Radicchio Pizza and Kale Salad

A little over a year ago I bought Alicia Silverstone's Book The Kind Diet. No, it is not a dieting book. One of the first things she emphasizes is that the word "diet" used to mean lifestyle. The book is essentially a guide to omitting all animal based products and "nasty foods" from your diet. This includes dairy, honey, refined sugars, processed or bleached flours, or anything that our bodies aren't made to digest. The book has three levels: Flirt, Vegan, and Superhero.

A year later, I remain a flirt - I dabble in the vegan pool, seeing if veganism and I could be a good match, but I've made no commitment. As a superhero, one would follow a macrobiotic diet. It seems complicated, but Alicia (we're on a first name basis, duh) swears it just takes a bit of planning and getting used to. I loved this book because it's encouraging and presents the facts to you, but it doesn't make you feel like a bad person for only being a vegetarian or even for eating meat. Her claim is that if you try it, you'll feel a million times better and you want have the urge to go back. Along with factual information on digestion, and the meat and dairy industries, Alicia has a ton of recipes classified as vegan or superhero. There is also a companion website called The Kind Life which is kind of like a blog, but it focuses on user interaction.

Crunchy, soft, tangy, and sweet.

Crisp, crunchy, yummy!

Anyway, I passed the book along to my friend Ashelen who was interested in becoming a vegetarian. She was just as excited as I was to read the book for the first time. It's always easier to make a change like this when you have someone doing it with you. We decided to make one recipe a week from the book. Did it work? Well no, we are college students and we're really busy. But we did make the Radicchio Pizza from the book (with our adaptations) and my Aunt Stacy's Kale Salad. It was a lovely vegan meal.

Radicchio Pizza alla Alicia Silverstone

Kale Salad 

Radicchio Pizza
Serves 2

1 package of pizza dough (I buy mine from the Pizza counter at Whole Foods)
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 head of radicchio
1/3 cup olive oil
handful of fresh basil leaves
1 large garlic clove
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 415 degrees

1. Roll out pizza dough and place on a cookie sheet lined with a silpat or foil.
2. Prick dough with a fork a few times. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
3. Place balsamic and brown sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. Bring to a rolling boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer until reduced by half - it should be syrupy and thick.
4. Meanwhile, chop radicchio into thin ribbons and place in a large bowl. In a blender, combine olive oil, basil, and salt. You are not making pesto, you are just making a basil flavored olive oil.
5. Pour basil oil over radicchio and toss to coat.
6. When pizza crust is lightly browned, pull out of the oven. Top crust with dressed radicchio and return to oven for 4 minutes. When the radicchio is slight wilted and warmed through, remove from oven.
7. Drizzle radicchio with balsamic reduction. If you want, you can top the pizza off with diced roma tomato and some chopped basil. Serve immediately.


Kale Salad

1 bunch curly kale
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoons brown sugar (usually honey, but we're trying to be vegan here)
1 handful craisins, or golden raisin
1/2 cup toasted almonds


1. Wash and dry kale. Cut away it's tough stem and rip kale into bite sized pieces.
2. Whisk vinegar, oil, and brown sugar together in a pyrex measuring cup or a bowl. Add craisins or raisins to the dressing and let it sit for 10 minutes.
3. Pour dressing over the kale in a large salad bowl and let sit for about 5-10 minutes (the vinegar will help brake down the toughness of the kale).
4. Top with chopped toasted almonds. Yum!

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Goat Cheese

Last weekend I made a delicious recipe I'd found that very morning for two very sophisticated and special people... my best friend Sara and her boyfriend Nick. They'd up come to visit for the weekend from LA. I couldn't decide if I wanted a sweet or savory breakfast (but, when don't I have this problem, really?) so we made a little bit of both. I came across an index of brunch recipes on Oprah's website and one of them was for baked eggs with goat cheese. They were great; soft but with texture, savory but not salty, and filling but not too heavy. While our banana oatmeal cooked we got started on the baked eggs.

Simple, delicious, and so flavorful!

If you have individual ramekins, this is a great brunch recipe for entertaining because it looks a lot more complicated than it really is. It's also pretty easy for a regular morning, but it does take about 15-20 minutes from start to finish. The first time making these we made them in a regular cereal bowl and to my delight the bowls did not crack in the 450 degree oven! Since then, (I've made them two other times in a week) I've been making them in a bowl designed to make baked apples in - a birthday gift from my friend Drake (Thanks, Drake!). It's been working perfectly.

They go great with some toasted sourdough!

Reppin' Caty's C teacup. See you in 4 hours!

