In the Kitchen: Favorite breakfasts

Some foods are plain delicious. We can't get enough of them, and besides, who says they can't be healthy as well? They get high marks on my chart because they are so easy to put together.  This is what we have been eating for breakfast lately, over and over.  Our top five in the home charts:

1.  Avocado and poached egg buttered toast with sauteed kale.

2.  Belgium waffles with raspberry jam and homemade whipped cream.

3.  English eggs (soft boiled) and buttered toasts (dunking is the best part!)

 4. Cream cheesed toast with strawberry jam, fresh strawberries and bananas. Optional:  maple syrup and powder sugar.

5. Low-fat vanilla yogurt with pumpkin granola and two servings of fruit

In the kitchen: Organic raspberry-yogurt pops

In the kitchen: Greek chicken wraps

I love Greek food, in fact, Mediterranean cuisine is my favorite cuisine. I grew up eating Lebanese food, so the taste of olive, eggplant, yogurt, mint, garlic, and lemon are with me constantly. The other day, I had an abundance of hydroponic Boston lettuce in the fridge, and immediately thought of something Greek, like these chicken wraps. Here's my recipe.

Ingredients

1 package of organic chicken breast tenderloins
3 limes or lemons
2 cups of yogurt
4 cloves of garlic
Greek seasoning (in a container)
1 cup of mint
1/2 cup of diced cucumbers
1 cup of cilantro leaves
1/2 cup of thinly sliced red onion (has to be red)
one package of Boston lettuce (or any other butterhead type lettuce)
salt + pepper to taste
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

For the chicken: Wash the chicken breasts in the juice of one lime. Take 2 garlic cloves and grate them, instead of chop them. This releases the juice and aroma much faster. Coat the chicken with the grated garlic and season with salt and Greek seasoning for up to one hour. In a skillet, heat up some butter instead of olive oil, which tends to splash everywhere when overheated in a skillet. Place your tenderloins and cook until the edges are white and the center is slightly pink (it means you are done cooking that side). Turn them and finish cooking the other side, about 8-10 minutes).

For the Greek sauce or dressing: In a food processor, place yogurt, olive oil, mint, cucumber, remaining garlic, and the juice of 2 limes, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. You can add more lime if you like it more citrusy. I personally do.

Wrapping: Take one piece of lettuce and layer it with one piece of chicken, a spoonful of onions, cilantro, and Greek sauce and take a bite! The crispy texture of the lettuce with the tangy-minty bite of the dressing paired with the garlic chicken makes this recipe extremely savory. And you can eat the entire badge, since there's no starchy carbohydrates anywhere. It's guilt-free and loaded with flavor.

And if you are still in the mood for more Greek, take a trip down to Santorini.  Liz's images and photos will blow you away.

Summer: Cold treats

I have been experimenting with all sorts of cold beverages, frozen pops and other cold treats this Summer.  One of the easiest thing to do is to fill your popsicle molds with your favorite beverages (juices, smoothies, iced coffee, yogurt, anything) and it's so much fun. Or you can create your own flavors from scratch using ripened fruit.  I used mangoes, cherries and raspberries, which I pureed with some sugar water and then placed into ice molds.  You can try a variety of treats.  Next week, I will make frozen yogurt pops. 

Food labeling

Let's talk food labeling.  Do you label your jars and containers?  I always did this,  even when it wasn't a trend.  There's something old village-like about food labeling, which makes me want to run a small market of homemade goods.  My current jars need a label makeover.  Now that I've repainted the kitchen in a beachy bright blue, I'm leaning toward chalkboard labels.  But I'm still wide open to other designs.
MY CURRENT JARS:

Browsing through Pinterest, I found inspiration for the new labeling system.  I could go with simple manila cardboard tags tied around with cord (1st image). Or I could also use a printable like this clear decal sticker (2nd image)  It's neat and more modern. But, I also love the rusticness of the Snapple jars labeled with simple off white painter's tape (3rd image).  And lastly, a twist on the chalkboard label: Painted chalkboard.  Find image sources at the bottom of each picture.

INSPIRATION:

Source: storagegeek.tumblr.com

Source: thepaintedhive.blogspot.com

Source:

Source: wisdomofthemoon.blogspot.com

How about you? Are you itching for a mini-makeover in the house? I will be posting my kitchen makeover soon.

Independence day + watermelons

4th of July flag via


What do watermelons and the 4th of July have in common? Well, they go great together, and the steaming temperatures we have been experiencing make this duo even more irresistible.  Here are two great watermelon ideas to enjoy during your BBQ, picnic or traditional grilling.  And happy and safe Independence Day to all!

Watermelon on a Stick via

Summer: Jacagua Hills

Remember the quiet Sunday we spent on my uncle's hillside home?  Well, I took pictures of almost everything. The hummingbird shots were taken this same day while the bird was humming alongside the pool. The post on the preparation of tuna tartare showcased pictures I took this same day. And finally, the pool photos, where Emilu decides she wants to come out of the pool by herself were also taken that day. Here are the rest of the pictures. It was a splendid day. Sunny and bright, even as the city below was covered in a torturous haze.

In the kitchen (with Instagram)

Today I don't have any recipes to post, but oh boy, aren't these photographs so enticing and brilliant?  The amazing food stylist and world traveler behind them is Marte Marie Forsberg, who runs a blog called  Le voyage creatif.  I recently started following her Instagram feed, and have never been so inspired on the subject of food and travel.  She's currently working on a assignment titled, 60 days of lunch, where she Instagrams snippets of her lunch, and so far she's gone from Milano to a town in Sweden and back to Olso, her howmetown. Her pictures tell a story about her day, her travels and her love of food.  She's like a personal travel guide with an amazing eye for food.   If you don't start following her Instagram, you will be missing on some of the most impressive and artful photographs.

All photos by Marte Marie

Keeping our cool

We are not melting yet.  Today's temperatures in the Northeast are hazing above 100s in some areas, this is how we are keeping our cool here in DC. Lemonade and tropical fruit bar are the perfect, refreshing snacks while soaking in the kiddie pool. Cheers and keep it cool!

How are you keeping it cool?

Chef Carlos prepares tuna tartare

My cousin Carlos is a self-made chef.  He loves cooking, and giving certain established dishes a funky twist.  On one of the weekends during my vacation, he decided to make tuna tartare with a Caribbean flair, knowing well that I'm a vegetarian, and not knowing that well, that tuna is one of my favorite fish, which I eat sparingly due to its high contamination with mercury, and its recent enviromental unsustainability.    But, I must warn you: I got so caught in the process of taking pictures (rookie me!) during its preparation, and then savoring the final result, that I forgot to take pictures of the served tuna. 

He uses orange juice instead of the traditional lime juice, and adds miso paste in lieu of wasabi. He also prefers celery over scallions, to give it more bite. We spreaded it over toasted casabe chips.  It was heavenly!