FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Chicken Spinach Lemon Soup

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Chicken Spinach Lemon Soup 2

Noodle-less soup was a tough concept for me to grasp tonight.  Austin is rainy and rain totally calls for noodles.  But I’ve been trying to do this bootcamp, green smoothie, minimal dairy, minimal grain thing – so I got creative.  And by getting creative, I mean getting simple.  Super simple.

Shredded Chicken Breast

The shredded chicken and spinach gave this soup enough heartiness that your mind didn’t wander towards thoughts of noodles.  And adding egg to the chicken broth made this soup nice and creamy, giving the illusion that dairy was invited.  Dee-lish!

Chicken Spinach Lemon Soup

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Bison Burger Topped With Grilled Guac

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Bison Burger with Grilled Guac

It’s been a while, guys, since I’ve been this excited about anything a recipe.  The kind of excited where my heart gets poundy, my bangs get sweaty, and I’m consumed with this energy that makes it almost impossible to eat the food I’m so excited about.  Ok, so maybe the sweaty bangs have everything to do with grilling and an extended Austin summer. But the rest, the rest of this hoopla was totally about the dinner.

Grilled Guacamole Skewers 2

After buying some bison burger patties from Trader Joe’s, I entered this massive Google/Pinterest thing – a rarely craved burger shouldn’t be ordinary, after all.  I found the appropriately titled Women’s Health Mag post “Best Burger Toppings” and was immediately drawn to the grilled guacamole.  “Why isn’t this being done all over the place?”, I thought.

Grilled Veggie Skewers

Not knowing how to use a grill aside, everything about grilling guac was easy.  Chop, skewer, grill, chop again, stir.  I didn’t use any of the rations or timing in the recipe. And with the addition of some extra lime juice, I felt the salt and hot sauce unnecessary.

Grilled Guac Skewers

It was love at first tart, smoky bite.  I put a dollop on the bison burger, had a holy-crap-I-made-this moment, pulled out my 100mm macro and tripod (told you I was excited!), and shot this burger in a way that it deserved.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

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Chicken Tortilla Soup

A weekend full of ACL music, best friends, duck faces, beers, more beers, sitting in the grass, and cold fronts led to lots and lots of sniffles.  And lots and lots of sniffles led to making this soup, one of the best soups I’ve ever made, again.

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I stopped at Whole Foods on my way home from work today, thankful for their bulk department.  For a mere 40 cents, I eliminated any sort of which-spices-am-I-out-of guess work (it’s cumin by the way, I’m out of cumin).  And then I got home and mindlessly dumped everything into the crock pot.

Whole Foods Bulk Spices

I ladled myself a bowlful and was quickly reminded how much I adore brothy soups with lime and cilantro.  My roommate dug it too, “This soup is good, Kristin.  Like really, really good.”.

Dinner Parties. All The Time.

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linguini with clam sauce

I moved into my new place ten days ago and I’m happy to report that three dinner parties have taken place in my freshly decorated dining room!  Mexican night, Hansell cooking night, and clam night.  It’s so wonderful to be in the kitchen whipping up some dinner and see your favorite friends walk up with a bottle of wine.  Perfect, actually.

Clams

I had been craving linguini with clam sauce for a while, maybe years, when Dickie asked if I’d make some after seeing a clam recipe on a Jacques Pépin rerun.  “Dickie, have you ever even had clams before?”, I asked.  I knew the answer was going to be no.  But I also knew that if Dickie asked me to make clams then he’d already made up his mind that he was going to try some clams.

linguini with clams 2

I found Giada’s Spicy Linguini with Clams and Mussels recipe and prepared it exactly as written with the exception of using only clams.  Not only was this recipe extremely easy, but it was also fun to see the shallots separate so perfectly, the sauce thicken so quickly, and the clams burst open letting you know they were ready.  The slightly spicy sauce complimented the egg linguini so well that I ate seconds.  And then thirds.  It’s safe to say that I will definitely be making this dish again for my next house guest!