Taco-Stuffed Tomatoes

Meat!  Rice!  Cheese!  TOMATOES!  How can this go wrong?

The answer is, IT CAN'T!

This is a little more intensive than most of my meals.  Stuffed foods take a lot of prep work.  It's just sort of a fact of life.  But they are totally worth it.

Taco-Stuffed Tomatoes
Servings: 1 (with some extra filling to nosh on)

Ingredients

Also, beef and celery.  Side note:  Uncle Ben needs some oil-absorbing sheets to get rid of that shine.

• Tomato
• Onion (a 1/4 inch slice should be enough)
• Garlic (1 small clove; I used half a large clove)
• Cheddar Cheese
• Rice
• Ground Beef
• Celery
• Taco Seasoning, or if you don't have it (like me; stupid moving and my incomplete pantry!):
• Chili Powder
• Cumin
• Paprika
• Crushed Red Pepper
• Salt and Pepper

Directions

Brown your beef!  I used about 1/4 lb fully anticipating extra tastiness at the end while I waited for the whole thing to bake in the oven.  (Also, it seemed a little silly to only cooking, like, 1/16 lb for just one tomato.)

Beef.  Greatest.  Meat.  Ever.

While that's going, make some rice.

 
Now, this is a case where you should definitely make more than enough to stuff a tomato.  Rice is always good to have on hand.

But wait! you cry, forlornly raising up a Chinese take-out box of hardened, stale rice, You can't store rice!

Ah, my little reader.  What you have been missing is this trick culled from my Korean former-roommate:

...mmm, mushroom and spinach pizza...

Freeze it!  Seriously.  It retains its moisture and just needs a quick zap in the microwave to be just as fluffy and delicious again.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

We chopped up some onion and minced some garlic.

(Yes, Mihwa, I used my onion goggles:

Victory against onions is mine!  P.S. Sorry for my own brand of Uncle Ben shininess.  Summer has this shocking ability to make you sweat.  Weird, I know.)

Add your onions and garlic to your almost-done beef and cook until almost clear.

Finally, we get to the TOMATO!

Slice off the top.

There's something innately mad scientist-y to cutting off the tops of things.  Like I'm going to replace its insides with chimpanzee brains.

Scoop out the inside pulp.

Try not to break the structural integrity of the skin; as you can plainly see, I caused a small tear in it.  There will be aesthetic ramifications later!

Save the pulp for later; it'll add moisture to our stuffing mixture.  (Save more than you think you'll need; I used too little of mine and my tomato's inside ended up a little dry.)

If you don't have enough juice to make the stuffing wet, add a little bit of salsa.

Back to the filling.  Chop up some celery; I used about 1/4 a stalk.  I know using celery sounds weird, but one of my favorite parts of tacos is the refreshing crispness of the lettuce.  I use celery in this because it retains its crunch, unlike lettuce which would wilt.

Now, we put everything together!  Add all the spices to taste; personally, I just added the heck out of the chili powder and cumin.

Mix it all together!

And now stuff your tomato!

Of course, no taco is complete without CHEESE!

Put this sucker in a 375F oven for 15-20 minutes or until tomato is tender and cheese is bubbly.

I know, I know.  You're hungry NOW.

Well good thing there's more stuffing for you to eat!

I suppose technically you could stuff another tomato...but who doesn't love taco salad?

When your tomato is done, take it out of the oven and admire its beauty.  Well, quickly, before you devour it.

See what I mean about structural integrity?  *sigh*

Watching LOST for the First Time (Part 2.5)

Finished the first four eps of Season 3.  Will have more insights later.

Just a quick comment to make:

I HEART JULIET.  She is so badass and awesome and you totally know she's secretly tortured, but not in an annoying Kate way.  Not to mention, I don't even know why, but even though she totally emotionally tortures Jack in his little prison cell, I ship Jack/Juliet hard.  Maybe because they're both doctors.  Maybe because blondes look better with brunettes.  But probably because she's the first female character who manages to be both strong and sympathetic without venturing into being bitchy or self-indulgently emotional.  She's a woman, not simply a girl/love interest, and that's incredibly refreshing.

I know I shouldn't get attached to characters on this show after only four episodes, but I HEART HER, you guys!  And I know she's totally going to break my heart with her covert evilness with The Others.

