Spicy Broccoli Cucumber Noodles

A long overdue Pyaari date!

Franny's Penne with Zucchini and Mint

                 

I have fond memories of Franny's, so I was excited to learn that the restaurant had released a cookbook! Pasta and pizza for days! 

Easy Roasted Corn

It's August, and all of nature's summer bounty is filling our farmers markets (and our tummies)!

                       

Zucchini Pad Thai

Good for yer thighs! (Hardy har, I know you saw what I did there...)

 

A Banana Smoothie for Breakfast

Yay, a new breakfast recipe! I always bring breakfast to work (and my lunch, for that matter). Usually I bring in oatmeal with topped with chopped nuts and berries, but I needed some variety. I have mentioned how I started trying out some recipes from the Bon Appetit Food Lover's Cleanse, which is where I found this. I have to admit, the cleanse was a bit hard to follow when you are just cooking for one person. I ended up just picking 1-2 things I wanted for lunch and dinner and made enough to last a few days to get me through the week. This recipe was one of them, and is very quick to throw together.

Yes, a big change from the tasting menus and lamb loins.

Kulfi

Happy Diwali! What better way to celebrate than with some kulfi!

Quinoa, Black Bean, and Avocado Salad

I know - I'm over-doing it with the quinoa lately. I have a lot in my pantry and I'm trying to get rid of it, and I am trying really, really hard to eat healthy-ish.  With Caracas Arepas Bar and Milk Truck lurking nearby, it is pretty hard, but I've been doing okay.

Quinoa Pilaf

While I was waiting for my Physique class to start, I was flipping through the Physique 57 Solution book. I saw some inspirational recipes - including one similar to the recipe below for quinoa pilaf. 

When I got home, I searched for some recipes for quinoa pilaf and came up with a hodge podge of results. I mixed and matched ingredients that I already had at home. Super easy!

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Pancakes

Just in time for a lazy weekend ahead!

I hardly ever make pancakes in NYC, mostly because pancakes are a weekend thing, and I'm either not in town on weekend, or, I would end up with two dozen, and that is a lot of pancakes for just one person to eat. But, Nemo was scheduled to hit, and I was in the mood to splurge on a chocolate chippy breakfast, so voila!

Snowday + extra buttermilk left over from when I made the heart shaped scones = buttermilk pancakes!

Chickpea and Edamame Hummus

From time to time, I like to make my own hummus when I have enough of the ingredients sitting around. Home made hummus is the best! I picked up some mini pita breads and carrot sticks during my usual weekend run at TJ, the makings for a quick, perfect snack! 

Quinoa, Leafy Greens, and Bean Salad

The never-ending question I have is, "how do I cram as many nutrients into one meal to maximize my healthy stuff intake?". Very technical, I know. I'm still no expert at it, but I've read a lot about how quinoa is high in protein (which keeps you full for longer, supposedly), and we know that beans are high in protein too, so this started as just a quinoa and bean salad. I wanted to add something leafy to the mix, as my morning kale smoothies are not enough. Ok, so quinoa, leafy greens, and bean salad! 

Ricotta Hotcakes with Honeycomb Butter

My sister and I usually prepare a nice Christmas morning breakfast. Last year, we made doughnuts. This year, we wanted to do something a bit more low key and that did not involve warming large amounts of large oil. Pancakes!

Spinach and Fromage Blanc Gnocchi

My sister and I have tried our hand at gnocchi quite a few times. Sometimes it ends up great, sometimes, not so much. This time, we found a recipe that makes gnocchi out of spinach and cheese.
This recipe is from our New Brooklyn Kitchen Cookbook, which features a variety of Brooklyn restaurants / recipes. This particular recipe is served at Convivium Osteria, which, coincidentally, my boss' son recently wrote about on his food blog (sidenote: cute blog, right?)

My Beloved Kale Chips

Since November is unofficially VS Fashion Show prep month/tribute to flat abs here at Hom Nom, I am continuing on my quest to find healthier recipes. How could I forget my favorite thing in the entire world? Kale chips! I am in love with kale chips. I eat them as a side for dinner every night when I am at home.

I am gas-less in my apartment for the next two weeks, so I won't be able to bake anything for the time being. But, I am looking forward to going home for Thanksgiving and eating them to my heart's content.

Spinach and Beet Smoothies

Another breakfast smoothie to start your day right! And, it doesn't taste gross, I promise! Dessert Fest 2012 wrecked havoc on my tribute to the VS Fashion show/flat abs month, but it was well worth it. This week, I'm trying to get back on track to chock full of veggies and fruits prior to Thanksgiving. We all know I have no self control around delicious home cooked food, but my parents have a juicer so I am hoping to try out a few juice recipe while I am there. 

Post-Sandy Sandwiches and Cocktails

Well, I have my power back, but, I am still without heat, hot water, and gas. Since I could not really cook anything, Mai & Paul invited me over for dinner. They warned that they had to throw out all their food too, given the 5-day outage. I suggested something simple. Grilled cheese? Done.

After oooh-ing and aah-ing at the newest addition to Mai and Paul's family, a sweet, baby blue colored Le Crueset, we got to work at prepping. Paul ran out to get cheese.  We were dreaming of gruyere or emmentaler, but, the cheese section at Fine Fare was thread bare. Of course, the only thing New Yorkers want to eat after not having power for 5 days are fine cheeses and charcuterie. Of course. (Ok, to be fair, I'm sure that Fine Fare had to throw away a lot of cheese because of the power outage, and just didn't get a new shipment in yet).

