Creamy Bacon & Pea Orzo

Hi guys, I've been meaning to share this for awhile, but I've been in a strange limbo between the end of residency and the start of fellowship. The days of summer break are far gone,  but these past couple of weeks have been the closest thing we've had to those beautiful, uninterrupted 3-4 month stretches of break. I'll take it! 

We just had a wonderful weekend in Boston with my Dad, brother, and his girlfriend. It's these kinds of gatherings - plenty of good conversation and laid back lounging, that recharge us. I only wish we could all get together more often!

I was inspired to make this when I came across some spring pea recipes a few months ago. There's something about the bright green leaves on trees that makes me want to eat something that looks just as pretty and fresh. This rich pasta is such a great comfort food - loaded with veggies and a little bit of indulgence with bacon. It is of course, easy and quick to make. While the orzo cooks, simply prepare the sauce, and within 10-15 minutes, you'll be tossing the finished product together. If you want to make a double batch, I'm confident that this would freeze well and make for an effortless weeknight dinner down the line. 

Creamy Bacon & Pea Orzo

Yields approximately 3-4 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup orzo (uncooked)

3 cups water

4-5 strips bacon

1 cup frozen peas

1 large shallot or 1/2 white onion, diced

Parmesan cheese

Truffle oil (optional)

1 1/4 cups whole milk

Directions:

1. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add orzo and cook until al dente (approximately 5-7 minutes)

2. Fry bacon in a medium saucepan until crisp. Remove bacon strips from pan, chop roughly into small pieces

3. Cook shallot/onion in the pan with bacon fat for ~1 minute

4. Return bacon to pan, adding whole milk and frozen peas. Simmer until slightly thickened, approximately 5-10 minutes; see below for desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste

5. Once orzo is cooked, remove it from the pot and drain

6. In  a large serving bowl, combine orzo and cream sauce; toss to combine thoroughly

7. Top with grated parmesan cheese and serve immediately

I topped ours with a light drizzle of truffle oil - it was delicious! The truffle oil is completely optional - a simple dusting of parmesan is more than enough to bring everything together into a savory mouthful punctuated by the sweetness of peas. I hope you'll enjoy this easy pasta dish - thanks for reading!

-R

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The Big Island - Part II

We've been back in the States for about a week now. It's always weird making the transition back to work when you've been on vacation for several days, but I think I've snapped back to reality. Being on frozens shortly after our return certainly  helped rip me out of any lingering jet lag. I just wanted to share some of our favorites from the rest of our trip: 

Kula Kai Caverns: Located in the southwestern portion of the island, these caves are really a labyrinth of underground lava tubes that extend for approximately 30 miles. We descended into the caves and explored them for 2 hours with our guide Gary, who was so much fun and taught us so much about the history of the area and the native populations who used these caves for water collection, cooking, etc. We marveled at the adaptability of life when we saw ohia tree roots in the caves - truly amazing how living things will find a way to flourish anywhere, even on a desolate lava field! 

Entrance to the caves

Top left: Ohia tree roots, which grow straight through the ground into the cave, subsisting off of damp air 

Crawled through this narrow tunnel! 

Honu (sea turtle) napping on Punaluu beach 

Drive down to South Point 

We learned from our cave tour that the southwestern portion of the island has been very arid since 2008, when the crater floor of Kilauea (the active volcano) collapsed. Previously, the floor had been acting as a sort of filter for volcanic gases, but with its collapse, many more gases were released into the air, eventually affecting precipitation. As a result, this part of the island is actually under drought conditions. With the rolling grasslands and windswept fields, you could easily mistake this for part of the Midwest (until you see the ocean in the distance).

Mare and foal

Peace and quiet on the way to Naalehu

 Waipio Valley: We almost missed the short hike into this valley. We're glad we didn't. On the drive from Kona to Waipio Valley, we drove through Waimea, which is Hawaiian paniolo (cowboy) country. There were lush, green pastures and some very happy looking cows. When we arrived at Waipio valley and hiked down to the valley, we were rewarded with almost complete solitude on a pristine black sand beach surrounded by towering green cliffs. It was marvelous...and for reasons unknown to us, a local dog volunteered himself as our tour guide. He casually strolled a few steps ahead, patiently waiting for us to make the steep descent into the valley. If you're ever visiting the Big Island, do this hike on a weekday, and you'll likely have the place to yourself. It used to be a retreat for Hawaiian royalty, and today is a secluded, quiet farming area (lots of taro). We spotted a wild horse roaming.