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Goat Cheese
Serves 1

Ingredients

2 large eggs
A handful of loose leaf spinach (about a cup)
1 tablespoon softened butter
1 clove garlic
1 oz. goat cheese- crumbled
1 oz. shaved parm, romano, or other hard cheese.
Basil for garnish

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
1. Chop spinach into 1/2 inch squares. Mince garlic. Spread butter at the bottom of ramekin. Sprinkle minced garlic over butter and place spinach on top of butter. Place dish in the oven for about 5 minutes (don't worry if the oven isn't to 450 yet, it's fine).
2. Take dish out of the oven and stir around the spinach so it is all coated in a bit of melted butter. Crack eggs over spinach. Sprinkle goat cheese and parm over raw eggs. Place dish on top rack of oven for about 11 minutes.
3. When the eggs are done, they should look white, but still jiggle a tiny bit. I like to broil mine for 45 seconds to get a crust on top.
4. Take eggs out of oven and let them sit for a minute or two. Don't forget that the dish is going to be extremely hot. Sprinkle chopped basil over the top and eat immediately!

Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Continuing on with the breakfast theme... more than a month later... I want to share a wonderful recipe with you all. I've made these about 4 times now and each time they are absolutely delicious. I had an intense craving for apples and cinnamon in a pancake about a month ago. It's funny because I used to hate cinnamon, but now I love it! I googled "whole wheat apple cinnamon pancakes" and this is the recipe I found on food.com. Below is a version of the recipe with my tweaks. Enjoy!!

Don't mind my veggie bacon :)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Pancakes
Serves 6

2 cups whole wheat flour (I recommend King Arthur

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 ½  teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups nonfat milk (I used almond milk, I don’t drink cow’s milk)

2 tablespoons honey or brown sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium apple, grated (I used granny smith)

1.       1. Combine dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk through to get rid of lumps.

2.       2. Combine ingredients egg through apple in a medium sized bowl. Mix thoroughly.

3.       3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Let batter sit for 5-7 minutes.

4.      4.  Heat a large nonstick pan over medium to medium-high heat.  The pan is hot enough when water sprinkled on it scatters and disappears within seconds. When the pan is hot enough, spray a scant amount of nonstick cooking spray.

5.       5. Pour batter onto the griddle using a 1/3 cup measure. Tilt the pan around to evenly spread batter. When bubbles start to form around the edges, the pancakes are ready to flip (about 4 minutes). Flip and cook on the other side for about 3 minutes or until the pancake has reached a desired color.

6.       6. Serve with maple syrup or a sprinkling of powdered sugar and cinnamon. 

Raspberry Ricotta Pancakes

There's something about pancakes that have ricotta cheese in them that are just so delicious. Almost every recipe I've seen for ricotta pancakes uses whipped egg whites to lighten up the ricotta. What you end up with is a tiny little souffle. These are not meant to be thin pancakes like I usually like them. Ricotta + egg whites = fluffy. My housemate Ashelen and I saw this recipe in Glamour Magazine's May 2011 issue. They're called "Love You" Pancakes and they are so yummy. Lucky for us, the day we decided to make them it was beautiful out so we enjoyed them on our patio with a warm cup of coffee and a little music.

Fluffy heaven.

Raspberry ricotta yum!

These would be great for mother's day, easter morning, or just about any other special day. The great thing about these is that you can practically substitute any other fruit for the raspberries, just cut it up into small chunks. I love maple syrups with fresh berries or chunk fruit preserves mixed in which is why I chose to add some leftover raspberries to the syrup. Always heat your maple syrup up. Nothing can ruin a hot pancake, waffle, or piece of french toast more than cold thick syrup.

Happy Spring!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did!

Raspberry Ricotta “Love You’ Pancakes

Taken from Glamour Magazine- May 2011

Serves 4

1 lemon

1 pint plus ½ cup fresh or thawed frozen raspberries

1/3 cup plus 1tbsp. granulated sugar

2 cups AP flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tbsp. baking powder (not a typo, yes a tablespoon)

1 cup low fat or part skim ricotta

1 ¼ cup low fat milk

4 large eggs, separated

1 cup real maple syrup

Preheat oven to 215 degrees.

1.       1. Working over a bowl, use a grater or microplane if you have one, to zest the lemon. Be careful not to remove any of the bitter white pith.

2.       2. Add the raspberries to the bowl containing the lemon zest. Stir the 1/3 cup sugar, gently crushing the raspberries with a spoon. Don’t crush too much, you want chunks of raspberries. Set bowl aside.

