Comunidad Health Foods

It’s dark outside. It’s late here. Kind of. I’m tired. It’s been a long day. I know when you read this the sun will be back and you’ll be well rested, but I’m writing this now, maybe 12-20 hours before I’ll have the chance to post it, and now is dark and late. Kind of.

If I can be completely honest, my life has been exceptionally demanding lately. My day begins at 6:30 with 6-8 hours of preparatory work for my dietetic internship with the occasional 30 minute run to keep up with a 60 day fitness challenge I’ve been trying out. Emails get pushed to the side. Blog updates don’t happen. I see my precious (though not all that impressive) FoodBuzz score dwindling in my absence. I actually rented Space Jam on Netflix because by the time 7pm rolls around, that’s just about all that I have the mental capacity to absorb. You probably don’t want me writing blog posts in that frame of mind, anyway.

I can’t update every other day like I used to, but it’s not because I don’t want to or am on the verge of bowing out completely. This year is going to be a challenge for Floptimism but I hope that you’ll stick around as I muddle my way through it. Because I will muddle my way through it. After all, that’s what Floptimism’s all about, right?

So since Perseverance has me cornered, it seems only right to tell you about a recipe that also required a lot (ok, just a little, let’s not get toomelodramatic here) of perseverance to get it right. I’ve been sitting on this Feta-Radish spread (not literally) for over a year now – can you believe that? I had just moved into my “new” apartment that I’ve since moved back out of when I tried it for the first time and decided that it needed some tweaking. It took until just a few weeks ago, when my mom fortuitously came home with a bunch of radishes at the same moment that I was eyeing the tub of half-used feta cheese in the fridge, wondering what to do with itt, for me to try it again. After a few adjustments, I’m really happy with the result.

This dip is so refreshing. It oozes lemon and tang. It’s creamy. It has a little bite from the almost-bitter radish slices. It feels indulgent, and maybe it even is a little bit depending on how big of a serving you give yourself, but you’ll relish every last bite. It’s a nice appetizer, but what it’s really perfect for is that afternoon lunch on a day that’s so hot and so humid you can barely think of making anything to eat at all. Whip this up in 3 minutes flat and spread it over a cracker or tortilla – something that adds a hint of garlic is a really nice touch – pour yourself a glass of cool water or iced tea, and you’ll have a couple minutes of what must be close to heaven. 

This spread is very flavorful, so a little can go a long way. It pairs well with crackers and pita, but would likely be equally as nice with fresh vegetables for an added crunch.

I mentioned in Monday’s post from L’s graduation party that I get a kind of thrill out of planning events. I love to think up themes and create a party around them, from the food to the decorations and everything in between. Unfortunately, I rarely get the opportunity to implement such extravagant plans – I’m almost never the actual hostess, and my family seems to be less and less into actual festive gatherings now that there really aren’t any kids running around. It’s really a shame, but I know that in time, when I own my own house and start my own family, I’ll have the chance to throw the kind of celebrations the nerd-factor-ten part of my brain loves to imagine.

My graduation party last weekend gave me the opportunity to throw one of these celebrations on a miniature scale – I couldn’t go all out on decorations and other thematic elements, but I could create my own menu, and I definitely took advantage of it. Being early June, I felt like it was the right time to do a pseudo “afternoon tea” spread, just, you know, without the tea. I wanted to capture an elegant Sunday brunch in hors d’oeuvres form, and I think it turned out pretty well in the end.

So without further adieu, after much anticipation, here is the Floptimism Graduation Party Recipe Round-Up:

These little brunch appetizers were my favorite of the entire party. The pancake was soft and pillowy, not incredibly flavorful yet certainly not bland, making it the perfect base for the flavorful 1,2 punch of the horseradish sauce and salty-sweet lox. The only true changes I did make were to use lower fat cream cheese in the pancakes and to substitute plain Chobani yogurt for the sour cream in the horseradish “cream;” and the only changes I would make if I were to make these again would be to buy nova smoked salmon to cut the saltiness just a little bit. I also would like to know why my pancakes didn’t puff up as nicely as the ones in the original post’s pictures, but that’s ok.

