One of my favorite things I ate in New Orleans was the original Muffuletta sandwich. There wasn’t anything complicated about the sandwich, but the mixture of Italian cured meats, cheeses, and olives was just so good. Now, I’m not a sandwich person. I crave them once in a while, but I find it to be too much bread to be an everyday thing. How could I enjoy the flavors of the Muffuletta at home without sacrificing nutrition too much? I swapped out the bread and pickled vegetables for fresh vegetables and greens. Yup, I turned the Muffuletta into a salad.

This salad is one big delicious mess. Cured meat isn’t as good for you as fresh meat, but this salad is a more balanced way to enjoy the charcuterie and cheeses we love so much. Just remember to get the best quality cheeses and meat you can, organic if possible. Make the Muffuletta Salad. You know you want to.

Muffuletta Salad
Makes 2 servings

3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
10 pimento-stuffed olives, sliced in halves
1/4 shallot, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Pinch of dried oregano
Pinch of dried thyme
Pinch of crushed red pepper
2 large handfuls of baby romaine lettuce
1 small red bell pepper, sliced
2 tomatoes, sliced into wedges
1 ounce fresh mozzarella, sliced
1 ounce mild provolone cheese, sliced
1 ounce prosciutto, sliced
1 ounce salami, sliced

In a medium bowl, pour the red wine vinegar into the olive oil as you whisk vigorously to make a vinaigrette. Take one tablespoon of the vinaigrette and toss with the pimento-stuffed olives, shallot, garlic, oregano, thyme, and crushed red pepper in another small bowl.

Add the romaine lettuce, bell pepper, and tomato to the fist bowl and toss with the remaining vinaigrette. Split the salad into two dishes, and arrange the cured meats and cheese on the two servings. Top each with the remaining vinaigrette and and olives mixture.

Spring has been slow to arrive in NYC. The weather has been getting better, despite the fact that I was wearing a leather jacket just two days ago. But just as of a few weeks ago I still didn’t find any fun spring fruit at the farmers market. I’ve seen some since, but what if you live in a place that still doesn’t have spring produce? Or you wake up late like me and it’s all gone by the time you get to the market? I decided to make vanilla panna cotta. It’s such an easy yet elegant dessert–light and refreshing, yet rich and creamy.

Vanilla Panna Cotta
Makes 4 servings

3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoons gelatin
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped out
8 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream

Pour milk into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let it sit for a couple minutes until it looks like the gelatin has absorbed some liquid. Add the vanilla beans as well as the empty pod. Stir in the sugar and heat the milk over very low heat for about 1 minute. When both the sugar and gelatin dissolve, turn off the heat and whisk in the cream. Discard the vanilla pod and pour into 4 small ramekins or dishes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least a few hours.

Knowing I’d be leaving the US soon, I’ve been making a conscious effort to travel domestically the past year or so. In the past 14 months I managed to see Miami, LA, Vegas, and San Francisco, while still squeezing in a couple of my beloved international trips. But as a last hurrah before I move back to Hong Kong, we decided to have a short girls trip to a place I’ve been meaning to see for a while–New Orleans!

The food is pretty heavy there so it was definitely a case of eating dirty in a dirty city. By the last day I felt like a balloon. My stomach is so relieved to be back home–it’s been green smoothies and salads ever since! Some stuff I liked, others not so much, but it’s a city worth visiting and trying its local cuisine. Granted, we stayed in the French Quarter for the most part so I can’t judge the city as a whole. That would be like someone only visiting Times Square only and judging NYC’s entire food scene! Nonetheless, I thought I’d share some food we enjoyed over there.

Acme Oyster House

I don’t actually eat oysters. They’re great for you (get that zinc!) but after having a violent reaction the last two times I ate raw oysters, I’m fully traumatized and haven’t touched them since. The reason why I’m mentioning Acme Oyster House is because my travel companions ate there 3 out of the 4 days we were in New Orleans! They said the raw oysters were sweet and fresh, while the char-grilled oysters were cheesy and delicious–all for a really great price too. I have to say, I was pretty jealous. They were huge and looked amazing. It was the first time in a long time I really wanted to eat oysters! If you’re like me and don’t do oysters, the boiled crawfish is good. The rest of the menu is kinda meh.

