MacGyver Me This: Pancetta vs. Prosciutto (Recipe included!) July 15, 2010
Posted by vmacandcheese in Feel Good Food, Food, Greens, MacGyver Me This, Recipes, Veggies.add a comment
It might be hard to believe, but there was a time in my life when I did not readily consume meat. I didn’t call myself a vegetarian or anything like that. In fact, looking back, my abstention from meat had less to do with me not finding it scrumptious, and everything to do with cutting up too many dead animal carcasses in culinary school, so much so that it completely grossed me out. Well, that and I hadn’t quite gotten over the slaughter videos we watched.
But if there was one thing that could bring me back to the dark, dirty, deliciously wonderful omnivorous side of the culinary world, it was pork. And more specifically, pork products.
It’s funny, when I was little, I hated all manner of pork-related product that wasn’t a chop. My mother had the audacity to try and force feed me Vienna sausages on picnics (which, I still believe, are a cruel, sick joke the food gods are playing on humanity — surely, those beige nuggets that smell suspiciously like cat food aren’t really meant to be eaten?). There was no such thing as mortadella in my world, only Oscar Meyer bologna. And the first time I read the label on the package, I nearly threw up.
Where was I going with all this? Oh right. Pancetta. And prosciutto. Delicious things. Things that I could shove in my maw daily, with reckless abandon. (more…)
Your liver’s favorite soup. May 3, 2009
Posted by vmacandcheese in Food, Greens, Joe, Recipes, Soups.comments closed
It’s that time of year again.
In another month, Joe will be taking his third (and hopefully final) CFA exam. For those of you who aren’t familiar with how the CFA works, candidates must take the three part exam over three successive years. So, in year one, you take the Level I exam; if you pass that, then the next year you take Level II, and so on. If (and when!) Joe passes Level III this June, he’ll finally be a Charter holder.
I couldn’t be happier.
Both because of what it will mean for him, but also because the last three springs have required him to study for several hours a day on the weekend. We haven’t been able to go anywhere or do anything for Memorial Day since 2006 (sacrilege, as Memorial Day is one of my favorite holidays–it’s the start of summer!). In years past, CFA study season has also meant an increase in Joe’s weekend beer and wine consumption. And this year has been no exception. Who could blame him? Would YOU want to work 55 hours a week, and then study for another 12 over the weekend? I didn’t think so. And with such dedication comes the dire need for a brewsky. Nothing a little Leffe can’t fix!
Of course, with our recent shift to a “good, clean living” diet in conjunction with all his CrossFit workouts, Joe’s conscience inevitably speaks up somewhere around beer 3, and to reconcile it, he’ll request that we have something healthful for dinner.
So last Sunday, in an effort to cleanse both the conscience and the liver, I made my version of Caldo Verde, the famed Portugeuse kale soup. Like all bitter greens, kale is thought to have liver cleansing properties, and it’s also chock full of vitamins A, C and K. Normally, Caldo Verde is made with chorizo, but I decided to forgo the meat, delicious and greasy as it is. Just before serving, I also gave the soup a quick whirl with my immersion blender, rendering it a color of green that asked “How can I NOT be healthful?”; it also transformed the texture into something smoother, more velvety.
It was super easy to make, and it certainly gave us both a sprightly kick in our step on Monday morning. Here’s the recipe: (more…)
