purple sweet potatoes!

....and they're locally grown!
woot!

i bought these bad boys at whole foods for a ridiculous price. (you would gasp at what i paid for 2 lbs of potato material... purple or not, i was ashamed of myself.)
i stared at these three purple sweet potatoes for a week or so. it was similar to an old timey gun draw.
hmm...what to do with you...
finally, it came to me! i took two, and scrubbed them clean. i cubed them, and suddenly the price of these magenta pommes faded away. how amazing! the artist in me was speechless, and thoughtless - if you will. something with such brilliant color came from the earth and is edible. i loved it!
back to the action...
i cubed two of these potatoes, tossed them with a couple drops of olive oil, salt, and sugar free maple syrup. giddy up. i baked them in the oven at 400* for 20 - 30 minutes on each side. right at the end, after they were cooked through, i shook some cayenne pepper over them and clicked on the broiler for a few minutes.
these potatoes were excellent! they were chewy and sweet. the purple sweet potato had won me over. the sweet maple & peppery glaze was by sure the best way to have bathed them before baking. the inside of each potato chunk was creamy and delicious, and after cooking they had this deep eggplant color to them.

beautiful!
they had won me over!
shelling out that much for violet potatoes was totally worth it.

the glass is half full of luxury.

super simple chocolate (my fave!) milkshake, that's totally VEGAN! woot!
as you know, i LOVE the coconut milk ice cream. i took a scoop of that and let it soften in a glass. after about ten minutes, i added maybe half a cup of chocolate (unsweetened) almond milk. amazing.
the coconut ice cream on it's own is super duper rich and creamy, it has an amazing texture and taste that trumps plain-jane ice cream. this mini-dessert was a perfect end to a hot summer day.

eat it!
now!

also, enjoy my shameless breckenridge brewery plug.

roasted garlic and...

shrimp! and spinach!
*drool*
i pan fried some shallot rings in a low-medium heat pan to begin. after, i added some butter spray, chopped garlic (you know i love that stuff in the jar!), and spinach. after i cooked that through, i put some shrimp into a stone dish, coated the bottom with spray butter and garlic, and added my shrimp. i got the oven ready to a rip-roaring 400*, topped my shrimp with spray butter, and a pinch of panko.
bam!
those shrimp enjoyed a lovely 5-7 minutes in the sauna, before i broiled they got off for a minute or two.
*drool*
my perfectly cooked shrimp made their way out of the oven and jumped on top of my delicious spinach mix.
this dinner was quick & easy.... just like your mom!

...wait, have i made that joke already?

holy crap, i suck!

dear everyone who i love, and hopefully still loves me:
my life has been crazy in june. i'm sorry for being a complete waste of life and posting nothing. i assure you, there was plenty of food eaten & many-a-pictures taken. i do declare to stop being lazy and give you fabulous people what you want.... more of my food! woot!

<3 k

yellow corn meal!

it's polenta!
i've sliced the polenta roll and baked it, but i've never made creamy polenta.
no better time than the present!

i found a recipe for creamy polenta. it was pretty basic, 4x as much water as yellow corn meal. added a little faux-butter spread, and some weight watchers cream cheese. i know the key to creamy polenta is to keep on whisking. so whisk, i did!
i was pretty impressed with myself on the polenta front.
now... what to top it with.
mushrooms! and spinach! and onions!
i mixed that up in a pan, and topped my polenta.
now, some type of sauce to finish it off. i mixed some french onion soup mix with chicken broth, cooked it down, and added a tablespoon of weight watchers cream cheese. it made a great creamy onion sauce that worked well with the polenta and the veggies.
i didn't add anything to the polenta, no salt. no pepper. i figured starting out with it as a uber-plain base would be good for my trial.
it worked out perfect.

of course it did, i'm awesome!

eggierolls.

yum!
egg roll wrappers and won ton wrappers are soooooo under appreciated.

i had some leftover egg roll wrappers and thought, what the heck could i fill these things with? naturally, i have nine million bags of frozen chopped spinach in my freezer. so i took out a bag to defrost, and some mushrooms and thought i'd fill them with spinach and mushrooms.
clearly, my horrible memory failed me as i started defrosting a broccoli / cauliflower / carrot mix. after the veggie (california, i believe?) mix was defrosted, i worked in shifts with the food processor to chop the mix up with some onions. after we reached a nice mix of super tiny, tiny, small, and medium sized pieces, i added sweet chili sauce and a little tso. i filled my eggierolls until they were ready to explode, and i baked them at 400* for about ten minutes on each side.

i'll pat myself on the back... they're awesome!
edna even liked them.

come over, i'll make you some.

best... ice cream.... EVER!

i had seen this in the earth fare circular.
i was forced to drive to briar creek and buy some.

luna & larry's coconut bliss!
it's made with coconut milk, is soy-dairy-gluten free, AND is dark chocolate flavored!
it's creamy, it's coconutty, it's chocolaty, it's perfect!

get some immediately!

small pieces of raw fish marinated in lime or lemon juice.

that tuna ceviche really got me in the mood for... more ceviche!
i'm ceviche monster!
nom.. nom.. nom..

