I'm 23

Yesterday was my golden birthday. I turned 23 on August 23rd. I don't know why I think 23 is so much different than 22, but it just sounds old. I used to get away with doing ridiculous things with the excuse of, "What? She's 22..." I feel like that doesn't work as well when you're 23.

What does work very well is having some very fantastic friends who took me on a birthday surprise. I usually don't love making decisions, so they told me they would plan the entire evening and all I had to do was get dressed. Easy enough. First they brought me to Wakame, this cute little sushi place that I've always wanted to go to but never had the occasion to. I had this amazing seaweed salad with some pumpkin rolls (true story, it was pumpkin) and some veggie rolls.

Seaweed Salad & Wine.

 

 Sushi Spread.

 

Veggie Rolls.  

 

After dinner my friends blindfolded me (true story) to take me to the super secret birthday location number two. I had no idea where they were taking me, and they even made me walk to the building while still wearing the blindfold! Imagine my surprise when we showed up at Lyndale Taphouse, otherwise known as Tuesday Night Bingo. 

 

And play bingo we did. 

 

Failing at Bingo. 

 

The way Taphouse Bingo works is that if someone at your table gets a bingo, your entire table gets a free round of shots. While I didn't get a Bingo, my friend did. Taphouse rules: we're all winners. 

 

Yeah, I took all of those. 

  

It was such a fun birthday, and even better that we went out celebrating on a Tuesday night. Thanks again to my homegirls for taking me out--I love you! 

 

Questions

• When was your golden birthday? Do you remember it? 
• What's your favorite kind of sushi?
• Have you ever played bingo at a bar?

Farmers Market Squash and Almond Pesto

I have a confession. I've been in my new apartment for almost three months now and haven't scouted out the local farmers markets. Until yesterday, that is. I finally made my way out to the Mill City Farmers Market, which is one of the most talked about farmers markets in my neck of the woods. It's not hard to see why. It's right by the Guthrie Theater, so they had live music--violinists, mind you!--along with a ton of brunchey items like fresh scones and fair trade coffee. I loved it. And check it, I found a ton of yumminess to bring home with me.

 

Hooray for produce!

I found Japanese Eggplant, Zucchini, Patty Pan Squash, Green Onions, Hungarian Sweet Peppers, Basil and Zucchini Flowers. As I was driving to the market I had a goal of buying at least one thing I've never worked with before. While I've had my fair share of weird veggies from last year's CSA, I was excited to find some decadent flowers that you're apparently supposed to eat. 

Zucchini Flowers.

 

According to the farmer, you can just toss them in a stir fry. I've been googling what to do with it and all the Food Network chefs are deep frying it. Decisions, decisions. Last night I was too intimidated by the flowers, so I just stuck with what I know and whipped up an Almond Pesto to go with some squash and eggplant.

 

Almond Pesto

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup raw slivered almonds

1 1/2 cup basil

1/4 cup grapeseed oil

salt

Combine in the food processor (or in my case the blender because my processor is out of comish for some reason).

Basily.

 

I sauteed up some patty pan squash, eggplant and leeks. Then I coated them in said delicious almond pesto. 

 

Dindin.

 

Questions

• Have you ever cooked zucchini flowers before? What do you think I should do with them?
• Have you ever made almond pesto? What about walnut pesto or cashew pesto?
• What's your favorite kind of squash? Summer, Winter, Zucchini, Patty Pan, or what?

Ginger Root Stir Fry

Whenever I don't know what I want for dinner I just grab whatever veggies I can find, toss it in a pan and stir fry it up. The veggies don't even have to go together, I literally just grab whatever looks fresh and sounds tasty. Tonight, albeit strange, my combination was zucchini, Napa cabage, leeks, tofu and fresh ginger root. 

The Stir Fry.

I know what you're thinking. Why does homegirl have fresh ginger root on hand? Honestly, I have no idea. I remember buying it last week. I picked it up, put it in my basket, brought it home and put it in my fridge. Zero plans of doing anything with it. Except randomly throwing it in a stir fry, apparently.

My table is really shiny.

What do we know about ginger root? I know it's good in both beer and ale form. It's an awesome natural cure for PMS and tummy aches, neither of which I'm suffering from at this moment. But what am I suffering from that apparently ginger root is good for? Ginger root helps reduce muscle soreness. I've been attempting to start running again (emphasis on attempting) and my calves are just killing me. Let's see what this ginger can do, shall we? Since I put a ton in my stir fry, I'll let you know if I notice my legs feeling any better.

Questions

• What's the strangest thing you've ever put in a stir fry?
• Do you like the taste of ginger?
• Have you ever used ginger root to try and cure an ailment? 

Spicy Kale Chip Recipe

I'm so late to this party. I made Kale Chips for the first time last night. I did a quick Google search to find a recipe, and they all sounded pretty much the same. 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. EVOO. Salt and Pepper. When I pulled them out of the oven I was confused. I ate one and was not impressed. So, this is what people are talking about? It's like I found a fall leaf on the ground and put it in my mouth.

Not in love. So last night I finished my snip fries, which were delicious, and started nomming on my zucchini sammie. Then when I went to put my dishes away I found myself staring at the kale chips on my stove. Then I ate one. And another. And another. Okay, I really didn't like them at first. Honest. But I'm a sucker for salty snacks, I really am. Crunch and salt is my thing. So apparently now I like Kale Chips.

How to make Kale Chips taste less like kale: add other stronger flavors. When I made my Kale Chips tonight, I added the strongest spice I could find in my cupboard. Curry Powder.

Spicy Kale Chips
Kale
EVOO
Salt
Pepper
Curry Powder - Kind of a lot
Garlic Powder - Not a lot

Roast dried kale leaves at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

Kale Chips!

 

Crispy? Check. 

Salty? Check. 

Spicy? Check. 

Delicious? Triple Check.

 

Questions

• Were Kale Chips an aquired taste for you, or did you love on them right away?
• What's your favorite seasoning to add to Baked Kale Chips?
• Do you ever get in the habit of sprinkling Curry Powder on everything? Me neither...

For the Love of Parsnips

Hi friends.

It's been a busy summer. New job + new apartment = new life. I'm trying to get back into the habit of blogging, but that wasn't about to happen because I didn't have any delicious adventures to share with you. Until now. I've gotten out of my weird rut, and I have news.

I love parsnips.

Here's my recipe for how to love on parsnips so they basically act as fries. You heard me. F-r-i-e-s.

Parsnip Fries
1 bag of parsnips
1 tbsp EVOO
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

Cut your parsnips into fries. Mine were about the size of my pinky. Toss in the EVOO and your fave seasonings. Roast at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. I gave mine a quick stir at 15 and they were rearin to go at 20. And viola. Parsnip Fries.

Don't they look like fries?

 

I had my snip fries with a grilled zucchini sammie with roasted red pepper hummus on a rosemary flatbread. Not my fave, but it did the trick for a veggie-filled sandwich. 

 

So why parsnips? Aside from the fact that they taste amazing roasted and have the same texture as legit potato fries, the average parsnip is all of 115 calories with 6g fiber. That's more than 25% of the daily fiber requirement! It also packs a punch of Vitamin C and potassium. Obviously, I'm a fan. 

Questions

• Have you ever had Parsnip Fries?
• What's your favorite way to serve parsnips?
• How has your summer been? What's your current love affair veggie?