{No fine fare for us! Photo Credit: Paul}

{Grapefruits ready to go!}

{A perfect pour}

{Keeping it classy with grown up martini glasses}

{I should never be left in charge of the cheese}

We devoured our grilled cheese sandwiches in the blink of an eye. And yes, that is in fact a yellow fever certificate in the background. You know, usual dinner conversation. We had a side of some roasted cauliflower as well, but I was too distracted by all the cheese to photograph it. I've had roasted cauliflower all week, yay!

Ok, I know this strays from my November is tribute to flat abs posts, but really, who doesn't love melted cheese and toasted bread on a cold winter-ish night? 

Open Faced Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, a Hom Nom/Mai/Paul original recipe

Serves 3

Ingredients

• A loaf of bread of your choice (I picked multigrain)
• Melt-y cheeses, could include any or all of the following: gruyere, swiss, cheddar, extra sharp cheddar, mozzarella, brie, etc. We picked up one block of extra sharp cheddar, one block of normal  cheddar and one block of mozzarella
• Red Onions, sliced into rings
• Tomatoes, sliced
• Olive oil and/or butter
• Garlic

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Set up one baking sheet with a silpat or aluminum foil. 

Mince the garlic. In a small pan, melt the butter and sautee the garlic (not too much or they will become bitter). Once those are done browning, turn the heat off (safety first!), remove, reserve. Heat up the pan again and brown your red onions. Remove from heat and reserve. 

Slice up your cheeses and tomatoes, and keep aside. 

In another small pan, butter the bread and begin to toast it to your linking. Remove from the pan, and place on the baking sheet. Drizzle the garlic/olive oil mixture on top. Top each slice of bread with some cheese (mix and match if you want to! we combined both cheddars together, and kept the mozzarella separate), the red onions, and the tomatoes on top. Bake in your oven for about 10 minutes (note: Mai's oven is really fierce - you may need more or less time so just check in on them.). Remove from oven, and cool slightly before eating. Best served with a Salty Dog cocktail (scroll down for the recipe)!

Salty Dog, recipe from Mai

Makes 6 cocktails (or, 2 rounds of cocktails for 3 people)

Ingredients

• Juice from 4 grapefruit (that should get you about 2 ounces of fresh juice per serving)
• 1/2 of a lemon, quartered for juicing
• 6-12 ounces of Vodka (essentially, you want 2 ounces of vodka per drink)
• Lemon peel for garnish

Mixologist Mai says "cooling the cocktail glasses first is always a classy move". So, stick your cocktail glasses in the freezer to chill while you prep everything else for your beverage.

Squeeze your grapefruit into a bowl or large measuring cup (i.e. a pyrex). Fill your cocktail shaker with ice. Pour the grapefruit juice into your cocktail shaker and shake, shake, shake.

Remove your cocktail glasses from the fridge and place a small sliver of the lemon rind in each glass. Using your juice squeezer thing, squeeze some lemon juice into each glass. Pour in the mixture from the cocktail shaker. Then proceed to get tipsy on Sunday night while eating grilled cheese sandwiches, repeating as often as necessary. 

Caprese Salad

I had basically a whole package of basil left over from my Aubergines & Quinoa dish, and I wanted a quick way to get finish it up. I knew I would be going to the farmer's market on Saturday, and would find some tomatoes, and some kind of artisinal mozzarella cheese or the other. My mind was basically made with what to make - CAPRESE SALAD! Done.

Aubergines and Quinoa

I have a few more weeks left of my 2012 CSA, and I haven't really experimented with eggplant yet. I found a great grilled eggplant recipe on Sprouted Kitchen, so I figured this would be a perfect attempt for me to try something healthy and get a variety of veggies into my regular diet (apart from my beloved kale chips). I actually dislike eating vegetables and I am on a quest to find easy and/or fun recipes in which I can cram in as many different types of veggies as possible without cringing. If I had my way, I would likely have the black label burger from Minetta Tavern (medium rare, of course) every night of the week.

P.S. I think that eggplant may actually be classified as a fruit.
P.P.S. Doesn't the word aubergine remind you of that yellow box of 64 count crayola crayons you got every year as school started again?

Guest Blog Post: Mango Cheesecake

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Today, we have one of my oldest friends, Avani, guest blogging for us. Avani and I have been friends since we were approximately 10 or 11. We met at a Diwali dance practice and have basically been inseparable since. No really. We could write volumes of books about our stupid inside jokes or silly things we laugh about and we are often connected through various mediums throughout the course of every day (gchat. email. text message. scramble with friends. phone. fb wall). Our favorite story to share with others is how, when we were 22 and visiting friends in NYC, Avani got a slice of pizza at that place across from Port Authority. I ate 95% of it, yet she was the one who ended up with food poisoning the next day. We also both share a deep love for the color pink, and the Middleton sisters. These days, Avani is a journalist based out of Seattle, and loves eating food as much as I do. 

Welcome, Avani! 

Sidenote: I have had this cheesecake before, when I was little and Avani's mom would invite us over, and I probably tried to ("stealthily") consume 100 pieces then. I'd still do the same now. 

Delicata Squash and Mushrooms

I had about 300 pounds of squash to use (from my CSA). The only squash I've really cooked with is butternut squash, so I wanted to find an easy recipe for my delicata squash.  In doing a quick search on my Epicurious app, I found a recipe that seemed both yummy and easy to whip together.

{Delicata Squash}