3.       3. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, 1 tbsp sugar, and baking powder). In a third bowl, beat the ricotta cheese with the milk and egg yolks. Add the flour mixture to the ricotta mixture and stir until just combined. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

4.       4, Meanwhile, place your maple syrup, ½ cup berries and a squeeze of lemon juice in a small sauce pan. Simmer over low heat until you are ready to eat.

5.       5. Beat the egg whites with a handheld mixer until they hold soft peaks. Next, gently fold the raspberries with their juices into the ricotta batter. Lastly, fold in the egg whites. Little clumps of white are perfectly fine- you don’t want to over mix or your pancakes will be tough and not fluffy.

6.     6.   Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle pan over a moderately low heat. Melt a little butter or spray a cooking spray in the center of the skillet. Line a baking sheet with a silpat, tin foil, or parchment paper.

7.       7. Spoon the batter directly over the melted butter or oil.

8.     8.  Cook each pancake until the bottom is golden brown and the bubbles on the surface begin to break, about 3 minutes. Using a spatula, quickly flip the pancakes and cook on the other side about 2 minutes or until golden.

9.      9.  When each pancake is done, place it on the baking sheet and put it in the oven. This will keep all of your pancakes warm as you cook the rest of the batter. This way you will be able to eat with all of your hungry guests all together. 

Mediterranean Couscous

This dish is great to bring as a side dish to a barbecue or potluck. It's full of flavor, different textures, and can easily be adapted to how you like it. If you're not vegetarian chicken broth would be a perfect liquid to use for this, or even add little bits of roasted chicken to it.

Mediterranean Couscous

Couscous is super easy to make, I think it's almost impossible to mess up. I used whole wheat couscous from Trader Joe's, but any couscous will do. It makes TONS. I swear it makes like 10-12 servings depending on how big you make the portions. And it's so full of color... after all we eat with our eyes first. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Couscous

2 cups dry whole wheat couscous

2 cups vegetable broth

2 tsp olive oil

1 ½ tsp cumin

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup cubed butternut squash

1 can garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed)

¾ cup craisins

1 carrot (peeled, and finely diced)

1 zucchini (finely diced)

2-3 cups baby spinach leaves

Olive oil and lemon for garnish

Goat cheese crumbles

Preheat oven to 400 F

1.       1. Place cubed butternut squash and garbanzo beans in a casserole dish and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast uncovered for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, chop carrot and zucchini. Wash and dry spinach.

2.       2. When there is 10 minutes left on the squash, bring vegetable broth, olive oil, cumin, and cayenne to a boil in a large pot. When at a rolling boil, slowly pour in couscous and stir with a fork. Remove from heat, cover with a lid, and let sit for 7 minutes.

3.       3. When squash is done, using a cutting board, fork, and knife, cut squash pieces into dices the same size as your carrots and zucchini.

4.      4.  Fluff couscous with a fork. Add all veggies - including spinach – garbanzos and craisins to the couscous. Stir around to wilt spinach and get some heat on the veggies. Feel free to add a few drizzles of olive oil to help the spinach along. Place top back on pot and turn the heat on a very low simmer.

5.      5.  Leave the simmer and top on for about 5-8 minutes. If serving in individual bowls, garnish with a dash of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, and a little bit of goat cheese crumbles. Toasted chopped almonds or cashews will also add a great crunch to the dish.

Unique New York

 Mmm I’m sitting on my bed eating a vegan blackberry muffin that Tristin and I just made, while listening to my honorary little brother’s fabulous new mashup mixtape thingy on SoundCloud (yay, David!). And in the midst of all this excitement, I’m reminiscing on my recent trip to New York, counting down the months til I can move there. So this trip was essentially a foodie adventure in that – I kid you not – all I did was eat eat eat.  Let me break it down for you…

Looking out over Union Square

 Tuesday night- Dos Toros: Basic Burrito with Guac. This burrito rivaled the size of Chipotle’s which I never ever finish but Sara gave me fair warning that there would be no trace of this burrito except in my full belly. She was right – as usual.

