Pea Shoots

Here's a little surprise we got in our Washington's Green Grocers box last week: Pea Shoots!

They sort of look like sprouts so we put them on our favorite portabello mushroom burger in lieu of lettuce and it was great!  It's probably closer to a spinach substitute than a lettuce/spouts substitute because of its stronger flavor and texture, but what a great little green!  I think it will be great mixed into salads, tossed in pasta, and substituted in for lettuce/sprouts (like in our yummy chicken salad sandwich!)

So if you see these little babies at the farmer's market or supermarket, it's definitely worth a try.

Pride and Prejudice

I'm not sure how I got through high school and college without reading Pride and Prejudice... but somehow it slipped through the literary cracks.  Fortunately, this was the perfect book to take my mind off studying before bed and the short chapters were easy for me to pick up and put down.

But even if you're not studying, Pride and Prejudice is still one of those must-read books.

I have yet to meet a woman who has not fallen in love with the 2005 movie starting Keira Knightly and my love for the movie definitely encouraged me to read the book.

It's a quick read but you have to get used to the old-fashioned writing style of the time and the English spellings.  But that's easy to get past and you are guaranteed to be whisked away into the romantic lives of the Bennett sisters.  I think anyone with a sister can relate to the characters at least a little bit.  They family dynamics and personalities are witty, sarcastic, entertaining, and timeless.

I also love comparing books to the movies... and there are definitely some significant differences.  This is a fun summer read with the intrinsic value of reading a classic masterpiece.  I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

Our New Car!

We knew this day would come.  It was time to retire Michael's beloved 1995 Nissan Maxima SE with 192,000+ miles.  Yes, it was time.

We went into this car shopping business with our hearts set on a Subaru but after test driving the Subaru Outback, Subaru Forrester, Mitsubishi Outlander and Hyundai Santa Fe... the Santa Fe was the clear winner.

Look at all that room!  This is Michael and my first non-sedan car and I still need to get used to driving the taller and wider car.

Now we did need to purchase the "Limited" model to get the sunroof so we ended up spending more than if we were to get a Subaru Forrester, but look at all the fancy gadgets we got!  We love it.  And of course, the sunroof...

Having car payments is not going to be fun but I definitely think it's worth it.  Michael got everything he could out of his Maxima (we called it the "Ma_i_a" because the letters were falling off the back of the car) and even traded it in for a whoppin' $500!

Goodbye ol' gal.  It was a good, long ride and we'll miss you...

Re-Post: Easiest Banana Bread Ever

This is a re-post of the easiest and best banana bread recipe from our old super-slow blog.  My competitive dancer, piano recital performing, active sorority member, always volunteering cousin SOMEHOW finds time to also keep her grades up at UC San Diego AND bake for her friends during finals.  I don't know how these kids do it these days!

So this recipe re-post is dedicated to my super woman cousin :) 

INGREDIENTS (you probably have most in your kitchen already)
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour (I like using our favorite Trader Joe’s Multigrain Baking & Pancake Mix)
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips (or more if you’re a chocoholic like Michael)
1/3 cup toasted, sliced almonds OR walnut pieces (optional)

DIRECTIONS (No Mixer Required!!)
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and put on your apron
2. With a fork, mash up the bananas in a big mixing bowl
3. Then melt butter in a cup in the microwave and mix into the mashed bananas
4. Now mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla
5. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in
6. Add the flour last and mix just until it’s all blended
7. Fold in chocolate chips, almonds, or walnuts
8. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour (or you could line muffin cups and poor mixture into 18 cups)
9. Bake until toothpick comes out clean (about 1 hour for loaf pan or 30 mins. for muffins)
10. Cool on rack for a while so it’s easier to flip out of the pan
11. Flip the bread out of the pan, slice, eat some while it’s still warm, bring some into work to share (or not), and never waste over-ripe bananas again!

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

Out of the blue last week, I had a craving to find a great chocolate cupcake recipe... dense, moist, easy and delicious... and I think I found it.  (And The Farm Chick's blog that I found it on will definitely make it on my RSS feed - it's cute!)

