Whole 30 Day 3 and 4

Not much to say because I'm coming down with a virus and I haven't been thinking much about food. I was really temped to have a lozenge at work yesterday when I had a nagging cough all afternoon but I didn't want to undo three days work.

Day 3
Breakfast: Chicken burger with mayo and ketchup
Lunch: Chicken burger with mayo and ketchup
Dinner: Beets, onions, vinaigrette. A handful of dried apricots.

Day 4:
Breakfast: Homemade chicken broth with three eggs
Lunch: Two apples
Dinner: Gingered Zucchini Soup with some Magic Dust from Well Fed 2 on top
After dinner snack: 2 apples

I know, I was going crazy on the fruit front tonight. I'm really parched from this virus and would kill for some juice or tea with honey. Apples were as close as I could get.

I really enjoyed the zucchini soup. It was very soothing on my throat. I will definitely make it again when I'm better able to taste it.

While I spent most of the day in bed or studying, I couldn't stay inside all day. Brooklyn is so beautiful in the snow and it's so much fun to see the kids and dogs playing in the drifts. I tromped around for an hour. If only I had my showshoes here! They're always in the wrong place. If it's snowy in Vermont, they're in New York. If it's snowy in New York they're in Vermont. Maybe they should just live in the trunk of my car so I'll always be prepared. 

Happy New Year! And happy new Whole 30!

There's nothing like the new year to inspire change. I decided to start my third Whole 30 on January 1st. I even signed up for the Whole 30 Daily, a daily email from the folks at http://whole9life.com for some extra support. Before I went to bed on New Year's Eve, I poured my remaining Diet Coke into the sink. It's embarrassing what a hold that stuff has on me. It's a good thing I poured it out, because when I woke up, a bit worse for wear, of course I was craving it.

The food so far on days one and two has been pretty easy. I stayed home today and made a couple of staples, mayonnaise and ketchup (make that Kickass Ketchup) from Well Fed 2.

Day 1:
Lunch: Eggplant Caponata

Dinner: Eggplant Caponata, one Moroccan chicken burger from Well-Fed 2.

Day 2:

Breakfast: Eggplant Caponata
Lunch: Chicken burger with mayo and ketchup
Dinner: Chicken burger with mayo and ketchup

I had planned on a bit more variation in my meals but I'm a bit under the weather and just feel like getting into bed. I'm happy that I had some food around so that I wasn't tempted to eat something off the plan.

Eggplant Caponata

Eggplant Caponata over Cod with Parsley, because I was feeling fancy 

Growing up, one of my favorite restaurants was the Brasserie in Bennington, Vermont. My mother would often take me there for lunches in the summer, and we would both bring books and read while we ate. Really, the books were a cover for the fact that my mother was eavesdropping on conversations at the tables around her. Mom, who was famous for not recognizing she was talking to Woody Allen, Larry Bird, or Chita Rivera, could recognize most authors by voice alone. The Brasserie, being close to Bennington College, was a frequent lunch spot for visiting authors to the college. "Shhhh, I'm trying to listen to John Updike," she would say if I interrupted her eavesdropping.

The Brasserie was my introduction to simple, elegant food. I learned to cook at a young age because my parents both often worked late. By seven, I could make a boxed cake on my own or simple dishes that my mother had taught me to cook, which mostly relied on packaged ingredients that she had learned growing up in Kansas: Pork chops with creamed mushroom and celery soup poured over the top, or chicken baked with apricot jam and Red Russian dressing. As the 80s went on, we both became better cooks, using fresher ingredients! Dad was actually the best cook of the three of us but he worked long hours, so he wasn't in the kitchen as much. He made a lot of roasts, and did a terrific Wiener Schnitzel. But he's probably most famous for his English Muffin Dumplings, with raspberry jam and walnut topping...which is not a recipe for this blog!

Most weekends we ate at the Brasserie at least once. The restaurant was known for simple French and Mediterranean food. Favorite dishes included artichoke salad, a potter's lunch (a fresh roll with ham, tomato, grilled onions and gruyere), eggplant caponata, mozzarella loaf (which involved cheese and anchovy butter melting inside the bread), carrot soup, lentil soup, baked brie with apples, hazelnuts and freshly baked bread, and an apple galette. It's been closed for more than a dozen years and I still miss it. I haven't found a restaurant that is as consistently satisfying anywhere. Of course, the good tastes are mingled with the memories of happy times with my parents, especially of long bookish summera with my mother. Sometimes I envision an alternate life where I am running the Brasserie. 

