Food Revolution!

I seriously couldn't be more grateful for how amazing my friends are. Yesterday was Loves Food, Loves to Eat's 3rd birthday (three years!!), and I celebrated in a big way—by hosting a Food Revolution dinner party! With the help of friends and family, I raised $146 (in only 3 days) to help educate kids and families across America about cooking and eating and real food. 

I came up with the idea, invited guests, planned, and pulled off a 20 person dinner party in three and a half days. I love Jamie Oliver, and am a big fan of his cause, but I didn't know about Food Revolution Day until Wednesday. And, when I realized it was the same day as my blogiversary, I knew I had to get involved.

On Wednesday I created the donation page for my event, and invited guests. The response was more than I ever expected: 19 people (20 counting me) rsvp'd and bought tickets, only 3 days before the event. Not only that, several people made extra donations (including Mel—thanks mom!!). On Thursday, I started looking for a location that would fit 20 people. Amanda found a park we could use, with first-come picnic tables to seat 18. With her patio set, we had enough room for 20…a brilliant idea, and a bit of a risk. Luckily, we grabbed all the tables right before a group of picnickers showed up. 

On Friday, I planned the menu, and went shopping after work. At 8:00PM the night before the event, I discovered that beef tenderloin (the main ingredient for my main dish) doesn't exist…at least not at any of the 3 stores I went to. So, after a brief panic, (read: calling my mom, sister, and Evan about 10 times, running back and forth around the store, trying not to cry) I went with flank steak. Crisis averted. Friday night I prepped and cooked until 1AM. On Saturday, I made 12 mini-strawberry almond cakes, which ended up not coming out of the pans…two hours before the event. New plan: trifle! Crisis #2 averted. I finished cooking, assembling, and prepping, just in time to head to the park and get set up. 

Everything went off without a hitch. I had an amazing time planning and pulling off this dinner party, everyone raved about the food, and it was a super fun evening! An absolutely perfect way to celebrate 3 years of blogging! 

So, with 3 days to plan, 6 lbs of flank steak, 4 baguettes, 20 steak sandwiches, 2 gallons of gazpacho, 40 grilled shrimp, 20 berry trifles, 8 bags of homemade pita chips, 2 cups of grated parmesan cheese, 20 jars for drinking, 19 awesome friends (plus 2 adorable babies), and $146.61 donated to Food Revolution…I'd call that one successful dinner party! 

Thanks so much to Amanda and Evan for all the help prepping and planning, to LZ and Dave for convincing me that people would, in fact, buy tickets to my dinner party, to Treasa and Kyle for the generous donation, to Mel for donating even though she didn't get to attend, to Carleigh, Jeff, and Preston for your enthusiastic eating, to Brit and Cindy for bringing the two cutest dinner party guests ever, to Connie and Rachel for showing up without knowing what they were getting themselves into, to Mark and Anthony for always supporting my blog and eating everything I make, to Becky and Deric for sharing my blog with everyone they know, and to Amanda and Colin for biking all the way across the city to be there. You're all amazing. 

And, thank you so much to all of you, who continue to read my blog and support me after 3 years!! 

Earl Grey Biscuits for Mom's Day

Most people don't believe that Amanda and I are sisters right away, because at first glance, we're 100% his and hers. It's obvious from the get-go that I'm my father's child. We both have the same dark skin tone and hair (well, his is a little more silver these days), the same same brown eyes, and the same weird, goofy personality. Amanda looks exactly like my mom. I mean, sometimes I do a double take. They're both fair skinned with blonde hair, and are both insanely competitive. His and hers. If you dig a little deeper though, you can start to see my dad shine through in Amanda, and my mom in me. 

My love of reading comes straight from Mel. John and Amanda never did understand how my mom and I could spend hours and hours doing nothing but reading. I mean, canceling plans on a Friday night to stay in with a good book. I got that from my mom. And Dirty Dancing. No other mother-daughter pair in the history of mother-daughter pairs has watched Dirty Dancing as many times as we have. We know it word for word, people. We're hopeless romantics, through and through. My mom also shared with me her love and compassion for animals, and her tendency to get emotional and sentimental. And, most importantly for all of you, she shared her creativity in the kitchen and passion for feeding people. No one has ever left my mom's kitchen hungry, that's a fact. 