Waipio Valley from above

Our guide dog

 We spent a lot of the latter half of our vacation doing water sports -  kayaking to sea caves, and an unforgettable snorkeling tour on a retired Navy Seal vessel, where we snorkeled with manta rays and spotted some dolphins. Seeing manta rays beneath us was surreal....they're so big and look like they're flying lazily underwater. If you're on the Big Island, I would highly recommend Wild Hawaiian Ocean Adventures. All of our snorkeling memories are on our GoPro camera, so I won't be able to share them here.

We spent the last few days of our vacation visiting some of the top beaches in the area. 

We enjoyed this beautiful sunset on our last evening in Hawaii. After that, it was a grueling 10+ hour flight back home. We are so thankful that we were able to take this refreshing trip together. Now we're re-energized and ready to tackle the next years of fellowship! 

Thanks for reading. I hope you've enjoyed some of the beauty we shared! 

-R

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Strapatsada

I love simple recipes, as you can probably tell by now. So when I came across Mark Bittman making Strapatsada, I knew I had to give it a go. Strapatsada is Greek recipe - essentially eggs cooked with fresh tomatoes. It's perfect for this time of year when stores are overflowing with beautiful, lavish red tomatoes. This is also a great recipe to have on hand when you have extra tomatoes you don't know what to do with, because odds are you have some eggs in your refrigerator. Other than that, all you need is some oregano, garlic, olive oil, and feta (if you like it). Not only is this simple and easy, but it's very nutritious and filling. I love the slight sweetness and tartness that the cooked-down tomatoes impart to the eggs (probably because my mom used to cook a similar egg dish with roughly chopped tomatoes). In keeping with the simplicity of this recipe, that's all I really have to say about strapatsada, so let's get started....

Strapatsada 

(from the NYTimes)

Ingredients

2 ripe, firm tomatoes

2 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tbsp oregano

4 large eggs, slightly beaten

1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Slice off one of each tomato. Grate both tomatoes, collecting the pulpy juice into a bowl. Discard the skins.

2. Heat a olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute, being careful not to burn it

3. Add the tomatoes. Cook until most of the water evaporates, for approximately 10 minutes. 

Before

After

4. Keeping the heat on medium-low, pour in the eggs and oregano. Cook the eggs slowly and gently - this will ensure that they form soft curds

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and top with grated feta if desired. Enjoy!

We ate our strapatsada with some basmati rice - probably not exactly traditional, but delicious nonetheless. These eggs can easily stand on their own but would be great with a hearty slice of bread too. Hope you enjoy them!

-R

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The Big Island - Part I

Aloha from the Big Island! We've been enjoying ourselves tremendously since we arrived. Being in Hawaii is such a sensory experience - the smell and taste of salt air, the breeze on our skin, the heat of flowing lava, the beautiful tropical flowers and music (especially the Hawaiian slack key guitar)....it's hard to capture it all via photographs or video. What it really is for us though, is a chance to quiet our thoughts and just soak in all the beauty together. It's so refreshing to be able to just sit quietly and just be here, away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital. We read the news, but it's minimal. I've heard my husband say a few things that I never thought I'd hear him say - i.e. "I'm actually kind of glad there's no internet in our room". If you know him, he likes to do things in a New York minute. 

We started off on the east side of the island, in Hilo. What you'll quickly discover is that the east and west sides of the island are completely different. The east is much wetter - a lush rainforest, while the west side is drier, with the classic beaches you think when you think of Hawaii. In the span of just a few days, we went from muddy rainforest to an otherworldly, space-like mountain peak (Mauna Kea @ 4200m), to beautiful pastureland replete with grazing cattle and horses, and to a beautiful green sand beach near the southernmost point in the country. Here are some of the highlights from the earlier part of our trip: 

Active Lava Flows - we hiked through the slippery mud and swampy rainforest for 6 hours (3 in 3 out) to get to the lava. Occasionally, you would get trapped in knee-high mud, which literally feels like you are standing in wet cement. It was all worth it the instant we stepped onto the lava flows - an alien, black steaming earth that was only 3 months old. A few minutes later, we saw active flows with hypnotizing, glowing lava flowing slowly at the leading edges - the red lava is estimated to be ~2000F! 