Hand Grenades from Tropical Isle

This was a surprise to us. The Hand Grenade is one of those cheesy drinks you walk around with in a tall green plastic cup from Tropical Isle. We made a point to try the three famous New Orleans cocktails: the Sazerac, the Hurricane, and the Hand Grenade. The Sazerac was pretty nice, the Hurricane was just awful, but we surprisingly liked the Hand Grenade the most. Maybe at one time it was made from real ingredients, but now it just tastes like chemicals. Despite being super touristy and fake, it was tasty in a nasty way and was really strong without making you hurt the way Pat O’Brien’s Hurricanes do. It got the job done!

(This is my friend Lynda, by the way. Check out her food blog!)

801 Royal

While a lot of places seemed to do a half-ass job with the Cajun and Creole classics, everything was really solid at 801 Royal. I had the gumbo and it was slammin’. Also, I might have had the best Bloody Mary there ever. Topped with string beans instead of celery, it was practically a meal in itself! Warning: don’t do Bloody Mary + gumbo if you don’t tolerate heat well. They were both delicious but I was literally breaking out in sweat. The service was great too which was a plus.

Southern Candymakers

Even if you don’t intend to buy anything, just walk into Southern Candymakers and enjoy the smell of the store. It smells so awesome that all I wanted to do was lick the air. They’ve got different flavors of pralines and are liberal with the samples. Don’t like nuts? There’s chocolate too.

Commander’s Palace

I got nervous when I saw the four dollar signs rating on Yelp for Commander’s Palace. But when we got there I was relieved to see that this fancy restaurant has awesome lunch deals. The space is gorgeous–the restaurant is in a restored mansion of a former plantation. While fairly formal, it’s not stuffy at all and the service was great. Everything I had was wonderful here–the bread, Commander’s Turtle Soup, Cajun Cochon de Lait, and the Creole Bread Pudding Soufflé, which they gave us the recipe for! A very affordable luxury.

Central Grocery

Last but not least, the original Muffuletta at Central Grocery was one of my favorite meals. I’m not a huge sandwich person and didn’t really care for the Po’ Boys, but I loved the Muffuleta! Central Grocery sells imported Italian products but doesn’t serve any other food aside from Muffuletta sandwiches and a few sides. The sandwich has all kinds of delicious things: different Italian cured meets, cheese, olives, and pickled vegetables. Bring a friend if you don’t have a huge appetite, ’cause that thing is huge!

Update: I almost forgot to share this with you! 30 seconds of awesomeness I filmed on the trip. Enjoy.

Even back when sugar-crusted, store-bought muffins were something I ate regularly (when I cared about neither my waistline or a balanced meal), I would never go for the corn muffin. Chocolate chip? Yes. Blueberry? Definitely. But for some irrational reason the corn muffin always looked so nasty to me, so I never tried it. It wasn’t until recently when my boyfriend said he loved corn muffins that I came around. At first I was like what, why? And then I realized if I like cornbread there’s no reason why I wouldn’t like them in muffin form. It’s so weird how we just fear things we’ve never tried before.

I still have never bought a corn muffin, but I have been making good use of my Bob’s Red Mill Organic Medium Grind Cornmeal and making them myself. I like the medium grind for the slightly crunchy texture it gives my cornbread and corn muffins. I had been using Ina Garten’s corn muffin recipe (you know how I love Ina) until recently, when I came across Running to the Kitchen’s Strawberry Corn Muffins. Gina’s muffins don’t have wheat, table sugar, or dairy. I was really curious about them, so it was face-off time. I left out the strawberries to make the two recipes comparable. (Note: I called Gina’s muffins “paleo”, but they’re technically not paleo. “Wheat/sugar/dairy-free” just didn’t sound as catchy.)

Ina Garten’s Corn Muffins

I don’t know if Ina has a giant muffin tin or what, but I got way more than 12 muffins out of this recipe! Other than that, these are wonderful. Sweet, crumbly, really high in calories…basically, everything a corn muffin should be.

Running to the Kitchen’s Corn Muffins

The last time I baked something wheat, sugar, and dairy-free, the result was tasty but barely resembled the original baked good it was based on. So I was really pleasantly surprised when I pulled these out of the oven and they looked a lot like the corn muffin we know and love, with crumbs and all. I was concerned about whether or not the coconut oil and almond meal would give the muffins a weird taste but, nope. They tasted like corn muffins but earthier with just a touch of sweetness.