i rounded up a wealth (a small wealth) of shellfish. shrimp, scallops, and lobster tail meat.
i've made ceviche before, where i'll flash cook the shellfish.
dunk it in a pot of boiling water for a few seconds.
this time, i decided to keep it raw. i cut up my scallops, shrimp, & lobster. i tossed all my shellfish in a bowl, and added garlic, cilantro, red onions (that were marinated in red wine vinegar) and the juice of four limes. i thought of using avocado or tomatoes, but figured they would make a better garnish than ingredient. i made my ceviche on a tuesday and i let it "cook" until thursday night. on thursday, i thought that it was still a little under-"cooked". on friday, i didn't notice much of a difference in the change of the texture of the meat, but i felt a little safer eating it.
you know, after i fed it to some of my guinea pigs. ha!
i think my ceviche came out smashing! it was light, perfect for summer, and refreshing. my only complaint with allowing the meat to "cook" straight off in the lime juice, is that i feel the meat let out enough water that it made a not-so-attractive sauce in my ceviche. next time, i'll flash cook the meat and let it finish cooking in the lime juice & garlic.

no worries, i'm addicted to sea food.
there will be pictures of shellfish ceviche 2.0 up soon!
woot!

bean patty cakes.

this was run 2.0.

previously, i used two cans of black beans, cilantro, red onions (soaked in red wine vinegar), garlic, the juice of two limes, and a bit of egg beater to bind my patties. oh, and corn meal. i hand mushed the beans so that they were about 75% mush and 25% whole bean. i dropped "patties" into a hot sauce pan, and let them brown and cook through on each side. one complaint, they were dry on their own but, with the following pineapple salsa they were super tasty!

today!
i used one can of pinto beans and one can of black beans. i added some chopped red onions and green onions. cilantro paste, garlic, chopped green chiles, a couple tablespoons of chicken broth, little egg beaters, and some corn meal. the consistency this time was much more liquid-y than the first time. that's ok... i'll bake them! i split the mix into 8 piles ... or patties, if you will. baked them at 400* for about fifteen to twenty minutes on each side.

yum!

pineapple salsa!

teacher appreciation week?
sounds ficticious...
but i'll happily accept your gifts of fresh produce.
enter... pineapple!

i made pineapple salsa!

as for this delicious sweet & savory salsa... i could not be more thrilled! the salsa came out great! fresh and tasty, and to be cliche --- exploding with flavor! bam!
i used about a can and a half of diced low-sodium tomatoes, half of a fresh pineapple, garlic, red onion (soaked in red wine vinegar), cilantro, and lime juice. i forgot a serrano / jalapeno... next time gadget... i tossed all my ingredients in bowl, then added a third of the mix to the food processor, hit puree. added another third, puree. final third, quick puree. adding things in segments to the processor helps give the salsa and variety of textures to the salsa, giving it a puree/juicy layer, a chopped layer, and a more chunky layer.

my salsa went AWESOME with my black bean patties....
get excited!
it's coming....

chops!

it's a pork chop!
pork!?!?!?! you ask?
i know! but, i was at earth fare and they had these 1.75" cut boneless pork chops on sale... and the wheels in my mind started turning... it had to be!
so i adopted a cute little pork chop!
now... what to do with you...

i haven't eaten meat... correction. i had eaten some chicken last week, and i eat seafood once or twice a week. pork, i've had it, as for red meat -- no dice. i don't eat too much pork or chicken at one time, but i don't mind a little every now and then. it doesn't seem to bother my stomach too much, and i cook it fairly healthy / low fat.

back to task at hand... what to do with this pork chop!
i mixed a quarter cup pineapple juice, three tablespoons sriracha, and three tablespoons apricot preserves. i let my handsome little pork chop bathe in this sweet and spicy mixture all day. i cut the pork chop open, stuffed it with just over an ounce of roasted garlic crusted goat cheese. (it looked like a little mouth! nom nom nom!) i seared it on each side, in a pan over medium heat, then i popped it in a 400* oven for about five minutes on each side.
cute little pork chop, i'm ready to eat you!

pork chop was juicy, and spicy. it had a sweet sauce, and the creamy goat cheese with the kick of roasted garlic was delicious.
that pork chop... best decision made. on saturday.

holy crap it's may!

it's time for some light, fresh food!
tuna ceviche and tuna sushi roll... or something that resembles a sushi roll. a poor excuse for a sushi roll. none the less, delicious!
i wasn't quite sure how i felt about the tuna ceviche. don't get me wrong... i love ceviche but, the tuna hadn't quite "cooked" in the lime juice when i ate it.
sushi grade tuna, chopped tomato, mango, serrano pepper, avocado, cilantro, and lime juice.
it was perfect.
the mango, tomato, & avocado were fresh and complimented the fish super well. the serrano pepper gave the ceviche an unexpected and much needed kick.
i saved some until the following day, the acidity changes the texture of the fish over time, and i wanted to experience some of that on monday.
it was best on sunday.

i used the extra tuna to make some sushi rolls.
cucumber, avocado, mango, tuna, brown rice.
yum.
they looked a bit horrid, but they tasted delicious!

*powdered wasabi = surprisingly strong.
highly recommended.