As an adult, I've always enjoyed bringing it to parties. Now I know, many of you probably know the tequila recipe: you cut up your watermelon and add some fresh squeezed lime, hand torn cilantro, a tad of salt and a dash of tequila and soak. More or less tequila based on taste. The reason why this works is because tequila and lime should imitate the nature of the rind on your palate. It adds a little bitterness and punch.

But to me, while that's ok, there is something so much better. And, after testing it on a few parties and friends, I feel confident in saying this may replace your current approach to serving "dressed-up" watermelon:

Cube or ball watermelon in a large bowl. Add the juice and zest of 1-2 limes, depending on watermelon quantity. Add a bit of cayenne pepper, to taste. Why? To me the taste of the cayenne pepper matches the deep red of the watermelon, without altering the watermelon's flavor. Add just a teeny hint of chili powder. Not enough to taste like "chili watermelon" but, as I call it, to "anchor the flavor"--to help your palate feel the flavor and heat you just added with the pepper is familiar and memorable, yet new and interesting. Add a bit of sea salt. Sea salt is generally lighter in taste than regular salt, but regular will do in a pinch. Add a very small amount of honey or agave (if you're trying to cut carbs from...watermelon...which is high carb). You want it to add dimension to the current watermelon sweetness, not for it to taste like honeyed watermelon. Add a chiffonade of basil.

Chiffa-what? I just heard your eyeballs ask me.

Chiffonade. That's fancy. talk (aka French for "made of rags") for the following method: Get a few basil leaves (5-10 to start), roll them lengthwise like a cigar (Side note: I'm not promoting tobacco use or smoking. I'm promoting basil use. Only not smoking. Just eating). With a sharp knife, cut across the rolled basil, creating small, thin ribbons of basil. Do this for as much basil as you want to add to the watermelon. Fluff those mama jama's up and throw them into the watermelon dish. Fold or gently toss the ingredients together so everything's distributed evenly. There should be enough lime to keep the basil fresh for a few hours.

The result is a striking deep red watermelon with ribbons of green basil and flecks of neon green from the lime zest. You'll notice adding the pepper and chili powder that the watermelon seems to naturally grow a deeper red. I'll post pics once I make mine tomorrow am for a work thing.

This can be made a few hours prior to where you're taking it, or right before serving. It takes about 5 minutes to assemble if the watermelon's pre-cut and once you get used to chiffonade knife-work and have your ingredients together. If you want to prep this the night before, put everything together but the basil and the lime zest. Just because once basil is wounded (i.e. cut) it gets dark green and then kinda wilty within a few hours. The lime will help, but still... Lime zest turns bitter over time. You want it to echo the bitterness of the rind, not actually be bitter.

Again, the goal is to bring out some of the rich subtlety of what some people think is the straightforward and simple flavor of watermelon. So when you are adding the other ingredients, remember the goal is to compliment and amplify the fresh, exuberant flavor of watermelon--the sweetness, some of the subtle bitterness and acidity of its rind, its crunchiness, etc. Better to be conservative and add a little more than to have any of the other ingredients overwhelm the watermelon rather than enhance it.

If you want to try it, here's your shopping list: Watermelon, lime, cayenne pepper, chili powder, sea salt, fresh basil, honey.

Microwave Fritatta

"L'art :
Green arsenic smeared on an egg-white cloth,
Crushed strawberries! Come, let us feast our eyes." -Ezra Pound

**Written last night...then I fell asleep before publishing.**


I just wrecked my diet. For the last few weeks I have been carefully tracking my caloric intake--revising my diet to include high amounts of lean proteins and reduce my intake of sugars, simple carbs, and processed foods.

This started when I hit a wall and realized I have choices regarding my life. Sure, I won't ever be a "skinny" girl; I will always have curves. I need a wide variety of flavor profiles. But I can determine how "not skinny" I am, and how healthy I want to be. Some people don't have that choice, so I should feel some sort of obligation in that regard. Inspired with the efforts of a few people, I stopped making excuses and started pushing through the fatigue, busy-ness, and other excuses I felt were keeping me from making choices that would give me the results I wanted.

Three weeks, 35 workouts, and the above diet later I lost four pounds! I was so excited.

Until tonight.

My Easter basket of sweetened temptations resurrected from the foot of my bed to the forefront of my mind and I caved. :( I ended up eating a Reese's snack egg thing, a dove chocolate, a few skittles, and a few sour patch kids. Now I have a tummy ache.


But tomorrow, I start fresh. So to celebrate my climbing back on the relentless wagon of the pursuit of good health in my life, I'm offering up a simple but effective egg dish. What I call a "work breakfast" because it is convenient for those of us who sometimes get up at 0530 to hit the road. There's really no excuse not to eat the most important meal of the day. But I've heard and used every excuse there is. So please enjoy, this one's for us :)

For breakfast, I've started making microwave fritattas because I got sick of boiled egg whites and I don't have time to make a real breakfast in the am. It's easy:

I separate 2-3 eggs, throwing away the yolks. I put the whites in a pyrex or microwaveable dish.

To the whites I add a few chopped pieces of any of the following: 

• kale 
• broccoli
• asparagus
• spinach
• green onion
• shallot
• fresh basil
• fresh cilantro

I add salt, pepper, a few herbs, and just a teeny bit of olive oil.  Other things to consider adding: zucchini, squash, mushrooms, peppers, olives, tomatoes (be careful if you're doing low-carb--they're fruits and therefore have sugar!)

If you want to make ahead of time, this is where you pause and then resume the following day in the microwave at work (or am I alone on that one?)

Put the dish in the microwave and heat for about 1.5 minutes.