La Platicona Habla: Tastes, Passions and Pursuits

Is there any felicity superior to chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies? I think not. The difficult thing is living in a place where nothing rises: breads, cakes, and your chocolate chip cookies (they just flatten out real ugly and turn crispy). Searching for the holy grail of cookies, I think I found what I was looking for once again in Once Upon a Tart's cookbook. The recipe is actually a modification of their chocolate chip cookies, but the principle remains the same for churning out chewy cookies: beat that butter and sugar like your shakin' your money maker! The "key" to making cookies that don't have the texture of cds is to cream the butter and sugar at least five minutes. With that, let's get to it.

You will need:

- 2 sticks of unsalted REAL butter, room temperature
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 c packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla

- 2 c flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 c rolled oats
- 1 1/2 c bitter sweet chocolate chips
- 1 c chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 degrees

Step One: In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar for 5 minutes on high speed. Add the brown sugar and beat another 4 minutes. On a lower speed, mix in one egg at a time and then vanilla.

Step Two: In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, add these ingredients into the wet ingredients, completely incorporating them. Add the oatmeal, chocolate chips and walnuts at the end.

Step Three: Using a 1/3 c scooper, plop the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the centers stop shining (the dough is cooked then). Remove promptly and cool. EAT THEM UP.

Labels: chocolate, cookies, dessert, oatmeal

I can't believe I've never posted a lentil salad recipe here. I have two in my arsenal, and one I just modified from that fantastic cookbook/pastry shop Once Upon A Tart. I also happen to have a Zjirushi rice cooker from Japan that makes excellent lentils in a hurry. If you don't have a rice cooker, you can always cook the lentils over the stove top, ration is 1:3 (lentils:water). Rules of rice cooking apply: bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 45 min - 1 hour. No peeking!

You will need:
- 4 c cooked French Lentils (dark green)
- 1/2 small red onion finely diced
- 4 carrots, shredded on the cheese grater

For the dressing:

- 7 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp masala curry powder
- juice of 1 lemon or lime
- large handful of Italian Parsley, chopped
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, freshly grated
- salt to taste

Step One: Clean lentils (pick out rocks and rinse); cook in rice cooker or over the stovetop. Ration is 1:3, boil, reduce heat and simmer for 45 min - 1 hour or until lentils are soft but not mushy. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.

Step Two: Place all ingredients for dressing in a bowl, minus the olive oil. While using a wire whisk, slowly drizzle in olive oil until fully incorporated. Toss in lentils, onion, and carrots.

Step Three: You can eat these warm, cold, whatever - they are fantastic. I ate them as a main course with a side of asparagus. Mmm. Soooo good.

Labels: carrots, lentils, salad, spices

I can't seem to stop visiting Chipotle once every 2 weeks for some yummy crispy chicken tacos. To curb my appetite for these devlish treats, I decided to get some nutritional information. While the main page for Chipotle has a grid with nutritional information, it is a bit overwhelming to add up. I did find, however, a chipotle calorie counter that uses this info in a friendly form that calculates the nutritional information for you. The great thing is that you can quickly assess what not to eat, i.e. cheese and sour cream, but the drawback is that if you've eaten these things all along, it will just make you depressed. The only light at the end of my tunnel is that my crispy tacos came out to 660 calories as opposed to 890 as I cannot consume dairy. Tragically, I love dairy, so there are no real winners here people! AHHHH!
Now the challenge I pose here is what is the most calorie filled combo you can come up with? Gross, but sort of fun.

Labels: restaurant