Holy Mole

Dinner tonight was, as my dad called it, "an experiment." I actually disagree with him there- it was a complicated recipe that turned out exactly how it was supposed to, and I enjoyed it. I just don't think I tested it on the right audience.
I'm getting ahead of myself:

Breakfast-- A piece of peanut butter and banana toast
Yogurt and cottage cheese with blueberries and grapenuts, and a drizzle more peanut butter (that was what I wanted this morning!)
And biology.
Tuesdays are the hardest days because I have no free periods and ALL my classes. Psychologically I always feel I need a snack, but I knew I had eaten a lot at breakfast, so I didn't have anything.
Lunch was leftover gumbo, Kashi crackers, an apple, and a Zensoy pudding.

The weather was awful: rainy, gray, and freezing, but I knew I had to run outside. If I did another damn elliptical workout I would kill myself... so I went with my friend Josey. It was a good pace for me, but also let me push myself. Instead of running on the lakefront, where it would be too windy, we ran south. While we were running, it started hailing... it stung a lot. I also jumped in a really deep puddle and got soaked. We didn't stop at all to stretch, so while the run wasn't THAT long, it felt longer because it was continuous. I felt GREAT when it was over: I was actually sweating (I don't sweat that much usually), and I could feel it in my legs. I'd say it was only 4 or 5 miles, but I definitely burned a fair amount of calories because I was starving when I got home.
I think my snack probably spoiled my dinner... in fact, I don't know if I should have had this for my snack anyway, since I had it for breakfast. I had more cottage cheese and cereal... but I figure I'll eventually get sick of it, so it won't really be an overload. I had it with some cinnamon Puffins, slivered almonds, and a tangerine on the side. But I waited after finishing and I was still hungry, so I had some more... I felt perfectly satisfied, but even when we ate at around 8:00, I wasn't THAT hungry. The recipe I made was COMPLICATED.

It was kind of Mexican-Indonesian-Vegan fusion: I made the mole from the Flexitarian Table with the tempeh. The mole itself had so much in it: dried poblanos, chiles packed in adobo, onions, almonds, peanuts, sesame seeds, raisins, pumpkin seeds, cumin, cinnamon, and MEXICAN CHOCOLATE, which I so very conveniently had on hand.
This was complicated because everything had to be added in stages, soaked in water, and then blended. I also had to panfry the tempeh, simmer it, simmer the mole, add the mole to the tempeh, and simmer some more. I garnished it with lime wedges and cilantro.
I also made some brown basmati rice and my dad stir-fried some kale, which pretty much disintegrated, he cooked it so long. It was also way too salty, but he couldn't taste it at all! Should I be worried about this?

As for the mole, it was SO RICH... I guess I shouldn't be surprised... this was one of the more protein-packed meals ever. Plus, there were all those nuts in it, not to mention the CHOCOLATE. The flavors were so complicated: the chocolate came through, but all the different spices and nuts were also apparent. As my dad also put it, "it looks like mud." But what can I say... he's never really had Mexican food... I haven't either, really. I think my mom might have appreciated it more. But I couldn't even finish what was on my plate... so incredibly filling.

Dessert: a pear to cleanse the palate

Home Alone

Well, I'm alone this week! Not exactly... my dad left today, is coming back tomorrow, leaving the next day, and my aunt is coming to stay with me during the weekend.
I'm pretty excited... planning on cooking for her and dragging her to see TWILIGHT! 3rd time's a charm (for me-- page has already seen it 4 TIMES!).
I actually enjoy being home alone. the only annoying thing is that I can't drive, so it's the bus and walking in this terrible weather.
Breakfast: For some reason I just haven't felt like oats as much, although I plan to have them tomorrow.
I had 2 pieces of toast with 3 tsps of peanut butter total... I know I'm a moron, but how many tsps in a tbsp? is it 4? I might just look it up. Anyways, there was half a sliced banana on the toast.
I also had 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with blueberries and wheat germ.
Plus Chai tea because I was tired, which I had with STEVIA! I can't believe that this is all natural... not that it doesn't taste natural... but why doesn't it have calories?
Snack once again was carrots, but with celery this time. I find that I just need something to munch on, and this does the trick.
Lunch: leftover eggs and tomatoes over brown rice with more string beans. And an apple.

