Aroma's that I love...

Who doesn't love the smell of bread baking? Right now, I'm enjoying it with every breath...and loving every minute of it. I'm doing a little pre-work for the weekend. You see, Brian and I are going to Philly on Saturday. This was decided before I started this little project...so I just have to make due. So, I'm going to pack a little picnic to take with us. Tomorrow night I'm attending a happy hour for a co-worker who is leaving...which leads me to why I am doing this tonight.

I'm still munching away on my veggie meatballs. I think they firmed up a bit after sitting overnight, which was kind of a nice surprise. It's also nice to see how the flavors "settle" after sitting for a few days. But they are still tasting good! I also had a bite of one cold...OH MAN...it was good. So, next time I think I'll make it into a meatloaf so I can slice it into sandwiches.

Tuesday evening I had an unplanned dinner guest. My friend Katie decided to come over for dinner and catch up. Not wanting to server leftovers, we opted for a quick pizza and wine. I had to grab a quick pic of the pizza before we dug in:

For Saturday's "picnic", I've decided to make  tofu/dill salad sandwiches. I originally made this quite a long time ago from a cookbook called Vegan With A Vengeance. I'm really not sure what all was in there, so I'm just going from what I think is in tuna salad. Here's the details:

Tofu/Dill Salad Sandwiches
1lb tofu, pressed and crumbled
1/4C fresh dill, chopped
4T Vegenaise
1/2 chopped red onion
2 large celery stalks, chopped
1T apple cider vinegar
1t salt
1t black pepper

Mix it all together and enjoy. Side note: this will taste so much better if you make it in advance!
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Now to the bread. I made this loaf my first week of the experiment:

I am happy to say this was my loaf tonight:

I am really hoping that it tastes good...because it looks and smells like it does. I switched it up a bit this time. After making my pizza crust a few times, I began to think about how I should make this loaf...and how I could make it better. The basic ingredients wouldn't change...but I needed to do something. So, I split the flour between white and wheat. I also added some olive oil to the mix. I kneaded the dough a few minutes longer this time...and I think it may have been worth it. Here's the new recipe:

1 package yeast
1T sugar
2C warm water
1t salt (was 1T last time)
2 1/2C white unbleached flour
2 1/2C whole wheat flour
1T olive oil

Let yeast and sugar dissolve in warm water and set aside. Mix all other ingredients, then add in yeast mixture. Mix and begin to knead for 8-9 minutes. Let rise for 1 hour, then punch down and work out any air bubbles. Place in desired baking pan and let rise for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Add pan of water to lowest rack in oven 5 minutes before baking. Bake loaf for 15 minutes, then turn off heat and leave loaf in oven for 5 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!
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I was planning on making some other snacks for Saturday, but haven't had the chance to get to it yet. Maybe tomorrow night? Monday is a holiday...so I'm hoping to play around a bit and see what I can come up with! Stay tuned.

I've been kicking the caffeine habit the past few months. I have limited myself to ONE cup of coffee in the morning while getting ready (not really so much on the weekends...I venture into two or possibly three cups). Otherwise, I drink hot tea. I'm not going to lie, I was super cranky the first few days but am very happy now. Well, I went to lunch today with a co-worker because we had a lot to catch up. Now, don't worry...I didn't eat anything...I had some carrots before we went and ate my meatballs when I got back. I did however, get a diet coke. I ended up drinking two glasses over the course of a few hours. Holy smokes...I felt disgusting. Not only was I not able to focus as much...I had a huge crash later on in the afternoon. I forget what it's like to be truly addicted to caffeine. I know I'll have soda's from time to time, but I need to limit my intake!

That's about all I have for tonight. I'm going to finish up dishes and be super lazy!

Until next time folks.

H to the Vizzo

Happy almost Valentine's Day everyone! Just another reason to support those greeting card companies! :)

Two more days and I will be officially half-way through my experiment! I can't believe that it's going by so quickly. I'm trying to recap the last few days here...not a lot of ground breaking news, I guess.

We had our potluck at work on Friday. That was fun...not. I sit right behind the two "shelves" where they put all the food. So every time I get up to go to the printer...or get water...or go to the bathroom...I have to look at all the awesome food. There are some smells that I could do without...but for the most part, things were smelling real good. You would be very proud of me though...I didn't screw up at all. I stuck to my olives, veggies and the lunch that I brought! Thankfully someone had made some homemade hummus (I verified the ingredients) that was awesome...so I snacked on that too. At the end of the day, I was kind of glad that I am doing this. I saved myself some serious calories.