This almost didn’t happen, but at the last minute my mom decided that we didn’t have enough food, and I pulled out a dip mix that I had bought at a craft show earlier that year. The link is to the company’s site. I’m usually all about 100% homemade, but this dip turned out pretty well and the ingredients are impeccable. It was a good, quick fix to the solution of not-enough-food without needing to panic, run out to the store, or scramble for a recipe when I was already knee-deep in cooking tasks to get everything done in time. I ignored the instructions on the package and made it with 100% plain Chobani instead of a mixture of mayonnaise and sour cream, and I have to admit that I found it to be a littletoo potent with that Greek yogurt tang, but everyone else fawned over it. You can without a doubt get away with making these dips with partial Greek yogurt, but some people might prefer it with at least the addition of a more subdued base to even it out.

This recipe was the simplest to think up, the easiest to execute, and bar-none one of the most popular. One thing I’ve learned in planning parties is that as intrigued as people get by the fancy, sophisticated, and intricate dishes, it’s the simple ones that really light their sparks. At least, that’s what I’ve learned from my experiences. The two biggest hits of the day? Store-bought crackers and brie cheese, and these caprese bites. Here’s what you do: (1) Buy 1 pack of cherry tomatoes, 1 pack of mozzarella balls, toothpicks and a few sprigs of basil. (2) Halve the mozzarella balls and any large cherry tomatoes. Cut little leaf-shapes or strips out of the basil leaves. (3) Stick a mozzarella half through the toothpick, followed by the basil, followed by the tomato. (4) Refrigerate or serve. It takes a little bit of time to assemble since everything is so miniature, but it’s easy as pie and totally stress-less. I think a little cup of balsamic would be great for dipping, but everyone seemed to enjoy them perfectly fine on their own.

The above link will bring you to a much more gourmet-looking “Puff Pastry Squares with Pea and Tarragon Puree,” but I wanted to offer some gluten-free options (as one of my relatives has Celiac) and overall wanted something a little lighter and less indulgent than the puff pastry. I immediately thought of endive, and simply used an endive leaf as a boat for the dip. I look each leaf, smeared it with a scant ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard, and topped it with about 1 teaspoon of the dip. Overall it made around 16 endive boats of varying sizes (I just used 1 endive). And let me tell you, this dip is fabulous. It’s not a very overtly flavorful dish – all of the flavors are somewhat demure – but calling it plain would practically be blasphemy. This dip is naturally sweet with salty-savory undertones from the cheese and a hint of almost licorice from the unique flavor of tarragon. I couldn’t get enough of this dip, and spread the extra on crackers and raw vegetables long after the endive boats themselves were gone. Ok, not long after – both the endive boats and leftover dip were mostly eaten that day and finished off by yours truly less than 48 hours later. Further proof of how delicious this was.

 

My family member with Celiac also has an egg allergy, so I thought these egg-less and crust-less quiches would be the perfect addition to my spread. It uses lite firm silken tofu (it’s the Mori-Nu shelf-stable kind; the recipe is very specific about the type of tofu used, as apparently other varieties fall apart) instead of the eggs, and turmeric to give it a yellow color. I think some of the party-goers were slightly suspicious, as the texture is not quiteeggy, but no one questioned me and I suspect that no one knew that what they were eating was not actually egg^* (except my family member with the egg allergy, who I very quietly told off to the side and who graciously helped cover for me whenever someone inquired about the recipe). I did run into some snags with this recipe and want to play around with making it again before I say too much, but I did provide the link to the original in case you wanted to take a stab at it yourself.

And then there was dessert. You don’t get a link because I took about 4 different websites and smooshed them together into one fantastic cake. Except, you have to wait for the recipe – la piece de resistance – because it deserves its own post. This cake is phenomenal. It rivals the one I made for my sister’s graduation two years ago, and that was truly one of my finest “creations” (as in, I followed the recipe well – I still can’t take credit for creating the recipe itself). It was certainly sweet enough to be addictive and qualify as dessert, but it wasn’t overtly or overpoweringly sweet. The cake was soft in texture and flavor, pairing well with the frosting and ganache which explode on your taste buds with decadence. I mean really, this cake is out of this world, and I promise that you will be hearing from it again many times on this blog. First, of course, I’ll give you the recipe. But then…ohhhh, then. I have this scheme that I’ve been devising for the most decadent, extravagant cake imaginable, and it involves these two cakes plus five more. That’s all I’ll say for now. 

