Starving Artist

The start of 2010 brings a whole new slew of New Years resolutions. I’m willing to bet that more than half of you have resolved to start living a healthier lifestyle in the coming year, and eating healthier is one way to do that. I’m a big believer in substitution, not deprivation. You can still have your favorite comfort food, guilt-free, if you make some simple swaps!

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Calzones are one of my favorite guilty pleasures, but thankfully with substituting some of the key ingredients, it can actually be quite healthy! Go with whole wheat dough, instead of regular pizza dough, and look for lower fat versions of your favorite savory stuffers.

Here’s what I decided to use:

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Ingredients:

• 1 bag (1 lb) of whole wheat pizza dough
• 3 cups of part skim shredded cheese (I used a cheddar, monterrey jack and mozzarella blend)
• 8 oz of fat free ham
• 1/4 cup of pepperoncinis
• 1/2 cup of roasted peppers
• 1/4 cup of low fat parmesan cheese
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/2 tsp oregano

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The first step is to cut of the ham and peppers into bite-sized pieces.

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Mix all of the filling ingredients together in a large bowl.

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Roll out the dough onto a cookie sheet, and top with the filling. Fold up each of the ends of the dough so that they cover the filling. Pinch to ensure the filling doesn’t leak out.

This recipe will leave you with about 1/2 cup extra of the filling. Save that for a round #2 recipe of a Spiced Up Chicken Cordon Bleu Rollup (I’ll post the extremely easy instructions later this week with photos when i make it :)  )

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Top with a sprinkling of cheese.

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Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

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Let the calzone cool a bit, and then slice and serve!

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Really good!!

Happy New Year everyone :)

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At the end of a very long week, it’s always therapeutic to enjoy a fun Friday night out with good friends. Three of my friends were coming over for dinner after work, and we thought we’d check out Cafeteria for dinner ($20 for $40 worth of food thanks to Groupon!) A pre-dinner cocktail was definitely in order. I had been hearing so much buzz around the limited edition Absolut Boston, so I picked up a bottle of my way home from work.

You may have seen the ad…

…and obviously know the history of the Boston Tea Party, so it’s not a big surprise that Absolut decided “black tea” was the essence of Boston. The very sippable vodka is delicately flavored with black tea and elderflower and seems that it would mix well with a variety of different flavors. Try out some of these combinations that I found on the Absolut Boston Facebook Page:

• Absolut Boston Home Run – Vodka, white grape juice, and ginger ale
• Absolut Boston Mojito – Vodka, lime juice, simple syrup, soda water, and mint leaves
• Absolut Boston Tea Party – Vodka, lemon juice, and simple syrup.

Check out their page for more recipes!

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I was so excited about trying the vodka, that buying something to mix it with completely slipped my mind. So I just served it chilled and mixed with water, and it was still really great (although I mayyyy have had a heavy hand with the vodka and made my friends a little nervous. Although, they finished the whole drink, so it must have tasted good!).

Stomachs a-rumbling… we walked down Newbury to make our 8:00 reservations at Cafeteria. It was apparent once we walked in that reservations weren’t really necessary, as the place was on the empty side. After taking our seats, the menu perusing began.

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Right away I knew I wanted the grilled cheese with tomato soup. Call me 5, but it seemed like the perfect meal for a chilly night!

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Disappointment started to set in around bite #2. You’d think that a grilled cheese that boasted a variety of stellar cheeses would be… well… cheesy. Not this guy. the tomato was the star of the show, and it pretty much lacked any sort of flavor. Unfortunately, the tomato soup was even worse. It had a canned sauce taste, and just really wasn’t satisfying.

Bummer.

At least my martini was good.

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Actually, I lied. It wasn’t.

I learned tonight that I don’t like dirty martinis, no matter how hard I try to get myself to like them. Aw well.

HOWEVER, my company was FABULOUS. We had a wonderful time together, and even conjured up a blog idea that I think would be really entertaining. We’ll see where we go with that…

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When I was younger, the mere utterance of the word “brussel sprouts” would cause me to hide under the kitchen table. Now that I’m past the age of being petrified of vegetables, I really don’t understand why they get such a bad wrap. How are they any worse then peas or (shudder) cauliflower? As my taste buds began to change and my palate expanded, I began to really love the little green gems (now I’m on to discriminating against cauliflower… go figure).

Trader Joe’s had beautiful fresh brussel sprouts, so I picked up a package when I was there this weekend. Three minutes in the microwave and they were good to go. Quick and easy, and they still had a crisp bite to them (not at all mushy).