Saturday night we decided to make some pizza! Yum...I love me some pizza. Dough: made from the roll recipe under the 2/9/11 post. I have to admit, I made it exactly the same as the rolls, but it turned out SO much better for pizza crust! The only think I did differently is letting it rise once. After it has doubled in size, punch it down and form it into the desired shape, add toppings and bake at 425 for 15-17 minutes.

I decided to make the sauce. There is some awesome, slightly chunky sauce at Wegmans. I used this for my inspiration. I have to say...this was really good. It makes quite a bit, just a warning.

Pizza Sauce

2T olive oil

1/2 red onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

14.5oz diced tomatoes

12oz tomato paste

20oz water

1t salt

1t black pepper

1 1/2t oregano

1 1/2t basil

1t red pepper flakes

Saute onions in olive oil until translucent then add garlic. Add all other ingredients and leave to simmer for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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Toppings are always up to you...but we used sauted mushrooms, red bell peppers, garlic stuffed green olives and artichoke hearts. One thing I like to do when making pizza is to saute any vegetables before putting them onto the pizza. The vegetables release a lot of liquid when they cook...so giving them a quick cook before putting them on your pizza crust will reduce the change of your crust being extra soggy from all the liquid.

Another pizza note: start putting your sauce on top, you won't regret it! This past summer Brian and I experienced the awesomeness of Pi (pizza place in STL). They do it Chicago style and they do it right. It's so good. If you are in STL, you just have to give this place a go. All of that being said, when you put the sauce on top, it creates this weird "crust" while it bakes...and makes it even more delicious.

I wanted to stretch myself this week and get outside of my comfort zone a little. So, I decided to make "meatballs". A coworker and I randomly started talking about it right after I started this blog...so I thought...it's time to make some meat. I'll give you the goods before sharing my thoughts (this made 40 balls):

Veggie Meatballs

2T olive oil

1 large red onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

1/2lb garbanzo beans (soaked, then cooked)

2lbs extra firm tofu (pressed)

1/2C breadcrumbs

2t salt

2t black pepper

2t basil

1t oregano

2T Worcestershire Sauce (one without anchovies)

1T red wine vinegar

Start pressing tofu. I like to cut the blocks in quarters before pressing. I feel like this allows for more liquid to escape. Begin boiling garbanzo beans until nice and tender (make sure you have soaked these overnight before boiling).

In saute pan, saute onion in olive oil until nice and tender. Add garlic and turn off heat. Let residual heat cook the garlic.

Once beans have cooked, place in food processor and blend until creamy (adding a bit of olive oil or water as needed). Place beans in large mixing bowl with tofu, onion mixture, breadcrumbs and all other seasonings. With your hands mix all the ingredients together until all incorporated. Roll into desired size and place on cookie sheet.

Give each meatball a quick turn on the stove...browning each side. Place in oven safe container and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove from oven, baste with desired sauce and return to oven for 15 more minutes.

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I went for two options: BBQ and red sauce. I made the same red sauce that I put on the pizza (made a little extra in case I decide to make pizza again over the weekend or next week). I made a little divider in my baking dish out of foil...I thought that was kind of genius. But there was nobody here to confirm that. :(

The overall flavor was really good. I think I prefer the BBQ option, but that's just my thing. The texture was a little soft. I'm not sure if baking them longer would have tightened them up? Perhaps if I had added some dry oats to the mixture, they would have absorbed some of the liquid...making the meatballs a little more "meaty"? They held their shape rather well, especially considering how soft they were. I think next time I'll add some TVP (textured vegetable protein) too.

I would definitely make these again! Although totally edible, I want to give them another go because I think I can do better.

I guess that's it for tonight. Stay tuned for new snacks and sandwiches later this week!

Greetings and salutations. Yeah...I'm pretty wiped out tonight. I just finished getting all my tax stuff ready and I would really like to go to bed. But alas, I need to update you...whoever you are.

It's been a good couple of days...eating wise. I have finally finished my Mexican Loaded Potatoes and I can honestly say that after six meals of it, I could go for seven or eight easy. Yes, I enjoyed it that much!