 So there you have it, after nearly a full week of taunting and teasing you with the promise of revealing my graduation party spread, I’ve finally come through. I hope it was worth the wait!

It may be the end of May, over 80 degrees outside with a humidity percent well into the 70’s, and the kind of weather for cold potato salads and chips, but for the past month and a half I have had just one food on my mind: piping hot sweet potatoes. My brain must secretly reside on the other side of the equator where this kind of craving is more seasonally appropriate. So you’ll have to forgive me and my weird-o brain, because I need to talk to you about sweet potatoes, and I need to do it not once, but twice this week. I think by the end of the week you’ll understand, and perhaps I’ll scandalously get you to buy out-of-season for these recipes, too.

What I’m really dying to tell you about is the chipotle sweet potato overnight oats that I made, because that breakfast was just about the most fantastic combination of flavors to ever grace my humble little taste buds. But I can’t tell you about that right now, because that would be getting ahead of myself. You see, the overnight oats uses a chipotle sweet potato dip, so first things first, we have to talk about this dip.

The first time I made it, I followed the recipe darn close to a T. I used unsweetened and unflavored almond milk instead of vanilla coconut milk, because I’m really not into the whole coconut craze and the store was plum out of vanilla almond milk. I meant to add a little drop of vanilla extract, but as things tend to go in my kitchen, that just didn’t happen. I also used two small sweet potatoes (I’m talking just about the tiniest little yams – oh, that’s another thing, sweet potatoes apparently don’t exist where I’m from – I’ve ever seen) instead of 1 sweet potato. In the end, the dip was good. The chipotle powder was a little demure and the honey gave it a sweetness that I didn’t think it needed when you’re already dealing with a sweetpotatoyam. I also wasn’t satisfied with the “1 sweet potato” measurement in the original recipe. I don’t know about you, but at my grocery stores, sweet potatoes can range in size from modest potato length to absolute colossal monstrosities. I genuinely cannot tell you what an “average” sweet potato would look like. So, because I like you guys and want you to have consistent and out-of-this-world results, I forcedmyself to make this recipe again, only this time, I put the Floptimism spin on things.

Below is the recipe that I came up with, and I have to tell you, it’s truly wonderful. It’s sweet and creamy with a nice kick that will make you blink twice but won’t knock you flat off your feet. It’s easy and fast to make once you take care of cooking the sweet potato, which I baked while something else was in the oven about 2 days before I made the dip itself. This batch stretched for about 3 healthy servings for me, though you may be able to eek out a few more at a party. I’ve used it as a regular dip with apple slices and homemade cinnamon tortilla chips (brush a tortilla with oil, sprinkle with cinnamon, cut into wedges and toast until crisp; if you use a generous serving of oil they’re to die for but shh!); you could use it as a sandwich/wrap spread, mix it with yogurt or almond milk and top with oats or your favorite cereal, you name it. You could also swap out the milk for some yogurt for a thicker, potentially more condiment-like product. You guys, this is so much more than a dip. 

 

So now that you know how to make this dip, I expect each and every one of you to have a batch of it ready by Wednesday, when I’ll be back with the best overnight oats recipe ever – using a healthy dose of this dip as its base! Oh, and please also find time between now and then to enjoy a wonderful, sunny Memorial Day!

