in the middle of what feels like the third week of finals
today: coffee smoothie – made a standard smoothie (strawberries, banananas, spinach, apple juice, no milk this time because I’m feeling sick) and added coffee.
so much stress makes it hard to eat
it wasn’t the best but at least it had coffee in it!
some days you just feel so cold inside, no matter how warm it is. (80F for the record). even though most of my friends at other schools have finished their finals, we still have two weeks to go, and that means it is CRUNCH TIME which is not so good for general happiness.
despite being warm, the weather doesn’t help
It was a rough day. But instead of coming home and collapsing for the evening, I only collapsed for about 20 minutes. Then I pulled myself out of bed, grabbed a can of black beans and went to the kitchen.
45 minutes later, I present to you:
The Best Beans I Have Made Yet (though that’s not saying much.)
They’re subtle but still flavorful and not too spicy. (I am really proud of the spices though – I’ve been shy with them recently, but this turned out really well!)
Cooking them for about 20-30 minutes leaves the beans softer but still holding their shape and texture, avoiding some of the overcooked sad that has left my pan. I apologize for the lack of measurements – this was kind of spur of the moment.
non-photogenic kitchen!
Ingredients:
Rinse yer beans – I don’t like the goopy stuff that comes with them straight from the can. I have a colander (actually we have three. thanks roommates!) but you can rinse them in a bowl and drain most of the water. Put the beans in a pot with some water. I used ~1/2 cup, but you could stand to use a little less. In any case, the beans shouldn’t be covered in water. You can always pour some out at the end though.
Add a “drizzle” of olive oil (this probably translates to about 1/2-1 teaspoon). Then libreally add garlic powder, paprika, cumin and oregano. I put in the most cumin and paprika and the least garlic powder since it’s pretty potent. They probably all came in around the 1/4-1/2 teaspoon range. The nice thing about these beans is that you can always add another can if it ends up too cumin-y or something. Also! add a dash of salt. Don’t be like me and forget.
Then let those lil fellas cook on medium heat for ABOUT 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
now then, chop your onion up. Add a little olive oil to the pan (enough to coat the bottom – for this reason, I recommend using a small pan). Put the onions in and let the whole thing sit over low-medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep them from burning. They should get soft and a little sweeter.
Taste it periodically, and eat it when the texture is good. We had it with mac n’ cheese because I didn’t have a burner for rice.
Verdict from Dmitry: “I did not expect to have such a delicious dinner tonight!”
wine pairing: just kidding, but it is nice to eat with guava juice
I gotta say, I feel much more cheerful now.
and it’s not even altered!
(some of the credit should go to David Bowie though)
there are a lot of downsides to living where I do, but woah the mangos are good.
We used to eat mangos with chili powder and lime when we lived in Mexico (Actually I refused to eat them with chili because I was a wimpy child). Delicious, easy and cheap if you know where to look.
Food makes up for a lot you guys (photo courtesy of Elena)
What is the perfect present to give on a budget?
Answer: food!
What are the things Dmitry likes to eat?
Solution: coconut cookies. If you have ever been to a Passover seder you are probably familiar with coconut macaroons, and they seemed like the perfect thing.
this kind, not the French kind
Our anniversary is in early January. It’s May.
These are very belated cookies.
I kept getting busy and putting them off – I know, not very nice. In my defense we did exchange other gifts, so it wasn’t like I forgot completely. But still.
See, we went to the aquarium
sting rays are so romantic
I finally got my act together after seeing smitten kitchen’s recipe for raspberry macaroons. It turns out my aunt had made them for seder and they received rave reviews. How could I resist? More importantly, how could he resist?
So this weekend I got to work.
Picture courtesy of my talented roommate
These cookies are very good – chewy and tangy, with a nice texture. The recipe is pretty easy and the ingredients are cheap aside from the raspberries. If you feel like an indulgence, this would be a good choice.
Raspberry Coconut Macaroons
ingredients
For this you need a blender or a food processor. I suppose you could do it by hand but it would probably be more effort than it was worth unless you really like macaroons.
Preheat the oven to 325°
Put the coconut in the blender. Pulse it so that it’s mostly broken up – you will probably have to blend it a few times, stirring it around in between. Add the sugar and the egg whites, blend until combined. You can add sugar to taste – the recipe called for 2/3 cup and I found them to be overly sweet.
Add the raspberries. Blend until the raspberries are mostly broken up. If you want you can take about half of the coconut mixture out beforehand and only add the fruit to half of the mixture – if you do this you can make pretty marbled cookies, but I didn’t bother.
Get a cookie tray and cover it with parchment paper*
*parchment paper is good for baking cookies and bread. If you don’t have it you can lightly grease the pan, but if you’re baking a lot it’s nice to have around.
Using a spoon, scoop the mixture onto the tray, forming them into little “haystacks” of about 1 inch.
pop them in the oven for 18-25 minutes. and then boom!
It’s cheesy but it went over well
deliciousness!
verdict: YUM
They may have been late, but Dmitry didn’t seem to mind.
two days later and they were all. gone.
happy anniversary!
(the other photos look a wee bit unappatizing, so use your imagination! or just go to smitten kitchen’s website)
collegekitschin 