Final Verdict

Running to the Kitchen’s corn muffins win, I can’t believe it! This is our first Recipe Face-Off where “the real thing” didn’t win. Running to the Kitchen’s muffins are much lower in calories and way cleaner with almond meal, almond milk, honey, coconut oil instead of wheat, dairy, and table sugar. The texture wasn’t compromised by the alternative ingredients either. But most importantly, I actually preferred the taste. I loved the earthiness of it and that it was much less sweet. These are actually muffins I can eat for breakfast! Sorry, Ina. I love you but I’m switching recipes.

The word “sardine” by itself is enough to put most people off. Pair “sardine” with “salad” and I know half of you are about to X out of this post. Wait! Give me a chance to tell you why you might want to start eating this surprisingly delicious salad. Hear me out.

I love sardines but I never quite know what to prepare them with. I actually got the inspiration for this salad from a fitness book. I’m a big fan on the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast, and one day decided to buy his book Get-Fit Guy’s Guide to Achieving Your Ideal Body (my Amazon affiliate link). While his podcasts and blog are AMAZING and he’s just a fountain of knowledge, I didn’t get too much out of this particular book. For one thing, I could never quite decide which body type I have, which is kind of a pre-requisite to achieving your ideal body. But the bigger problem is I looked at the workout plans and decided I would completely disregard them and keep doing what I’m doing. So, yeah. I did get one important thing out of this book: my new favorite salad. He talks about making a salad with greens, veggies, sardines, avocado, and feta. And that’s what I did.

Sardines are like the win-win-win fish for me. They’re low in mercury, high in omega-3 fatty acids (as well as iron, calcium, and potassium), inexpensive, and sustainably-fished. Though fresh sardines taste better, canned sardines are good too. They’re really easy to find and not too high in sodium for a canned food. I suggest opting for sardines with bones rather than the skinless boneless type. The bones are soft enough to eat and you get more calcium that way. Aside from the sardines, this salad has so many nutrients and healthy fats, it’s almost obnoxious. But believe it or not, it tastes kinda awesome! All the ingredients come together really well creating a refreshing Mediterranean-flavored salad. OK, not sure if avocado is Mediterranean but, hey. You can never get enough avocado. The best part of this salad is that it’s stupid easy to make and takes like five minutes. It’s my new fast food.

Mediterranean Sardine Salad With Avocado
Makes 1 serving

1 can of sardines packed in olive oil (preferably including bones)
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 large handful spinach
1 tomato, sliced into 8 wedges
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 ripe avocado, cut into cubed and scooped out of its skin
Squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Open the can of sardines and pour one tablespoon of the olive oil in the can into a bowl. Slowly add the balsamic vinegar as you whisk furiously with a fork until you have an emulsified vinaigrette. Add the spinach, tomato, and red onion to the bowl and toss until the vinaigrette is evenly distributed. Roughly cut the sardines into big chunks in the can. Top your salad with the half the sardines (or all of them if you’re hungry), feta, avocado cubes, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Prepare to feel awesome.

I made banana chocolate chip bread for the bake sale. You can tell I’m a bake sale noob with my very unprofessional hand written packaging, haha.

My friend and fellow healthy food blogger, Laurel, looking fabulous while selling baked goods.

An amazing selection of sweet treats.

New Yorkers! Don’t forget to come check out the Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry at Brooklyn Flea tomorrow.

Date: May 4, 2013
Time: 10am-5pm
Location: The Brooklyn Flea, 176 Lafayette Ave. (btw. Clermont + Vanderbilt Ave.)

Can’t make it to the event? Check out the raffles to support us/win fabulous prizes. Le Crueset? Cookbooks? Chocolate? Hell yeah! All you need is a $10 donation to enter.

I entered this original recipe into Healthy Aperture’s Brunch Recipe Contest back in March. No word on whether I won or not. I’m guessing no, but that’s OK, because developing a recipe that’s clean, ridiculously tasty, and dead simple is enough of a prize!

I love this muesli because it’s healthy and easy, and full of sweet, exotic flavors, but with a spicy kick. And with the temperatures finally warming up, it’s the perfect time to get our warm-weather oats on.  To save time, you can make a couple batches in advance and just grab and go the next few mornings. The recipe makes two servings, but can be easily doubled or tripled.