Lately, I’ve been shying away from actual recipes and increasingly drawn to taking inventory of my kitchen and figuring out what combinations of foods could produce something edible. Before moving out on Saturday, I had been getting a lot of satisfaction out of taking the odds and ends ingredients and foods from my apartment that I was trying to use up, and turning them into something interesting. Some of my attempts were admittedly better than others, but one of my favorites was this peanut butter spread/dip. I tend to pair my peanut butter with sweeter foods – fruit, yogurt, and chocolate more than anything else – but every once in a while I like throwing my taste buds a curveball and tying in some more savory flavors to a peanut butter meal, which is exactly what I did for this spread. I made it two ways – first as an actual spread and the second time bulked up with some yogurt to make more of a dip, and both were equally delicious. The spread is perfect for sandwiches, pancakes, or vegetables; the dip is much creamier – vaguely reminiscent of a sour cream & onion dip – and would be fantastic with some fresh vegetables like broccoli or carrots. You may even want to toss it in some pasta with vegetables if you’re feeling particularly wacky. I’ve included both alternatives below, but only have a photograph of the dip. 

 

One Year Ago: Ridiculously Easy, Ridiculously Decadent Chocolate Peanut Fudge

May calls for the celebration of many things, one of which being salsa (presumably for the connection to last week’s Cinco de Mayo). I know I should be telling you about cute breakfast-in-bed ideas for Mom and showing you pictures of gorgeous bouquets made out of sugar cookies and fondant, but let’s be real – my life right now is not ripe with delicately rolled confections and custard soaked French toast with fresh berries drizzled over it. For me, this week isn’t the week before Mother’s Day – and that’s not to say that my mom isn’t one of my absolute best friends; this week is Finals week, the week before graduation, the week of moving out of my apartment. Let’s face it – my life consists of eating oats-in-a-jar unashamedly for dinner and hoarding extra bagels from a class bagel party last week so that L doesn’t starve to death when he comes later this afternoon to stay through graduation. I haven’t gone grocery shopping in almost 2 weeks. My cupboards have exactly 3 plates and 3 bowls in it. The only cooking utensil not packed away is a cooking spatula. I still haven’t figured out how I’m going to get my last remains of broccoli and pasta out of the cooking water tonight for dinner. It’s kind of amazing that I even know what I’m doing tonight for dinner. That’s what kind of week this is for me.

So forgive my lack of recipes that would make Martha Stewart proud. It isn’t that I don’t love my Mom or don’t hope that you have the most spectacular, wonderful-food-filled time on Saturday with your mom (or kids or nieces or aunts and grandmas). It’s just that right now, this week, this salsa dip is much more representative of my life, and I just don’t have the archived recipes to pull from to pretend otherwise. This salsa dip can hardly even be considered a recipe, which is exactly how practically everything that I’m throwing together this week has been as I attempt to clear out my kitchen as much as humanly possible before move out (and graduation!) on Saturday. There are 2 ingredients – salsa and plain greek yogurt – and it’s just about as versatile as versatile can be. The flavors depend entirely on the salsa you use – mine was an Autumn Harvest and it had a decent kick to it, but you could just as easily use a milder one or a salsa verde, or potentially even a fruity homemade one if you’re feeling really gourmet. However, I think there’s something to be said for the texture of a more liquidy salsa, at least in the context of this recipe. The yogurt gives it an added creaminess and cuts the kick of the hotter salsas just a little bit.

I only made 3 tablespoons’ worth (⅛ of the recipe) and spread it in an omelet, serving it alongside a fair-but-nothing-to-write-home-about broccoli salad. It could just as easily be paired with fresh vegetables, your favorite tortilla chips (or, better yet, homemade tortilla chips), used as a replacement for ketchup or mayonnaise on your favorite sandwich – this is a condiment-dip, and should be used as such. The possibilities are endless, and it’s so crazy-easy to make that I almost can’t believe that this post is as long as it is. Don’t feel bad if you laugh when you read the recipe – at me, for being silly enough to devote an entire post to such a sorry excuse for a “recipe,” at yourself for not having thought of the combination sooner, or just in general because breaking your day up with a little laughter is not something you should need too big of an excuse for.

First and foremost, a huge congratulations to the three winners of my Balance Bar giveaway last week!

                Melissa C.

                Jordan

                “G” (I could not find an email address, G, so you have until tomorrow at 3pm EST to contact me

with your mailing address)

Thank you so much, everyone, for participating! I wish I could have given everyone a box just for entering. Winners have 24 hours to claim their prize before new winners will be selected (also via random.org).