Wednesday: Sara started us off right with a shared scrambled egg with spinach, onion, sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese. Then we walked to City Bakery and got coffees, a pretzel croissant, and a raspberry bran muffin. She went to class and I watched a few episodes of Sex and the City at her apartment to pass the time and get excited for the upcoming week. I met her at ‘Wichcraft, a sandwich place (sandwich- ‘wich…get it??), and got a roasted eggplant sandwich with chickpeas, watercress and balsamic vinaigrette on toasted ciabatta bread. This sandwich was so different and one of the yummiest things I’d had in a while. I want to figure out how to make it at home. After lunch we walked through Dean and Deluca, which was basically food torture, then to the Met. After night yoga at Yoga To The People, we walked a few blocks to S’mac.  S’mac is a little restaurant that serves mac and cheese. We got a Spanish one with manchego cheese, fennel, and onion, and a Mediterranean one with spinach, goat cheese, tomatoes and kalamata olives. We were so pleased that the fennel flavor was mild because we’re not exactly part of the fennel fan club. THEN (!) I happened to have run into my childhood best friend within my first 5 minutes at Sara’s apartment so I met up with Tammy for dessert Wednesday night. We went to Spot, a dessert bar, and got some crazy good tapas style desserts. They were a yuzu Eskimo, a chocolate truffle cake with green tea ice cream, and a white miso cake with passionfruit sauce.

Raspberry Bran Muffin, Soy Au Lait, Pretzel Croissant.

The most wonderful food creation to date.

Warm eggplant and chickpea sandwich.

Cookie sandwich!

Yuzu Eskimo

Truffle Cake with Green Tea Ice Cream

White Miso Cake with Passion Fruit Ice Cream.

 I’m actually a little bit embarrassed after writing all of that out. Too much food!! (wait what?)

Thursday: We made Challah French toast Thursday morning with a gorgeous loaf of challah we bought at the green market in Union Square. We also made a berry sauce with blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries reduced down with a little sugar and orange juice. Sara went to class and I watched more Sex and the City. After class we went to John’s Pizzeria of Bleecker Street (Ohhhh my GOD) and had the best pizza of our entire lives. We shared a 14 inch pizza with cheese and basil and ate the entire thing. Yep three slices each for two little ladies… and we didn’t think twice about it. We’re a big deal. Since it was about 5 pm when we had the pizza, we decided to have a late (and semi-healthy dinner) at an Indian Restaurant called the Royal Bangladesh. We shared a Vegetable Kurma which is mixed veggies in a really mild yogurt sauce, and coconut samosas. It was good, nothing too special but I’d like to look up some recipes for the yogurt sauce.

Challah French Toast.

The pizza I wish I could have at any given time.

Friday: We skipped breakfast because we woke up a little late, and I met up with my Uncle and good family friend Jason at Artichoke’s Pizza. They are famous for something quite the opposite of a classic new York pizza: a thick crusted pizza topped with artichoke dip. You could tell by looking at it in its creamy fatty glory that it is not at the top of the healthy food chain. We got a wedge of it which was a quarter of a normal pizza and cut into teeny slices. We also shared a salad that had a super delicious dressing and a bunch of veggies on it. In the late afternoon Sara’s and my friend Michael came into the city so we all went to a Venezuelan restaurant called Caracas Arepa Bar that made fantastic arepas! I had one with guayanes cheese, avocaco, and fried plantains which was exactly like the one I get at Coupa Café at home. Sara and I also shared one with black beans, sautéed peppers and onions, and some kind of cheese. Oh! And a coconut milkshake thing! After dinner we walked down the street to Butter Lane which is an adorable and homey little cupcake shop. They only make 3 types of cupcake and you can choose between about 15 different frostings. I got banana cake with chocolate hazelnut frosting and Sara got chocolate cake with espresso frosting.

Arepa with Black Beans, Cheese, Peppers and Onions.

Arepa with Fried Plantains, Guayanes Cheese, and Avo.

Banana Cupcake with Choc. Hazelnut Frosting!!

Butter Lane's fantastic variety.

Saturday: The three of us had brunch at Essex, a really cool restaurant with tons of natural light and tall ceilings. I ordered a salmon scramble with onions that came with a toasted bialy and a mixed green salad. It was simple, relatively light, and just what I was looking for. We spent the day doing various things around the city and did a lot of walking! It was so nice out that day, a perfect little Saturday. We took a collective nap in the afternoon and geared up for a delicious Chinese dinner down the street at a restaurant called the Cottage. I had sweet and sour prawns with broccoli and brown rice. I could go for another plate of that right now. Strangely we skipped dessert…

Salmon Scramble, Salad, Bialy, Potatoes.

Sweet and Sour Prawns with Broccoli.

Sunday: The day of rest. That’s fitting actually, because we went to this adorable Latin restaurant with tons of opened windows for brunch. It’s called Esperanto which is some variation of the verb “to wait” in Spanish. I had huevos rancheros (sadly with no avo) and coffee. This brunch was so relaxed and gave me the chance to reflect on my wonderful spring break. Before leaving town, Sara and I walked back to City Bakery so I could grab a pretzel croissant for the plane. I’m so glad I did that, it was a very long plane ride. 