I finally put those rotting bananas to good use! Banana bread! :)

Who doesn't like a warm slice of heaven. I mean really...pecans, cinnamon and banana warm goodness with a little spread of butter. Mmmm! I will say that although I am happy with how it turned out, sans recipe, it isn't as good as I have made before. It was a little undercooked in the middle...or as I think I'll start referring to it...very moist. However, it was totally still edible. (side note...I was baking a sweet potato while baking this...and I definitely shouldn't have had the oven set to 425 for the bread...I knew what I was doing was wrong...I just didn't want to have to wait until after the potato was finished cooking. OK...glad I got that off my chest) I threw a slice in the toaster this morning for breakfast, poured a glass of OJ and enjoyed my Good Morning America.

Banana Bread

2 very ripe bananas
1/4C pure maple syrup
1t cinnamon
1/4t nutmeg
1t vanilla bean paste
2t baking powder
1/2C almond milk
1/4C canola oil
2C flour
1/2C chopped pecans

Mash bananas until creamy, add all other ingredients and mix until incorporated. Pour into desired baking dish and bake for approximately 40 minutes at 375 (or until toothpick comes out clean).
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Tonight's menu: Hearty stew and yeast rolls. I have made a pizza crust from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook a few times (pre-experiment). It is some of the tastiest crust that I have ever had. So, I thought since I was making a nice stew I would attempt to recreate this crust in the form of rolls. There is such a great balance between white, whole wheat and oats in this crust that I was nervous I wouldn't even get close. I switched it up a bit...let it rise twice and added some flavors. I'm a lover of bread...so I was happy with them. They are quite light but hearty!

We'll start with the stew (everything is very rough chopped because I like a chunky, rustic stew):

4 carrots
4 celery stalks
1/2C corn
1/2 red onion
1 large sweet potato
3 turnips
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1t salt
1t black pepper
2t rosemary
1/2t thyme
1t cayenne pepper
1lb extra firm tofu (pressed and crumbled)
1C red wine
5.5C veg stock (or less depending on how much juice you like)

Add all ingredients into enameled cast iron and stir to incorporate. Bake at 400 degrees until vegetables are tender. I cooked mine for 2 hours.
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Now for the rolls:

1 package yeast
1T sugar
1C warm water
1C white flour
1C whole wheat flour
1/2C oats (chopped/processed to be flour consistency)
1/2t salt
1/2t garlic powder (wanted fresh, but ran out from stew)
1t rosemary
1t olive oil

Combine yeast, sugar and warm water and let set aside. Combine all other ingredients, then add wet to dry ingredients. Mix and pour out onto floured surface. Knead for 7-8 minutes or until it is smooth. Place in oiled bowl with moist towel on top. Put in warm area and let rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Punch dough down and roll into balls. Place in baking dish and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake 15 minutes. Enjoy!
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Not totally sure, but thinking about making this roll recipe again tomorrow night. We are having a potluck at work on Friday...so I think I'm going to pick up an olive tray and make this recipe but in loaf form. I was thinking that I should make something special, but I need to get a lot of stuff tied up tomorrow night and don't want to be baking all evening. Sorry to disappoint. ;)

Well, I need to get to bed folks. Until next time.

A Spicy Little Weekend...Ole!

I have successfully not turned on the TV at all this evening. I was tempted to have it on in the background while I cooked, but based on all the ridiculous Facebook comments...I think it's better that I'm just listening to music. Speaking of music, I forgot to clarify the album from my last post: it was the new Kings of Leon. On the play list this evening: Brandi Carlile and Mumford & Sons!

This weekend was great. I spend a very relaxing few days at Brian's in NY. I took up a little of the granola for them to taste...had some for breakfast...and snacks. Needless to say, I am making another batch for this week. This round I'm forgoing the fruit because I have fresh berries. I'm also using pecans rather than walnuts and almonds. It's smelling good!

Saturday night Brian and I decided to make some dinner based on whatever was in the kitchen. It had snowed overnight, then iced for most of the day. We didn't really feel like venturing out...so this was the only alternative. The result of our findings:

We made a little vegetable risotto. It was pretty darn tasty...especially since we were so limited to what was in the kitchen. We added a bit too much white pepper...so it was super spicy! Here's the details:

1T olive oil
1 small red onion
1 small yam
1/2C celery
1/2C carrot
1/2C sun dried tomatoes
1C Arborio rice
4C vegetable stock
1t dried rosemary
1/8t white pepper (not what we used...but the amount that should be used! ha!)