P.S.  CHARLIE.  THAT MULLET.  TAKE CARE OF IT.  NOW.  PLZ THNX.

Watching LOST for the First Time (Part 2)

Just finished Season 2.

SPOILERS, obvi.

1.  Killing Everyone.  Seriously.  It feels like it's becoming a way to a) crudely shock the audience and b) keep the monstrous cast budget down.
2.  Charlie.  First of all, Mr. Eko/Charlie is totally Locke/Boone v. 2.0, only without Boone's beautiful eyes.  This does not bode well for Charlie.  What also doesn't bode well for Charlie?  Is that they seem to be confused about who he is.  He's a good guy or a bad guy depending on what the episode necessitates.  I found his almost creepy fatherly instincts cute, but after what he did to Sun, how can you really root for him and Claire?  Yeah, yeah, he threw out his heroin and started buildin a church, but his moments of goodness are always contrasted with relapses into vindictiveness.
3.  Jack's Dad.  I kind of love him and the fact that he is in practically every character's flashback.  He's such a boozy old man with such drunken angst!
4.  Ana-Lucia.  Moment she had sex with Sawyer to get his gun?  Loved her.  Still iffy on her emotional past, but her uneasy relationship with leadership on the Island was actually compelling.
5.  Sayid.  IS A BAMF.  Seriously.  He can always tell if someone's lying.  HE DUG UP A GRAVE TO PROVE HIS POINT.  I love him.  Almost a ridiculous amount.
6.  The Hatch/Button.  I like that the spiritual/sci-fi aspect of it is being toned down by a touch of realism with the energy reboots or whatever it is to explain the plane crash.  Also, I like the idea of having to find all the hatches to complete the Dharma puzzle.  It feels like a video game.  I mean, I doubt when all is said and done the "Dharma mystery" will have a satisfying conclusion (it already feels hokey), but it's okay for now.
7.  Michael/Walt.  Did the show not realize the kid was going to grow up a lot faster than the time passing on the island or something?  I mean, how can you spend so much time developing a kid who can summon birds or appear wherever and then just send him away?  I also hated how they completely vilified Michael's character with the killing.  It was unnecessary and felt out-of-character.  His super-crazy killing spree didn't feel earned.  Also, WHERE'S THE WALT/VICTOR REUNION?!
8.  Mr. Eko/Locke.  All of a sudden the show went from "lalala MAGIC ISLAND lalala" sort of philosophy into "SPIRITUALITY OOOH OHHH".  I don't know how I feel about this, but I've started to like Mr. Eko's utter awesomeness more than Locke's emotional meandering, so Eko might win me over to his side of parables, but we'll see.
9.  The Others.  Don't really get what the point of a spirit-gumed beard is.  Seriously sounds like too much effort to scare a bunch of rag-tag plane survivors.  Love the twist that Henry is the leader of them.  Also really enjoying the conflicted loyalties of Rousseau's daughter and I hope a reunion between mother and daughter is on the horizon.
10.  Desmond.  He has an accent, a star-crossed love (whose father is Alan Dale + accent!), and a tortured backstory.  He's totes cute.  He's coming back next season, right?  Like they'd actually kill someone in a non-senseless way.
11. Libby. SHE WAS CRAZY.  SHE OWNED A BOAT.  SHE HAD TONS OF HAIR CUT/DYE ISSUES.  Why didn't we get a flashback episode for her?  Also, how wasteful was it for her to encourage Hurley to destroy all that food?  Also, hypnosis.  Would not go to her if I needed therapy.
12.  Jack/Kate.  Is it just me, or do they make each other blander?  They're the LOST version of Finn/Rachel:  interesting when you take them apart, but together just a vacuum of boring, forced "chemistry".

Watching LOST for the First Time (Part 1)

I figure since most of you who have planned to watch LOST have already seen it, it might be fun(ny) to hear my thoughts of it as I'm in the throes of watching it for the first time.  You can laugh at what's wrong in my analysis or smile at thoughts that used to occur to you back in the day.  Or you can just be like, "Girl, stop ranting."  Any and all.
 
I just finished 2x12 "Fire + Water".