Take me back, please!

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

Back in the day, I used to walk to a little French place called Cafe Marley that was around the corner from my high school. The food wasn't amazing, but their French onion soup was so so good. I'd never had it before Cafe Marley so I was delighted to see my bowl covered in melty-crunchy gruyere cheese! I stopped eating red meat after my freshman year of high school so my year long love affair with French onion soup (traditionally made with beef stock) came to a bitter end. Last March (2010) I stopped eating all meat except for fish so my recent craving for French onion soup could not be made with chicken stock either. I searched foodgawker for a vegetarian French onion soup recipe and I found this little gem...

mmm mmm mmm

A note on stock vs. broth: Usually with meat versions, there is more meat and bones used in a stock than in a broth so it has a richer, deeper flavor. With broth, there is less meat and bones used so the broth could be eaten on its own without being over powering. When we're talking about vegetable stock vs vegetable broth, there isn't a huge difference but I have noticed that the veggie stocks I've found at the market are a little more flavorful. The one I used in this recipe (sorry, forgot to write down the name of it) was an organic one in a white and green carton and I think it had a lot of mushroom infused in it because it tasted really meaty. It was good, and perfect for French Onion Soup.


Yes, chopping the onions is a bitch of a task but it's so worth it. And this soup only took about two hours from start to finish whereas most French onion soups take hours (cooked low and slow). If you're eyes are sensitive to onion, you might want to invest in a pair of onion goggles (no really). My eyes are shielded by the brilliant suctioning action of contact lenses so I always offer to do the onion chopping because I don't like to see my friends cry :). I've also heard that touching cold stainless steel helps. What do you do to block out the onion tears?

So many onions!

The recipe calls for white wine but I'm 19 and I didn't want to go bug my neighbor to buy me a bottle. Their suggestion was to use no sugar added white grape juice in place of the wine but I didn't want to buy that either because I wouldn't drink the rest and they only had huge bottles. So I googled "white wine substitutes" and the best one I found was for a 1/2 cup) to do 3 tablespoons of vinegar, 1 tabelspoon lemon juice, and the rest water. It worked out great, it didn't seem to be missing anything at all.

Vegetarian French Onion Soup

(Makes 4-6 servings)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 large onions- peeled and thinly sliced (I used yellow onions)

2 tablespoons of water

Salt + pepper

½ cup nsa white wine, white grape juice, or replacement

3 sprigs fresh thyme

6 cups vegetable stock

1-1inch slice of crusty bread, cubed, per bowl

¼ cup freshly grated gruyere cheese per bowl

Directions

1. Put butter, olive oil, sliced onions, water, and a few pinches of salt into a heavy bottomed soup/ stock pot. Put a lid on the pot and let onions sweat over medium heat for about 10 minutes. They should be beginning to look translucent.

2. When the water has evaporated, remove the lid and turn heat on low, stirring often. The onions will begin to caramelize, it will take about an hour.

3. When the onions are an amber color, add the grape juice, thyme, and stock. Season with salt and pepper. Let this simmer with the lid off for 15 minutes.

4. In the last five minutes of the simmering, preheat your oven’s broiler. Ladle soup into oven proof bowls. Top with cubed bread, then grated cheese. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and place on top rack of oven under broiler for about 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it – there’s a fine line between crisp and burned!

Mich's Maccs

Dear world, 

I have a confession to make. I’m in love. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I now have something to come home to everyday, something to console me when I’m upset, and something to calm me down when I’m stressed. Yes, it’s true: RISH LOVES MICH… Mich’s Maccs that is. Michelle Goldberg’s gorgeous macaroons are pure, delightful love.

Milk Chocolate

If you’re a fan of traditional coconut macaroons you need to order yourself some of these. I’ve never had one so perfectly crispy and crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. My method of choice for eating a macc is quartered straight from the fridge. Michelle recommends eating them room temp, chilled, halved quartered, whatever you like as long as you share always. I may need to go back to kindergarten because I’m having a tough time with the sharing part. There are only 6 in a bag (and yes you might think I’m crazy for using the modifier “only” before the number 6 when you see the size of these, but once you taste one you’ll understand why) and I don’t want to share! But I’m a nice gal, so I did it, I shared. I offered each of my housemates a few bites which is almost worse than not sharing at all because it’s not nice to tease.

