Saturday, February 28, 2009

Meal 1: peach

Meal 2: Gustito helado—bananita dolca, dulce de leche brownie, and strawberry. Very creamy, more like US ice cream than Argentine. Beer.

Meal 3: Carrot salad and green beans, WW pasta with tomato, garlic and parmesan cheese.

Meal 4: Maru's homemade pizzas, wine (lots of wine)—fabulous! A taste of ice cream from La Sorbetiere. Good, although the flavors weren't my favorite. A dulce de leche granitizado with chips of chocolate cereal? supposed rum flavoring, which was undetectable, and a few sorbets that didn't stay with my memory after all the wine. Needs a do-over.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Meal 1: coffee, cheesy polenta

Meal 2: yogurt (Activa, 68 cal), 1 ½ plums (the other half was gross)

Meal 3: Large green salad, bread, orange

Meal 4: 2 choc chip cookies

Meal 5: Green beans

Meal 6: Zapallito revuelto, choc chip cookie, wine

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Meal 1: Green tea (out of coffee!), cheesy polenta

Meal 2: yogurt, peach

Meal 3: more ravioli with chard and salsa blanca—yum! Salad, orange.

Meal 4: choc chip cookies, finished the Irish Cream

Meal 5: Carrot salad, WW spaghetti w/ EVOO and cheese, Lemon-Mustard Green Beans--made with a white onion, seemed like a big hassle to do the onion, although the dressing was good, and would work with many cooked veggies. Wine

Lemon-Mustard Green Beans

Based on a recipe from the cookbook Modern Vegetarian Kitchen by Peter Berley.

In a large pot, bring 3 quarts water to a boil. Add 1 Tbs of salt. Place in a bowl:

* 1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Cover with 2 cups of the boiling water. Cover the bowl with a plate and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes. This will help mellow the onions. Drop into the remaining boiling water, and cook, for 4 to 6 minutes, until crisp-tender, or a tiny bit undercooked (remember they will keep cooking once they come out for a few minutes):

* 1.5 pounds green beans, trimmed

Drain the onions and toss them with

* 1/2 tsp salt (too much?)
* pinch freshly milled black pepper
* 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar

Make the vinaigrette. Whisk together in a large serving bowl until oil is emulsified and creamy:

* 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
* 1/8 tsp cayenne
* 1 small garlic clove, crushed
* 1 Tbs Dijon-style mustard
* 1 tsp honey
* 2 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
* 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil

Drain the onions once again, squeezing them dry. Add the onions and the green beans to the vinaigrette and toss well. Let marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature before serving.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Meal 1: Crackers and peanut butter, coffee

Meal 2: peach

Meal 3: Ravioli with chard and salsa blanca

Meal 4: choc chip cookie, mate

Meal 5: yogurt, 2 plums, potato chips

Meal 6: fried rice, corn on the cob, carrot salad, wine, choc chip cookie

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Meal 1: coffee, 2 chocolate chip cookies

Meal 2: yogurt

Meal 3: “pizza” with no cheese, but topped with swiss chard and bechamel, delicious, salad, bites of honeydew and watermelon

Meal 4: Cookie, irish cream liqueur

Meal 5: Cheesy polenta, corn on the cob, carrot salad (dressing with EVOO, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, S&P), wine, cookie

Carrot Salad

4 Carrots, shredded (I have done this by hand, but a food processor sure saves time!)
2 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tablespoons of Extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of Dijon Mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon of dried basil
A dash or two of salt and pepper
Optional: apple, broken hard boiled egg, celery, etc.


Put shredded carrots in a bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl and pour over carrots. Gently toss. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper and extra vinegar and oil, if needed.

You can serve right away, or chill before serving. Beware that the carrots will start losing their crispness if you let it sit to long in the vinaigrette.

Irish Cream Liqueur

1 1/4 cups whiskey

1 (14 ounce) can EAGLE BRAND® Sweetened Condensed Milk (NOT evaporated milk)

1 cup cream

1 cup whole milk

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup

2 tablespoons instant coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In blender container, combine ingredients; blend until smooth. Serve over ice. Store tightly covered in refrigerator. Stir before serving.

Corn on the cob

1 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pinch onion powder
cayenne pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup butter, softened
6 ears corn, husked and cleaned

1.Preheat grill for medium-high heat.
2.In a medium bowl, mix together the chili powder, oregano, onion powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Blend in the softened butter. Apply this mixture to each ear of corn, and place each ear onto a piece of aluminum foil big enough to wrap the corn. Wrap like a burrito, and twist the ends to close.
3.Place wrapped corn on the preheated grill, and cook 20 to 30 minutes, until tender when poked with a fork. Turn corn occasionally during cooking.

Rincon del Sol tinto, $3.19

Good table wine. Not as dry as I prefer, but very drinkable. Great buy for the price.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Meal 1: chamomile tea, coffee, Cheesy Polenta. Chocolate chip cookie (I just had to see how they held up overnight!)