I got home from school on the bus and it was gorgeous outside, but way too slippery for me to even consider running (I saw my friends' running, but I was afraid they might accidentally fall and kill themselves). Instead, I went home and worked out on the elliptical. That's 3 days in a row that I've done the same machine! Normally I HATE machines... but since I'm getting a workout, I won't complain, although I wonder what caused this sudden change. Because I was finding it a little hard to read actual books, I took some cookbooks and leafed through all the pictures. The time went by super fast! I did 40 minutes doing not exactly intervals, but every five minutes I would go up a level until I was almost on the highest level. I burned 380 something calories. Then I felt I hadn't cooled down, so I walked for 11 or so minutes on the treadmill. Then I did some upper body weights and some bicycle sets.
When I got back I had a pear.

For dinner I couldn't wait to cook! What's awesome about home alone is that I can cook whatever I want... weird vegan things my parents would find strange, make pancakes, whatever!
I decided to experiment with some more Western-style tofu and make a kind of oven-baked tofu, like oven-baked chicken, which is the healthy version of fried chicken.
This was mainly because we have buttermilk in our fridge that I would like to get rid of... I didn't end up using all of it, though. I combined a couple recipes: one from Running with Food and an Ellie Krieger one. I was stupid, though! I took Ellie's idea of using grape nuts and crackers, but I didn't crush them first, so of course they wouldn't stick to the tofu! I dipped the tofu in a combination of buttermilk, mustard, honey and egg whites, but because the coating didn't stick, it became more like a crunchy topping, that was still pretty good.
And this was the most exciting part of the whole evening: KALE CHIPS! I have heard so much about these, but I've always been skeptical. I just baked them for a little under ten minutes with olive oil, salt and pepper, and they actually tasted exactly like potato chips! I haven't even really been craving potato chips, but if I had been, this would have satisfied that craving. I wonder if I could eat them with some vinegar to bring back salt 'n vinegar memories...
I ate the chips and tofu with ketchup.


I really wanted to bake a potato or something, but we don't have any! :( I thought my usual brown rice would make this seem to Asian, which was the opposite of what I was going for, so I resorted to canned butternut squash, which I heated up with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, maple syrup, and salt. The problem was that I always overdo the ginger, which gave it a slight bitter aftertaste... but no big deal.
What a fun dinner! Very unlike the things I usually cook... I used to cook very mushy, soupy food-- mainly bean-based soups and stews. There's nothing wrong with that, but this is more interesting. I've gotten back in the groove!
And because I didn't really have any substantial snacks today I thought it was justified to satisfy my sweet tooth: hence, a nice bowl of the last of the vanilla frozen yogurt and some more Purely Decadent Snickerdoodle.

Good night!
The house is quiet.

Saturday

I SLEPT ALMOST 12 HOURS. THAT NEVER HAPPENS.
I went to bed at somewhere between 11:30 and 12, woke up at 9:40, then fell asleep until 11:30 because it was too bright. I had really wanted to go for a run, and decided I still wanted to. Besides, I wasn't hungry. I ran to the playground on 43d and back along the lake (it was actually really hot for what I was wearing!): about 3.5- 4 miles? I have to say, though, running was NOT fun today. I felt like I was literally trudging along, and I just couldn't wait for it to be over. I was bored, even with the pretty surroundings. I couldn't focus and get a rhythm, but I'm glad I got some exercise in.
By the time I was done showering, I had to leave for music school soon. I wasn't even that hungry, but I decided to make a kind of brunch spread for myself:
Grapenuts, banana and yogurt

Toast: 1 piece with pumpkin and smooth PB, the other with banana and crunchy PB
Carrots and celery with hummus

Music school was great-- I told my theory teacher about Twilight and he recommends some book called Interview with a Vampire-- better check it out.
Quartet went well, and so did duet.
Afterwards my dad and I went to Whole Foods-- It's amazing how much money we spend without my mom... how does she do it?
I was feeling kind of queasy... actually, I've had a headache for the past week and also have an earache. I hope I don't have an infection.
BUT I COOKED TONIGHT AND IT WAS GREAT, if I do say so myself. I made the Charmoula tempeh kabobs from the Flexitarian Kitchen because we've never been able to cook tempeh right.
The charmoula was blended parsley, cilantro, cumin, paprika, cayenne, coriander, salt, garlic, and olive oil, like a more liquidy pesto.
I diluted it and simmered the tempeh in it until all the liquid had been absorbed, then grilled the cubes on skewers with mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and zucchini.
My dad stir-fried some string beans and we had brown rice.




