Lentil Stew ( For Brigitte and my other amazing friends)

Lentil Stew.
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min to 1 hour ( mostly non active)

This is a really quick and easy meal that I picked up while I was dating the vegan this summer ( may that relationship rest in peace :-P). It literally costs about $3.00 to make, takes 10 minutes to prepare and will feed you for about a week if ur flying dolo like me or a about 4 meals if ur feeding a family. I tend to freestyle this recipe depending on what I have in my cabinets, but here are the basics.
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Tools needed: ( I'm an OT and I like to break things down into lists... forgive me)

-Pot with a top
-large wooden spoon
-Stove
-Knife ( I prefer my chef's knife)
-Cutting board
-Measuring cup
-Measuring spoons

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Ingredients

- 1 16 0z bag of lentils, rinsed and drained( get organic if you can, but steer clear of the store brand I've found that they are of cheaper quality)

- 1 medium onion

- 2- 3 cloves of garlic

- 2 tbs of Extra virgin olive oil

- about 5 cups of H20 or low sodium vegetable stock

***** You could add carrots and celery to this stew for added flavor ********


Spices:
Oregano ( 1.5 tsp)
Paprika ( 1.5 tsp)
Curry (1 tsp)
Celery seeds (1 tsp)
Cayenne Pepper (1/2 tsp... I'm a punk)
Thyme (1 tsp)
2 -3 shakes of black pepper

Sea salt ( approx a tablespoon) and then salt to taste one cooked.
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Steps:

1. Get your mise en place together. Culinary term for get your stuff ready to get into the pot.

1. Coarsely chop onion and place in a bowl on the side

2. Peel and coarsely chop garlic cloves. Place in bowl and put to the side.

3. Measure out all of your spices and put them into a bowl (make sure it looks all pretty and colorful, I swear this step make the soup taste better :-))

4. Measure out at least 1 cup of your water or stock

5. Pour 2 tbs of olive oil into your pot and place over medium heat

6. Once your oil is ready add your beautifully chopped onion, and cook until transparent, about 2 - 3 min

7. Add your garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 min)

8. Toss in all of those pretty spices and a little more oil if you feel like your spices look dry. Saute spices in the onion, oil and garlic mixture for another minute or two. Your kitchen will smell like heaven, but be careful not to burn the spices.

9. Add your rinsed and drained lentils and stir in mixture for about a minute

10. Add 3 cups of water and your tbs of salt. Give it a quick stir, and cover for 10 min.

11. Once the water is boiling, recover and lower flame to a simmer. Cook for 45 min or until lentils are tender. I tend to check the water level of the stew every 15 min and add a cup when the water level gets low ( after a 1/2 hour or so).

12. After the stew is finished, add additional salt and spices if necessary and a squeeze of lemon and enjoy!!!!

**** Side note this is a very thick, almost meaty stew, so I tend to eat it with a salad loaded with carrots, celery, red peppers, cucumbers and chickpeas. To keep the meal really clean, I sprinkle the salad with a little salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice rather than use salad dressing. Add an avocado, and BAM! you've got yourself a satisfying meal.

Cost of the entire meal: Approx $10.

I hate Documentation!!!!!

I do. As if going to work on a daily basis was not horrendous enough - I have to write about it afterwards. Really, this has nothing to do with me eating, only it does. As my anxiety levels continue to rise, I immediately began to think about what would bring it down. Bitching about it on Facebook was an option, but I figured that my 300+ friends were beyond sick of me lamenting my disdain for paperwork and really... no one cares. My next though was hmmm.... what can I eat? I was watching Julie and Julia (hence my resurrection on my blog) and all I could think was bread and butter. French bread and butter. 2 days into the new year and I'm already fighting for my figure. Luckily for me, I don't have any bread. But I have Pita. Mmmmm.. pita and butter. Can you tell that I'm a stress eater yet?

