sprinklefingers

I’m not addicted to coffee.

I am, however, addicted to coffee mixed with that magical elixir known as half & half. Sometimes, when falling asleep at night, I’m already thinking about my first cup of coffee in the morning. Usually it’s not the coffee I’m looking most forward to, but the half & half. Kind of sick, huh?

Working as an early morning baker, it’s easy for me to have 7 or more (and usually more) cups of coffee in a single day. And each of these cups contains a very generous dose of half & half. How generous? Well, when I measured out a sample dose, I nearly fell over. It ranged from between 1/4 cup and 1/3 cup, depending upon the size of the mug. Holy s*$t! Holy s*$t, indeed!

I took it a step further (and I’m not really sure why) by calculating the total number of calories in each cup of my coffee - and, wow. What was I thinking? That’s a l o t of calories. Especially when you factor in the fact that I also eat like 4 cookies a day and always cook with butter. Dear god! Someone do something!

Naturally, I’ve cut out half & half. And taking half & half out of my coffee equation has made me not like coffee as much. Is that a win-win? Or a sad-sad? I guess you could say it’s a win-win. It’s like going on a diet without being on a diet. Sigh. And grrr.

Speaking of diets, last year at this time I showed you a quinoa salad that’s just delicious. It’s perfect if you’re on a new diet for the new year - or if you need something delicious to take your mind off of all that half & half you’re missing (maybe that’s just me…).

Make this salad. Pack it into your lunch. Eat it for dinner. Cold or warm, it’s delicious!

it’s been a while since i’ve mentioned hugh fearnley-whittingstall around here. no, my obsession hasn’t waned - it’s just that this isn’t a blog about hugh. sigh.

at any rate, i couldn’t ignore saturday’s hugh column in the guardian. three delicious sounding dishes using some great ingredients. seriously. first a bulgur & red lentil soup. next, a quinoa stir fry with kale and chilies. then couscous with squash! all three great sounding recipes for our ever-enduring winter months!



find all three delicious recipes here.

i don’t know anyone who hasn’t made some kind of wacky resolution for the new year. and most of them involve food. i mean, seriously, if i look at facebook one more time and see yet another friend who has an update detailing their decision to entirely cut out carbs or to only eat like a cave man, i’m probably going to go crazy. and then ship them a loaf of bread. or some buttermilk biscuits.

that said, it IS a new year. and i do realize many folks use this time to refocus, rethink and reenergize. and that’s awesome. i guess.

but with all this refocusing, rethinking and reenergizing, i STILL think it’s worth pointing out that (in my opinion) moderation should always trump total elimination. i mean, what’s going to happen when you start eating carbs again? i shudder to think…

carbs or no carbs, you still have to eat, right? if you’re on a resolution-related ‘diet,’ i think you should give this delightful quinoa number a try. fresh, tasty and easy to pack in a lunch (so that you won’t be tempted by a giant latte and a muffin the size of texas from the coffee shop in your building. that’s not lunch, that’s trouble.)

quinoa & veggies with tahini dressing
recipe adapted from miss dahl

for the salad you need:

• 4 cups chicken broth or water
• 2 cups quinoa
• 1 english cucumber, cut in half lengthwise. then cut the lengths in half again, then chop.
• one bunch green onions, white parts & some green parts finely chopped
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 red peppers, seeded and chopped

for the dressing you need:

• 1/2 cup best quality olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 T tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1/4 cup tahini (sesame seed butter)
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• dash of cayenne pepper
• a few cranks of freshly ground black pepper
• dollop of honey

make the salad:

1. bring the stock (or water) to a boil in a small saucepan with a lid. pour in the quinoa, stir, cover and let simmer for 12-15 minutes.
2. pour the olive oil into a bowl followed by the remaining dressing ingredients. using your trusty immersion blender, blend the ingredients until they form a smooth, silky dressing. (no immersion blender? use a regular blender!)
3. once the quinoa has finished cooking (you can tell it’s finished because there will no longer be any water in the saucepan - but the quinoa will NOT be burned to the bottom of the pan,) transfer it to a large serving (or storage) bowl.
4. add the vegetables to the quinoa and fold gently until evenly distributed.
5. pour a bit of dressing - but not all of it - over the top and fold it in.
6. serve with extra dressing on the side plus salt and pepper for individual seasoning.

notes:

• this dish is delicious warm OR cold.
• it’s the perfect thing for a potluck or picnic. 
• it’s also perfect to just keep a big bowl of it in the fridge so you can eat it for lunch all week.
• the dressing recipe yields quite a bit - you can enjoy it on this quinoa salad or falafel or pita bread or as a dip for veggies.

easy and delicious without breaking your resolution bank. hooray!

now, back to the butter (for me).