The tempeh was SO ADDICTIVE. It really is pretty meaty, and the chewy texture was great. I think the depth of flavor this time came from the juices that it absorbed. I loved the charcoaled cherry tomatoes, which burst and were ultra-sweet. I ate two whole skewers :)
And now I'm hungry, so I might go back for some dessert.

All about fermentation

Here I am, blogging in the library since I have last period free today. I'm blogging now because there's a pasta party immediately after practice and I don't know how much time I'll have before I get home. I GET TO SHAVE TODAY!


Breakfast (this kept me full all the way till 5th period!): two pieces of pumpkin bread with peanut butter and banana, cottage cheese with blueberries, strawberries, wheat germ, honey, a sprinkle of grape nuts and slivered almonds, and the rest of the chocolate soy milk, which was literally one sip.
I have to say though, I went back for some more cottage cheese (I need at least one and a half servings to fill me up) and cereal (puffins this time), and cut my mouth when I was chewing! Has this ever happened that something you're eating has a sharp edge and scratches the inside of your mouth? Painful!
Anyways, bio was super interesting today, since our current unit is metabolism. Today we talked about fermentation, and our teacher asked for us to name some fermented foods. I immediately starting naming the works: tempeh, natto, kimchi...
and he said, "Kimchi's good! And what's the Western equivalent?"
I immediately answered "Sauerkraut!"
Him: Cabbage fan!
The conversation kept going, until he mentioned Middle Eastern preserved lemons. I accidentally blurted out "I LOVE THAT STUFF!" and everybody game me a weird look, including him. "We'll talk privately," he said.
It turns out that he bakes bread (we talked about the biology of alcohol fermentation vs. lactic acid fermentation) and we own the same great food science book, On Food and Cooking.
I WISH I HADN'T DROPPED FOOD CHEMISTRY! It's a spring quarter elective, but it meets during Art History :(
Anyways, he put a picture of natto on the project for everyone to see. Most people couldn't tell what it was: some thought it was a rice krispie treat, beans and cheese, or even larvae.
He brought out a jar of millet miso from this Massachusetts miso company (South River Miso) whose miso is actually made by stomping on the soy beans! He put it into some scary-looking machine that could detect C02 and O2 emissions to test the level of living bacteria in the miso.
Something else I remembered! He makes sourdough by adding GRAPES in with the flour-water mixture before adding the starter! They have to be organic, though: apparently the white film around the outside of organic grapes are all organisms, so they help the fermentation happen faster. Cool, huh? Also, apparently the reason almost all soy products are fermented is because they're more nutritious that way.
Around 11:40, I had my blueberry z bar.
Lunch: very filling! Leftover pumpkin and lentils and couscous, plus applesauce and an orange. It was so juicy, my hands still smell like oranges!

That's about it for now. I'll update what happened with the pasta party later. Pictures will also be posted later.
PS: an example of a lunch that is exactly the opposite of mine? Behold my friend Kaitlyn's: pretzels, 2 Uncrustables, Cheese Nips, mandarin-orange ish fruit, and a banana.

