Guest Chef: An Evening with Omri

Once upon a time, several years ago, one of my multiple day-jobs to support myself while auditioning included part time work at Sabon- an Israeli-based bath and body company. Aside from a great discount on their AMAZING products, I also gained several wonderful friends, including my platonic-lover-for-life, Omri, We bonded over our mutual obsession with food and have remained close ever since. Omri is from Israel (where he currently resides) and I miss him more than I can tell you- fingers crossed that he comes back to NYC soon- hopefully to attend culinary school!

As a fellow maker-of-delicious food, Omri happily agreed to do a guest post of an evening's worth of deliciousness. I hope you enjoy the dishes he selected!

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So this is what I had in mind for ya- thinking holidays/ hearty festive dishes that are super easy to make and don't take too much work. 

For starters, I've been making this AMMMMMMMAAAZZZZZZZZING salad for quite some time now, and I grew up on couscous dishes, being the Israeli that I am!

Couscous Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

This combination of pecans, cranberries and couscous has the feel and flavor of a classic Thanksgiving dish. It can also be made a day in advance.

1 cup couscous, preferably whole wheat
Salt
2 large carrots, grated
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped scallions
1/4 cup olive oil, or more as needed
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon, or more juice as needed
1 teaspoon coriander
Pinch of cayenne, or to taste
Black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage, or 1 teaspoon dried

1. Put the couscous in a small pot and add 1 1/2 cups water and a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then cover and remove from the heat. Let steep for at least 10 minutes, or up to 20.


2. Put the slightly cooled couscous in a large salad bowl along with the carrots, pecans, cranberries, scallions, oil and lemon zest and juice, and sprinkle with the spices and salt and pepper. Use 2 big forks to combine, fluffing the couscous and tossing gently to separate the grains. (The salad can be made up to this point and refrigerated for up to a day; bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

3. Stir in the parsley and sage. Taste and adjust the seasoning, moisten with a little more oil and lemon juice as you like, and serve.

Yield: 4 servings.

This next soup is getting me all excited- and I just can't hide it! I discovered it several weeks ago when I was going through some recipes for cold fall nights. It's sooooooo hearty and so delicious and incorporates such great flavors of fall, PLUS- SWEET POTATO! DUH. I like it because it can be made with or without sausage- adding the sausage makes it more of an entree. I added the very basic chorizo- you can add any.


Sweet Potato and Sausage Soup 

This hearty soup gets rich flavor from linguiça, a delicious pork sausage from Portugal seasoned with garlic, paprika, and other spices.

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 10- to 11-ounce fully cooked smoked Portuguese linguiça sausage or chorizo sausage, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds red-skinned sweet potatoes (yams; about 2 large), peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1 pound white-skinned potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Transfer sausage to paper towels to drain. Add onions and garlic to pot and cook until translucent, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add all potatoes and cook until beginning to soften, stirring often, about 12 minutes. Add broth; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Using potato masher, mash some of potatoes in pot. Add browned sausage to soup. Stir in spinach and simmer just until wilted, about 5 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Divide among bowls and serve.




This cake is a stone-winner! It's my Dad's favorite ever since I started making it... I make it almost every 
Friday for Shabbos dinner for that reason!

Warm Apple-Apricot Cake

Serve this cake warm out of the oven for brunch, or it’s delicious served at room temperature too.

Ingredients

Nonstick baking spray
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup applesauce (a 4-ounce snack pack contains about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup apricot all-fruit spread (apricot jam)
3 cups 1/4-inch-thick diced pieces of peeled, cored Granny Smith apples (about 5 apples)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Spray a bundt-style pan with nonstick baking spray.

3. Whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder in a bowl and set aside.


4. In a separate bowl, whip together the oil and sugar with an electric mixer, increasing gradually to high speed, for a total of 3 minutes. Add the applesauce and apricot spread and mix on high speed for another minute until creamy.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on medium speed until well incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula and continue mixing. The batter will clump together.

6. Add the apples to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Pour the batter (which will be very thick) into the prepared pan.

7. Bake in the oven for 60 to 70 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Test the center of the cake for doneness with a toothpick; the toothpick should come out clean. The cake may take a bit longer to bake if the apples are particularly juicy, because the center will be extra moist. Turn the cake out of the pan onto a cooking rack immediately after removing from the oven.


Yield: 1 bundt cake; 12 slices.

Vegetable Stir Fry-urry (aka- A Guest Post from My Husband)!

