Good Friday Salad in a Jar

I made another salad in a jar on Good Friday for my day trip to Ostia Antica. I figured that it would be a great picnic lunch.
I'm not really a practicing Catholic although I usually do follow the traditions of Lent.  I usually give something up. One year it was the elevator in my building (which was great because I still don't use elevators unless I'm actually completely wiped out). Another year I gave up ice cream. That one didn't work out nearly as well.  I kept forgetting that I'd given up ice cream and wound up deciding to tack on days to my lent to make up for it.
This year, Lent seems to have flown by and I never actually got around to giving up anything. And since my awarness level wasn't particularly high, I'm sure that I also ate meat on Fridays as well. I've never been a stickler for these things, but I do try to follow along... This year I seem to have dropped the ball.
For Good Friday, however, I decided to follow tradition and have no meat all day.

So my salad was vegetarian.
My first layer was fresh olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction and some oregano (grown and dried by one of my roomie's family).  Then I added white cannelloni beans with a little salt. Then came a layer of strawberries (I'm seriously starting to enjoy my roommates reaction when I put fruit into salads, it's utterly hilarious). Then a layer of delicious Asiago cheese because I really love its creaminess and how well it pairs with strawberries. Then I added a 1/4 of a small red onion diced coarsely because I adore the bite that the red onion adds to the salad. It adds a bit of kick and texture at the same time. Finally I filled the rest of the jar with mixed greens. I got an extra large package at the super market that has arugula, lettuce and some dark green and purple leaves that I don't know the name of. It's seriously one of my favorite mixes of salad.
Voila. My salad was amazing as I sat among the ruins of Ostia Antica. It was a truly memorable and delicious picnic lunch.

The Amphitheater and Temple

Recipe: Meatballs

So this recipe made about 20 small to medium sized meatballs.  This is not how many I actually intended to make. I meant to get a pound of ground meat so I'd have enough meatballs for the next 2 or 3 days, however, I was still jetlagged when I went to the grocery store... or at least that is the excuse I shall be using... And I accidently ordered a kilo which is more than twice the amount I wanted.
Luckily I adapt well and was able to adjust my recipe accordingly. But I did wind up with about 20 frozen meatballs which will take me some time to finish. Actually, it's quite nice because on nights when I get home from work late, I can just reheat some meatballs in a pan and make a little pasta and I'll be set to go, although it would be better if I made some sauce as well (oh, well, one step at a time).
I'm only one person, so this recipe is actually great if you're cooking for a family or friends.  They are great on their own or even in a tomato sauce and they're pretty healthy because they're baked. And if you want to make them even healthier use ground turkey or chicken as a substitute for the ground beef.

my meatballs served with some salad on the side

Ingredients:
1 kilo (2.5 lbs) fresh ground beef
between 1/2 and 1 cup of bread crumbs
2 eggs
basil
red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic crushed and minced finely
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 350°.
Place the ground meat into a large bowl. Use your hands to mix the eggs into the meat one at a time, alternating with about a 1/4 cup of bread crumbs at a time. Mix well and add in your spices, about a tsp each. If you don't like a lot of heat, you can absolutely omit the red pepper flakes.
If the mixture is looking a little dry, you can add a little bit of olive oil or another egg.  The mixture should be moist but not sticky, so if you see it is too wet, add more bread crumbs about a table spoon at a time.
Then roll the mixture into balls about the size of a small golf ball.  I made them on the smaller side so they would cook faster but you can also make them larger, just keep them in the over longer.
Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and then place the meatbals about an inch apart.
Bake turning the meatballs every 10 minutes or so, or as the sides begin to brown.
They should cook about 20-30 minutes.  Keep a close eye on them so they don't burn.
If you are also making sauce you can remove the meatballs as soon as they're browned on the outside and then you can finish cooking them in the sauce.

I have to say that these came out really well. They were packed with flavor and very moist. They were absolutely delicious and I'm quite glad I had so many leftovers.  I have my last 6 waiting to be eaten some time this week!!

