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I’m not scared of pasta.  I just don’t eat it very often.  Of course right now my Italian grandparents are in heaven thinking, “We still don’t know where she came from.  If she didn’t like zeppole and coffee so much we would have sworn Diane [my mother] adopted her.”

I would eat it when my mom made it growing up, but I rarely crave it now.  Yesterday was one of those rare occasions.  I bought, cooked, devoured and sat in a food comma on the couch for a good period of time.  Delicious.  This dish is great served hot or cold.  Also, it easily provides enough food for multiple meals…so it looks like I will be eating pasta a few more times.

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Ok, not really, but I’ve had an overwhelmingly large number of people ask me that question in various forms

“Are you a vegetarian?”

“Have you drank the CA kool-aid?’

“Have you denounced the east coast yet?”

and my personal favorite:

“Are you guys living in a commune?”

People, I have written posts on bacon and steak.  I’m pretty sure two months of California living isn’t going to make me turn away filet mignon anytime soon.  That said, I think I went a little overboard with the beef jerky while hiking in Yosemite last weekend.  I haven’t eaten any meat, poultry or fish in four(!!!) whole days.  This evening’s dinner was no different, I threw together some veg-friendly products into what my roommate called, “A Vegetarian Super-Protein Dinner.”  It was pretty good.  If I didn’t like steak so much, I might consider being a vegetarian.

It started with veggies:

and more veggies:

and ended with a delicious well-rounded meal

Vegetarian Super-Protein Dinner

• 1 cup uncooked Quinoa
• 9 oz. Firm Tofu, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 Zucchini, diced
• 1 Bell Pepper, chopped
• 1 can Artichoke Hearts, halved
• 1 1/2 cups Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 4 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions.
2. Saute onion in 1 tbsp olive oil until tender.  Add zucchini and bell peppers.
3. Once all the vegetables are tender, add the artichoke hearts and tofu and heat until warm
4. Meanwhile, whisk together the remaining olive oil, Dijon mustard and vinegar
5. Combine the cooked quinoa and warm veggies.  Drizzle the Dijon dressing over the mixture, add the cherry tomatoes and carefully stir.
6. Serve hot or cold, with a side of bacon.

So I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this before, but I looouuvveee farmer’s markets.
They take place on weekend mornings. A time when you can slow down, relax and wander around (did I just write “slow down?”…I can’t remember the last time I actually did that). The variety of food is fantastic and ever-changing. I’m very sad I won’t be here in California during the Fall when the strawberries and corn transition into apples and squash. It’s a great way to change up your meals and get creative with new recipes. Plus, once you get home, you can eat everything, clearly my favorite part.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to find an assortment of lettuce options, all of which would be great for a salad. The temperatures have been 90+ recently and my house lacks air conditioning. Any measure I could take to avoid turning on the oven was taken. Plus, I found a great recipe for Shallot Vinaigrette at the market. I made the dressing yesterday and ate the salad today. Simple, yet delicious salad of leaf lettuce, bibb lettuce, arugula, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, strawberries and vinaigrette.

Shallot Vinairgrette
Adapted from a Coke Farm Recipe

-2 tbsp red wine vinegar
-1 shallot, diced
-1 tbsp dijon mustard
-1-2 tsp honey
-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-salt and pepper to taste

Add vinegar to shallot and let sit for 10 minutes. Add mustard and whisk in honey and olive oil. Will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.

This is a self-imposed challenge. I haven’t prepared my own lunch on a regular basis since…well, ever.
My parents did such a great job making my lunch when I was younger, yet somehow the concept was lost on me. In college, I got accustomed to people making me food at the dinning halls. At work I never had time to buy groceries, so actually bringing something to the office was hard. Plus, grabbing lunch was usually the only time I got to see daylight. During grad school, there are just so many events during lunch that I didn’t need to pack anything.

And now here I am. Working again with time to buy groceries. Gasp. I’ve been buying my lunch everyday at our really nice office cafeteria, but I’ve been thinking (as I like to try and do every so often) that it’s probably more economical and somewhat healthier to bring lunch. So I’ve decided to do just that. Bring my lunch, brown paper bag style.

BUT I’m a foodie. Clearly a regular turkey and swiss won’t do on a regular basis…I need to mix it up! I want to make things that will compare to what I could be getting at the cafeteria so I won’t feel like I’m missing out. So here it is, my sandwich for today:

Prosciutto with sliced sheep’s cheese, basil, baby arugula and black olive tapenade. Ok….arguably healthier than the cafeteria. But then I realized these are expensive ingredients, so perhaps it’s not economical to make lunch. To figure this quandary out, I made a spreadsheet, ex-banker style.

So it costs me approximately $4.37 per sandwich (provided I use all the ingredients to their capacity), which is less than the ~$7.00 spent at the cafeteria. That’s a savings of $13.15/week or $52.59 per month. Hmmm, maybe I should start making this a regular challenge for the summer…suggestions are welcome for other great sandwiches.

Stop Number 1

Mooo….

No really, that’s the name of the restaurant (kinda awesome, huh?).  As an early birthday celebration, I got to experience some fantastic high-class steak in an uber-swank location.  I’ll cut right to the chase on this one, we only ordered 1 course…steak.  No appetizers, no dessert (I know, I know, I’m just as shocked as you are, after all this was my birthday dinner). To be honest, the one course was almost too much, almost.

So the steak… 8 oz. Fllet Mignon, which was the smallest one offered on the menu, with a wine sauce…medium-rare.  I debated going rare but MR was perfect, melt-in-your-mouth perfection.  It didn’t even need the wine sauce, but that just made it all the more delicious.  My partner in crime also ordered the filet mignon, albeit the more aggressive 12 oz. portion.

For sides, we ordered the “Mooo Side Flight,” which consisted of  yukon gold mashed potatoes, creamed spinach, truffled Parmesan fries and a mushroom medley.  Here is my advice on this one: don’t get it.  Instead, just get the truffled fries and mushrooms.  The fries were amazing and the mushrooms were a nice delicate balance.  I’m not a huge fan of creamed spinach to begin with, but this wasn’t even good.  I took one bite and decided my stomach capacity should be saved for other things.  The potatoes were just potatoes, nothing fancy..again, not worth it.

At the end of the meal, I was very happy, beyond full and then realized I just ate half a pound of steak.  Gluttony at it’s best.

And now for something completely different….

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The Clover Food Truck

A relatively recent addition to the famed food trucks on the MIT campus, my friend Emily introduced me the day after my steak excursion.  Not your typical street-meat cart, this place serves vegetarian, local and when possible, organic food.

Started by MIT grad Ayr Muir, the food truck brings easily accessible healthy food to the the Kendall community.  I’m just bummed I didn’t find out about this place until after the semester was over!  Hopefully it will be back next year.

While more expensive than the competing food trucks, Clover delivers warm meals with uber-fresh ingredients.  For lunch I had a Tofu BLT, cucumber and tomato salad and an unsweetened iced tea (my favorite summertime beverage) all for only $9.  The only catch is food runs out quickly, so you have to get there early for the full selection.  You can also follow them on Twitter for updates.

I also recommend reading these articles on the Clover Food Truck and Ayr’s food concepts in

The Boston Globe and

MIT News