In general, domestic tasks are pretty balanced in my household. Dishes, laundry, cooking, grocery shopping and cleaning are pretty much always team-efforts. Of course, there are times when one of us is completely overwhelmed and the other steps in- lately, because of school-related craziness, Joe has picked up my slack in the kitchen, often cooking while I finish homework. 

Many of our friends are surprised to learn that Joe's actually a pretty damn good cook. I like to think I had a little something to do with that- his culinary skills have improved greatly since we first met and at my insistence, he's become a much more nutritionally aware chef. It is for these reasons that I feel comfortable handing him the reigns for tonight's coincidentally vegan and GF (I think) guest-post! Enjoy! 

Hello Keelie’s blog aficionados! Tis I, The Hubs of the aforementioned Keelie. Tonight I cooked dinner and have been asked to blog about said dinner. This dinner started with me glancing in our cabinets, only to realize there were things in there that hadn’t been thought of since the CW had good programming (that is to say never).

So, let’s get to it!

I shall call it...Vegetable Stir Fry-urry

Ingredients:
-1 Cup Instant Brown Rice
-1 Can (13.5 oz) Coconut Milk bought when Bush was still president (Sr?)
-2 Portabella Mushrooms
-1 Can (8 oz) Sliced Bamboo Shoots purchased while listening to the newest ‘NSYNC album
-1 Can (20 oz) Sliced Pineapple gotten while gas prices were hovering around a dollar
-1 Zucchini
-1 Yellow Squash
-1 Red Pepper
-1 Tsp Curry Powder
-1 Tsp Cinnamon
-1 Tsp Garlic Powder
-1 Tsp Paprika
-1 Tsp Cumin
-Salt & Pepper to Taste
-What Keelie will say is too much olive oil

1. Make the instant brown rice according to the package.

2. Add the coconut milk to the rice, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Stir often. Do this until creamy and rice puddingish.

3. Add all the spices (to tell you the truth, I didn’t really measure out all the spices. Be creative!)

4. Stir fry the veggies, bamboo shoots and pineapple in a separate pan with some oil. (Do the mushrooms separately if you have a partner that doesn’t like mushrooms, like mine).

5. Put the creamy rice curry in bowls.
6. Heap stir fried veggies over rice.

7. Eat the crap out of your Vegetable Stir Fry-urry!

That’s it folks. Hope you all enjoy the recipe. Also, I hope you all delve into the depths of your pantries and discover strange things bought as an impulse purchase back when The Sopranos was still on the air and use it now to make dinner. YAY!

Guest Post: Aubrie from Drunk On Opportunity

As I've mentioned (a lot) recently, life is leaving me pretty overwhelmed. I'm inspired to hear how other people make time to take care of themselves despite their hectic schedules! The first poster in this series, my beautiful friend Stacie, was balancing graduate school and training for a bikini show. Regardless of your sport, diet or passion, I want to hear how you do it! If you have a crazy schedule and are interested in doing a guest post detailing how you stay fit, strong and healthy, email me or leave a comment!

Meet Aubrie from Drunk On Opportunity. She's also in the Graduate Theatre Dept in Brooklyn College- she's pursuing a degree in Theatre Management and I'm getting my MFA in Acting- but I've known her for a while in other capacities, too! We first met while competing in the Miss Greater NYC pageant and later discovered our mutual love of blogging and now we're at the same school! Awesome! This is her life!

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I don't know about you guys, but I'm a much more efficient person when I'm busy.  When I have hours and days and weeks to get something done, I'll take it, but if I only have 30 minutes, I can get it done in 25 and check my facebook in the last 5 minutes.  This time around, however, I may have taken it a little too far.  I'm a full time graduate student.  I work 30 hours a week at a digital marketing company.  I'm teaching an undergraduate class (yes I give quizzes).  I'm training for a marathon (oops).  Needless to say, I'm spread a little thin these days, but I've found it's much easier to stay healthy if I plan ahead.  So here's what my average day looks like:

6:00am Wake Up 
I'm not this much of a morning person (8am is an ideal time to get up in my opinion), but marathon training demands it so I must obey.  My cat does not get up this early.

The first thing I do when I have a decent run on my morning schedule (more than 6 miles) is get a little something to eat.  I find that whole wheat toast with a little bit of fruit preserves gives me enough quick energy from fruity sugar and long energy from the whole grains.  Since it's super early, I usually only eat about half a slice before my run, and finish off the rest when I get back in.

6:30am Run
Today's run was a 7 mile tour around the neighborhoods of South Brooklyn.  It's pretty cool to see New York City this early in the morning.  I swear it's the cleanest it will ever be at 6:30 in the morning.  It's kind of magical.  It took me a long time to adjust to am runs, but it is SO worth it.