Recipe: Rigatoni alle melenzane, Eggplant Rigatoni

I really wanted to make eggplant parmesan the other day. Eggplant, mozzarella, sauce and parmesan cheese all baked together to the perfect consistency. You really can't go wrong.
I had the fresh eggplant from the market, pamesan cheese and a tomato base but I was missing mozzarella, egg and bread crumbs to make the perfect "parmigiana".  I wanted to go to the store right after work, but sadly by the time I got back to my area, it was already after 8 and sadly the supermarkets in my area (and in a lot of residential areas in Italy) close at 8pm on the dot. So with no supermarkets open I decided to improvise. I decided to make a dish similar to the sicilian "rigatoni alle melanzane" or eggplant rigatoni. I tried it once, a long time ago in Sicily and I really enjoyed it so I decided to finally try my hand... without looking up a recipe. I decided to work from memory and intuition and everything worked out really well actually.

Now, doesn't that look good?

Ingredients:
1 long thin eggplant
1/2 lb pasta (or enough for whoever you're serving... there were 2 of us)
1 jar of tomato puree (I believe the jar is about 500 grams)
1/2 onion
salt and pepper
1 dried red pepper
oregano and rosemary to taste

Thinly slice your onions and put to the side. Thinly slice your eggplant into rounds. Sprinkle each with a little salt and let sit for a few minutes. The salt should bring some of the water out of the eggplant making it easier to cook.
Put some oil into a pan and heat over a low heat. Sweat the onions and then add your eggplant. The eggplant will absorb a lot of oil so you may have to add some more. Let the eggplant cook slowly until just tender. Add your tomato puree and mix well. Put about a half a cup of water into the jar and swish to get remaining sauce of the sides of the jar. Pour into the sauce pan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add in about a half a teaspoon of both oregano and rosemaryand 1 dried red pepper sliced into very thin slivers. If you like a lot of heat don't remove the seeds.  Let simmer for about a half an hour, until the sauce has reduced down a bit and the eggplant is cooked through.  I would recommend covering your pan to avoid some of the mess from splatter.
When you've put your sauce to the side to reduce, boil water and prepare your pasta according to the packaging.
When everything is ready you can serve the pasta with a heaping portion of sauce and some parmesan cheese. You can also serve it all mixed together depending on your preference.  It tasted delicous.

Makeshifting my lunch

Everyday I try to bring lunch with me, that way I save some money (it definitely costs more to get pizza or a premade sandwich) and eat a little healthier.
On some days I make myself salad and on others I try fun variations of sandwiches.

Last week I brought a colorful and tasty salad with me. It had cherry tomatoes, some pesto chicken, lettuce, raddichio and roasted red peppers in it. The flavors were a good blend with a lot of different textures. I also made a little balsamic, olive oil and oregano mixture to drizzle over it. I went very very light though since the peppers and chicken already had a lot of flavor.

This week was a week of sandwiches for some reason. I made a couple of different varieties though so it was a lot of fun.

Pancetta, turkey, cheese, and cherry jam

I came to work on Monday with no lunch so I took a quick spin to the grocery store and found a
long baguette for €0.59 so I knew sandwiches for the week were going to happen. I found pancetta which is similar to bacon, except sliced super finely so it can be eaten raw. I also found turkey and a sliced cheese (similar to American cheese except white and more creamy). I decided to put it all together with a bit of cherry jam. It added moisture and a great flavor contrast to the salty pancetta.

Delicious lunch #2

Tuesday's lunch was vaguely similar with another pancetta and turkey sandwich. Except I used
fresh tomatoes for moisture instead of cherry jam and served it with pasta in my homemade tomato sauce. I had leftover sauce that I wanted to use before it went to waste. It had started out with eggplants but I ate them all, so this was just a spicy sauce to go with my pasta and grated cheese. It was absolutely delicious.
I had another similar sandwich yesterday but I didn't take a picture of it because it looked very much the same, but I ate it with a helping of chick peas which were nice and light.

Mozzarella, prosiutto and honey

Today I went back to the store and had to refresh my supply of bread and cold cuts. I got ciabatta which is a wider bread that's not as long. I also got prosciutto crudo and mozzarella.  Then I added a little drizzle of honey for a nice touch of sweetness.
I know, I'm a little strange, but I really enjoy the combination of salty and sweet. It doesn't work for everyone, so I recommend experimenting a bit with flavors until you find the right combinations for you.

