On Beauty & Rainy Day Soup

There's sometimes when beauty just is flat out overrated.

I'm talking about the days when pajamas are looking pretty dang fancy. You're spooning with Ben & Jerry. And you're on the verge of 'intimate relationship' with Netflix.

These are the moments we don't like to capture because, well.....they're just not "beautiful."

Gimme a hot second though. I understand that we naturally gravitate towards beautiful things: people, places, clothes, food, pictures, etc. Especially beautiful things when an Instagram filter is all up in that business.

That plain jane selfie you just took? Yeah, X-Pro II just turned you into a dark and stormy Ryan Gosling of sorts. And Sutro? Well, now hello flannel meets 21st century artsy-but-don't-call-me-hipster. And that completely unimportant cupcake you just ate? LOOOOOO-FIIIIIII to get 'dem colors poppin'. Don't worry though...if something is actually beautiful, we'll just shout #nofilter at the top of our social media lungs to compensate.

But it's kind of a bummer. Those pajama rainy days, solo movie marathons, and ice cream evenings with friends are verifiably AMAZEBALLS. And beautiful or not, I doubt we'd trade them for the world. I'm pointing this out because it I'm guilty of it; because it applies to just about everything (including food); and because sometimes, I wish we didn't crave this constancy of beauty.

Take, for instance, soup. Lentil soup is not one of those things you're supposed to get excited about. It's sort of the the homely stepsister. And who's going to wax poetic about that? Point taken.

This lentil soup, however, might blow your socks off. It's not red-carpet material and likely never will be. But I'll be darned if it isn't near perfect for a rainy day with some crusty baguette and a killer movie. This soup is for the Tuesdays when Sinatra is singing you a tune or two in the background. It's for time simply spent with family and friends who don't give a flying monkey's butt what you do or don't look like. The days when you're just doing you--with #nofilter.

And you know what? There's something souper beautiful about that.

Rainy Day Lentil Soup

This soup is painfully easy rainy day comfort food. And it oddly reminds me of my dear roommate P, who likes lentils like she likes me--without any condition of aesthetics. For the basic recipe, there's only 5 ingredients, including water and salt & pepper, which shouldn't even count. You can get jazzy if that's your jam, or just stick with the basics and call that a beautiful day. 

Ingredients: 1 cup lentils 5 cups water 1 cube chicken/vegetable boullion 1 tsp cumin salt/pepper

Optional (add as many or as few as you want): 1 carrot, sliced 1 cup mushrooms, sliced 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced 1/2 cup potato, diced 1/4 cup parsley or cilantro, chopped 1/2 cup chopped chicken, beef, or ham *pretty much anything goes

Place lentils, water, boullion, cumin, and any optional ingredients to a medium pot. Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer for 45 minutes on low-medium heat. Enjoy, and have a beautiful day.

-lexi

Recipe: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Let’s talk math. Not Calculus kind of math. (Eww.) But rather, cookie math. Oh hubba hubba. You can do that, right?

When it comes to cookies, there’s two very distinct school of thought.

Pythagorean vs. Newton.

Eh? Homegirl, say what? Okay okay, when it comes to cookies, all you really need to know is two things: cookie vs. the add-ins.

Take the chocolate chip cookie, for instance.

The most basic choco chipper consists of a sweet, buttery shortbread lusciously dotted with melty chocolate chips.

I know, I know—you’re thinking, “Well, DUH. That’s easy!”

But there is a key factor between the two: the ratio.

Too many chocolate chips and you’re on the verge of going koo-koo for cocoa puffs. Too little chips and people may start saying, “Great sugar cookies.” And the perfect about of chips + cookie?

Perfect. Kinda like these.

Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don’t typically like to use the word “perfect” and mean it, but I do believe these are the best chocolate cookies I’ve made to date. With crispy edges, chewy centers, and a deep caramel flavor, these cookies were a huge hit at home. Did I mention there’s some whole grain action in there too?

Barely adapted from Tasting Table DC(Original recipe from Shannon Boyle, Uncle Chip’s Cookies, Washington D.C.)

1 cup granulated sugar ½ cup packed light brown sugar 1 tbsp molasses ½ cup butter 2 egg whites 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 375˚. In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add the egg whites one at a time, mixing to combine between each addition. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture and mix just to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips.

3. Place the dough in the refrigerator. While the dough is chilling, line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, remove it from the refrigerator. Using a heaping tablespoon, portion the dough into ½-inch balls and place, spaced 1 inch apart, on the lined baking sheets. Place in the oven and bake until golden around the edges and just set in the center, 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Give these a go. SERIOUSLY.

Find your ratio, and happiness will ensue. I think Confucius said that? Let’s go with that.

Are you about it? Irrelevant when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. Be about it.

