Asparagus & Parmesan Tart

Oh, friends.  Friends, friends, friends.

My life has been in a downward spiral over the past two days.  The reason behind it all?  Ruzzle.  If you thought my Words with Friends addiction may have been a problem, then this most definitely qualifies as a Problem (with a capitol P).  Ruzzle is sort of like a timed boggle game.  I don't know why but I'm so obsessed with it! I can't put the iPad/iPhone down.  Not that I can put them down on a good day, but now...Also, it requires 2 straight minutes of intense concentration from me.  I have yet to find a "pause" button so don't talk to me if you see me furiously swiping the screen of my electronic device.  This is not natural.  I need an intervention.

But all of that has nothing to do with this tart.  This tart is what I'm using to keep myself sane.  It's one of the (very few) ways that I'm trying to stay in shape while sticking to a limited workout schedule.  Plus, it was a perfect and delicious excuse to break into a bottle of Black Truffle Olive Oil.  Ha!  As if I need an excuse.

Brussels Sprouts Salad

Listen.  You don't even want to know what's going down over here.  There are nachos, chicken fingers, fries, sweet potato fries (which are stupid good), pie, mac and cheese, s'mores, and donuts that have been ingested by myself in the past week.  I mean, this is not right.  Oh, and let's not forget the massive quantities of wine and beer that I have also downed.  Did I tell you that, to help pass my time on disability, I joined my favorite bar's Beer Club?  Don't get me started on the damage that little action has done to my insides.

I know that I am totally to blame for this and I have already apologized to myself.  I've also been trying to make things up by eating more salad.  My go-to salad is a random mix of salad greens, mushrooms, caramelized onions, avocado, and mozzarella cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  My second favorite salad is from my bar, which is a fantastic chopped salad topped with grilled salmon.  I order this while putting in work to drink all 250 beers in the Beer Club.  What was I thinking?

In  order to keep things interesting in the salad arena, I figured I should test out a new salad recipe.  I've been trying to get into brussels sprouts lately and since this recipe got great reviews from a few bloggers, I wanted to try it out too.  Monkey see, monkey do!

Prosciutto Wrapped Apples

We are still entertaining, right?  Just because the new year's here doesn't mean we can't have our family and friends over for brunch and a good time. Because I really need a reason to bust out with this odd, it's-so-wrong-it-has-to-be-right meat and fruit combination.

Now.  Do not let my words fool you.  I did not have a brunch event.  I did not have people over for any reason at all.  In actuality, I was scouring my refrigerator for something to eat and I saw some freshly sliced prosciutto along with a green apple.  I wanted both and proceeded to wrap one in the other, finished the packages off with some balsamic glaze, and called it a day.  Then I sat on my bum, all alone, and started eating.

I don't feel bad about this.  In fact, I feel pretty good.  This meal (snack?) has got protein.  It's got fruit. And in terms of preparation, it's really just an assemblage situation.  So yeah, I'm down with that.

Now let's get to work...

Kale Frittata

 

You know how sometimes you "find" ingredients in the refrigerator that were really meant for this one thing you were going to make, but now it's a week and a half later and you don't really want to make that dish anymore but you don't want the ingredient to go bad?

Yeah.  That happened.  So then this frittata sort of happened.

First of all, I have to (have to, have to!) state that I KNOW the first sentence is a run-on sentence.  It annoys me and my grammar sensibilities to no end that it's a run-on sentence, but I'm owning it today.  I own you, you run-on sentence.

But...frittata.  I re-discovered some kale in my fridge the other day.  It was originally meant to make a kale salad that was going to be fresh and crisp and delicious in every way.  Unfortunately, I happened to have a ton of additional salad ingredients in the fridge as well. Since I like a little variety in my life, I made the executive decision to turn this kale into something else.

Yep.  Frittata.

Whiskey Chocolate Banana Bread

 

It's time once again!  SRC time, that is (or Secret Recipe Club time, for the uninitiated).  We took a break during December to account for the hectic life that we all experience during the holidays, but now we are back with a vengeance.  And by vengeance, I mean I put whiskey all up in this banana bread situation.

This month I was paired up with Robin, from Robin, Restored.  I like her style.  Looking at her website, I found a lot of things that I enjoy, namely desserts, breads, and breakfast recipes.  I seriously was having a tough time deciding what to recreate for this assignment when I stumbled upon the recipe for Bourbon Chocolate Banana Bread.  Seeing as I had some overripe, mashed bananas taking up room in the freezer, and I was craving something sweet, I knew I needed to make this.  Do I even have to mention that I was super into the fact that this bread contains alcohol?  Nope, let's not mention it.

OK, I also chose to use whiskey in this recipe instead of bourbon simply because I don't have bourbon.  My roommate and I don't drink it on the regular, so there's really no reason for it to be around.  I improvised and used the huge bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey we do happen to have.  Improvisation at its finest.

Almond Crescent Cookies

Ladies and gents, we are now 7 (seven!) days into 2013.  Are you tired of trying to workout like a maniac?  I am.  But that's probably because I can't workout.  Last week I got this little foot surgery thing done.  So yeah, I've been (mostly) laid up on the couch/bed waiting for my bones to heal so I can do some back flips or something just as cool.

Whether or not you're restricted as I am, I have cookies.  I have almond crescent cookies for you whether or not you just made a resolution yesterday to stop eating cookies.  These are good and these are worth "tweaking" your resolutions.  Maybe you can have 3 cookies instead of none.  More is always better.  Always.  Unless it's something foul-tasting.  And these cookies will never be called that.

Asparagus & Grilled Onions with Mozzarella

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I would like to take a pause and momentarily provide you with a salad.  A vegetable salad.

I am a fan of this sitch.  It's really been too long since I've made asparagus.  Since my mom is staying with me for a few days and she loves it, I decided to dig up some bookmarked recipes and see what was what.  I mean, I could use some health up in my life.  Who doesn't?

I eventually picked out this salad because, beside the asparagus being present, of course there are grilled onions.  Just say yes to onions.  Grilled onions deserve a double-yes.  Can we make that happen?  Thanks. Theeeeen, we also have the almonds and cheese and olive oil and vinegar....Was someone watching me in the kitchen to figure out everything I like and then make a salad out of it?  This is just genius.  Let it happen.

Oh, and just so you know, I amped things up a bit by drizzling Herbes de Provence olive oil over everything.  Have I told you that I'm into olive oils recently?  There may possibly be a new bottle of Trader Joe's Black Truffle olive oil in our pantry as well.  I just imposed a January 2013 "no-buy" on myself so hopefully these impulsive purchases will stop.  Like now.  Except I just bought a new shirt online last night.  But that was with a gift card, so technically, I didn't actually buy it.  See how that works?

I'm digressing.  Where was I?  Oh, this vegetable salad.  Let's get at it.