I didn't make a new years resolution, but I vowed to commit this year to myself. To do better. Part of that would include managing my issues. My big one happens to be paperwork and anxiety. Anxiety especially. Understanding your issues is the first step, the next is doing something about it. In essence, eating pita and butter is not the answer, nor will eating anything ever be the answer (pity). Time to explore Option 3: a stiff drink haha. Being the future health-conscious chef that I am , I figure a strong cup of chamomile tea might do the trick. I'll see how this works and report back. Only 99 notes left to write. Shit.... lol. Chamomile don't fail me now.

**** Update - Chamomile teas is great for stress, and I finally finished my paperwork :-) *****

I've been MIA for a reason :-)

I've had this dream of having my owning my own bakery for sometime now; 2 years, 3 months and 29 days to be exact. J/k what kind of freak would keep track of something like that? Me haha... I've baked cookies, muffins, packaged teas, and had friends and family members test and re-test samples. My Mom, Dad, sister and brother, Monet, Nobuko, Danielle, Jeanine, LA, Zena, Synthia, Vince, Safraz, Vern, Guy, Tamarah, Chey, Camille, Nicole, Chrisco, Sheila, Syeeta, Ms. Brenda, my Aunts, the ladies of the LSW OT house, Marques, my neighbor Denise from across the hall and numerous others have tried my goods and given me valuable feedback about how to make my product great. So this post is really a thank you to you guys. I shipped the first package of my newly formulated and packaged vegan chocolate chip cookies out today! Here's what we got....













Check back tomorrow, and I'll tell you why the ingredients I use are the awesomest lol.

My date with... his mom.

I'm not a woman that has to go to the most expensive restaurants to have a good time. Don't get me wrong, I do like to be wined and dined, but it's not necessary to do that sorta thing ALL OF THE TIME. There are so many other ways to have fun and get to know another person. Enter fun dating experience #2. Surprisingly it had little to do with the man and everything to do with his mom.

Moms love me... it's a fact. I'm a good woman, and I believe that they're simply happy to see their son with a positive addition to their lives. So, I'm not tooting my own horn; it's simple logic. This on the other hand, does not keep me from feeling nervous the first time I meet Mom-dukes lol. It's especially nerve wracking when I don't even know the son that well. Enter the garden scenario. After eating lunch on his patio, Mr. So and So had to take an important phone call. This was fine with me because it gave me a chance to space out and stare off into the garden. There were Collards, Butternut squash, tomatoes and a variety of other herbs and veggies. Check it out:





While I was sitting on the steps his Mom came down the stairs with her gardening sheers. Now while this could have the potential to turn into a horror story, it was actually a great experience. I politely got out her way and we struck up an easy conversation. As we chatted, I followed her through the garden as she plucked the ripe produce off of the vines. I asked questions and she answered. She picked and I carried. It was nice. By the end of our small excursion I was thinking "If this man is anything like his mom, we might have something here." Lol! This is yet to be seen but, if his mom were to call me up haha... I'd be there. On our way out the door Mr. So and So's mom surprised me with a bag of veggies from her garden. Sweet :-)



1 butternut squash
1 large bushel of Collard Greens
1 cucumber
4 tomatoes
1 bunch of fresh mint leaves
1 Bunch of lemon mint

So Far I've made the Collard greens, Roasted squash soup, roasted pumpkin seeds from the squash and I'm thinking that I'll make a cup of mint tea before I go to bed. I'll post about all of the goodies later. Have a nice weekend :-).

The way to a woman's heart....

As a few of you know, my knee is healing and after a summer on crutches, I've finally upgraded to a cane (woo hoo). Y'all know what that means: I'm out and about and ready to start dating again. Now, the only reason I'm posting about this is because 1) I'm really excited about dating again and 2) I've eaten a lot of really good food along the way. The blog is called "Watch She Eat " after all, and she's been eating a lot lol.....