So far this week, I've had some really good sandwiches and we'll just have to see what I cook up for tomorrow!

A Quick and Healthy Lunch

Ok, so I'm on a blogging roll. We shall see how long I can keep this up!
Honestly, let's face it, I'm avoiding packing. The mess in my room, ok, the explosion that was formerly my room is making me nervous, so I need a break. And goodness knows I needed to eat, so why not blog about it??

I had a really quick and healthy lunch and am quite proud of myself. I could have had leftover chinese, or the frozen burritos, or the mac and cheese in the cupboard... Instead I made myself a healthy sandwich.

It wasn't just any sandwich, but actually healthy. So no mayo or heavy sauces, nothing fried and a light wheat bread.

Hummus, Pepperjack, La Bomba and Lettuce

My sandwich was delicious with hummus, pepperjack cheese, la bomba (a spicy Italian vegetable spread), and lots and lots of lettuce.  I would have loved to add some turkey to the mix, but sadly we finished it all so I just doubled the amount of hummus I used for some additional protein. Twice the hummus also means that the sandwich stayed moist so I didn't need to add mayo. La bomba made a nice addition for some heat and since it's made of vegetables is still relatively good for you. I also added a lot of lettuce to the mix for the crunch. It doesn't have a lot of flavor but added a lot of crispness and substance to my sandwich. It hurts nothing that I burned more calories chewing the lettuce than the calories that actually exist in lettuce.
So good.  So healthy.

So much lettuce!

And now back to packing... and maybe some baking. There are apple cupcakes to be made! I'll be updating again soon.

Recipe: Zucchini Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I stumbled upon this Martha Stewart's Zucchini Nut Cookie recipe and decided that it would be fun to play around with it and make some cookies for a barbeque that I'm going to this weekend.  I figured this would be a nice and healthy, yet delicious treat. However, I did decide to change up the recipe some, mostly because I wanted chocolate and also because I didn't have brown sugar.  I think the brown sugar helps mask the green color from the zucchini. I didn't want the cookies to be green (since I didn't want people to ask me why they were green) so I decided to add coccoa powder in addition to the chocolate chips. The original recipe also has a cream cheese filling for the cookies but I decided to skip that as well.

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

They're not super pretty, but they were utterly delicious!

1 cup finely grated zucchini
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tbs coccoa powder
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bown. In another bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy and then beat in the egg and
vanilla.
Add the flour mix into the butter mixture. Add in the zucchini, oats and chocolate then refrigerate for about an hour or until firm.
Drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. The original recipe says to use a 1 1/2 inch ice cream scoop to help the process which holds about 2 tablespoons of batter, but I wanted my cookies a little smaller, so I just used a tablespoon.
Bake until edges are golden, about 17 minutes.
Let cool and then eat some deliciousness.

Update:  The cookies were a big hit; moist and delicious! And no one believed that they were made with zucchini!  I'm definitely going to be making them again sometime soon.

Recipe: Baked Omelette

I've been running a couple of days a week lately and I keep looking for healthy ways to satiate my hunger in a healthy way.  Protein is a great way to fill up so I automatically thought of omelettes. They're easy and fast. High protein and you can put as many fresh vegetables as you like... However, it's usually also cooked in oil and can get heavy depending on cheese and other ingredients.
That didn't stop me from making myself an omelette. I just switched it up a bit by baking it in the oven. I made it a little bigger than necessary, so it served me as two meals

Baked Omelette
3 eggs
4 baby red and orange peppers, sliced finely
1/4 onion, sliced finely
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1 tsp chives
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray your small pan with some pan.
In a bowl whip together the eggs, cream cheese and spices.  Once well blended, fold in the peppers and onions.
Pour into the pan and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes.
The eggs will fluff up while the cheese bakes in the moisture.

The best part about the baked omelette is that you can really put any kind of vegetable inside and they stay just crisp enough in the baking process. Brocolli and onions would work. Sweet potatoes. Spinach. Kale. Sooo many great possibilities.