While Mel would prefer a leftover enchilada over a scone or a biscuit for breakfast, hands down, I figured everyone might need a post Cinco de Mayo break. So, for Mother's Day, make your mom a fancy little brunch with Earl Grey cream biscuits and lemon curd. Pick her some flowers. Make her a mimosa. Don't wipe off her kisses. It's her day, let her get in that one big wet smooch, just this once. 

Happy Mother's day to the gal who brought me into this world (and as she likes to remind me, can take me out of it). I love you Mom! 

Earl Grey Biscuits

Adapted from Food 52

These may look like scones, but are more like a biscuit. Serve with tangy Meyer lemon curd!

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

6 Earl Grey tea bags or 2 tablespoons loose Earl Grey - ground with a mortar and pestle 

1 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Melted butter

Heat the oven to 425. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and tea. Combine the vanilla and cream, and slowly add to the flour mixture, stirring until the ingredients are combined and the dough holds together. Add more cream as needed. Knead on a lightly floured surface for about 1 minute. Pat it into 1/2-inch thick round and cut into 8 triangles.

Place the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet and brush the tops with melted butter. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve warm with meyer lemon curd.

Chicken Tacos {Asian Style}

My office is in an awesome location, food wise. I’m 2 blocks from the ID (International District/China Town), which is full of amazing little lunch spots—all the pho, dumplings, sushi, and satay you could ask for. I’m also a stone’s throw from a number of great sandwich places and even better gyro joints, and I'm directly above the always fabulous Salumi.

But, regardless of all those awesome eateries, the one I get most excited about is only around on Fridays. I'm talkin’ tacos, people. Korean-Hawaiian fusion tacos, from the Marination Mobile food truck.

What is Korean-Hawaiian fusion, you ask? Only the most delicious flavor explosion to hit my mouth, that's all. Bulgogi beef or miso ginger chicken tacos, kalua pork sliders, and the most delicious item of all—don't judge—spam sliders. Seriously, you haven't lived until you've eaten a spam slider from Marination. They perform miracles inside that little restaurant on wheels.

Don't worry, I didn’t write a recipe for spam sliders. I'll leave that one to the experts. I did, however, perform a little fusion magic of my own, just in time for the biggest taco-eating day of the year. Sweet and spicy soy-soaked grilled chicken, meet the tortilla. You two will become great friends.  

Grilled Chicken Tacos, Asian Style

Set aside some time for the chicken to marinate, and for the cucumbers to soak up some goodness. At least two hours.

For Chicken

1 cup soy sauce

Splash olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Squirt of Sriracha

Spoonful of hoison sauce

Pinch freshly grated ginger

Brown sugar

Black pepper

2 chicken breasts

Whisk together soy sauce through black pepper, taste and adjust as needed. You should have a pretty equal balance of spicy, salty, and sweet. Butterfly chicken so that you have 4 thin chicken breast pieces, and marinate in soy mixture for at least 2 hours—the longer the better.

Grill chicken on a medium-hot grill for a couple of minutes on both sides, until cooked all the way through (it should be thin enough that it cooks pretty quickly, but use your best judgment or meat thermometer… I like to cook a little longer until it’s a bit charred around the edges). Thinly slice.

For Sesame Sour Cream

½ cup sour cream

Sesame seed oil

Rice vinegar

Honey

Sriracha

Soy sauce

Start out with just a splash of sesame oil, vinegar, honey, sriracha, and soy, and whisk together with sour cream. Taste and add more of any item as needed.

For Tacos

Grilled chicken

Sesame sour cream

Small corn tortillas, warmed

Pickled cucumbers

Fresh greens (micro greens or pea shoots work great, but just lettuce works too)

Sriracha

Sesame seeds

Lime wedges

Assemble!  Start with your tortilla, slather on sesame sour cream, pile on the chicken, add a few cucumbers, toss on an assortment of greenery, a squirt of sriracha, and a shower of sesame seeds, and top with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Fold, eat, repeat.