Coconut Cardamom Muesli With Yogurt, Sultanas, And Clementines
Makes 2 servings

1 clementine (or a similar mandarin orange)
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup rolled oats
4 tablespoons sultana raisins
4 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 almonds, chopped

Peel and separate the clementine into segments. If you are substituting with a different mandarin orange and it is not seedless, run your fingers along the top of each segment and gently pop out the seeds. Roughly chop each segment into three pieces.

Place the chopped clementine with all the other ingredients, except the almonds, in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon. Divide the muesli evenly into two separate mason jars or other air tight containers. Place them in the refrigerator to soak overnight.

When you’re ready for brunch, just grab your jars of muesli, top with chopped almonds, and dig in! (Eating this in bed in your pajamas is highly encouraged.)

April has been a craaaazy month for me! You can probably tell I’ve been slacking on the blog a bit but a) it’s been crunch time at work, b) one of my best friends got married and I was the Maid of Honor (see above), and c) I had to pack/donate/sell/throw out all my possessions  As of tomorrow, I will be homeless until I fly out of the country for the big move! But don’t worry, I have a place to crash :)

I’m not gonna lie. The past two weeks had plenty of stress-eating involved and I’m ready to detox! I look forward to more time to devote to clean eating, food shopping, and cooking in May.

April Links

• Is this dogs-in-pantyhose trend for real? Can’t decide if this is NSFW or not.
• I may not eat celery too often but having an endless supply means Bloody Marys all day everyday.
• Any other Walking Dead fans out there? 33 things about our favorite show that make no sense. I LOL’ed at #14
• This blog has been all over the internet, so I guess I don’t have to tell you about Thug Kitchen. But I just did anyway. Eat like you give a fuck.
• It’s totally not the appropriate season for this, but I salivated all over my computer when I saw this Sweet Potato Bread.

One last thing….anyone going to be in NYC this weekend? I’ll be participating at this awesome bake sale at Brooklyn Flea. Click the banner below for more info. Also, check out the raffles. There are some awesome prizes!

I was very fortunate that my friend Lynda hooked me up with a free trial for Blue Apron. I selected the non-vegetarian option. The recipes for that week included crispy chicken chopped salad, roast beef with horseradish sour cream and carrots, and shrimp and asparagus fried rice.

I received a big, insulated box with all my neatly organized and labelled ingredients, as well as the three recipes printed on big cards with step-by-step photos and instructions.

I was pleased with the quality of meat, seafood, and produce. I love that they use seasonally inspired recipes, and I found all three to be fairly clean and nutritious. I mean I wouldn’t usually make breaded fried chicken, but when you control the amount and the quality of oil used, and it’s served on a massive plate of vegetables, I’m happy to call that a clean meal. All three recipes were pretty solid for the most part, but they were more everyday-eating as opposed to gourmet. When you’re churning out 6 recipes every week, I guess it’s understandable that Blue Apron doesn’t have time to develop well-tested, mind-blowing recipes. But hey, we don’t need gourmet everyday. My onlycomplaint was they suggested stir-frying with olive oil. No, no, no. At the high temperatures you’re supposed to be stir-frying with, you should be using an oil with a higher smoke point.

I think Blue Apron is a fantastic option for a busy person who still wants to prepare their own meals using fresh ingredients, and is willing to pay a premium for the convenience of having their meals picked out for them and delivered to their door. It comes up to about $10 per meal which is very comparable to take-out, and totally worth the extra effort of cooking it yourself because your meal will be far more nutritious and will probably taste better too. However, if you’re like me and like to do your own food shopping and meal planning, it might be a little restrictive and you would end up spending more than if you went to the grocery store. The good news, if you fall somewhere between these two personality types, is that you have the option of skipping future shipments at no cost if you don’t like what they’re sending you, or if you know you won’t be able to cook all three meals that week.

Final verdict: I’m a fan! It might not be the right option for me right now but I will totally consider signing up again if life gets busier and I need a little extra help in continuing to cook and eat clean, seasonal meals every week. Go check out Blue Apron and give it a try!

Quick Notes

• $9.99 per person, per meal with free shipping (minimum order of 2 servings of each of the 3 recipes)
• Fresh, seasonal ingredients delivered to your door (no need to sign for package)
• Each serving is approximately 500-700 calories. Calories are estimated and printed on each recipe card.
• You can either pick three vegetarian meals or three meat/fish/poultry meals. As of right now, no mix and match.

Blue Apron
http://www.blueapron.com
Twitter: @blueapronmeals