I admire Michelle’s company for its luscious simplicity. Coconut and chocolate mixed with a community support and passion. Michelle has mastered the macc and she’s spreading the love all around New York. Mich has been maccing since 2008 when she started selling the maccs at local stores around her home in East Hampton. Eating one of these maccs is like feeding your soul. Having my first macc not only satisfied my sweet tooth, but it put me in a good mood for the rest of the day. Anyway, the need for maccs is spreading to the city where they will be sold at Macy's starting in April! Just in time for passover, or a perfect gift for your Easter Dinner host. I hope the maccs make it out to California and everywhere in between because it is imperative that everyone has the chance to try a macc. For the time being, you can (and should!) buy your maccs online at michsmaccs.com. I wouldn’t recommend buying only one bag because you’ll regret it. You’re going to want two bags minimum.

White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate.

Another thing I love about Mich’s Maccs is that they are gluten free. Celiac disease is a serious problem in today’s world where seemingly everything is made with various types refined flours. There are many gluten free alternatives to flour and while many are just as delicious as wheat flour, others can turn out to be heavy, stodgy, or just wrong in flavor. But you know what, Celiacs deserve a delicious treat, too! Mich’s Maccs are the proof to all the nonbeliever that every delicious baked good doesn’t need flour at all!

"Crunchy, Chewy, Chocolate, Coconut Heaven."

Mich's Maccs donates 10% of proceeds to a program called i-tri that "is an inclusive, community based intervention program that fosters self-respect, personal empowerment, self confidence, positive body image and healthy lifestyle choices for at-risk adolescent girls." How great is that?? Just another reason to support Mich's Maccs. At only  $11 for a bag of 6, or $16 for a pound (about 10 maccs), you really can't go wrong. I get the impression that Mich's Maccs is all about positivity, passion, and community love. It's so wonderful to see this kind of business in the hustle and bustle of our modern society.

My favorite so far is the dark chocolate – after all that’s my favorite kind of chocolate – because the bittersweet taste of the Belgian dark chocolate balances out the sweetness of the coconut. That moment when you bite into one and the chocolate cracks and then your teeth sink into the heavenly fluffy coconut…wow. Have you ever heard of world peace cookies? Well, I think Mich’s Maccs just upped the ante. 

Notes on a Berkeley

It started with La Note. One of the most comforting brunch places I've ever seen. Decorated in a true French provencal style, La Note has stolen my heart. There's something about seeing brunch items such as "Fresh Bread Basket served with lavender honey and raspberry jam" that puts me in my happy place. The simplicity of a warm croissant smothered in jam and a steaming cup of coffee... it's perfection. Did I order that? Well, no. How could I pass up luscious, fluffy, sweet Oatmeal and Raspberry Pancakes?? After all, I was only there for a day! I planned on eating my pancakes and getting an almond croissant to go to munch on throughout the day. Didn't happen. I was too full. Anyway these pancakes were amazing. Dark and slightly doughy, covered in a swirl of raspberry coulis and powdered sugar. Caty got the Cote Nord- scrambled eggs over chewy toasted whole wheat bread smeared with goat cheese. That came with potatoes (big chunks of roasted red potatoes!) and roasted tomato halves. Très bien! We were full, but this was only the start to our day of gluttony.

Oatmeal Raspberry Pancakes

Cote Nord

We walked around Telegraph for a bit, stopped into Buffalo Exchange where I found a cute silky best-friend-approved top (slated to make its debut in New York in 3 weeks) and a black Proenza Schouler Jacket for only $16! Crazy! We also went to Fourth Street and walked around for a little bit. The shops were adorable. That's where Bette's Oceanview Diner is, a place that apparently makes delectable souffle pancakes that I'd seen on Diners Driveins and Dives before. I stopped into Chocolatier Blue, a fancy lil sweets place, and got two chocolates. One was hazelnut and the other had an angel food cake filling (almondesque)- both very good.

Hazelnut and Angel Food Cake Chocolates

We raced back to Shattuck Ave. to get to the Cheese Board Collective in time to meet our friends and house mates (Tristin and Ashelen) who were in Berkeley for their A Cappella Competition which was the whole reason we were in Berkeley. Cheese Board is a worker-owned and run pizza place that serves one vegetarian specialty pizza per day. The ingredients are locally sourced and organic. Yesterday's pizza was with roma tomatoes, mozzarella, feta, caramelized onions, lemon juice and zest, and cilantro. They are open for lunch, close for an hour and a half, and open again for dinner. The lines are loooooong, but it goes by quick since there's not much on the menu. We were greeted by our friends sitting outside and a "Guys, cheese board is closed" from Marjorie who happily finished her last bites of pizza and salad. We thought that they closed from 3:30-5, but it turned out they closed from 3-4:30. Whoops. We decided we'd come back for dinner. I went into Cheese Board's bakery and cheese store next door to grab a loaf of bread and I made the day's happiest discovery. Cheese Board sells Labneh. Cue the ear to ear smile on my face. Labneh is "kefir cheese" which is basically really thick unsweetened yogurt. At Sara's house, I gladly help myself to a bowlful of labneh drizzeled with olive oil, salt, and zaatar eaten with toasted pita and/or lavash. Good luck getting me to share. I crave it all the time, but they don't sell it anywhere in Santa Cruz so I had to buy one. I also got a blueberry ginger scone because, well... why the hell not? The scone was perfect with its crunchy outside, soft inside and chunks of crystallized ginger. Skipping ahead a little, we went back to Cheese Board for dinner and it hit the spot. One of the best Pizza's I've ever had. A thin crispy crust, but still a little chewy. No sauce, all toppings. Bright flavors. Oh yeah, baby.