Piano lesson, AVEC

Let's make this a quick one.
Breakfast: oats with 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup water, chopped up cinnamon roasted pear, almonds, and pear butter. (PS, I always add vanilla and cinnamon to my oats)
On the side: Greek yogurt with pomegranate seeds, pomegranate molasses, and a drizzle of honey. Chocolate soy milk. A lot of it. This stuff is deadly because I can't stop at one glass.
3rd period (was hungrier earlier today) snack: Kashi bar.
WAS STARVING BY 5TH PERIOD, which is English. I love discussion, but I was so hungry today for some reason that I could hardly sit still by the end.
Lunch: interesting variation on the PB and banana sandwich-- peanut butter, 1/2 sliced banana, the leftover pumpkin from yesterday, pumpkin butter, and a thin layer of whipped cottage cheese, which is spreadable. It was delicious, but like most PB sandwiches, didn't fill me up at all.
However, I had a lot of fiber on the side, so although I thought I was still hungry, I was able to get full later on--
Celery and red pepper with hummus
some lettuce with lentils thrown in, but for some reason it tasted weird and grassy, so I took about 2 bites and then put it away.
An Asian pear. These are so full of water that you might as well be drinking a glass of pear juice instead.
My body was definitely craving more carbs, since I usually have more than just this at lunch, but since I missed swim practice to make up the piano I'll be missing on Saturday for Sectionals, I knew I didn't need to eat more today.
I spent my free period working on my model city for my Sustainability project in art, but I don't think this is how I'm going to end up assembling it-- I'll probably do an installation in a glass case where you can see it at every angle. Cool, right? It's all made of recycled stuff.
After school I went straight to my music school, but I first stopped at Starbucks (did you know it's named for Starbuck, the 1st mate, in Moby-Dick?) for a nonfat latte pick-me-up.
So basically I had an hour of piano duet and then an hour private lesson with about an hour and a half to kill in between. On Wednesdays if one parent is out of town we usually go out for dinner afterwards, but lately we found that we had just been getting home too late, so we decided to eat early. This was actually a perfect plan because my music school is in a really trendy restaurant neighborhood, and some of the restaurants don't take reservations, so it's hard to get in unless you go early. We went to Avec, which is hands down on of the best restaurants in Chicago. It can be pricey or moderate, depending on what you do. It's basically tapas, but not necessarily Spanish food. There are small plates and large plates, and all of it focuses on rustic fare and fresh produce.
The restaurant looks like a wooden box. The seating is communal and it's really noisy (you usually end up making friends with your neighbors). The back wall is completely made of green glass bottles, which is amazing.
I have to say, though, out of all the times we've been here, it was the worst today. I think it's because they don't actually have a lot of vegetarian options (because they use a LITTLE bit of meat in everything for flavoring, so there wasn't much to choose. The last time I went there, I was definitely ordering the chorizo-stuffed dates wrapped in bacon (this was a LONG time ago... maybe 3 years ago, actually? God, was that really the last time I went there?).
We didn't order a huge amount of food, but since I didn't swim today, it ended up being okay. We ordered 4 small plates, one that my mom was skeptical about, but which turned out to be the best-- house-made barley bread with their own cottage cheese and spicy quinces, with a salad of greens on the side. Of course, I realize that we could even make this at home with the cinnamon pears, but I had never had quinces before and they were great, not to mention really beautiful! Their soft, pink, silky texture reminded me almost of smoked fish on crostini. They were spicy with cinnamon, but also actually hot with what was probably cayenne. Even the cottage cheese was extra creamy, probably because it wasn't low-fat (although cottage cheese IS already naturally low in fat).
My mom for some reason lately has been obsessed with trying dishes with salted cod, and so far none of her attempts have been successful-- in Greektown she ordered what she thought was a casserole dish, but turned out to be fried fish, and at Avec she ordered the brandade, which she didn't realize was a dip (I did). It was served with garlic bread, and was way too creamy for me-- it tasted like fish, but was full of cream, onions, olive oil, and topped with little potato croutons. I took a few bites before I realized what it reminded me of: CLAM CHOWDER! I had hit the nail on the head... or I suppose it was more like clam chowder fondue. My mom didn't eat too much more after I made that comment.
We also ordered an octopus dish in a spicy sauce with spinach. Originally the dressing had pancetta with it, but they were able to do it without. The flavor of the dish was fine, albeit a little salty (can you imagine what would have happened if they hadn't left out the pancetta?). The problem was that unlike the octopus at Greektown, which was crispy and charred, this was too soft, so that the whole time you were eating it you were absolutely aware that you were eating octopus. Actually, I got a little scared when I saw the OCTOPUS HEADS at the bottom of the dish! I could even see the eyes!
One of the specials of the day was rapini with lemon and garlic, which is honestly exactly the kind of dish we make at home. Unfortunately, this was so bitter I could hardly eat it! It tasted like horseradish, or those crazily bitter mountain greens in China that even my dad couldn't choke down.
We were rushed for time, but we probably wouldn't have gotten dessert anyway (options that night didn't sound that great). I realize that I'm really not doing this restaurant justice, but it really is wonderful. The chef also owns Blackbird, which is fancier. But just to put it into perspective, here are some other dishes on the menu that I would have ordered if I ate meat:
slow roasted crispy duck leg with marinated plums, tarragon, grilled onion and savory streusel
portugese mariner's stew with tripe, manilla clams, rice and housemade preserved lemon sausage (not sure about the tripe though)
"la quercia" prosciutto with market pears, lemon, slivered almonds and marinated manchego 20.5
There was also a pheasant sausage dish with lentils that sounded really interesting.
So we rushed back to music, I had my private lesson, and came home, where, despite my smallish dinner (these are SMALL plates, and we didn't eat everything), all I needed were some strawberries. See how much less I eat on days without swimming? I really do think that, counterintuitive as it seems, I might lose some weight when the season ends.
Jeez, that wasn't that quick a post, was it? Good night.