7:30-8:30 Get Ready for Work 
Since I leave for work at 8:30am and don't get home on a typical day until after 10pm, I carry a lot of stuff with me.  (Actually I just carry a lot of FOOD.)  I'm pretty sure that I'm the queen of tupperware:

From top to bottom, overnight oats with blueberries for breakfast, leftovers for lunch, salad with goat cheese, walnuts, dried cranberries, and mixed greens for dinner...plus a lot of snacks.  I have like a three gallon sized lunch box you guys, it's embarrassing, BUT, it allows me to save money and eat healthy alllll day long. 


9:30-5pm Work 
Not much to say.  I work.  During my lunch hour I'll eat outside if it's nice enough, and I often run an errand or two.


5-6:30 Dinner/Travel
Depending on the day of the week, my classes are either on campus or somewhere in Manhattan.  Sometimes this involves subway travel, other days I just mosie a few blocks away.  Again, if it's nice out I'll eat my dinner somewhere outside, but if not I typically eat at the beginning of class.  If it's a reallllly good day I'll meet a classmate or two for dinner (and drinks) before class.


6:30-9 Class
I'm studying Performing Arts Management so I take management classes and theater classes.  For a type-A theater geek like me, it's a dream come true.  I'm passionate about providing opportunities for artists to connect with audiences and everyday I'm getting the tools I need to make it happen.  So. Cool.


10pm Home Sweet Home
When I get home I often have some last minute homework to do, or emails to check, but some nights I get to watch a little tv, read a little bit, chat with friends or hang out with my roommate.  I almost always have a snack when I get home (this week it's been Ben and Jerry's Bonaroo Buzz omahgah) with a cup of herbal tea to unwind.


11pm BED
On the day of the week that I teach, I don't go into the office at all, so I get at least one weekday that mixes things up. Since my weekdays are so busy, I really try to keep my weekends as open as possible.  I love to spend  Saturdays and Sundays relaxing with friends, catching up on homework, taking leisurely trips to the grocery store and cooking/prepping as much food as possible for the week... oh and going on long runs.  Nothing leaves a busy week behind you like a loooooooooooooooong run.

Guest Post- I AM A GEEKY, NERDY WEIGHT-LIFTER by Debbie Cohen

Please enjoy the following guest post from my awesome pal, Debbie. This lady is an inspiration, and throws up some SERIOUS weights!

If I can do it, anybody can. Nobody was more geeky, nerdy, and “unpopular” than me. My best friends were books. And yes, I always got picked last for any sports team in gym class.

Although I landed a secure job as a reward for my academic achievements, it wasn’t enough. I also wanted to look hot and still be able to eat lots of food. I am Jewish AND Italian so you can only imagine the food at family dinners.

In my infinite quest to lose 15-20 pounds, I did all the latest exercise crazes. Each one would have done the trick if I could only stick with it. I did the jogging thing, the aerobic classes thing, volleyball, softball, you-name-it-ball, and even joined a “Health Spa” but wound up using the whirlpool and sauna more than the equipment.

As I approached an age where I refused to admit my age, I accidentally discovered weight machines. I was living in an apartment complex with a free 24-hour access Fitness Center. It was limited, but I figured now there was no excuse. I can exercise practically at home whenever I wanted. 

I started off doing 30-60 minute of cardio each morning, not knowing that cardio on an empty stomach is a good way to burn fat. After getting bored with that, I ventured over to the contraptions. I had to read the instructions (I can’t do ANYTHING without a manual) but I figured out how to work the things. I also discovered that I LOVED LOVED LOVED watching myself progress by increasing the weight. I was becoming addicted to moving heavy things.

Not all of my friends were books and one of my human friends suggested I try a bodybuilding program. Again, not being able to breath without a manual, I did a lot of research, read MORE books, and found oodles of information on the Internet. In other words, I learned.

Twelve years later, I am still learning and still LOVE LOVE LOVE moving heavy things. I eat tons of food and my doctors are impressed with my medical test results. Most importantly, I feel good about myself. (Probably because I can now eat even MORE food than ever before).

The general population consists of too many out-of-shape people. I advise people (only when they ask) to choose a physical activity that you enjoy so you stick with it. It may not be the most OPTIMAL way to stay in shape but if you enjoy it then it will work best for you. There are so many choices out there: swimming, running, tennis, belly dancing, etc. There is no excuse for not being able to find ONE that you enjoy. If I can do it, anybody can.

Thank you, Debbie!