Our glorious pizza.

Crystallized Ginger chunks in my scone.
Don't mind my gross nails.

Gimme gimme.

Cheese Board's kitchen and patrons.

Going back to 3pm and our disappointment at missing lunch, Tristin, Caty and I went to College Ave to grab some lunch for Tris before she had to go to campus for sound check. We got La Mediterranee (or Cafe La Med), but just a lentil salad because we wanted to save our appetites for dinner later. The lentil salad was so good! I have no idea what kind of lentils these were but they were really big, and light in color. The salad had roasted red and yellow peppers, tomato, and carrot in it. The dressing was lemon and olive oil I believe. The inside of Cafe La Med was super cute, tons of tile, an open kitchen, and high ceilings. I totally forgot to get pictures, sorry! The menu reminded me of the restaurant I worked at over the summer, Sunnin Lebanese Cafe.

So now it's 4:15, we drop Tris off on campus, run around town a little bit and meet Caty's friend Katrina for our splendid and overdue pizza date at Cheese Board. When we left the restaurant, the line was winding down the street, almost around the corner. The people of Berkeley need their pizza! We had some time to kill so we drove up to the Lawrence Lab to gawk at the most spectacular view of Berkeley. It was clear last night and we could see everything. We could see the ocean, the Bay Bridge, and Golden Gate Bridge, and the lights across the bay in San Francisco. It was finally time to go see the girls sing and they did such a great job!! After the competition Caty and I stopped for one last Berkeley treat- King Pin Donuts in the Asian Ghetto. The only donut I really like is a cake donut with vanilla frosting and rainbow sprinkles (which is weird because I don't really like sprinkles). King Pin had exactly what I wanted, but it was half rainbow sprinkles, half coconut!! I was so happy. We ate our donuts in the car and drove back home to  relax after one of the longest, but best days we'd had in a while. The day ended with a smile, just as it started with one.

Congrats on your first ICCAs girls!

A pancake induced smile.

Heart Shaped Pizza

Continuing with the Valentine's Day theme from my previous post, Ricotta Pound Cake, I want to share with you all one of my passions. PIZZA. I'd say my pizza passion started last year when my friend Rosy and I realized you could buy fresh pizza dough from Whole Foods for 2 dollars per dough. We'd go a little crazy with our Friday night pizza and trashy tv nights. I know some people have a weird aversion to Whole Foods because it can get a little pricey, but do not buy Trader Joe's pizza dough. I repeat- don't do it! It's good for making soft pretzels (just roll it into a thin log, make a U shape, and cross the sides over) but it is extremely hard to stretch into a pizza. The Whole Foods dough is made on site, packaged as you order it, and fluffy as a cloud. But what does this have to do with Valentine's Day? My house mates and I invited some friends from the next block over the day after valentines day for pizza making, and we ended up making heart shaped pizza! It was adorable. The one wrong thing that happened this night was that neither Whole Foods, nor Trader Joe's had basil in stock. I couldn't believe it. But we made due on the Margherita with dried herbs.

Heart Shaped Margherita.

Our favorites are...
Goat cheese - with sundried tomatoes and carmelized onions (cooked beforehand). No sauce, just a drizzle of olive oil
Margherita - the real way with buffalo mozzarella, slices of tomato, and basil (sauce optional)
Veggie- orange pepper, mushroom, spinach in the sauce
Mexican- drained and rinsed black beans, corn, chopped cilantro, pico de gallo, mozzarella and/or cheddar, and a squeeze of lime (no tomato sauce)
(the pictures are out of order)

The Mexican

Veggie

Goat cheese.