Now that March is ending, I can’t deny any longer that it’s Spring. Everywhere I turn, there’s another reminder: the horrifyingly large bee standing guard at my car yesterday, daring me to come closer; the bin of scarves and gloves that I brought back to my parent’s house because I surely won’t need them at school anymore; the buttercups and crocuses peppering my backyard with color; and the buzz of Spring cleaning coming over both myself and the people around me.

In addition to the Spring cleaning I’ve been initiating throughout my room at home and my apartment at school, I’ve started another, much more daunting “Spring cleaning” task: sorting through the literally thousands of recipes that I have bookmarked. After several solid weeks, I finally eliminated all broken/dead links. Now, I’m moving back through my collection to figure out if I really, truly need every single one of these recipes after all, and recategorizing them to make it easier to search for recipes as I need them. I know that I have a lot of unnecessary recipes saved because so many of them are just minor alterations of others. A cinnamon sugar baked doughnut sitting next to a cinnamon sugar baked doughnut muffin. Twenty different ways to make a roasted tomato salsa. And dozens upon dozens of “recipes” that I really don’t need a recipe to rely on in order to make to begin with.

Recently, I bought a can of salmon as my main protein source for the week, and unearthed three “different” recipes to make using that one can. The first was called a “Wild salmon salad over greens,” and I paired it with a ginger dressing. The second was called “salmon stuffed tomatoes,” and I bulked the meal up a little (since it was really intended to be an appetizer) with a side of plain almonds.  And the third was a recipe for salmon burgers, which I slid into a wrap along with some greens and grated ginger. They sound like very unique recipes, don’t they? In truth, they might as well be the same darn thing, except one is plopped on top of mixed greens , another is spooned into a hollowed out tomato, and the last is shaped into patties and sautéed. These are the kinds of recipes I’m targeting with my Spring cleaning – it isn’t that they aren’t wonderful on their own or that I think one is less worthy; it’s just that I don’t need all of them taking up space in my bookmarks, when we really get down to it. Similarly, I couldn’t really justify taking up your time three times by splitting these recipes apart. Instead, I’m going to blend them together, marrying their flavors for you, and encourage you to try them as a salad, a stuffed tomato, or a sandwich – whichever you prefer. The filling is the base; how you present it to your guests is what makes it special.

 

Today is a big day for Floptimism. You see, today, Floptimism turns 2 years old! I can’t believe I’ve stuck with this blog for 2 years, when my childhood diaries consisted of maybe one half-hearted entry once every 6-8 months. But here I am – here Floptimism is – and for some reason not only am I still writing, but you wonderful people are still reading. I have to thank you for that, sincerely.

I considered baking a cake or some sort of extravagant dessert to share with you today in honor of Floptimism’s special day, but I have a slight problem in the dessert department – my freezer is stuffed to the brim with homemade desserts that I’m trying desperately to work my way through (such a burdensome problem to have, I know). My roommates might have a conniption if I tried to justify baking something new when our freezer just about turns into an avalanche of cookies and cakes every time you open it. I hope you understand. (And I hope that image of chocolate cake above wasn't too cruel of a tease!)

Instead, I have even bigger news – in honor of the two years I’ve been blogging, I’m moving over to Wordpress! I’m a little nervous to make the change – I don’t quite understand the ins and outs of the new site or the exact logistics of redirecting one blog to another, but I know that I’ve outgrown quaint little blogger. It’s time that I move on to greener pastures, so to speak, and I hope that you will be so kind as to make the move with me. For right now, I’ll still be using blogger, since I want to take my time and be sure that the transition is a smooth one. However, you can officially find Floptimism at floptimism.wordpress.com, and I will be sure to let you know when the move is complete. If anyone has any wordpress and/or blog moving advice, I would love to hear from you!

Now, onto the recipe that I do have for you today. I should correct myself, actually – I have two recipes, though only one is from Rachael Ray. The one from Rachael Ray – what she calls Herbed Chicken Tapas – is a nice meal. A standard meal, if you will. If you like rosemary and thyme, you’ll enjoy this chicken recipe; if not, well, maybe not so much (but you can certainly sub in whatever herbs you do like). The recipe didn’t call to marinate the chicken but I think I will in the future – I mean, why not? It couldn’t hurt.

