So you have to wonder...

I absolutely had to laugh reading my last post... Part of me really wants to go back and edit it, but I'm just a little too lazy. Plus, it's far more comical like that. I come off as a hyperactive advertiser! Which I'm not normally, but for some reason I got really happy about my salad that day.  Sometimes I just get happy about my food and get a little silly.

That's my excuse. No need to wonder about my sanity.  I swear!

But I also realized as I read through the post, that I probably wouldn't be so hyperactive about food if I wrote here more often.  So I'm going to try to post more often again. Goodness knows I take enough pictures of food! So I have plenty I can post about.

~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: La Parmigiana #2

If you can't have glutten this is a great recipe for you. My Sicilian friend showed me how to make this. It's how his mother prepares it.

1 large eggplant or 2 medium eggplants
Pot of tomato sauce (homemade is best :) obviously )
250 grams of grated mozzarella
2 hard boiled eggs cubed
200 grams of prosciutto or ham diced
100 grams of mortadella diced (I don't like it, so I choose to omit this ingredient)
parmigian cheese
fresh basil shred into bits
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350*-400*.
Slice the eggplant into thin slices and salt lightly. 
In a pan, heat some olive oil and fry each piece of eggplant lightly. When the eggplant comes out of the pan, drain the excess oil on sheets of paper towel.
In an oven proof casserole dish, ladle a thin layer of sauce into the casserole. Lay down a layer of eggplant, cover with mozzarella, ricotta, basil, egg, the meats and a fresh grating of parmigian cheese. Season with salt and pepper and then cover with another layer of tomato sauce.  Repeat the layering until you run out of all ingredients.
Finish by coating the top layer  of eggplant with sauce and extra parmigian cheese.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until there is a lightly golden crust.
Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut and serve!

 ~Raspberry Truffle

How to Make the Most of Leftovers

I don't know about anyone else, but I really do love leftovers.  I usually only cook for me (sometimes for friends and roommates) so I always wind up with leftovers because I cook in bulk all the time.  I always have a lot of leftovers for several different reasons...

1. I'm not used to cooking for only 1 person.  In college I used to cook all the time for my roommates, friends or family. If I ever wound up preparing something just for me, it was ramen... or a dish using the leftovers from other dinners.
2. I love cooking but I don't want to cook for myself every single night.  I would wind up eating out a lot more if I had to depend on my own ingenuity constantly.
3. I really dislike making single portions of food.  You waste time portioning out everything exactly to make a meal for a single night, but what happens if you're more hungry that evening, or you've made something AMAZING that you would like to eat again. You would than have to cook again which would utterly defeat the purpose. You lose time and well, inevitably the dish will not be exactly the same as the first time you prepared it. 
4. I really, really like sharing food. If I were to cook only just enough for myself, I wouldn't be able to offer some to the roommate who passes through the kitchen. There wouldn't be enough to offer an exchange, "Here try some of this." "And you try some of this!"  It's a lot of fun  when you get to exchange bits and pieces of meals and to try different things.
5. I find that a lot of food tastes better the day after. Some spices become richer after a day or so. Making enough for leftovers is a great way to see which flavors will deepen and stregthen and which stay relatively the same. The flavors blend and mesh, individual spices become less individual. They become one unique flavor (as opposed to 6 unique flavors fighting for superiority).

But leftovers do present an interesting challenge for me. I make enough food in one evening for 4-6 people. I am one person, meaning it takes me 3-5 days to finish all of the leftovers!  That can get really boring, really quickly. A dish is wonderful the first time eaten. It's a novelty and special. It's often something new that you've never eaten before. The second day you eat the dish, it's better. The flavors aren't so crisp.  They have blended and in a way become more potent in their combinations. By the third day the flavors have settled. The dish is still good, but your palate is looking for something new. You pick at the food while wishing for something else. The fourth day, the dish is okay, but let's face it, you've had enough. The fifth day, well either the dish has gone bad, or you just don't want anything to do with it. You either wind up throwing it away or avoiding it; meaning you gaze at the container for a moment, shake your head and grab something else... This means that in a week or so, you'll find a very disgusting container in your refrigerator... All in all something will be wasted which is a shame (especially if it was really, really good lol).

Soo how do you deal with this leftover madness?
Well, the easiest solution is to invite someone to come eat with you. Hahahaha It's a wonderful solution. You get rid of your leftovers and generally you get lots of compliments, which is always a lot of fun.
But let's face it, guests aren't always a possibility. Sometimes you live in the middle of nowhere and it's hard for guests to get to you (welcome to my life here in Sesto Fiorentino! lol). So what do you do then?

How do you avoid throwing out perfectly good food just because you're sick of eating it?

I've found a solution that is actually kind of fun. Get creative. Turn you're leftovers into something else entirely.

For example I made curried turkey last Tuesday.
Day 1: Curried turkey with mini puff pastries (That night I also ate a half portion of pasta carbonara made by my roommate but that got finished by all of us.)
Day 2 lunch: Curried turkey with a simple risotto and mini puff pastries
Day 2 dinner: Curried turkey with risotto, salad dressed with lemon juice, oregano and salt
Day 3 lunch: Cold Curried turkey and peas sandwich on fresh Italian bread
Day 4 dinner: Curried turkey reheated with peas with plain white rice, salad with tomatoes, mozarella and balsamic vinegar
Day 5 lunch: Curried turkey with peas and plain white risotto, salad with balsamic vinegar and baked onion rings with mayonnaise or balsamic vinegar.

Mind you, the curried turkey is kind of heavy in its cream sauce and also has a lot of strong flavor components making it difficult to pair with a lot of ingredients (if I had made an excess of grilled or roasted turkeyI would probably maked a grilled chicken and turkey sandwich with tomato soup on the side). My goal was to lighten the meal and finish up the leftovers. I still have quite a bit left though... Soo I'll just keep updating this until it's all gone. Luckily I'm very, very good at creative.

~Raspberry Truffle

Recipe: La Parmigiana #1

Eggplant Parmigiana is slowly becoming one of my favorite things to eat, and one of my favorite things to make, even though it takes forever to make. I have a couple of amazing variations on this recipe. The first is the one I traditionally use.

1 large eggplant or 2 medium eggplants
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup breadcrumbs or flour
Pot of tomato sauce (homemade is best :) obviously )
Grated mozzarella
250 grams of ricotta
parmigian cheese
oregano
salt
pepper
fresh basil (to put in the layers)

Everyone says Parmigiana is complicated... but I think it's pretty simple if a little time consuming...
Preheat the oven to 350*-400*.
Slice the eggplant into thin slices and salt lightly.  Beat the eggs with the various spices. Dip each piece of eggplant into the egg batter and then coat evenly with the breadcrumbs.
In a pan heat some olive oil and fry each piece of eggplant. When the eggplant comes out of the oil, drain the excess oil on sheets of paper towel.
In an oven proof casserole dish, ladle a thin layer of sauce into the casserole. Lay down a layer of eggplant, cover with a layer of mozzarella, ricotta and a fresh grating of parmigian cheese. Season with salt and pepper and then cover with another layer of tomato sauce.  Repeat the layering until you run out of all ingredients.
Finish by coating the top layer  of eggplant with sauce and extra parmigian cheese.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until there is a lightly golden crust.
Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes. Cut and serve!

~Raspberry Truffle