Rosy and I watched a youtube video on how to stretch a pizza dough by hand and it gets easier with time, but some parts are going to be thinner than others if you're amateur like us. I recommend using a rolling pin until the dough is about a foot in diameter, then lay the dough over your knuckles and turn it around until it gets stretched out. Always flour both sides of the dough and your work surface. The best thing to do in terms of cooking it is to heat the oven to 450. If you have a pizza stone, through that baby in there while the oven heats up. If not, throw a heavy cookie sheet in there for 10 minutes before putting the dough on. This will help the dough get nice and crispy on the bottom but stay soft inside the crust.

When you're putting sauce on, remember that no matter what, a crust will appear. Don't leave a one inch margin around the edges to form a crust, you'll end up with a 2 inch crust. Spread the sauce and toppings to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch away from the edge. Cooking times will vary, but ours usually take about 15 minutes. If you have two in the oven at once, switch the racks half way though so that the bottom of the lower pizza doesn't get charred. At the end, if everything is done but you want the cheese to brown and bubble, pop that sucker under the broiler!

This weekend Caty and I are going to Berkeley to see Ashelen and Tristin's (our house mates) A Capella competition. As excited as I am to hear them sing on a real stage, ever the foodie I'm just as excited to eat at two great restaurants that Caty has raved about for the year that I've known her. The first is Cheese Board Collective, a vegetarian pizza place and bakery that serves one pizza a day. This Saturday it is "Roma tomatoes, onions, mozzarella and feta cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic oil, cilantro." YUM. The second is La Note a classic provencal restaurant- definitely want to try the pain perdu or pancakes there. More posts to come. Happy eatings!

Ricotta Pound Cake

When I was little, my aunt Stacy would throw Valentine's Day tea parties for my cousins and their friends. They were always so much fun. We tried to act fancy as if we were British or something, ha! To this day I smile at the idea of tea parties, or having tea with someone. It reminds me of this. Well, being in the middle of midterms, I wasn't about to throw a Valentine's Tea this year, but in the spirit of vday I made something that pairs perfectly with tea- a Ricotta Pound Cake. I'm so glad I stumbled across this recipe on Food Gawker. God Bless whoever started the gawker websites. If you're ever feeling uninspired, just go look at one of those and your eyes will be opened. Anyway this recipe comes from the blog My Kitchen In The Rockies.

More please!

This pound cake is one of the best I've ever had. It's moist, it's flavorful and pretty easy, too. The original recipe calls for whole milk ricotta which I felt guilty buying. I think the cake would do fine with part-skim because it was super moist with the whole milk ricotta, almost too moist. The 2 or 3 slices from the middle of the cake were doughy in the middle, but I couldn't bake it more- one, because it had already cooled and you can't really go back after, and two because the outsides were already perfectly browned. I didn't want to burn it! Other than using part-skim ricotta, my other note would be to add lemon juice and zest. Lemon in vanilla based things is perfect, it adds a little bit of brightness that the final product might otherwise be lacking. I still had those meyer lemons my boss had given me that I used in my Lentil Salad with Avocado and Grapefruit. I used the zest of one medium sized lemon, and about a tablespoon of the juice. I resisted the urge to put a little almond extract in these, it was tough, but I made it through. If I keep putting almond in everything I'll be known as the almond lady. Could that be worse than being the bag lady?

Always let it cool completely or the bottom wont come
out of the pan! Unfortunately, I know this from experience.

Ricotta Pound Cake

Makes 1 loaf pan

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cup fresh whole-milk ricotta
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Zest of one lemon

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) and place rack in center. Grease and flour 9-inch loaf pan.

1. In medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, cream together butter, ricotta, and sugar until smooth and light.  Beat in eggs one at a time, scraping sides of bowl after each addition.
3. Split a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the blunt side of a small knife, then beat them into the batter along with the vanilla extract. If you don't have one, just use another teaspoon of vanilla extract. Add vanilla extract, lemon juice, and lemon zest.
4. On low speed, beat in dry ingredients to combine them, scrape down sides of the bowl, and beat the batter for 30 seconds on medium.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap pan on counter a few times to remove air pockets.
6. Bake in preheated oven for about 60 minutes. Allow cake to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then invert it on wire rack to cool completely. Do not slice until completely cooled. Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.

**My cousin (more like my sister) just gave me the idea of using this in a trifle. My aunt (her mom) makes a trifle out of a cubed Sarah Lee pound cake, layered in a trifle dish or a big glass bowl with sliced strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Pound cake, strawberries, whipped cream, repeat, repeat, repeat. She's right though this would be fantastic. If you want to stick with a lemon theme you could also fold a little bit of lemon curd into the whipped cream. In the summer you could do a berry mixture, peaches, mangoes, whatever you like!

Enjoy!