For lunch today, I made an impromptu brussel sprout salad. I toasted up cubes of the Cranberry Almond Cornbread that I baked yesterday to make croutons, and tossed the 2 ingredients with the Apple Cranberry Chutney from TJ’s. Yum.

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For dinner, I took the leftover sprouts and sauteed them with a basic margarine, salt and pepper mix. To accompany the leafy greens, I cooked up a simple weeknight shrimp scampi. So tasty, and done in the time it takes to cook the pasta! I put some whole wheat penne on the stove to cook, and in the meantime sauteed some shrimp, along with the following:

• 2 tbsp of light margarine
• 3 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp white wine
• a pinch of parsley, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste

I took the shrimp off the heat and stirred in 1 tbsp of fat free half and half. I drained the pasta, and then added it to the pan along with the shrimp and sauce.

A sprinkling of Parmesan shavings (well, more than a sprinkling… we all know I’m obsessed with Parm), and dinner was served!

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Time to watch Hell’s Kitchen and get a little work done. Tennille and Suzanne really need to go!! I go back and forth between Kevin and Dave for the win… gotta love Dave’s monotone voice. Do you watch? Who’s your favorite for winning?

Going to see Eric Ripert tomorrow at the MFA! I can’t wait… getting slightly giddy :)

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Every Sunday night I try to cook up a batch of something-or-other so that I don’t have to make lunch or dinner for the next couple of days. This week I had those cherry heirloom tomatoes to play with, as well as the pesto and marinara sauces that I made yesterday. I knew I had some chicken in the freezer, as well as some whole wheat couscous and brown rice.

What to make… what to make…

My mom recently bought me a cast iron grill pan that I had been desperately wanting (thanks mom!), so I decided to test it out by grilling up the tomatoes and chicken in a simple coating of evoo, s + p. Yum.

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I had 2 sauces to choose from, and was being very indecisive about which one to use. Obviously I ended up making 2 dishes so that I could use both of them. Since it was pretty much an exercise in mixing and matching, it was a culinary breeze once the key ingredients were prepped and grilled.

The first dish consisted of balsamic chicken with tomatoes and a creamy pesto couscous.

I drizzled the grilled chicken with balsamic vinegar. So simple, yet soooooo good. The couscous was a little experiment that luckily turned out really well (although I think I ended up eating half of it before I could portion and store away for lunches. Dangit.). Here’s what I did:

• Combine 1 cup of whole wheat couscous with 1 cup of water and 3 tbsp of pesto.
• Bring to a boil, then remove from heat, cover and let sit for 5 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed.
• Stir in 2 tbsp of part skim ricotta, 1 tbsp of Parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, s + p to taste.

Voila! It was so creamy, with an almost risotto consistency, but took only 5 minutes. Love it.

The second dish was my simplified version of a chicken cacciatore (I guess you could call it that). All I did was mix together the chicken, rice, marinara sauce, and tomatoes. A hefty sprinkle of Parmesan cheese (clearly not shown in this photo. I load on so much Parm it’s embarrassing) and a dusting of parsley, and dish #2 was completed (and also my dinner for tonight).

And now I’m set until Wednesday! Gotta love it. I’m wishing it wasn’t already Sunday night – where did the weekend go?? I started watching that Georgia O’Keefe Lifetime movie, but it was terribly boring so I opted for the more intellectually stimulating You, Me, and Dupree.

Yawn. Bed soon.

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So while I love my job, I’m definitely not a big fan of working late (who is?). I’ve come to realize that in advertising a 9 – 5 schedule just doesn’t exist, but some nights it’s harder to stomach than most! Speaking of stomach, I was incredibly hungry by the time I got home, and was so far from harboring any desire to even press “START” on the microwave. I walked down Newbury Street to my old stand-by, Bottega Fiorentina. I’m sure I’ll end up posting – oh a million times about this fabulous spot on here. From the friendly staff, to the quick service, to the a-m-a-z-i-n-g Italian food, it’s just a drool-inducing little spot that has quickly worked its way into my Boston favorites (and is it sad that they know me there by name??). Their to-go bag says it all, “Every neighborhood should have a place like this.” I completely agree.

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The one thing I like about working late on Thursday nights is that Thursday is Bottega’s “stuffed shells” night. Ohhhh boyyy is this the best dish you will ever eat in your life. While I would stick my fingers in my ears and start singing loudly like a 5 year old if you were to tell me the calorie count in this baby, it’s worth it. The meat sauce is to die for, the pasta al dente, and the ricotta is so fresh and creamy. Trust me, go here on a Thursday night and you will be one happy camper.

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Paired with a much needed glass of pinot noir, I was in heaven.

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Slipping into a food coma now. Goodnight! :)

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