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - we spent a leisurely day here hiking the Crater Rim trail from the visitor center to the Jagger museum. We were here the day following our Mauna Kea hike (See below). We were pretty tuckered out from Mauna Kea, so we took it easy and admired the scenery at the national park:

O'hia Trees

Steam vents

Halemaumau crater 

Mauna Kea Summit Hike: This one was a monster. 10 hours - roughly 7 up, 3 down. We fueled up with the snacks below, plus sandwiches. I made fun of my husband for eating a bag of Chex Mix on the lava flow hike, but I ate my words when my body almost crapped out on me towards the end of the lava hike - it was getting late, and after repeatedly slipping and sliding through the forest, banging my feet against muddy pools of mystery depths, I turned into a not-so-nice, exhausted person. I learned my lesson and even ate some Combos (I seriously don't think I've eaten Combos since 1995). They may not be a nutritional godsend, but they will get you through a 10 hour hike. Thank you Combos!

We prophylactically took acetazolamide to reduce our chances of acute mountain sickness, knowing that we would ascend to 4200m in just a few short hours. We had done the same when we hiked in Peru 2 years ago. There, we reached nearly 5000m, but with a gradual ascent over a few days. I'm thankful for the experience we had in Peru - at least we sort of knew what to expect. The landscape of the Mauna Kea hike can only be described as extraterrestrial, with very little vegetation and mostly black and red volcanic rock. If you scroll down below and mentally subtract the atmospheric blue, you could easily imagine being on a different planet. To sum it up, we got to the top of Mauna Kea. There was 40% less oxygen than at sea level. We hyperventilated to compensate. It was one of the hardest things we've ever done. I was very drowsy by the time we were at the Keck Observatory (two twin telescopes), likely a combination of the 7 hours hiking uphill and the hypoxic environment. We high tailed it down the mountain in 3 hours. By the end, my knees were killing me. I cried when we finished. Then wondered why we couldn't be like normal people and just take a driving tour to the top of the mountain. But all the pain makes life sweeter, doesn't it?

Keck observatories are the double telescopes on the right

This is our favorite photo from Mauna Kea - credit goes to my husband

Shouldn't there be a little rover driving around?

           That's it for now - mahalo nui for reading! More to come soon...

-R

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Lentil Potato & Spinach Stew

     Happy Memorial Day Weekend! A couple of weeks ago, I was at Trader Joe's stocking up on snacks to bring along to Florida for my board exam. In a stressful haze, I impulsively bought a bag of pre-steamed lentils (because, why not?). Plus, everyone who has been to Trader Joes knows that it is impossible to leave that place without picking up a few extra interesting things you weren't expecting to buy (see lentils here). So, the exam came and went, and upon my return home, the lentils were sitting in the fridge unused. I hate wasting food, so I made note of the extra spinach we had and hunted for a recipe that would allow me to use both. I've always liked lentils (and my husband does too), but I've been too impatient to cook them from scratch (soaking them, etc). Armed with a pre-steamed version, I was ready to test them out. This recipe is adapted from Epicurious and is incredibly healthy and makes quite a large batch  - you will likely have leftovers. It's a great vegetarian meal (we ate ours without meat and with leftover naan), but could easily be served as a side dish with meat. With all of the fiber and protein in the lentils, this will keep you really full - and you can pat yourself on the back for being a dietary saint while you're at it ;)

Lentil Spinach & Potato Stew

Ingredients

1  17 oz box steamed lentils (Trader Joe's) 

1 can reduced sodium chicken broth (vegetable broth can be substituted)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chopped garlic

5 medium-sized red potatoes

3 1/2 cups packed spinach

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1 lemon

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat

2. Add garlic, stir 30 seconds

3. Add chicken/vegetable broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes

4. Add lentils, breaking part with a wooden spoon or fork. Cook for 3-5 minutes

5. Grate 1/2 tsp lemon zest and squeeze 2 tbsp lemon juice from the lemon. Add to pan along with spinach

6. Cook through until spinach is wilted. Enjoy! 

If you'd like to make this with non-cooked lentils, see the original recipe at Epicurious here.

Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying this beautiful weekend. 

-R

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Sweet Potato Fritters

It feels good to be cooking again! This is one of those one-bowl meals that are great for quick, breezy summer dinners. I'm still recovering from my post-boards mental fog - so, nothing too complicated for dinner - plus, I wanted to use up our hefty stash of leftover baked sweet potatoes. I was getting pretty tired of eating the sweet potatoes with yogurt, so it was time to mix them up - with paprika, chili powder, a coating of crunchy panko, and tangy, cool goat cheese on top. The earthiness of paprika and chili powder are a perfect complement to the sweetness of the potatoes. I wanted to add enough spice to really make these more savory than sweet. 

Sweet Potato Fritters

makes approximately 12 fritters

Ingredients

3 cups mashed sweet potato (cold or room temperature)

2 eggs

3 tbsp whole wheat flour

1/2 tbsp paprika

1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper 

panko bread crumbs

goat cheese 

Love these earthy colors

Directions

1. Combine all but the last two ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until thoroughly combined - the batter will be thick and slightly chunky

2. Spread a layer of panko bread crumbs evenly over a large plate. Here's the tricky part - take a heaping tablespoon of the batter and drop onto the bread crumbs 

3. Sprinkle panko crumbs over the top of the batter and flatten into a disc, approximately 1 inch thick (Note: you can make these fritters as large or small as you like)

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you have used all of the batter. You will likely need a second plate to hold all of the coated patties

5. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and lightly cover the base with olive oil. When the oil is hot, gently transfer patties to the pan (you'll need a large sturdy spatula because they're very soft)

6. Pan fry in batches, approximately 3 minutes per side

7. Top with goat cheese and serve immediately

This recipe is so versatile. If you love cheese, you could certainly mix it into the batter - or if you hate cheese, just leave it out completely (in the batter and as a topping). These fritters are great as a side, but can definitely stand on their own for a light meal on a lazy summer night. We'll probably enjoy our leftovers for breakfast, topped with a fried egg. 

Thanks for stopping by!

-R 

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Increasing Adiposity - Consequence or Cause of Overeating?

Picture from NYTimes

I'm back! I apologize for being MIA for the past month - I was simply held hostage by board exam prep.  In the interim, I've been (sporadically) cooking healthy but mostly uninteresting food - and I've been too tired to take any photographs. You didn't miss much. But with the exam behind me, and much more time and energy, I'm looking forward to whipping up some new stuff in the kitchen soon! 

I was browsing the news and just had to share this NYTimes article:  Always Hungry? Here's Why

As I read it, I cackled evilly because I finally have ammo against my husband's argument that "calories are calories". I've always contested this but never really had any solid evidence to back it up. This does not stop me from putting vegetables and fruits on his plate. 

Seriously though, the whole debate about weight, how to lose weight, why some people gain weight, why some lose weight, etc can be exhausting. Even worse, the dietary fads out there are just as short lived and fickle as fashion trends. I'm sure you've probably heard by now that "oh, guess what? Fat actually isn't bad. The low-fat diet craze of the 80's was actually harmful to us".  I wish people would admit the same about shoulder pads.

Realistically, there are million factors at play when it comes to weight and health. So no, we're never going to figure out exactly what gives. This NYTimes article though, is well put and refreshing. It summarizes a recent JAMA publication by David Ludwig and Mark Friedman, which suggests that the composition of food consumed is equally, if not more important than the standard "calories in, calories out" rhetoric. Of course, this isn't a radically new idea (other people have tried to champion it before, but largely failed), but it is gaining hold. The thing that puzzles me is - yes, intuitively, calories in, calories out makes sense. But doesn't putting good fuel in your body also make sense? Would you put some crappy mystery fuel in your car? Exactly. 

I'm not knocking the calories in calories out model (I'm sure it still holds true on some level), but like the authors of the JAMA article argue, focusing exclusively on calories may only be symptomatic treatment of an ominous underlying disease - the crap food that is ubiquitous in our environment. So if you needed another reason to eat better, I hope you're satisfied. 

For your reading pleasure, a link to the actual JAMA article here. 

Thanks for stopping by - let's catch up over some real food soon :)

-R

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