Meal 2: cheese ravioli with tomato sauce, bread, watermelon.

Meal 3: chocolate chip cookies...3? and mate, with Martín.

Meal 4: More fried rice, I'm addicted! Another cookie, some homemade bailey's, wine...it's been a long Monday!

Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1-2 eggs, beaten

1 cup cooked rice

1-2 T vegetable oil

1/2-1 cup frozen veggies

Soy Sauce

Sesame Oil

Sriracha

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Scramble the egg in the pan, once it is nearly solid, add rice, then vegetables. Cook, stirring quickly. Add soy sauce. Once vegetables are hot, drizzle with sesame oil. Serve with sriracha.

Cheesy Polenta

Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 c. milk (nonfat)
2 c. broth
1 c. polenta
1 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
4 oz. oil/butter
4 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
In a large pot over medium-high heat, mix milk, broth, and salt. Whisk in polenta slowly, to prevent clumping. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and cover. Cook 10-20 minutes, until creamy, lifting the lid and stirring every 3 or 4 minutes to prevent sticking. Remove pot from stove, stir in pepper and butter/oil. Gradually stir in cheese. Serve.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Meal 1: coffee, Cheesy Polenta (I added the cheese after, so I can use the rest of the polenta for other dishes), small apple with peanut butter.

Meal 2: Rice with eggplant

Meal 3: Alton Brown's The Chewy chocolate chip cookies, fried rice, wine. Stuffed!

The cookies were beautiful, I used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, since that's what I had and unfortunately had to replace all the brown sugar with white. The flavor lacked depth, although I suspect this was the problem. Next time I'll try Toll House, or something simpler and see if it works any better.

Saturday, February 21, 2009 (Pizzeria Bacci)

Meal 1: Pizza from Casa Bacci, Diag. 74 e/ 4 y5

Casa Bacci aims for a thick crust pizza, but their masa is a bit more like an unsweetened cake. Really, it's bread topped with a very light layer of sauce and lots of cheese. Very good, a large cost us $20 (pesos), and was more than Martín and I could finish together. (Typically a large is perfect for the two of us.)

Update: 5/4/09

Tuesday night we went to the original Bacci’s for pizza.  As a large group, we ordered 5 pizzas, with humita, espinaca, and muzarella being the vegetarian options.   Once again, espinaca was my favorite—muzarella just reminds me too much of cheese bread, as they use very little sauce.  The humita had a cream sauce mixed in with the corn, on top of the cheese which was just too rich and lacking a distinctive flavor.  However, the pizza was identical to that served at the Bacci on 74 (which we then had on Saturday night). =P

Meal 2: Pasta with roasted bellpepper, eggplant, and zapallito sauce, shredded cheese. Bailey's.

Meal 3: Giant peach.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Meal 1: Spaghetti with oil and parmesan cheese

Meal 2: peach

Meal 3: Brown Rice Lentil Salad

Meal 4: Brown Rice Lentil Salad

Meal 5: Eggplant over Rice (pilaf)--whipped up by roasting eggplant with leftover Brown Rice Lentil Salad dressing, cooked white rice with garlic and tomato (meant to add parsley, but it was wilted), served eggplant over rice. Good, but nothing to write home about. Inspired by this recipe.

Meal 6: Drinks! 2 Fernet and Cokes, Rum and Coke

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Meal 1: frutigrans, coffee, crackers and peanut butter

Meal 2: yogurt

Meal 3: Zapallito revuelta con huevos, carrots, bread, watermelon

Meal 4: peach

Meal 5: Cerveza and pizza at Juaquinto's. The pizza came with spinach, arugula, tomatoes, and maybe a couple other things—fabulous combination on a good, standard Argentine crust.

Brown Rice Lentil Salad

The first time I made this, it was merely okay, despite the amazing reviews. The second time, I polished off half the recipe during my first sitting!

Brown Rice Lentil Salad

INGREDIENTS

* 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
* 1/2 cup uncooked lentils
* 2 cups water
* 1 bouillon cube
* 1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
* 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
* 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
* 1.5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 2 teaspoons lime juice
* 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the rice, lentils, water and bouillon to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 40 minutes or until rice is tender. Cool.
2. In a bowl, combine the rice, lentils, tomato, onions and parsley. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over rice mixture; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Meal 1: slice of cheese, fruitigrans (Martín spent the night, day got off to a jumping start=.

Meal 2: coffee, 2 empanadas, coke zero

Meal 3: veggie mix, ww bread

Meal 4: yogurt, plum

Meal 5: Rice and Lentil salad, choc chip cookies (from the supermercado chino, vegetarian and yummy! (and therefore, dangerous), wine

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Meal 1: coffee, crackers and cheese

Meal 2: yogurt

Meal 3: salad, bread, potatoes, cake, coffee

Meal 4: chocolate, chocolate chip cookies

Meal 5: plum, apple with peanut butter

Meal 6: raviolli with oil and cheese, wine