Quinoa Cookies with Coconut & Chocolate

Evan's birthday was last week, and I just realized that he didn't get a birthday cake. We went out to a fancy steak dinner on his actual birthday, and then had a night out on the the town the following night (complete with pinball, Street Fighter, a creepy warehouse, and a Seattle street dog). But, after all that, still no birthday cake. What kind of food blogging girlfriend am I!? 

In my defense, I'm convinced that Evan hates cake (trust me, he does), so it might have been my unconscious knowledge of his cake hatery that led to the lack of cake. Regardless, I love cake… so it's amazing and sad that I let a cake opportunity pass in such a way. And he's a twin, so I could have made two cakes. Twin birthday cakes would have been adorbs. What was I thinking…I even baked over the weekend! (Also, how many times did I just write cakes!?)

I suppose a late cake will have to be better than no cake. But in the meantime…quinoa cookies! You're getting older, Evan… time to start eating healthy! Or… at least pretending it's good for you, because it has quinoa in it! Chocolate chip cookies with quinoa are totally health food, right? Right?!? That's what I told myself, when I ate 7 of these yesterday. I was powering up, duh. I'm on the downhill slope to 30 myself, I need to supplement my cookie habit with a bit of nutrients now and then!

Quinoa Cookies with Coconut & Chocolate Chunks

Adapted from this recipe

The quinoa adds an awesomely nutty, chewy crunch and {healthy} boost of texture to your average cookie. I couldn't get over that chewy crunch! Be sure to plan ahead, the quinoa needs to be cooked and cooled before mixing up the dough. Also, buy yourself a bag of desiccated coconut, it's totally worth it. I use it in everything. 

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1/2 cup desiccated coconut (unsweetened)

1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips

Preheat oven to 375° & Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. In stand or electric mixer, cream butter, sugars, and honey until light and fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, and almond extract, and mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 more minutes. Mix in flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in quinoa, coconut, and chocolate. 

Plop spoon size balls of dough onto sheets an inch or so apart, and bake until golden, 12–15 minutes. Cool on wire rack. 

Update: I'm getting a lot of feedback that people assumed these cookies were gluten free. This is NOT a gluten free recipe, the quinoa is simply a delicious addition to a non-gf cookie, not a substitution. However, you could easily substitute gf flours for the whole wheat flour. If you do, please let me know how it turns out! One reader swapped the flour for GF all purpose flour and added 1.5 teaspoons xanthan gum, with great results.  

Update #2: I WON the best quinoa recipe contest at Food52 with these cookies! Go check it out!!

Fresh & Green: Spring Pappardelle

Spring Pappardelle

8 oz pappardelle pasta (I like Trader Joe's dried pappardelle)

Butter, olive oil

Half a sweet onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

Handful of the sugar snap peas, asparagus, and broccolini

1 lemon (zest & juice)

1 cup trim cottage cheese

Parmesan cheese

Fresh parsley

Pinenuts, toasted

Salt & pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. When water boils, add peas, and cook for about 2 minutes. Remove, set aside. Add pasta to water, and cook until done. Save pasta water.

Meanwhile, while water starts to boil, melt butter and olive oil (about a tablespoon of each) in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions to skillet, and cook until translucent. Add garlic, and cook for a minute or two, until fragrant (but be careful not to burn). Add broccolini, cook for a minute, then asparagus, cook for a minute. Add zest from lemon. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Add pasta & peas to skillet. Add half of cottage cheese, and about a half cup of the pasta water. Stir until combined, and add remaining cottage cheese and grated parmesan. Stir until sauce is creamy and cheese is melty, adding more pasta water or cottage cheese, as necessary. Toss in pine nuts, and parsley before serving. 

A Good Ol' Springtime Luncheon

Can I just tell you what an amazing, fantastic, sunny, warm, beautiful weekend we had in Seattle!? Cherry blossoms are blooming like mad, birdies are chirping. It's insane. I love it SO much. On Saturday, Amanda and I invited friends over for our annual Easter feast. While we made an absolutely delicious yet totally unspringy entree (Guinness beef pie & potatoes, since we missed St. Paddy's), the rest of the menu was super fresh and springy. Perfect for a little spring luncheon! 