Off to work at the coffee shop and then NYC for the weekend!

Wahooooooooooooo. <---This is me just thinking about coffee.

Single Serving Honey Wheat Pancakes

Last night, I made H and myself pancakes for dinner.

Because breakfast for dinner ROCKS, right?

(Ya’ll are jumping up and down in choruses of yes right now, I presume.)

Beautious.

What were these?

Single-serving honey wheat pancakes (x2) with warm blueberry sauce.

OMG. I decided to “wing it” and was happy that I did. These were absolutely scrumptious. They were dinner but breakfast, breakfast but dessert. And they were AH-FRICKIN-MAZING.

And because you guys have been awesome, I even have a recipe.

Whole wheat pancakes for one?

Well, ain’t that something.

Single Serving Honey Wheat Pancakes

I love my roommate. I also love Fridays. The product of these two facts resulted in me doubling this recipe to make pancakes for two. But if you’re rocking the single lady jam, I totally got your back. By all means, make these pancakes for the sexiest, snazziest, wittiest, awesomest, crazy coolest person you know—namely yourself! Oh, and feel darn good about it because these pancakes are filled with good-for-you ingredients and just happen to be vegan.

Serving: About 5 silver dollar pancakes

Notes: Vegan, if using oil / non-dairy margarine & milk

Ingredients:

1/4 cup whole wheat flour, heaping
1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour, heaping
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp warm water, combined (optional, but it helps make these fluffy!)
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp oil, butter, or margarine (melted)
3/4-1 cup milk of choice (I used soy)

Directions:

1) In a medium mixing bowl, combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir with a whisk, until all dry ingredients are evenly distributed.
2) Make a small well in the middle of your dry ingredients. To this well, add the flax mixture, honey, butter, and milk of choice.
3) Gently stir all ingredients with whisk until no lumps remain. Be very careful not to overmix. (The fluffiness of the pancakes depends on you being gentle with the batter.)
4) In a heated, greased skillet, use a 1/4 cup measure and pour three inch circles of batter. Cook until golden brown on each side.
5) Enjoy!

(Hint: You can make the batter in advance too! Just keep it in the fridge and then take it out about 10 minutes before you’re ready to use it.)

These pancakes are ever-so-subtly sweet and great topped with butter + maple syrup. You can nix the all purpose flour and sub more whole wheat flour and/or the flax meal. However, I would recommend trying it with them first because they both lend to the leavening of the ‘cakes.

Either way, they’ll make you feel awesome on a Friday.

Actually, either way, you are awesome. On every day of the week.

And the best way to celebrate?

Pancakes. Lots of pancakes.

Recipe: Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding

<<Note: This is actually also serving as the Dining Hall DIY sample post that I’m submitting as a part of my Contributing Writer Application for Small Kitchen College!>>

You skip into the dining hall, waltzing with excitement after your latest encounter with “The Cute Boy Who Shalt Not Be Named.” And then you stop in your tracks—hit by the tsunami of sloppy joe aroma that, unfortunately, you know a little bit too well.

Le sigh.

After finishing your dreaded, wannabe (wo)manwich, you stare ruefully at the empty plate before you.

At this point, you’ve come to accept that there is only one type of food that can possible cheer you up: dessert.

Oh yes, dessert—da King Kahuna, the Elvis, the knight in shining armor, the love of your life and perhaps mine as well. But which dessert to pick?

Cake? Not New Year’s resolution approved.

Cookies? You can do better.

Soft Serve? Problem: Nameless cute boy does not dig ice cream mustaches.

Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding? Oh *&%#! Swoooooooooooooooooooon.

Innocently sexy. Gourmet and guaranteed mustache free.

Oh, and did I mention perfect for sharing with “The Cute Boy Who Shalt Not Be Named”?

Lexi is a freshman at Georgetown University, where she is considering an International Business/Management double major and proving that not all business school students have to end up on Wall Street. A nutrition aficioncado and laid-back vegetarian, she is a connoisseur of healthy baked goods, lover of farmers’ markets, and expert in freakishly cheesy puns and one-liners.

Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding

Serves 1

Sweet, gooey, and banana-y, this rice pudding will surprise your friends with its simple deliciousness and impressive nutrition profile. Because it combines whole grains, potassium-rich fruit, and healthy fats/protein, it also makes a wonderful breakfast that will keep both your snobbie inner foodie and stomach going for hours.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 1 medium ripe banana, sliced
• ½ cup milk (Note: I use almond or soy milk, but feel free to use any kind you like!)
• 1 ½ tsp cinnamon plus extra for topping
• Pinch salt
• 1 tbsp nut butter (e.g. peanut butter), for topping

Directions:

1) In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except nut butter.

2) Microwave for 2 ½ minutes on high. Remove and mash until the mixture is mostly smooth. (Some small banana bits are okay, but try to mash the big chunks.)

