The Perfect Snack

I need to eat 5 times a day or I get cranky. My husband would probably use a stronger word than that, but let's just go with cranky. On one hand, eating 5 times a day is wonderful - 5 chances to indulge in one of the greatest pleasures in life. On the other hand, it can be a tremendous pain, which is why I always carry a variety of cereal bars in my purse (my current favorite is the peanut butter chocolate chip Lara bar).

But when I'm home and I've got a few minutes to spare, I am currently obsessed with this cucumber and labneh toast. It's so simple to make as long as you've got the right ingredients on hand. You can get labneh (Middle Eastern strained yogurt) at Whole Foods in the refrigerated section where you find the hummus, or at any Middle Eastern specialty food store. I've found Persian cucumbers at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's - they come in a pack of 4 or 5 - but you could use regular English cucumbers if you have those. There are so many textures and tastes going on in each bite - the crisp toast balanced with the creamy and tart yogurt along with the crispy cucumbers..the warm hit of a good olive oil and the salt and pepper finish. Sigh. It's just heaven. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Cucumber and Labneh Toast
Ingredients:
1 slice of good whole wheat bread, toasted medium
2 tbsp. labneh
9 slices of persian cucumber
1/2 tsp. good olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Toast bread, let cool slightly.
2. Spread with labneh.
3. Add cucumber slices.
4. Add good crank of salt and freshly ground pepper.
5. Drizzle olive oil evenly over top.
6. Take a bite and prepare to groan in delight.

If I Were a Vegetarian...

For the sake of my marriage, I am not allowed to be a Vegetarian. A few years ago for Lent, I gave up meat (I'm not Catholic, but there's something competitive inside me that enjoys depriving myself of things I love for 40 days just to see if I can). After weeks of enduring my meatless meals, my husband was more than ready to hit Ray's the Steaks, our absolute favorite carnivore establishment, for a bone-in blackened ribeye. I, on the other hand, was pretty proud of my accomplishment and (verbally) considered whether it was a trend we should continue. My normally very easy-going husband went on an hour long rant that included phrases like "I didn't marry a Vegetarian...don't want to eat separate meals...this is ridiculous...where's my steak?" So because I love him (and truly, I love meat too), we are not Vegetarians.

But he is out of town tonight on business, and since I'm still riding the high of a week-long cleanse, tonight I am a Vegetarian. And if I were a Vegetarian, I would make this Roasted Butternut Squash couscous at least once a week with plenty for leftovers. I might even let him have a taste.

Couscous with Roasted Butternut Squash, Mint, and Pine Nuts

1 whole butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
3 cups israeli (pearl) couscous
4 cups (32 oz.) vegetable broth
1 small shallot, diced
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
2 tsp. fresh lemon zest
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
4 oz. goat cheese
olive oil
salt/pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss butternut squash with a good drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in pan for 30 minutes, tossing halfway through, until soft and slightly caramelized. Set aside.
2. In heavy pan over medium heat, saute pine nuts until toasted in 1 tbsp. olive oil. Set aside in small bowl.
3. In same pan, saute shallot in 1 tbsp. olive oil until soft.
4. Add dry couscous and stir frequently for 5 minutes until couscous is lightly toasted. Add broth, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf. Bring to boil and then lower to simmer covered for 10-12 minutes or until all broth has been absorbed.
5. Remove pot from heat. Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Add butternut squash, most of the chopped mint, lemon zest, toasted pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Serve in shallow bowls with crumbled goat cheese, a little mint, freshly ground black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil on top.

Glutton Free January

I hate making New Year's Resolutions. I pretty much avoid doing anything I will probably fail at. And January is depressing enough as it is without adding failure to it. It's been years since I've made an actual resolution on January 1st, but this year something had to be done to balance out the gluttony that was also known as December. This holiday season I consumed more cookies, cakes, cheese plates, glasses of wine, and general oil-laden merriment than I think any one person needs in a lifetime. That's how you will find me (and my generally willing husband) on day 3 of a detox cleanse.

So what cleanse to do? We are not a Master Cleanse sort of people over here (see above paragraph re. failure). We are not even a Juice Fast sort of people (again, see above). We are a food-loving-people-who-just-happened-to-have-over-indulged-a-tad-and-could-use-a nudge-in-the-right-direction-cleanse sort of people. I couldn't find that one on the Internet, though, so after doing some research, I decided that the Bon Appetit's Food Lover's Cleanse was about as close to what I was looking for as I was going to get (I've mentioned how much I freaking love that magazine before, haven't I?). The idea is basically to eat lots of whole foods, nothing processed. It's heavy on the fruit, vegetables and whole grains, light on the oil, sugar and dairy. Basically how we should all be eating, but don't.

Lunch today - a variety of grain and bean
salads from the Whole Foods salad bar.

The Bon Appetit Cleanse is a thing of beauty, if you have time to cook 3 meals a day. Which I don't. So I'm going for the lazy man's version of this cleanse which is basically cutting out all dairy, sugar, flour, and, um, alcohol for one week. I stocked the fridge with plenty of berries, apples, kale, cucumbers, avocados, and almond milk. I made a batch of the most delicious oatmeal date breakfast bars I've ever eaten (seriously) from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook I got for Christmas. I armed myself with pages of dinner recipes from Bon Appetit's cleanse. I washed and froze several pounds of grapes to ward off those late night ice cream cravings. And I gave the husband another chance to bail. (He didn't).

So now here we are, 3 days in, and I have to say I'm feeling pretty good. I'm a bit hungry, but it's actually a relief after weeks of feeling stuffed. I have plenty of energy, despite the Winter sinus infection I'm coming off of. And it feels great to be feeding my body things with actual nutritional value. I don't even miss bread as much as I thought I would. But that glass of wine... now that's a different story!