Something Old, Something New

Like so many other people, this time of year always finds me simultaneously reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the year to come.  Some of my resolutions are the same as they have been in years past (eat healthier, exercise more) and some are new (spend less, experiment more).

In the spirit of this "something old, something new" philosophy, I decided to take two recipes that I've made in the past (pesto, crispy tofu) and experiment with combining them with new flavors in order to create a new favorite dish.  Because just like a new year, sometimes there's just nothing better than a new interpretation of an old classic.

Tofu with Cilantro Lime Pesto

1 block of extra firm tofu (prepared as previously described)
1 bunch of cilantro
freshly squeezed juice of one lime
1/4 cup of pine nuts
2 tsp of fish sauce (to make this recipe vegetarian/vegan, omit fish sauce and double soy sauce)
1 tsp of soy sauce
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil

Fill the bowl of a food processor to the top with fresh cilantro:

Add lime juice, pine nuts, fish sauce, soy sauce, garlic, salt and pepper to the food processor:

Puree ingredients, drizzling the olive oil into the food processor with the motor running until it becomes fully incorporated.  The pesto should be thick and creamy, like so:

Mix tofu with pesto and serve over steamed white rice.  Enjoy!

Dog Days Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta

I don't know what the weather has been like in your neck of the woods lately, but here in San Diego it has been H-O-T hot!  And because San Diego is a coastal city, the developers of this area, in their infinite wisdom, didn't install air conditioning in any of the buildings around town - not in my apartment, not in the building I work in, not even in the grocery store.

So as you might imagine, in these dog days of summer when it's 90 degrees outside and I have one measly little fan to cool me down, the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven, let alone eat a hearty bowl of pasta with tomato sauce.  Luckily for me, there is pesto to the rescue.  I thought I'd shake things up a bit from the classic pesto recipe that I often make (see here) by using sundried tomatoes, walnuts, and red pepper flakes to liven things up.  Enjoy and stay cool wherever this recipe finds you!

Sundried Tomato Pesto

1 8 oz. jar of sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil, drained
1/2 cup basil
1/4 cup walnuts
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup reserved pasta cooking water
1 lb. pasta

Add sundried tomatoes, basil, walnuts, garlic, cheese, and red pepper flakes to food processor:

And blend until just mixed:

With motor running, pour olive oil in a steady stream into the top of the food processor and blend until pesto is smooth and oil has become incorporated.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water until al dente (according to package directions).  Strain pasta, reserving 1/3 cup cooking water, and pour pasta into large bowl.  Add pesto and reserved cooking water:

And stir to coat pasta evenly.  Serve by topping with (what else?) more cheese:

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Grad Students

You know that old country song "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be Cowboys"? Well, I am here to whole heartedly disagree. If I were a cowboy, I would be outside all day. I would be communing with nature. I would be getting exercise.

Instead, I am a graduate student. I am chained to a desk, writing my dissertation. If it weren't for my dogs, I probably would not have been outside or showered in the past week. Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be grad students. It is a terrible life decision.

I set a deadline for writing a chapter - it was last Friday. I finished a DRAFT of it today. It took me two weeks to write a draft. Which means I am nowhere near done. Not to mention that I have two other chapters that I have not even started on and this entire thesis is due to my committee in less than two weeks, plus my boss wants to read it before hand and make edits. At this rate, I am not going to finish this thing until I retire in 2045 (and yes, I am counting down the days until I retire even though I haven't even finished school and gotten a job yet). Why is this taking so long? I usually love writing. Right now, I despise it. Needless to say, I am a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

(Side note: I know what you are probably thinking to yourself right now - how does she have the time to write this blog right now? The answer is that I don't. I just really wanted to see what it would feel like to type something other than the word cytochrome P450 for the first time in two weeks.)

So last night I forced myself to turn off the computer, walk away, and watch the Olympics. Oh how I would rather be skiing. How awesome are Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso? Ladies, you are my heroes. Why in the hell didn't I become an Olympic skier?

Another problem associated with this lack of free time - I have developed the worst eating habits on the planet. If you can buy it in a drive thru, if you can microwave it, if it has 9 bazillion calories, you can bet that I am eating it. If it wasn't for the aforementioned dogs forcing me to exercise twice a day, I would easily weigh 200 pounds by now. So yesterday I forced myself to spend 20 minutes (and only 20 minutes) at the grocery store in a quest to actually cook something that was not wrapped in plastic and flash frozen. Of course, due to my time constraints, it had to satisfy the following requirements:

1. Fewer than 5 ingredients.

2. Less than 10 minutes total of prep time and cooking time.

Luckily, I came across this beautiful, giant container of basil:



and I decided to make pesto. For those nights when you would like to step away from the ice cream and eat delicious real people food, but only have 10 minutes to spare between breakdowns.


Pesto

2 cloves of garlic
4 oz basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
pasta (penne or rigatoni work best)

Add garlic to food processor and run until finely chopped. Rinse basil and pat dry. Tear off stems and add to food processor. The food processor bowl should be nearly full, like so:


(Don't get scared by how much basil is in there - once you spin it down, it becomes a very small amount.) Add pine nuts and salt. Spin until well blended. With motor running, add olive oil by pouring in a slow steady stream. Once all ingredients have been incorporated, stop motor. You should end up with something that looks like this:


Serve over pasta (as pictured above) and garnish with grated parmesan. If you don't use all of it, refrigerate or freeze for later use (one easy thing to do is scoop the pesto into an ice cube tray and freeze it. That way, you can thaw one cube at a time per serving of pasta).

I leave you with my sous chef, who is always hoping for a crumb of some sort.