Saute onions in olive oil until softened. Add yams, celery, carrot and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and rice, cook for 1-2 minutes. Begin adding hot vegetable stock one cup at a time until completely gone and rice is nice and creamy. Enjoy!
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As I was brainstorming for this weeks menu, I was really wishing I knew how to make tortillas. So...there was my challenge. Not entirely sure how happy I am with the results...but will say the last batch turned out MUCH better than the first. I ended up making two batches of whole wheat and one of corn. The corn was a disaster. I don't even know how to fix what I did. ;) The whole wheat was a bit chewy and bland...but would definitely suffice is I was really craving a tortilla. I'm pretty sure they must use some type of shortening when they are mass producing them?

The last picture is my progress from start to finish. HA! The bottom is my first shot at the whole wheat. The corn was my only attempt...and the top is the second round of whole wheat. I used a combination of whole wheat flour, water, canola oil and salt. I'll have to experiment more later on to see if I can't get closer to the real deal.

For tonight's dinner (and the next few days) I went for a little south of the border feel. I made some Mexican cornbread and what I am calling Mexican Loaded Potatoes. First, the cornbread:

This turned out pretty good. It is slightly dry, but has great corn flavor and great surprises when you bite into a piece of the peppers. Here's what I did:

2C cornmeal
1 1/4 C almond milk
1t apple cider vinegar
2t baking powder
1t salt
1/2t black pepper
1/4C canola oil
1/2 canned corn (no sodium added)
1/4C jalapeno (I used pablano because they were out of jalapenos)

Mix milk and vinegar together and set aside. Mix all other ingredients, then combine with milk/vinegar mixture. Mix until combined, the pour into desired baking dish.

For muffins, bake for 25 minutes at 350.
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For the main course...Mexican Loaded Potatoes! It's a baked sweet potato topped with black beans, fresh salsa and avocado. Mmmmm...so good!

The black beans:

1lb dry black beans
7-8C water (depends on how tender you want your beans)
1t salt
1/2t black pepper
1t chili powder
2t cumin powder
2 cloves garlic

Boil beans until they are soft to the bite. Add spices and garlic. Stir and let sit until ready to use.

The salsa (original recipe courtesy of Brian):

3 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 large red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2C jalapenos
juice of 1 lime
1t salt
1T white wine vinegar
1/4C cilantro

Mix all together and let sit. Best if you can let it sit over night.
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You must try this. The ingredients are simple...but such a good combination.

I am almost a week into the start and I'm still feeling good about it all. It is taking up a lot of time (a lot!), so I guess it's a good thing that I really enjoy cooking. It has been forcing me to think outside the box and venture into what could possibly be a total disaster. It's teaching me to take more risks.

Friday was a hard day...food wise. I guess Friday's in a weird way correlates to eating out or having a snack if I've been good all week. Although it was a hard day, I made it and didn't break any of my rules. It feels really good to be back into eating fresh and vegan. It's always a little shock to the system when you make such a change...but it's amazing how great you feel. I have more energy and I feel "clean". That may be weird...but it's the best word I can think of at the moment.

My friend Naomi asked (and I think it's appropriate) if I thought I would loose any weight. I think I will? Not entirely sure...but I did weigh myself the morning of day 1...so I'll keep you updated on that too!

Well, that's all for now. Wishing everyone a great week!

Breaking the habit

When I get a new album, I can't help but listen to it over and over. Which brings me to my title, I need to break that habit. I'm on day 3.25 of listening to the same album and I need to stop before I get sick of it. I just can't help it!

Today was a day, let me tell you. I tried leaving for work early because I needed to take my car to the shop (an ordered part finally came in). Well, my typically quick exit from my wonderful street parking "spot" was not so kind to me. All in all, it took me 20 minutes to get my car out of the freaking ice. I guess there was quite the deep freeze last night...which had then cemented my tires to the rest of the snow/ice on the side of the street. It was a mess...I was incredibly aggravated...sweating...put a big scratch in the car from the shovel...bad start to the day. Luckily, it did get better as the day went on.