It was what I chose to pair the chicken with that tasted truly phenomenal. The mushrooms were savory with a rich crunch from the pine nut, a slight cheesy flavor from the parmesan, and overall lightness that allowed me to enjoy each bite. I had a little too much filling for my tiny little mushrooms that I was trying to stuff, so I just piled it all on and had it overflow a little bit. That last part wouldn’t make for the cleanest eating process if you’re making them as appetizers (aka finger food), but I certainly didn’t care. I will definitely be making these again!

 One Year Ago: Sundried Tomato and Parmesan Scramble

Confession: I love the appetizer section of most casual/family restaurants. You know what I’m talking about – the mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, nachos, cheese fries, and every other artery clogging calorie bomb the establishment can think up. As much of a sweet tooth as I have now, when I was growing up, I was all about the salty-savory, and I haven’t lost that love completely. Unfortunately, although treating yourself to the appetizer section is perfectly fine every once in a while, it’s not something that you can really live on day in and day out. That means that one of my favorite things to do is take those dishes that have very few redeemable qualities aside from taste, and turn them into meals or dishes that can legitimately be a part of a healthy diet – and not just once in a blue moon.

For the super bowl, I made “healthified” nachos. I was a little overambitious with the serving size, and in the spirit of the game I devoured the entire plate, so I don’t know that how I ate them constitutes as healthy, but the actual ingredients are perfectly nutritious. I layered lime-flavored tortilla chips with homemade vegetarian refried beans, fresh pico de gallo, sliced avocado, scallions, and some nutritional yeast flakes instead of gobs of shredded cheese. I dolloped my plate with some plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and went to town.

The nachos were so good! Spicy at times, creamy and fresh-tasting with every bite – you really feel as though you’re eating something that couldn’t possibly be healthy for you, but I can assure you, it is. There’s protein, healthy fats, fresh vegetables, fiber – and an enormous dose of flavor. I know we’re now past both the super bowl and the Oscars, but you shouldn’t feel like you need a special party to make them. Please, please don’t let that stop you!

In T minus 7 or 8 days, millions of Americans will be staking their claim on their favorite sofa cushion and turning the television on to the Superbowl. Many will be having parties, and I’d venture to guess that nearly all of them will be chowing down on some serious eats. I’m not a big football fan myself (I’m trying, though – I now understand what a down is!), but I still can’t wait for next year when L and I are less than 250 miles apart and I can cater the Superbowl party he throws every year.  I’m bursting with creative and fun riffs on Superbowl classics (for example, the Buffalo Chicken Wing Cupcakes I recently stumbled upon and am practically crawling out of my skin to try), but for now, I’ll have to stick with the brainstorming.

Just the other week I had half of an avocado and some leftover black beans that needed to be used up in the fridge, and I thought a little twist on guacamole would make a good, light lunch. I was also dying to crack open this new bag of lime flavored chips by Food Should Taste Good that I snagged at Whole Foods that have – get this! – a whopping 5 grams of monounsaturated fats per serving. Sure, it means they’re not as low calorie as dipping a stick of celery into this already modestly caloric dip, but they sure do help me reach my goal of 20 MUFA’s per day in a new and delicious way. If you haven’t tried the brand before, I’d definitely recommend it, and this coming from someone who’s really not big on chips.

 Photo Source: foodshouldtastegood.com

As for the dip, it was definitely a win (or, should I say, touchdown?). There was a tiny bit of a kick but it was mostly just creamy and full of smoky cumin goodness. It was colorful and healthy, but totally indulgent enough to stand up against the formidable wings, enchiladas and meaty chilis it’s likely to compete with come Game Day. Guacamole is a great dip to offer because even though it does have some calories and fat (which might help keep you full and prevent you from overeating), they’re awesome calories and fat, and you can work in some servings of veggies while you’re at it. So whether you’re in need of a good Superbowl treat or, like me, you just feel like having a dip around, definitely try this one out. I’m pretty proud of it, at least!