Comfort Food

To me, comfort food is fruit. Lots and lots and lots of summer fruit. With yogurt. Here's what I've been eating every day for nearly the past week as I study for the upcoming bar exam. You'll notice it's the same every day (though I've broken from it once or twice)--once I figured out a menu that includes some of my absolute favorite food treats, I decided to stick with it, so I get plenty of treats in my study-filled day. Plus then I make sure to eat enough (I have trouble eating enough sometimes if it's hot or I'm anxious), and it helps me avoid stress stomachaches. This is what makes me happy!

Breakfast: bowl of Kashi GoLean, berries or nectarine (cut up, obviously), skim milk. I love Kashi GoLean. If you know me, you know that. Plus it is high protein!

All Day Long: many glasses of iced Red Zinger or Raspberry Zinger tea. Yum.

Lunch: Smoothie!!! Usually frozen mango chunks, nectarine, lots of plain yogurt, a little milk, and a teaspoon or so of rosewater. Thick, so you have to eat it with a spoon. Also, two Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran & Whole Wheat Flour mini pitas, toasted with butter--bought them once by mistake, and they're actually way tastier and softer than regular pitas, while at the same time being quite low in calories and very high in protein and fiber.

Mid-Afternoon: Chocolate break! One square dark chocolate. Yay.

Dinner: Tomato salad (a cut up tomato or a bunch of cut up little tomatoes, one sliced green onion, sometimes some basil, a drop of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt). Then pasta with Parmesan (a good three tablespoons' worth). Then, a bowl of fruit (blueberries if at all possible), with a nice spoonful of plain Greek yogurt and honey!







Late Evening: Chocolate, and wine. Then bedtime.

Repeat the next day.

Summer Spicy Chicken Salad with Rice

Yum. Nice cool chicken salad. Cilantro. It's a meal-in-a-bowl.

Summer Spicy Chicken Salad with Rice

1 1/2 cups of the green sauce listed here, or a little over 1 cup of this green sauce with 1/2 cup coconut milk stirred in (if you have the second handy one in the freezer)

2 cups cooked basmati rice or other long grain rice
3 chicken breast halves, poached and diced
3 cups diced green cabbage
2 diced scallions
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients, using enough sauce that it is quite moist but not mooshy or runny. Chill. Eat.

Serves 3-4.

Amazing Summer Tofu Salad

Wow. This is good. It's really hot today, and as I was studying this afternoon I was thinking about what cool and delicious yet filling dinner I wanted. And thought this might work. AND IT DOES. Soft, fresh, and crunchy all at the same time.

Amazing Summer Tofu Salad

1 container firm or extra firm tofu, well drained and cubed
3 cups diced green cabbage (can be roughly diced--I'm not a good dicer)
1 lb frozen peas
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
3 green onions, white and half the green part, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
salt to taste


Boil water in a saucepan. Cook the peas about three to four minutes, until just hot through but not yet wrinkly.
While the peas are boiling, combine yogurt, vinegar, oil, fennel seeds, and salt; mix thoroughly.
When the peas are done, drain them and rinse immediately with cold water to cool them. Combine tofu, cabbage, peas, and yogurt mixture in a large bowl. Toss well to coat. Taste, and add more vinegar if necessary.
Garnish with chopped scallions.

Serves at least 4 as a main dish.

The idea of this was that it is fairly bland, but you could add some cilantro, some hot jalapenos, etc to spice it up a little.

Deep Dish Nectarine Cobbler

This is not very different from the other cobblers I've already posted, but it was the first time I'd made an all-nectarine dessert in some time. Turns out, much as I love nectarines, I like pies/crumbles/cobblers better if there are some berries in there too. Still, not bad.
Make sure your nectarines are dead ripe, or they won't get soft enough by the time the topping is cooked. And use more nectarines than you think are necessary!

Deep Dish Nectarine Cobbler

1 recipe cobbler batter (using rind of one whole lemon instead of half; ok to substitute light cream for heavy cream)

Filling:
5-7 nectarines, sliced medium-thin (not peeled)
3 tbsp-1/8 cup sugar depending on how ripe they are--taste and check
2 tbsp flour or cornstarch
1 tsp orange blossom water (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix filling ingredients in a small baking dish (somewhere in the neighborhood of 6x6, but any shape). Using your fingers, take pinches of batter and cover the top of the fruit; it should be a little over 1/2 inch thick, and there should be almost exactly enough to cover the whole top.

Bake until the top is golden, about 40-45 minutes.

Serves 3-4.

Freeform Red-Pepper Tart

This is a great recipe for summer, when bell peppers are under $2/lb. But it's what you would call a work in progress... Pretty good, and half of it looked great, but the other half unfolded on me (too much filling?). So next time I make it, I'll update the recipe. Really pretty, though! And surprisingly quick.

Freeform Red-Pepper Tart

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 packet active dry yeast
2 tbsp olive oil
about 1/2 cup warm water
dash salt
1 tsp sugar

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Let sit while you mix the flour, oil, salt, and sugar in a bowl. Stir in the water/yeast mixture with your hands until the dough comes together enough to knead; if more water is needed, add by teaspoonfuls. Dough should be neither sticky nor crumbly. Kneed about 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in volume (it's pretty hot here today so this took only half an hour). Punch down, knead a few times, and let rise again till doubled.
Filling:
2 large red bell peppers, coarsely chopped (I used 3, and it was too many--too messy to eat)
3/4 cup crumbled feta
2 two-inch sprigs fresh rosemary
1 tbsp coarse Dijon mustard
1 tbsp olive oil

Cook the bell peppers over high heat in the oil until they just begin to blacken, about 7 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave them in the pan, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, leave your plastic cutting board too close to the stove, so that it melts all over your stovetop (you can skip this step, of course).

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Knead the dough a few times to deflate it. Roll it out as large as you can, ideally about a foot in diameter. Spread the mustard thinly over, leaving a three-inch border around the edges. Pile the bell peppers in the center of the dough, again leaving about a three-inch border. Sprinkle the feta over, aiming for an even distribution. Tear the rosemary into small pieces and sprinkle over.

Fold the edges of the dough over themselves and over some of the filling, twisting the dough in paces to keep the dough in place. Fold it much farther over than you think is necessary, and pinch it to attach it to the bottom layer of dough.

Bake about 20 minutes, until golden and starting to brown in places. Let cool, at least a little, before cutting in slices and serving.

Here it is, unbaked:
Fold the edges more than that!!

Makes 4 large slices.