Dinner. In my efforts to use all the ingredients that I have purchased for the week, I was forced to think up something creative. I had an extra package of mushrooms that I had planned on putting into the risotto, but decided to just make half. So, my thinking of mushrooms led me to gravy. I was thinking a little mushroom gravy over mashed potatoes...with some other randoms on the side. Maybe a piece of toast to use up the bread before it is a rock. I didn't have any potatoes on hand. Side note: I typically keep whatever I'm going to be using for the week on hand, as I don't like for things to go bad on me. This past week I bought a 3lb bag of Honeycrisp apples (best apples ever!) and that was a stretch for me. I think I should get more familiar with buying in bulk? OK, back to dinner. Since I didn't have potatoes, that led me to the bread that I have leftover. At the end of my wickedly annoying thought process, I decided to make a spinach/mushroom open faced sandwich of sorts. Done.

It was actually kind of decent. I'm not saying that I would make it again...but it served the need for dinner and tomorrow's lunch. Here's what I did:

2T olive oil
1 small onion
4oz wild mushrooms
2 small tomatoes
3oz baby spinach
1T butter (earth balance)
1T flour
1C almond milk (unsweetened)
1/2C water
1t Kosher salt
2t black pepper
1/4t cayenne pepper
bread (toasted)

In a cast iron skillet, add 1T olive oil and saute onions until caramelized. Remove from skillet and add 1T olive oil and saute mushrooms until cooked. Remove from skillet and set aside with onions. In same cast iron skillet, add butter. Add flour and whisk together, making sure the mixture doesn't burn. Slowly add in your milk and water. Add spices. Return onions and mushrooms to mixture and heat through. Remove from heat and add spinach. Let rest until bread is toasted. Scoop over bread and garnish with chopped fresh tomatoes.
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Well, there you have it. Not sure what I'll be cooking up this weekend. I'm making another batch of granola (sans fruit because I have some fresh berries that I was to use in the morning) to add to the batch that I made yesterday. Turns out its a fun snack, so I thought I would start making batches every so often just to make sure I don't run out. I had it for breakfast with a little almond milk and it was tasty!

Later gators.

Snow Day!!!

Howdy folks. Today was indeed a snow day...technically ice day...but nonetheless, I was working from home today. It really is amazing how much work you can get done without all the interruptions of a day in the office!

Now that I got that out of the way...let's get to the good stuff. Today I worked on my breakfast recipes. I decided last night that if I didn't go into work that I would take the time to make some pancakes for breakfast. So, I pondered the ingredients as I drifted away to sleep with the hopes of it coming out beautifully the first time. I guess I jinxed myself. My first go was OK...definitely not the right balance of the small stuff. So, I ate part of it simply for the fact that I was hungry and didn't want to throw it all away. After working for the "day"...as "day" as you can get when working from home...I decided to try another batch. I looked at my list and adjusted what I thought needed to change...scooped out the batter...let the iron skillet do its magic...and BAM:

I wanted to try one more variation, but just didn't have the time. I am very happy with the outcome...earthy, slightly chewy and very filling. This recipe made about 3 large pancakes. Here's the stuff...

1C almond milk
1t white vinegar
1/3C unbleached white flour
1/3C whole wheat flour
1/3C quick oats
1t baking powder
1/4t salt
1t vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Combine the milk with vinegar, stir and allow to sit while you combine the dry goods.

Add the flours, oats, baking powder and salt. Mix dry goods together. Add vanilla bean paste to milk and stir. Add the wet to the dry and mix just until incorporated.

Drop approximately 1/3C into saucepan (I used my iron skillet) and cook as normal.
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Next in line this evening was granola! I do love me some granola and this mixture of molasses and spices make it a perfect snack or breakfast for those cold winter days! Delish!

2C oats
1/2C chopped walnuts
1/2C sliced almonds
1/2C raisins
1/2C craisins
1T molasses
2T water
1/2C brown sugar
1t vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1t cinnamon
1/8t ground cloves
1/8t nutmeg
1/2t Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Add all dry ingredients together. In a small saucepan, heat molasses, water, brown sugar and vanilla bean paste until the sugars have dissolved. Pour sugar mixture over dry ingredients and stir until it is completely incorporated.