So, take off that winter sweater and put on a sun dress or a little floral romper (note: if a coworker asks you what a romper is, don't try to google image search it at work to show him a picture. Not. safe. for. work.). Go barefoot! Put a fresh vase of flowers on the table. Pour some champagne or mix up some white wine spritzers. Turn on some sweet, sunny-time music, and open up the doors and windows. It's spring time!

Spring Luncheon Menu

To sip:

Champagne

White Wine

Porch swing via The Walrus & the Carpenter (pimm’s, gin, lemon, soda, and a slice of apple)

To nibble: 

Crudite: fresh veggies (carrots, asparagus, endive, cucumber) with zippy dill dip

Homemade ricotta via Ina Garten

Asparagus crostini via Epicurious: Swap the goat cheese with homemade ricotta, brush the asparagus with the vinaigrette, and give it a quick grill, instead of blanching

Deviled eggs

To dine:

Fresh Pea Salad (recipe below)

To finish: 

Lemon curd tart via Epicurious

Enjoy!

Fresh Pea Salad

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Drizzle of honey

Pinch of fresh thyme

salt, pepper

2 cups fresh sugar snap peas, cut in half lengthwise (but not down the seam)

1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced

2 big handfuls of arugula

2 green onions, sliced

1 handful of carrot tops, roughly chopped

2 endive spears, thinly sliced

Grated Parmesan 

In a large bowl, whisk olive oil through honey. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining ingredients (excluding parmesan). Toss until salad is combined and coated with dressing. Top with parmesan before serving. 

Springy Artichoke Chicken Salad

I love-hate chicken salad. I hate that it's called chicken salad, because I always think people will assume I mean a big leafy salad with chicken. And then I think I should follow it up with sandwich, so that people know what I'm talking about. Because chicken-salad-sandwich isn't usually confused with salad + chicken. But sometimes I don't want to serve it as a sandwich, and then I feel all confused and mixed up…and then I end up calling it "chicken salad sandwich filling on crackers," which is way too complicated for such a simple dish. Aside from the name, I also hate how loaded with mayo some chicken salads are. I mean, I love a good creamy chicken salad now and then, but sometimes it's just too much. One time I ordered a chicken salad sandwich, and it had a heavy dose of mayo on the bread, too. Now that's just crazy-town, people. 

What I love about chicken salad, though, is how versatile it is. If you want to cut back on the mayo… or not put any at all, that's doable. Like this super creamy chicken salad with pureed artichoke hearts. It tastes awesome and artichokie (that's totally a word…as in "okie dokie, artichokie"), and the lack of mayo makes me feel better about leaving it on a platter for a party. Along with tangy artichoke hearts, this one has apples and celery, but I also love a good crunchy pecan or almond in my chicken salad. Switch it up, that's allowed. 

I also love that no matter what time of year I eat it, or where, chicken salad reminds me of spring. And of Easter, tea parties, picnics, and bridal showers. It's so lady-like and fun. Especially in an endive leaf, fancy finger-food style. You can also serve it on a cracker, in a pita pocket, or just between a couple slices of good bread. Or with a spoon. No judgement here.

Artichoke Chicken Salad

2-3 cups cooked chicken, chopped (cubed, grilled chicken is my fave for any chicken salad, though shredded rotisserie-style works as well).

1 12oz jar marinated artichoke hearts

1 apple, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

juice of 1 small lemon

salt, pepper

A handful of arugula

Add chicken, apple, and celery to a bowl. Drain about half the liquid off the artichoke hearts. Puree arti-hearts and remaining liquid, until smooth and creamy. You may have to pick out a few of the really stiff leaves if there are any. Stir in mustard & lemon juice. Combine creamy mixture with chicken until fully coated. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add arugula and gently toss to combine. 

OPTIONAL: You can add a splash of vinegar if you want it a bit more tangy, or a tablespoon of mayo if you want it a bit more creamy. Green onions and nuts would also be good.