-Raspberry Truffle

Homemade Healthy Pizza

Sometimes all you want is a little pizza. But goodness knows, restaurants can get expensive, and take-out, well, it's not always good. You have Domino's, Papa John's, Pizza Hut and countless other Italian pizzerias. Some are good, even amazing, but many are either greasy, the sauce is sweet or salty, the pies are small, the crust is too thin/too thick... You can't really control everything. It may be good, but not perfect. Yes, I know, I sound like a control freak. Sometimes I am.
And I kind of am when it comes to my pizza. Sometimes, all I want is a healthy, fresh pizza. Most delivery places don't have many options (although I admit there are several pizza places that do delivery and do pizza really, really well... I'll be posting about some of those options in my area soon).
So, what does the control freak in me suggest? Make your own. It's really easy to make your own  HEALTHY pizza and it's a lot of fun. It can be an individual activity (think stress relief while pounding out and rolling your dough) or a family activity (flour flying, individual pies ecc).

On Saturday night I made some pizza.
I was tempted to make my own dough, but laziness definitely won out.
We found delicious wheat dough at the supermarket. Freeze until you need and then defrost for a couple of hours before you wish to make your pizza. And if you're less health conscious (or just dislike wheat dough) there's always regular pizza dough.
When the dough was almost completely defrosted, I rolled it out and shaped one onto a circle pan and the other onto a rectangular baking sheet. If you want to make sure the dough doesn't stick, you can either spray the sheets with pam or lightly dust with flour (or semolina if you have it).
Next, toppings. Ladle some tomato sauce onto each pizza in a small layer. You can use homemade sauce or jarred (if using jarred, I usually add more spicing). Then cheese. Shredded mozzarella. I used a mix of the full fat and low fat Polly-O's shredded cheese and the melt on it was great.
And finally the last toppings. I did one meat pie (since my brother would not stand for "green things" on his slices. It was half pepperoni, 1/4 plain and a 1/4 canadian bacon. Just evenly space the pepperoni and the canadian bacon and pop into the oven. On other pies I usually drizzle a little olive oil on top, but with pepperoni and other fatty meats, it isn't necessary. I did, however, sprinkle the pie with a little oregano.
The round pie was another half and half: diced red and orange baby peppers and onions on one half and swiss chard and onions on the other. Both halves were drizzled with olive oil, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.
And into the oven they went. 350° for about 20 minutes.
The thicker the dough is the longer the pies should stay in. If you prefer a thicker crust you can even bake the dough sans topping to ensure it cooks all the way through without burning or overcooking your toppings.
And that's that. Serve warm with parmesan and red pepper flakes on the side.

It was DELICIOUS!! My family and I ate alot of those pies on Saturday night!

--Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: La Parmigiana #3

So I've decided to try a healthier version of the classic Parmigiana.

2 small eggplant (or 1 large) sliced thinly
1 jar of tomato sauce (homemade or store bought is fine)
Parmesan cheese
salt
pepper
oregano

Preheat the oven to 350°.
Ladle a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of an oven proof dish.  Lay down the pieces of eggplant leaving as few gaps as possible. Sprinkle with pepper, salt, oregano and another layer of sauce. Cover with parmesan cheese. Repeat until you run out of eggplant. Cover the last layer liberally with sauce and cheese.
Bake for 35-45 minutes checking periodically that the cheese does not burn.
Serve warm.

This came out quite good and delicious, but since the eggplant was not fried in oil, there was a little less flavor. Next time I think I'll be adding some mozzarella and ricotta. Maybe even some prosciutto!  (So much for healthy ahaha).

-raspberry truffle

Let's talk SALAD

The beauty of a healthy salad for lunch

serious nutritious yummyness

So I know quite a few people who think that salads are boring and unappetizing... But really, that's not true!

Who says a salad can't be delicious and gorgeous, and just as much fun as other foods?

Yes, plain lettuce is a boring salad. So dress it up! Add in beautiful colors with other veggies and proteins. Keep it simple, healthy and nutritious with fresh ingredients.

I've been on a bit of a health kick recently and decided that salad would be a great lunch option... But only if I could figure out a way to make my salad delicious and well, not boring.

So, the salad that I perpetually go back to is healthy (and gorgeous, if I do say so myself!) and packed with all sorts of beneficial nutrients.