Pour mixture into greased cookie sheet (or similar...I prefer something with edges so it doesn't spill all over.) Bake for 1 hour, checking and stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool and dig in!
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I need to cover something really quick. You'll notice that I have been using vanilla bean paste in my recipes. My wonderful friend, Naomi, gave me this bottle for Christmas. It is SO good.

I had the leftover risotto from last night for dinner....even better the day after! (side note...the risotto didn't taste nearly as salty as I thought it did last night. Hmmm...)

That's all folks. Until next time...

Day 1: Success

So today wasn't a complete failure! That's a start, right? There were a few times where I had to pull my hand back from grabbing those snacks that my co-workers put out. I do it too...I put stuff out that I just want to get rid of so I don't eat the last ever loving piece of...but seriously...it needs to stop.

Like they say, breakfast starts the day off right. So I attempted to lower my cholesterol by having some oatmeal, a smidgen of brown sugar and a handful of fresh blueberries. After having cereal for months on end, it was quite nice having a change of pace.

Oatmeal. Let's face it, steel cut oats are really fantastic. But who has time? I opted for the rolled oats...the semi-lazy version. I was lucky enough to have someone send me a crock-pot recipe for steel cut oats that I'm going to have to try. I'll keep you posted on that (no pun intended. haha)

Lunch. I talked about my intentions last post and I think it mostly came through. My evaluation: B. The middle was fantastic, but the bread fell apart a little. The flavor of the bread was really good...and it was slightly dense, just how I like it. I ate the whole thing, so it must not have been that bad. Can we just think about the awesomeness of roasted red peppers...fresh roasted red peppers....mmmmmm! Delish!

A coworker (who knows I am doing the blog) asked me what I was eating. I told her and she said "That's tofu? Oh, it looks like chicken." It may seem odd, but I take that as a compliment.

As I was preparing for dinner tonight, I realized that I need to start writing things down so I don't forget what I meant to put in something. I was also thinking about portions. Cooking for one person can be difficult because recipes more often than not make a large amount. With that being said, I have always made a large batch of something Sunday evening and then have the leftovers for lunch (and sometimes dinner) all week! I feel that I need to make an effort not to do that so I can get the most out of the experience. So...my resolution for this week: split the ingredients I bought for the risotto and force myself into making two separate meals out of them (without going back to the store for more stuff). I think I did it...so look for something new on Thursday!

OK...risotto. This turned out really good. I used the vegetable stock that I made on Sunday (good call!) and added in all the flavors that I wanted to go together. The only thing I would do differently is not add any salt to the recipe until the cooking was about half-way finished. My stock was salted and I added 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt. It may not be for others, but it was just a bit much for me (plus I really like to monitor my sodium intake). Here's the recipe (enough for 2-3 servings...but could easily double):

4C vegetable stock
1 bay leaf
2T olive oil
1/2C shallots
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/2t dried rosemary
1t dried thyme
1/4t white pepper
1/4t cinnamon
1/2t Kosher salt (may want to wait on this one)
4oz wild mushrooms
1C Arborio rice
3oz spinach (rough chopped)
dash of truffle oil when plated

In medium stockpot, bring stock and bay leaf to slow boil. Keep the stock hot at all times until it is gone.

Heat saucepan, then saute shallots and garlic until shallots are translucent. Add all spices, salt and pepper and saute for another minute. Add mushrooms and saute until they start giving off their liquid. Add Arborio rice and let "brown" for 2-3 minutes (stirring frequently so it doesn't burn). At this point it is time to start adding in the stock. Add 1C (or one ladle full) at a time, allowing the rice to soak up the stock before adding more. It will go quickly for the first few cups. Stick with it and keep stirring...this allows the risotto to become nice and creamy! Keep adding the stock until it is gone and has been incorporated into the rice. Turn heat off, add spinach and let it wilt into the mixture.

Once plated, add a few drops of truffle oil. Enjoy!
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If you don't have the white pepper or the truffle oil, you'll survive. If you do have them...use them. You'll be forever hooked! The white pepper adds a nice quick and unexpected heat that black pepper just doesn't have. And the truffle oil...its an expensive little bottle, but you'll have it for a really long time!

 

Tomorrow might be a snow/ice day for me (fingers crossed!)...so I might have some time to experiment!

That's all for now. Off to enjoy a glass of wine and relax for a bit.