Over the past week I've gone to this cute French restaurant in Manhattan, eaten Felafel in Union Square and hung out at the farmers market, eaten plenty of Roti throughout Brooklyn and Queens (I seriously cannot get enough of that stuff...mmmmmm) and have gone gardening. It's been a lot of fun exploring NYC and meeting new people through the city's abundance of food options. My two favorite experiences thus far had to be going to this little Roti spot in Queens and gardening. At the Roti spot, there was reggae music playing in the background, bright tropical colors on the walls, the heavy scent of curries and spices in the air and the playful lit of the Trini accent interacting with it all. You couldn't tell me that I was still in Queens, for my mind and body had been transported to the islands. This is what I got:




Fried sweet plantain, tomatoes and greens, and the buss-up shot.



Close up-before I demolished it. Like a lady of course :-P



The dough is called a Buss-up-Shut or Buss-Up-Shot, and you tear it and use it to scoop up the fillings which in my case, were Chorai/Callaloo (greens) and something like stewed tomatoes. Chorai is similar to spinach in that it's a leafy green, but it has a richer, earthier flavor to me. It was delicious - and spicy! When I mentioned the heat, delivered by none other than the notorious scotch bonnet, I got a laugh and a "Yankee" casually thrown in my direction... haha.


Info on how to make a buss-up-shot: here and here.

Check back tomorrow to read about my gardening experience :-).

Saturday's Farmer's Market outting...

Admittedly this week I went a little bit over board with the produce this week, but in my defense, I couldn't go to the Farmer's Market last week because Hurr'cane Irene. This is what I scored...

7 carrots
7 potatoes
4 Apples
3 plums
2 jalapenos
1 tomato
1 head of garlic
1 bunch of collard greens
1 bunch of leafy green lettuce
1 large handful of green beans


COST: $ 14

To quote my home girl Monet: "Now you can't beat that with a stick." :-)

If you haven't been taking advantage of your local Farmer's Market, find one in your neighborhood here.

Honey Glazed Salmon

I had been craving Salmon all week by the time yesterday's dinner was made. By Thursday night... it was doing dooooown! Now I could have quelled my cravings by simply going to a restaurant and handing over 15- 20 dollars for a mediocre meal that would have been enough food for one serving, or I could take that same $15/$20 and purchase a decent piece of fish and make enough food for 2 people that would make enough for dinner with left-overs for the next day. I love left overs :-)

Here is how I did it.....

1.5 pounds of Salmon - $ 15
Honey- I had.
Chilli powder - Had it.

Fresh spinach - I had on stock.
1/2 Shallot- I had.
1/4 Onion- I had.

Rice- I had.
Olive Oil- Had that too
Salt and pepper- Had it.
Garlic - You guessed it...


BEFORE:



AFTER:




Recipe: ( adapted from a cooks.com recipe )

1 lb. fresh salmon fillets
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. honey
1/4 onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. chili powder
Salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Rinse and pat dry the salmon
2. Cut the pieces into desired serving size. ( suggest no bigger than the palm of your hand)
3. If the skin is still on one the salmon - cut that off
4. Sprinkle both sides with with salt and pepper
5. Cover and put in the fridge for a 15- 30 min (If you are in a rush... no big deal. A few minutes will do)
6. While the Salmon is chillin' (literally haha) start chopping your veggies
7. Cut your onion into half moon slices
8. Crush and the rough chop your garlic
9. Mix honey, garlic and chilli powder into a small bowl
10. When ready, pull your salmon out of the fridge and place it on the counter.
11. Heat your olive oil into a large pan (medium heat)
12. Once hot... Place salmon in along with your onions allow each side to cook until there is only a little bit of pink left in the center of the salmon
13. Pour honey mixture over the salmon (it will bubble up) and continuously pour over the salmon until nicely coated and fish is finished cooking
14. Serve hot on a bed of rice and fresh spinach sauteed in shallots and garlic . - or however you should desire it.


Total time for the entire meal ( rice and spinach included): Approx 30 min!