Spread out on a larger plate in all its colorful glory (here with Romaine lettuce)

I used arugula (although, if you don't enjoy the slightly bitter taste, I would use Romaine or even regular lettuce for a more mild taste). I then added corn, freshly sliced tomatoes, and a hard boiled egg (although some of my Jersey girls insist that one egg just isn't enough for a salad lunch xp). A little salt, pepper and oregano and then dressed with a drizzle of Italy's finest olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

And that's only one variation!  If you don't like hard-boiled egg (I know it's kind of particular), I sometimes add chickpeas to my salad for protein kick! If avocados are in season, I love to add half of one for some healthy fat to the mix (yes I know, quite the conundrum, healthy fat... lol). Beets could add a kick of color and sweetness. Red onions also work (although I prefer my onions sauteed and juicy). If you're bored of normal lettuce varieties, fresh spinach is a wonderful substitution! OOooo Also, never forget the power of adding cheesy yumminess! Mozzarella, swiss, gouda, feta, ricotta, and so forth and so on.  Or nuts!  I love to add walnuts to my salads! And others tell me almonds and peanuts are great additions as well (I dislike both varieties sooo I'll stick to my walnuts!).
But you can always go further out of the box and create an amazing salad with ingredients you wouldn't think to put in a salad. Like fruit!  I love adding fresh rasperries or strawberries to my salads. And sliced apples or pears work wonderfully if you're also using nuts!  Oranges make a great juicy addition too. (There's an amazing Sicilian salad that I'll have to write up a recipe for using only fennel, onions and blood oranges! It's gorgeous and delicious!!)

As for dressings, I mean really, the options are limitless!  I mean there are your creamy Italians, drool worthy Russians, saucy Frenches... wait... I may have just gone off on a tangent... I'm describing salad dressing, NOT men... :P
Yes, so, as I was saying dressings. There's the stuff you buy in jars and then you can always get creative and make your own. Add a little dijon mustard to your balsamic and olive oil for a little tang. Sometimes heating up some honey to drizzle on top is also amazing (My friend Kim makes this wonderful dressing by melting feta, honey, olive oil, and pine nuts all together in the oven before serving the amazing concoction over arugula and pears).

And now that I've successfully given myself a salad craving, I'm off!

~Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Simple french onion soup

 3 raw onions, sliced thin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 boillion cube (preferably reduced sodium) boiled in the appropriate amount of water

Red pepper flakes to taste

oregano

salt and pepper to taste

For each bowl of soup: 

1 slice of thick wheat bread

thin slices of mozzarella (or your choice of cheese)



Saute the onions in a little bit of oil in a covered large saucepan over medium heat for 20 minutes or until the onions become soft and clear. Slowly stir in the boullion broth, red pepper flakes and black pepper. Bring to a boil for a few minutes and then let simmer for 15 minutes.

Place bread on a baking sheet; sprinkle bread with cheese. Broil 4-to-5 inches from heat for about 1 minute or until cheese is melted and golden.(I only make enough bread for the number of bowls of soup, so the bread and cheese are fresh and perfectly melted.)

Ladle soup into bowls and top with bread. 

My unique serving method: Place the whole piece of bread into a bowl and then ladle the onions and soup on top.

~Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: Tortellini Soup...

It's not exactly soup.... There was definitely less broth than I had anticipated, but it was absolutely delicious anyway. :)
It was wonderful for the "snowstorm" that kept me trapped in Sesto Fiorentino. Warm with a little kick of goodness.

Tortellini Soup
5-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
4-5 stalks of celery, washed and sliced
1/2 a large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
3 medium sized potatoes, cubed
Olive oil
1 boullion cube (follow package to make broth)
1 package of prosciutto tortellini
nutmeg
red pepper flakes
oregano and basil
salt and pepper


Saute the onions and garlic over a low heat until the onion begins to wilt (approximately 5 minutes). Add the spices and cook for 1 minute before adding the carrots, celery and potatoes. When the veggies are almost half done pour in the boullion cube broth (about a quart). Cover and let simmer for about a half hour (the potatoes should be almost fully dissolved). If adventurous, and legally of age, add in a liberal amount of whiskey for flavor. (Don't worry the alcohol will cook off).
Uncover and add the tortellini.  Cook according to package time.

~Raspberry Truffle