Doing Ricky Ricardo Proud

Lunch today? A green salad topped with pear, caramelized walnuts, blue cheese and some red wine vinegar and olive oil. I used demerara sugar to caramelize the walnuts since it is less refined than brown sugar and is therefore a bit more natural. Today's soup is organic tomato bisque, to which I added a little bit of fresh spinach. I also decided it was time to bake some bread again, so I made some whole wheat and oat muffins. I started with a recipe for a whole wheat and oat loaf from AllRecipes.com and modified away. The recipe called for honey. I didn't have any, so I chose to use molasses instead. I also substituted olive oil for vegetable oil in order to use healthier fat. Given the darker, fuller flavor profile of molasses and olive oil, I chose to throw in a little bit of crushed fennel seed--one of the under-utilized spices in my cabinet. I only managed to squeeze 11 muffins out of the recipe, and I cooked them less time than suggested (15 minutes at 400), but they came out very nicely. Each one is about 120 calories and I think the nutritional value is somewhat improved.

For dinner, I decided to experiment with the dish I came to know as Moros y Cristianos when I was in Cuba; That's Moors and Christians for those who may not be proficient in Spanish -- and it refers to black beans and rice. And for the rest of the meal, I decided to stick with a Caribbean theme. So, tonight we have fried plantain (tostones) and a mango/avocado side. However, my approach to this fare is not entirely traditional. For starters, I made the beans in a mixture of tomato paste, vegetable broth, red onion, tomatillos (mainly because they were in the house and needed using), garlic, vegetable boullion, white wine, lime juice, crushed red pepper, black pepper, fresh thyme and hand-ground cumin. The mango-avocado side is not really entirely in the Carribean spirit, but it gave me an excuse to use mangoes and avocados -- both favorites of mine. The tostones are pretty traditional... salted and fried and flattened and fried platano coins. I must say I really love foods that give me a reason to use my kitchen mallet!