Carotenoids

Greetings!


Fall is here and so are the best flavors of the year. When dropping by World Market the other day to pick up this cute guy,

I went a little crazy with the annual beta-carotene display. My cart was filled with butternut pasta sauce, pumpkin gnocchi, and pumpkin ale (I had to stop myself at the sweet potato butter...food NERD). Some butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin granola from Whole Foods and I'm set for October.

 I've been reaching outside my culinary comfort zone to test out several new food products lately. Some recent purchases:
Shirataki pasta (tofu noodles!), Raisin and Cinnamon flavored mochi, and Seitan (wheat gluten that is really high in protein and tastes like meat).

I'll report back on the tofu noodles and mochi.

Seitan. Hm.

Cooked seitan. Hmmm.

Remember those herbs I talked about? I present to you fresh lavender and lemon balm that make my apt oh-so-aromatic.

 

I heart veggies. It's true.

 My other hearts:

Kicking off my shoes in the kitchen.

Going out with sweet friends

and visitors!

 my job!

Yeah! Burger

The DeKalb Farmers Market

Marcona Almonds (a newfound indulgence)

 AND

Voluspa Champaca Bloom and Fern room spray from Anthropologie 

What I've been cookin'

 

Black Bean Brownies. SO good. Really. 

My mom's bran muffins

Spinach and Barley Risotto (with Taro chips)

I only had red wine. Should have used white. Still not half bad.

Apple-Scented Oatmeal and Buckwheat

scrumpdidlyumptous

Amaranth Tabouli

Amaranth is kind of like quinoa-- it's actually a seed

Mushroom Couscous

King oyster mushroom. Come reign over your couscous kingdom.

Couscous, meet sauteed goodness. (They're soon to be married).

ta-da



Til next time, friends.

New place, new job, new grains

Hello friends.
So much has happened since I last posted! In the course of 3 weeks I accepted a job offer, passed the Registered Dietitian exam, moved to Atlanta and signed a lease on an apartment. Whew. I am just now starting to catch my breath.

I could not be more thrilled with how things are going-- I like the area, I like my apartment, I like my job. The details of my job shall remain nameless as I need not represent my company in any way through this blog, but I can tell you that the majority of my duties consist of cooking and educating people about food (=awesome). I work in a grocery store that sells only organic and natural products. Kale, tempeh and tofu noodles are commonplace terms there. My company is one of the top 100 companies in America to work for. Its flagship store in Austin is a Mecca to foodies everywhere. And it has been known to get real in the parking lot a few times. But I am in no way revealing who I work for. Nope.
All I can say is that I am loving my new job so far.

My friends, Kristen and Dara, and I at Seasons 52 one night in Atlanta. Both were visiting and both have now passed the RD exam, too!

I couldn't resist a pic. I visited The World Peace Cafe (Yes. Yes I did.) for lunch one day. This was a brown rice and veggie bowl with tofu hearts!!

Before I embarked on this new journey, I decided to test out some new foods with which I did not have much previous cooking experience: green lentils, bulgur, barley and wheat berries. Here is a recipe for a Barley, Lentil and Spinach Salad I tried out. It was really good-- my dad and brother asked for seconds if that is any proof*.

*my father and sibling are not regular consumers of unusual grain/legume products...

Barley, Lentil and Spinach Salad
recipe courtesy of "Dinner with Julie"

I used diced, canned tomatoes instead of fresh cherry tomatoes. I also omitted the feta cheese. And I used lemon juice instead of balsamic in the dressing.

Be sure to rinse off those lentils!

I added in the tomato juice as the lentils and barley cooked to give them a little extra flavor.

You could use basil instead of/in addition to spinach for some extra flavor.

The garlicky lemony olive oily dressing was what made this salad. We served it alongside a veggie dinner of grilled summer veggies, spinach salad and warm French bread. Bon appetit!

The combo of the lentils + barley creates a complete protein (proper proportions of all of the essential amino acids your body needs to do its thang!). Plus, between the barley and the lentils, this salad is chock full of fiber. Healthy and delicious :)