SPOILERS, obviously, if you haven't seen the series.

1.  Boone/Shannon.  My roommate said it best when she noted that "It's like they walked off the set of a CW show."  The thing is, either character on its own would have a compelling arc.  The wealthy son who has always gotten everything through nepotism on a quest to prove himself by his own merits alone?  The rich bitch learning to care about others and give back?  Both tried and true archetypes that have a lot to play with.  What brought it down was the creepy incest and the fact that together they brought the show down to teen drama level.  While I'm glad the show realized their mistake with these characters and took care of it (read: killed them off), I almost wish they had tried a little harder to fix their mistake instead of taking the easy way out.
2.  Jack/Kate/Sawyer.  First of all, I don't really like Kate.  She's sort of this very blank character who is inexplicably good at everything.  Most of all, I can't really appreciate her relationship with Jack.  Is it just me, or is it totally obvious that Kate and Sawyer should be together?  Kate has all these weird Daddy issues and from her backstory, she seems like a girl who wants to want a good guy, but always screws it up and ends up with a bad boy.  While Kate and Sawyer compliment each other--two people with a tragic family past that put them on the run--Jack is too lofty, too sensitive.  I think Jack, with his saving people complex, wants to fix her, but I think he can do better.
3.  Charlie/Claire.  STOP BEING CRAZY, CHARLIE.  You and Claire need to be cute in your makeshift family!  (Although I totally get how creeped out Claire is by Charlie's investment in her.  I think that might have been a little overdone.)
4.  Hurley. Needs to cut his hair and shave his side-burns pronto.
5.  Jin/Sun.  LOVE THEM.  Their backstory is still a little iffy for me (there are still holes in the development and degradation of their relationship), but now they've been reunited and they're totally functional working out their problems and being all in love again.  Plus Sun is easily my favorite female character and Daniel Dae Kim, despite his weird Alien face, has fantastic abs.  I LOVE FUNCTIONAL COUPLES, leading me to
6.  Rose/Bernard.  Yeah, it was only for a minute or so, but I was teary-eyed when they were finally reunited.
7.  The Hatch/Button.  Haven't decided if I think it's completely silly or an interesting twist.  I guess it depends on where they go with this Dharma thing.
8.  The Others.  I still don't get them.  I don't think you're supposed to, but they're scary all the same.  I want to know what they're doing with Walt.  I also want Walt and Victor back together.  It's about time for some answers.
9.  Sayid.  Is totally competent and I love him.
10.  Mr. Eko.  Is totally competent and I love him.
11.  Locke.  Wavers between between being existentially awesome and judgmentally annoying.
12.  Ana-Lucia.  I really didn't like her when she was introduced, but she's settled better with our survivors, so I might like her more now that she's not emotionally crazed and vindictive.
13.  Smoke Monster.  Oh, CGI.  You are your own greatest enemy.
I'm sure I've forgotten some thoughts, but I'll have more entries as I get further into the show.

Pasta Risotto-Style with Spinach and Mushrooms

So this recipe is loosely based on one from the New York Times.  I love Mark Bittman's columns, and this one in particular really caught my eye.  As a college student on the run (thank you, stage managing/research assisting/class taking), I was always looking for quick and easy ways to make things flavorful.  Cooking pasta in broth?  GENIUS.  In no time at all, I was suddenly elevated from pasta with Prego to something just a little bit special.  I know it sounds melodramatic, but this idea truly changed my life.


This is the first recipe I'm sharing with you, and you'll notice that already I'm taking shortcuts.  That's kinda who I am because
1) I'm cheap and
2) I'm lazy.
As are most people, right?  And since I'm showing cooking from a real-world perspective, I'm not going to hide either of those traits from you.

So let's get started!

Pasta Risotto-Style with Spinach and Mushrooms
Servings: 2 (or 1, if you're like me and didn't eat lunch today)

Ingredients

Yes, I use store-brand products.  Coupon-cutter since age 6, babes!

• Olive Oil
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 3 Mushrooms
• Spinach, raw or frozen to taste (I used about a sixth of a frozen package)
• 1 1/2 Cups Chicken Bullion + Water (or Broth, if you're fancy)
• 1/8-1/4 of a box of Pasta (guesstimate depending on how hungry you are; I won't judge you) 

Directions:

Garlic:  Watch out, Onion!  She's out for you!

