It's officially 2011 and it's time for another foodaphor! I can feel you all are as excited as I am. This year's first post and foodaphor is about relishing in the bits-and-pieces of ingredients that produce delish, eat-able dishes as well as cherishing the bits-and-pieces of life which make it through year after year: friends, family, favorite foods, memorable songs, a shirt you've had since 7th grade, vacation spots, and even the best book you've ever read. At the starting line of this new year, I am eternally grateful for the bits-and-pieces I've been able to hang onto when oh so much is new and therefore scary and therefore electrifying. Even bits-and-pieces will keep you grounded when your heads in New York City's clouds. Foodaphor over! (I'm getting better at shortening my food=life philosophies.)
Many times we foodies, foodettes, and cooks of all kings find great ingredients leftover in small quantities from an epic kitchen undertaking-especially once the holidays are over. Lovely bits-and-pieces of leftover ingredients are too precious to toss out. The size constraint of bits-and-pieces ingredients as well as their ticking time clock of usability are superb conditions for kitchen inspiration. It just feels good to make good food-in the barest sense of the terms-out of pantry items whose destinies are to be lost forever to the back of the cabinet, or worse. The long drawn out death in a horrific landfill where their decomposed elements won't even have a chance to nurture new life is just too great of a karmic burden to bear. Bits-and-pieces dishes save and honor the souls of ingredients; assuming of course that tomatoes, artichokes, and old t-shirts have souls. We all make bits-and-pieces dishes all year round out of necessity, so this post is a shout out to the simply delicious bits-and-pieces dishes from this year, last year, and years to come.
The Medi Sunday Bagel
This dish (pictured above) prompted this post when purchasing a homemade bagel this morning from Peter Pan Bakery in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and the thought of just a smear of cream cheese to accessorize the bagel depressed me. My mind wondered to the brie and apricot jam stashed away but sweet wasn't my flavor mood. Then in my scan I saw two basic ingredients and realized a new bagel topping was just born out o' my taste buds, The Medi Sunday Bagel. The Medi Sunday Bagel is a toasted onion bagel, smeared with cream cheese, and topped with diced Campari tomatoes mixed with marinated artichoke hearts and fresh ground pepper. That is seriously the totality of the recipe. In eating my lunch today I successfully had raw veg and used the remainder of both the tomatoes and artichokes lingering from holiday anitpasto platters. High-fives for health and sustainable eating.
Train Mix
Yea, yea it's trail mix but I live in Brooklyn so I nosh on trains and not so much on trails. Trail mix is no revelation but using peanuts leftover from Sassy Radish's Sugar and Spiced Candied Nuts, raw almonds from moi's Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies plus a 1/4 of a box of raisins, and a few small handfuls of Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips for holiday baking that never happened I created a balanced, healthful, hella addicting snack. Bits-and-Pieces are on a roll.
The right crunch for the sardine can that is the L Train
Roasted Veg Salad
This roasted veg salad is a bits-and-pieces dish I've harbored since Fall. I have been waiting for the perfect post as a platform to show off this zinger of a salad. Experimenting with a yogurt marinated chicken one night, I wanted a veg side with a lot of pizzazz and flavor punches to the face. Usually I would shop for such a dish, but I browsed my vegetable crisper instead coming across softening carrots, garlic beginning to sprout, and two fresh red bell peppers which wouldn't be fresh for long. Given the egress state of my veggies, I immediately knew I wanted to roast them all developing all of their naturally sweet flavors before cutting them up and tossing them with fresh lime juice, a bit of olive oil, and freshly ground sea salt and black pepper making this a bits-and-pieces dish for the record books.
Roast over the open flame until the entire skin is charred then put the charred peppers in a large bowl, wrap it or cover tightly. The residual heat will steam the flesh of the peppers.
Pictured L to R: roasting carrots, lobster claw, roasting garlic heads.
Ze final product of ze bits-and-pieces salad out-shined the lackluster chicken experiment.
As for resolutions, well I do enjoy partaking in the tradition. This year I resolve to no longer pick at the blemishes on my face, officially start my own private chef business, learn as much Italian as I can, and save as much money as I can so I will visit Italy for my thirtieth birthday in 2012. In addition, I resolve to also continue to be a better person at every turn and hit the $290 Mega Millions lottery later this week. While chasing new dreams, resolutions, and lotteries in the new year, don't forget the bits-and-pieces which got you there and which can also feed you in the future.
