where does the time go?

it's been several days since our last post but the delay, i assure you, won't be the norm and it's definitely NOT due to waning interest in food on Sierra's or my part. i'm sure I speak for both of us when i tell you that everyday our love and interest for food intensifies. but, like everyone else trying to get someplace in this world, free time is hard to come by. not that I plan on using this as an excuse for the delay, but rather as a segue. it seems like a good point to talk about some of our favorite recipes when time is limited.

so when I think of a quick meal, I'm thinking of the entire process, that is, not just the time it takes to prepare the food, but the time that goes into shopping (assuming I have none of the ingredients on hand, which I try to avoid), prepping, assembly, and cleanup. it doesn't really save much time if I have to spend an hour gathering 15 different ingredients before (Rachel Ray?) or an hour after cleaning pots and pans. also, it needs to be pretty healthy; I want to feel good about what I'm eating or else why not grab a double cheeseburger? lastly, one of my pet peeves when i'm thumbing through "quick meal" recipes in cooking magazines or on the internet is when they list out 3 ingredients for a 10 minute meal and one of the ingredients is something like grilled chicken or an ingredient that, in itself, is another whole recipe. with that in mind: here are 2 of my favs:

"Greek Salad" (Sierra got this from a co-worker)
1 can black beans, drained
1 package cherry tomatoes
1 cucumber peeled and chopped
black olives, chopped, as much as you like
chopped green onions, as much as you like
crumbled feta cheese, as much as you like
1 tsp Cavendar's Greek Seasoning (not too much)
Toss together in a bowl.


Sierra got some garlic hummus, spread that inside of some pita pockets, and then filled it with the salad for lunch one day. Very tasty and very satisfying.

Cilantro Pesto (from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites, a favorite cookbook of ours)
leaves from 1 bunch of cilantro
1 tomato, chopped
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
1 T toasted pine nuts
little bit of salt

toasting the pine nuts is pretty simple, you just put them in on a sheet in an oven/toaster oven set at 350 for 3-4 minutes or until they start to turn slightly deeper in color. put all the ingredients in a blender and whirl until smooth. then what i do is toast some french bread, put on the spread, and top with a slice of tomato. you could also spread on pasta, a potato, chicken, fish, or just about anything. surprising that something could be so good without oil or butter.

sesame seeds

supposedly its less expensive for you to cook for yourself then it is to eat out every night. but, unless your kitchen's stocked up and ready to go, you'll find yourself buying a $4 jar of sesame seeds or something like that, not realizing you spent $4 on them the last time you made this dish, and you'll be so bitter about the fact that you were trying to save money and now you've spent $8 on sesame seeds that you'll never want to make another thing with sesame seeds in it ever again!

here's a good lesson I learned early on: keep your kitchen stocked. even if you don't cook all the time. get any cookbook, turn to the section that talks about stocking your kitchen and buy everything that they put on the list. you might break the bank the first time you go but at least you'll be prepared and you'll know what you've got to work with. i've blown so much time and money driving back and forth getting stuff that i didn't have or thought that I didn't have.

its a pretty good feeling when its the middle of the week, your just not interested in spending the rest of your non-working day cooking, and you can throw something quick and easy together like this mediterranean salad with artichokes, penne, and sun-dried tomatoes. since i was stocked, all i had to get was the lettuce, feta, and some bread (like $6) and we were good to go. very satisfying; lots of good flavors; we had it for lunch the next day too. Sierra was a fan.