3) Microwave for additional 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until mixture is warm and pudding- like. Add an extra drizzle of milk and stir, if the mixture is too thick for your liking.

4) Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and nut butter, and enjoy!

When I’m not away at school, most of my rice puddings begin more like this…

The almighty to-go box.

After our family goes out for Asian food of some sorts (usually Thai), we end up with a heaping box full of brown rice leftovers. By that, I mean we always seem to end up with a disproportionate amount of rice: curry.

Thanks family…

And let’s be real now—a girl can only pretend she’s Mulan eating plain rice for so long.

Then again, I guess that means more Caramelized Banana Bread Rice Pudding for me!

Mwhwhahahaha

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve!

2011 in Review

Before getting into resolutions and the like, let’s chat about 2011. For now, let’s stick to the light-hearted stuff… and maybe tomorrow, the more serious.

A shortlist of the BIG things that happened in 2011:

• Started blogging!
• Applied to 9 top-tier colleges in what was one of the most nerve-racking processes of my entire life!
• Had my heart set on attending the University of Notre Dame
• Ended up being accepted to Georgetown University and made the hard decision to go there instead (an amazing decision in retrospect!)
• Graduated from high school as a valedictorian
• Finished my term as editor-in-chief of the newspaper that meant everything to me and held a BOMB 80-person brunch to celebrate it
• Attended and completed a Georgetown preorientation program called Leadership & Beyond (L&B)during August, during which I met ~30 amazing people that have sincerely changed my life and shaped my college experience
• Met my roommate, Helen, who became one of my best friends!
• Became incredibly close to 3 other friends via L&B, without whom I can’t imagine life now
• Finished my first semester in college (and somehow pulled of an A- in calculus…whatup!)
• Came back to the West Coast for Christmas and began blogging again
• Got my wisdom teeth pulled
• Realized that I learned more about myself this year than the last 17 years of my life
• Ate tons of delicious food.

Riiiiiiight, the food. Let’s take a brief glimpse at that, shall we?

5 minute Banana Bread Rice Pudding

Angel Hair Pasta with Gorgonzola

Cheezy Portabello Steak with Angela’s Creamy Avocado Pasta

THE BEST Banana Bread

Golden Cornmeal & Blueberry Muffins

Mom’s Best Carrot Cake

Angela’s Cheezy Savory Oats

Chocolate-Covered Katie’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Oatmeal

Whole Grain Graham Crackers

Whoa, I had a lot more food to share than expected. To be continued in the a.m. along with a possible recipe! For now, it’s back to icing the cheeks for this chipmunk

Recipe: A Light, Rustic Treat: Whole-Wheat Apple Tea Cake

When I wake up in the morning, I usually find myself already sorting through the options of what to eat. Because breakfast is usually my favorite meal of the day, I take care to consider my options.

Oatmeal, pancakes, smoothies, fruit + yogurt bowls, cereal, an omelet, a bagel?

Truly, the possibilities are endless. 

But to make such a weighty decision as what one is to have for breakfast (serious first world problems here…), brain power is needed.

Uh, that’s the problematic part—brain power…in the morning.

Brain power? Well, that requires food. Fast.

Sometimes, I’ll just munch on a piece of fruit or some cereal, while I plan. And then other times, I’ll mosey over to the cake server that sits in our kitchen and peer inside, as if it’s a crystal ball. A magical crystal ball that tells me what scrumptious delight I’ll be consuming in the next 3.67531 seconds.

3.67531 seconds later, I find myself happily eating a piece of homemade cookie or muffin, or in this case….a square of rustic apple tea cake.

Let’s just call it a breakfast appetizer. Can we swing that?

I’ll take that as a yes.

Whole-Grain Apple Tea Cake

Naturally sweet from the apples and apple sauce, this cake is perfect for an afternoon snack or light breakfast with a cup of tea. My family enjoyed it, but I also forewarned everyone that it was more of snack cake than a sinful dessert. If you would prefer such a dessert, I would recommend a frosting, icing, or perhaps even a scoop of ice cream. As for me, I’ll stick with the breakfast appetizer.

Adapted from "The Realistic Nutritionist"

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or more oat flour)
• 1/2 cup oat flour (or more whole wheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 medium apples, finely diced (I left the peel on)
• 1 egg (a flax egg would probably work as well)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp chopped pecans (or other nuts)
• 1/4 cup organic applesauce
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 8-inch baking pan.

2) Whisk flours, baking soda, spices and salt with a whisk in a small mixing bowl.

3) In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar, apples, chopped nuts, egg and applesauce. Slowly add in dry mixture, mixing gently just until well-combined. Mixture will be thick.

4) Pour batter in greased pan, and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.