The only thing I may change is the frosting.  The buttercream frosting was a little too sweet for me and Michael and I will probably make our favorite whipped cream cheese frosting instead next time.  The actual cupcake recipe though... mmmm... perfect.

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream

CUPCAKE INGREDIENTS
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill muffin pans with 24 cupcake liners.

Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. (If you're using a hand mixer, I recommend a batter bowl to easily pour the batter into the cupcake liners). Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat with a mixer for about two minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the boiling water, and beat, just until blended. (Don't be alarmed - the batter appears watery). Evenly ladle (or pour) the batter into the liners.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the center of the cupcakes springs back when lightly touched. Cool and frost.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup butter, just slightly cooler than room temperature
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in 3 cups of the powdered sugar. Beat in milk and vanilla. Blend in remaining 1/2 cup powdered sugar.

Southwestern Crockpot Chicken

This recipe is dedicated to our friends Simon and Claire -- new parents of beautiful baby Keira and working parents without a whole bunch of time to cook every night!

This recipe has been a staple in our home for the last couple years and it's so easy and versatile.  The hardest part is getting up 10 minutes earlier in the morning to throw all this stuff in the crockpot before you head to work.

It's perfect wrapped up in a whole wheat tortilla with a little cheese sprinkled on top or mixed up in a bowl with some rice or on top of some polenta!  Easy and delish!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken breasts
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped
15 oz. black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen or canned corn
12 oz. high quality salsa (we recommend Trader Joe's Double Roasted Salsa!)
2 fresh Serrano or jalapeno chiles, chopped
3 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
shredded cheese, if you want

Place chicken breasts in bottom of crockpot.  Add onion, garlic, black beans, corn and salsa.  Stir until the mixture is evenly distributed in the pot.  Set crockpot on low for 8 hours.

When you come home from work, open the lid and shred the chicken breasts by moving against the grain with a fork.  Mix in chopped chilies and cilantro, season with salt and pepper, then close the lid and turn the crockpot on high for 30 minutes.

It makes a lot so it's also great for leftover lunch and/or dinner the next day too!

Seared Tuna Steaks with Citrusy Soy Sauce & Crisp Sushi-Rice Cakes

Mirin is one of my favorite ingredients of all time!  The sweet and savory sauce spooned over the fish is so delicious... I wanted to spoon it over my entire plate!  Here are two more Food & Wine recipes to add to the rotation.

Seared Tuna Steaks with Citrusy Soy Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
One 3-inch strip of lemon zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Four 4-ounce tuna steaks, 1 inch thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small saucepan, combine the soy sauce, mirin, shallot, jalapeño, orange juice, lemon zest and juice, sugar and coriander. Simmer over moderate heat until reduced by half, about 8 minutes. Strain the sauce.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Season the tuna with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat for 1 minute per side. Transfer the tuna to a platter and let rest for 1 minute; thickly slice and serve with the sauce.

Crisp Sushi-Rice Cakes
1 cup sushi rice, rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon mirin
1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Salt
Vegetable oil, for frying

In a medium saucepan, combine the rice, water, mirin, vinegar and sugar and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Fluff the rice. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Season with salt.

Preheat the oven to 325°. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1/4 inch of oil until shimmering. For each cake, pack the rice into a 1/4 cup measuring cup; unmold and flatten slightly. Cook the cakes over moderately high heat, pressing, until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Turn and cook for 4 minutes longer. (Don't overcook... the cakes get too hard when over fried so scoop them out when they are light brown).

Serve hot.

Now spoon over the yummy sauce and serve it with a veggie.  We had some steamed organic broccoli and it was the perfect compliment!

Food Photography

I never thought I'd be one of those people.  I mean, who remembers to take a picture of delicious food before you devour it? 

So obviously Michael and I have gotten into a habit of taking photos of our favorite recipes and posting the recipes on this blog.  Unfortunately, we have this very non-professional camera (shown above) and usually have terrible lighting because we don't get home until after dark and don't have natural light to take beautiful photos of our favorite foods!

We may have to upgrade our camera since I stumbled upon this blog post on thekitchn.  We will also need to work on composition and lighting. 

Thank you for putting up with our less-than-par photos.  I'm definitely going to try and beef up the food photography on this little blog of ours.  Yay for projects!