the not so starving artist
I’ve been playing in an 800 grams of produce per day challenge. I find that I usually meet that naturally, but I would probably come up short a day or two a week. It seems like people have a harder time hitting the number at breakfast, so I thought I’d do a brunch post. Well, this is what I made after crossfit this morning, and that was like 11:00, so I call it brunch. 🙂 Some of us are late risers.
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Current mood: Sushi. Because I wanted summertime fresh and easy, I went with deconstructed sushi bowls.
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Delicious, easy, filling, hand-held, happiness-inducing little pockets of joy. I adore breakfast tacos. They actually freeze pretty well, so you can skip the avocado, fold them up burrito-style, pop them in a vacuum sealed bag, and take them camping, just reheating in a little skillet over the fire. Skip the bacon if you want a vegetarian version. Hope you love them!
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We love sweet heat, the combination of tropical fruit and chile peppers. If you’re not a big spicy fan, totally reduce or completely omit the jalapeno! If you don’t have a grill, no problem! Just use a big skillet over medium high for the same time! Hope you love it!
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I love deviled eggs. They’re the perfect appetizer, a fabulous breakfast, the best thing you can find in the fridge post-workout, cheap party fare, darn delicious, and they’re flippin’ cute! I could write poems to those little guys all day!
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I was in the mood for a lovely hearty steak salad. Hope you love it, too!
16-24 oz steak – Depends on how hungry your tribe is
Salt and Pepper
Season as early as you can to let the flavor penetrate the meat. Morning of is great. The night before is better. And two nights before is best. It’ll rest in the fridge, uncovered. Set on the counter an hour before you’re cooking it to let it come to room temp so it’ll cook more evenly.
Bacon – 1-2 slices per person, optional
Place in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and put in a cold oven. Turn it to 400 degrees F, and set the timer for 20 minutes. Check it, and let it continue on its journey til it meets your strongly held conviction of the perfect bacon doneness level. Drain on paper towel.
1 red onion
1/2 Tablespoon butter or olive oil
Pinch of salt
Saute until softened and picking up a little color.
Grill the steaks or give them a stove top cast iron sear in butter and olive oil, turning often to desired doneness. Mine’s an internal temp 118 degrees F. Rest. Slice.
Spring Mix
Vinaigrette (Whisk 2 parts red wine vinegar (or whatever you have!), 3 parts olive oil, a squeeze of dijon mustard, and a pinch of salt and grating of pepper)
Toss and divide between 4 plates.
Top with:
Steak
Tomatoes
Avocado (1/4 – 1/2 per person)
Onions
Bacon (optional)
Blue cheese (optional)
My favorite cast iron skillet is a 12″ Lodge dual handle pan. Why, the long handles are too heavy to hold with a single hand when they’re loaded up. Since you’re using two hands anyway, you might as well get the ones that take up less space and stack so much better!
Lodge 12″ dual handle cast-iron pan
I get asked about my spice wall all the time. The magnetic tins on the wall are great for any spices or salt-free blends. Salt corrodes the tins, so anything with salt is in a glass jar on the counter underneath.
My favorite knife. It’s a 7″ full tang Santoku. Full tang just means that the blade runs the full length of the knife. The blade and handle aren’t two separate components, so there’s no breaking point. I chose the Ikon handle design, which is wonderfully ergonomic. I have spent hours on a produce sculpture before and my hand was just as comfy at the end. It’s worth the pennies.
Wusthof WU4176 Classic Ikon 7-Inch Santoku, Hollow Edge, Black
I’ve always adored avocado. My mother-in-law told me that when she was a little girl in Cuba, they loved pairing it in a salad with pineapple. Game changer. In Gran Cocina Latina, she caramelizes the pineapple spears under the broiler. So good! That’s inspired my breakamole this morning. If you have a sweet tooth, this will make your day! Read More
#UnicornFood #RachelJohnson #SterlingEpicure #SterlingPublishing #unicorn #rainbow
Where are my unicorn people? I have the cookbook for you, Unicorn Food: Magical Recipes for Sweets, Eats, and Treats! While my kids LOVED everything we made in this, there are some adults-only recipes, too. This is such a cute book! It’s filled with rainbow food and has both healthy stuff and treats, so it can handle whatever your food mood is.
I’m going to share with you her recipe for Rainbow Swirl Bread. It’s a delicious, traditional, yeasted white bread, just a whole lot more fun! It’s surprisingly easy to make. A huge thanks to Sterling Epicure for letting me share it with you! I’ll tell you all about the rest of the book later, but first, that bread! Read More
#plattersandboards #shellywesterhausen #chroniclebooksÂ
You’re a total foodie, you love artful plating, and you’d love to entertain, but you just aren’t into cooking?! I used to turn my head at that “confused dog” angle when I’d hear people say they don’t cook. How do you eat? So many of my friends are foodies that don’t love cooking, though. I found the perfect book for you!!! Platters and Boards.
There is just so much to love about this book. Entertaining has never been so easy. For each platter, she has *one* recipe to make and the rest is artful, but not fussy, plating. It is the perfect answer for foodies who don’t want to cook. Or me when I just wanna chill on weekends. It reminds me of Donkey in Shrek talking about parfaits, “You know what everybody likes? Parfaits. Have you ever met a person, you say, “Let’s get some parfait,” they say, “Heck no, I don’t like no parfait”? Parfaits are delicious.” I think platters are the same way. Each one is visually appealing. People feel excited when they greet a generous platter. There are so many wonderfully creative platters in here. She’s an idea hamster.
This is my second Shelly Westerhausen book. I love Vegetarian Heartland. She’ll make you cook in that one, thp. She is on the foodie end of the vegetarian spectrum. In this book, she teams up with Wyatt Worcel, and he interjects meaty suggestions for the platters. Basically, everybody’s happy. Read More
We eat everything, but I end up with a lot of vegetarian and vegan books because I’m a massive produce-head. I stumbled upon a recipe in The Simply Vegan Cookbook: Easy, Healthy, Fun, and Filling Plant-Based Recipes Anyone Can Cook