More oatmeal and dinner at another old Beijing restaurant

I slept horribly last night. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was watching Buffy before bed (ANGEL. IS. SO. HOT.) or maybe because I was attempting to go to sleep before 10. I can feel my swimming suffering, and I really want to get more sleep. But instead it took me ages to settle down, and when I finally fell asleep I dreamed about hiding from monster trucks that were trying to drill out my teeth under sand dunes.
But I did have a great breakfast this morning! We had an overripe banana, and I decided, after reading about this method on a few other blogs, to mash it into the oats before cooking them. Banana raspberry hazelnut oatmeal

• 1/2 cup oats
• up to 1 cup milk (or water, or a mix)
• 1 banana
• a handful of rasberries
• 5 or 6 hazelnuts, chopped
  
• a spoonful of the most divine hazelnut honey i bought in Paris! This is not honey from hazelnut flowers (do those exist?), but rather a combination of honey and blended hazelnuts. So basically, a very sweet hazelnut butter.

Mash the banana into the oats and milk, then microwave or cook on stovetop until done. Add the rasberries and hazelnuts and dip your spoon in the honey so you can get a little bit with each bite.


Last night we wandered for ages through the park by our house (see very cheesy but nice picture of our building through the lotuses) to find somewhere to eat. We finally ended up going to this gigantic (it takes up an entire block, that's how long it is) Beijing noodle place. They almost try being deliberately un-fancy, like shouting how many people you are as loudly as possible as soon as you enter the door. We had been taken here by a friend last year, and I remember that my parents ordered zha jiang mian, noodles with a soysauce and pork sauce, and I ordered ma jiang mian, noodles with sesame paste. When you order noodles, they bring you a tray with your noodles, sauce, and chopped vegetables, then all of a sudden they flip each condiment dish into the noodles so quickly everything is literally a blur.
My mom ordered zha jiang mian and my dad ordered some noodles with an egg, pork, lily stem and tree ear sauce. I decided that I was really sick of noodles, so I ordered a kind of corn pancake topped with chinese chives, and just a little bit of egg and dried shrimp.
We also ordered stirfried spicy green pepper in a vinegar sauce that was delicious but a bit too cornstarchy, as well as a stirfry of a kind of chinese sauerkraut with glass noodles. This was GREAT, but unfortunately its picture makes it look disgusting.
My pancake was great! Very thin and almost like a corn tortilla. I got a bit scared by the shrimp, since they're tiny little shrimp with black eyes, but if I didn't look, all they did was add some extra saltiness to the pancake, which you were supposed to fold and eat like a taco. I suppose that's what it was-- a soft taco.
The only thing about this food was that it was SO EXPENSIVE for what it was! The food we had at our rustic place was so much better-- and do you know how much it was for 15 people? 180 yuan! that's less than 30 dollars. Last night's meal was 120, but I think that's also because we ordered chrysanthemum tea.
PS. check out what I saw on the way to the restaurant in a bakery window: FRENCH moon cakes! I don't know exactly what they would be like, but according to the poster, some of the flavors were hazelnut coffee, "seductive strawberry," and some kind of chocolate.