GREEN BEANS TWO WAYS

I KNOW THAT THEY'RE REALLY NOT in season but . . . I'm going to write about them anyway and I'm going to write down two recipes for plain old green beans which, if you're not crazy about them now, will change your mind about this vegetable forever. It's really quite simple. One of these recipes I got from a friend next door and the other from a friend far away. You can make these in less than 20 minutes.

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed

salt

olive oil

Boil a big pot of water. Add 1 tbs. salt when the water reaches the boiling point. Add the beans and cook for about 7 or 8 minutes. You don't want them to be completely cooked. Drain the beans, put them back in the pot and set over a moderately high flame. Add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute them until they start to crinkle and brown a little. Add salt. Toss and remove from flame. Serve immediately.

Green Bean French Fries

These are especially good as a snack but must be eaten piping hot. Just as with French Fries, they wilt and lose their deliciousness the more they cool off.

Preheat oven to 400º

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed

olive oil

salt

1 rectangular roasting pan lined with parchment paper. Add enough olive oil to make a thin film over entire surface (3 tbs. or so). Add 1 tbs. Kosher salt and place the beans in a parallel position on the pan so you can roll them around the oil and the salt.

Place in the oven and roast for about 20 minutes or until they are crunchy, crisp and slightly browned and shriveled. Serve immediately. 

Bon appetito!

THE DIET CONTINUES APACE

AS I SAID, I'D BE BACK VERY SOON AND here I am. I haven't written in a while and I apologize to my readers who watch me more closely than others. I received a query yesterday asking me why I hadn't written anything. Well, the fact is, I've been too busy with other events in my life (my piano rebuilding, which is completed, health obligations, etc., etc.). There is always something and to put it bluntly, I just wasn't inspired to write and you wouldn't want that, would you? An uninspired, contrived blog on the thing most of us love to do: eat?! Boring! You may recall that the very same thing occurred exactly at this time last year. In that particular case, though, I wasn't dieting.

Speaking of which, I should interject here that I have lost 18 pounds since January 9th and am committed to losing yet another 10-12 pounds just to satisfy my own sense of self-determination. The weather here in New York hasn't helped in the area of exercise, neither for me or my dog. It's been a record year for snow - 55.6 inches and counting - and it continues to snow at this very moment. Be that as it may, snow or not, I succeeded in banishing carbohydrates and sugar for the first two weeks (well, startlingly, starch I succeeded rather easily, but there was just a little cheating on the sugar). In any event, I lost my first 9 pounds in the first two weeks and since January, I can attest to not having had any sugar whatsoever except the occasional piece of chocolate and an apple or pear hear and there. I have, to date, eaten pasta on only 4 occasions and I've eaten perhaps 6 slices of bread since I began this regime. I must admit that when I did eat bread, I had a strangely uncomfortable feeling in my stomach; an awkward heaviness if you will. I didn't like it at all. That said, I'm going to extol the glories of quinoa and seeds and nuts and vegetables in the next few entries as well as a few other things I've discovered along the way. One can have their cake and eat it too, and all without processed sugar!

First, let's start with the very best of addictive snacks: my own version of trail mix.

NUTS AND SEEDS

1 cup unsalted raw cashews

1 cup pepitas

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup wasabi-coated dried peas

a handful of dark or golden raisins

1/2 dozen dried chopped apricots

Mix together and store in an air-tight container or a large jar. As you can see, 4+ cups is quite a lot and for less than $12.00, it's rather inexpensive when you think this will last you at least 3-4 weeks. Compare prices for the prepackaged stuff at $3.99 for 2 or 3 oz.! And there is absolutely no cooking involved. All you do is mix!

Eat at your leisure when you're peckish or carry in a zip lock bag for a light snack in-between meals. They make for very good - and silent - grazing at the opera!

DELICIOUS LEFTOVERS!

THE GOLDEN RULE IN ANY SICILIAN FAMILY is to never waste food. Traditions die hard and growing up, there were many an evening that my mother would whip up something as if from nothing. So, when you've got some of this and some of that, add a little prosciutto and a side dish, what you've got is a nice bite to eat! It certainly can satisfy one's hunger. Pictured below is a plate of duck prosciutto with roasted vegetables and a dish of octopus and risotto. I meant to post this ages ago but somehow got sidetracked. I have a few things left up my sleeve though and I will be back with more blog entries very soon.
Bon appetito!

ANTIPASTO PLATTER

INSALATA DI RISO E POLPO

What you see is a small plate of roasted vegetables and duck prosciutto and a very small portion of rise salad with octopus.