The other day I had a craving for the Brasserie's caponata. Odd because I dislike eggplant and have a mild eggplant allergy. But nothing else would satisfy me. All the recipes I found for caponata involved sugar. I decided to replace it with finely chopped carrot and additional raisins. I can't imagine adding sugar to it now. It was such a success that I made it again the next week, doubling the recipe, which is why in the pictures my pan is overflowing! I ate it alone as a salad and over chicken, fish and eggs. You could serve it as a pasta sauce or with quinoa if you eat those things. Or with a quiche. It's a very satisfying dish for both vegans and paleo eaters. 

Eggplant Caponata

1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 onion, chopped 

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 large eggplant cut into 1 inch pieces

1 red pepper cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and fresh ground black pepper

1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes

1  can, 14 1/2 ounces, diced tomatoes

4 tablespoons raisins (black or golden)

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon drained capers

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts 

Heat 1/8 cup of the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add carrot and saute for two minutes. Add celery and saute for two minutes. All onion and garlic, and saute for three minutes, stirring frequently. Add remaining oil. Add eggplant and saute for two minutes. Add red peppers and saute for two minutes, stirring frequently. Add oregano, and salt and pepper to taste, erring on the side of undersalted because capers will be salty when added later. Add red pepper. Add tomatoes, raisins and vinegar. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caponata has thickened. Add capers and pine nuts. Taste for salt and pepper again. 

Makes enough for a side dish for 8 people. Leftovers will last for a week in the fridge. 

Before I added the pine nuts and capers because there was no room in the pan for my doubled recipe. Maybe I won't be so greedy next time. 

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese Mousse

This was the appetizer I made for our Mother's Day dinner, because my mother, Sangeeta (my honorary sister, whether she likes it or not) and I all gravitate towards beet and goat cheese salads when they're on the menu. I need to work on my food photography skills, because this is a seriously beautiful dish and you don't get the full impact from my photo. Are pistachios primal? You could substitute macadamias if you prefer, but they won't have that pretty green tint.

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese Mousse

Serves 6-8, depends how big your beets are

6 beets 

2 shallots

2 lemons, juiced 

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

6 oz goat mild goat cheese, softened 

2 oz cream, plus extra if necessary

Pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme (if you don't have fresh, leave it out...you could grate some of the lemon zest from the juiced lemons into the goat cheese mousse instead) 

3 oz shelled pistachios, coarsely chopped

Preheat over to 425. Wrap each beet individually in foil and roast on sheet pan until a fork will pierce easily, 1 to 1 /2 hours. Unwrap beets and let cool. 

With an electric or non-electic whisk, whisk lemon juice, half  the shallots, salt and pepper. Add oil in a slow stream  while whisking. If you only have a blender, you can blend everything but the shallots and add the shallots in at the end. 

Peel cool beets. Chop into half-inch dice. Mix with remaining shallots and dressing. Taste for seasoning. Put the beets in the refrigerator to chill while you continue. 

Using an electric mixer, whip goat cheese with cream, adding more cream until you get a creamy consistency. Add, salt, pepper and thyme. Taste repeatedly, until it is perfect. Your friends and family don't know how much mousse is supposed to be on each plate. It's possible there won't even be any goat cheese mousse left to serve by the time you finish making it. (You might want to double all the mousse ingredients to ensure that your guests have a chance to try some too.) 

Either mound beet salad in center of appetizer plates, or if you're feeling really fancy, use a 3-inch-diameter cookie cutter, pastry ring or (cleaned) cat food can with both ends cut off, to make a neat tower of beet salad on the plates, packing the mold tightly with a spoon before gently lifting the mold up. Yeah, I made one this way before I reverted to a free-form pile of beet salad. I said it was because a molded salad seemed a bit precious, but let's face it, I was lazy. Frankly, I have better things to do than build a tower of beets. Dollop a spoon of goat cheese mousse on top of the beets. Sprinkle with pistachios. Grind fresh pepper over mousse.