Onion:  THE AGONY!

Slice an onion in half and chop it up.  Chop, chop, chop.

Next, mince up a garlic clove.  Mine was rather big, so I used only one, but feel free to use more to taste.

Getting the papery shell off is my favorite part, mostly because

WHAM!  I get to unleash some of my inner rage/childhood trauma all over that little bad boy.

*evil laugh*

So now we have our onion chopped and our garlic minced:

Next, we put a bit of olive oil into a pot.

And once it's hot, drop in our little Allium buddies.

While those are getting all deliciously translucent, chop up some mushrooms.

Three should do, but again, add more or less to taste.

Right as the onions are getting clear like on a day during which you could see forever, add the mushrooms and cook for an extra minute or two.

Finally, we get to the pasta part of the recipe!  Pour your pasta into the pan and stir it up with the veggies so it gets coated in oil.  Add more olive oil if needed.

And now, the risotto part of the recipe.  First you need broth.  (You could also add white wine, but I usually just make it with broth given the oft-barren state of my kitchen.)  You can use homemade stock (delicious) or broth from the store (also tasty), but I prefer bullion cubes.  They don't go bad like broth and they're pre-measured, so they're super convenient.

My super-convenient secret weapon!

Add broth 1/2 cup at a time.  The pasta will absorb the broth, I promise.

Add broth...

The pasta absorbs it (told ya!)...

And add more broth!

I added about 1 1/2 cups broth total.  Right before the pasta is al dente, add your spinach.  If you're using fresh spinach, give it a good rough chop before adding.

Oh, frozen spinach. I like how it's so compact.

Mix it on in!

 And then once the pasta's ready, you're done!  Last step is to salt and pepper to taste (me, I'm mostly all pepper).

I am spasming with tastiness right now.

And if you happened to make more than you planned to, well, it's more deliciousness for you in the form of tomorrow's lunch (or tonight's midnight snack, as was the case for me).

Mmm...Leftovers...

Seriously, how easy was that?  And you can make tons of varieties of this.  Pick your own vegetables.  Add chicken.  If you're too lazy to add broth in 1/2 cup increments or you're too busy watching the latest episode of Doctor Who to bother (we've all been there), add it all at the start and the pasta will absorb it.  Most importantly, have fun with it!

My Life with Food: An Introduction

I finally decided that I would try my hand at food blogging (I want to call it flogging, but that might be insensitive to Paul Bettany in The DaVinci Code--not that I readily associate myself with anything Dan Brown related, but I can't resist Mr. Bettany's unrepentant awesomeness).  I've always loved food, but until about a year ago, I didn't have a lot of experience when it came to cooking.

I was raised in a household where frozen meals and Hamburger Helper were a way a life.  I remember I had a Mother's Day assignment where I had to write a paper about the my favorite meal my mother makes.  I picked Stouffer's mac and cheese (what, it's delicious!).  My teacher thought I was being snarky and asked me to redo the assignment, not believing that a child could be raised on oven-ready food alone.

When I eventually got to college, I stuck on the meal plan for as long as I could.  Most people hated it, since they were used to home-cooked meals drenched in love and more than 15 minutes of work.  I, on the other hand, loved it.  It was heads and shoulders above what I was used to, and, honestly?  I doubted I'd ever be able to make anything closer to edible.

Luckily, I had the pleasure of having two wonderful apartment-mates my senior year who openly embraced cooking--real cooking--as a way of feeding yourself.  They laughed at my many packages of ramen and encouraged me to just go for it:  get a recipe and make it!  It might not taste the best, but it's pretty hard to make food really inedible.  And even if I do massively screw up, there's always ramen, right?

This all comes down to my type of cooking, which I describe as splash-and-dash:  learning to cook well under a time crunch with a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Most importantly it's fun, loose, inexperienced, and especially enthusiastic.  It's about figuring out that cooking is not actually that hard if you keep practicing.  So this is me, practicing.  This stuff isn't gourmet; the photos are from a cheap Costco camera.  But I'd like to think it's a way to see how a young twenty-something can teach herself to cook confidently and eat well.