healthier banana bread

i know i said before that i don't like bananas, but i absolutely love banana bread. for a few days, we had some bananas sitting around slowly growing older, so i kept a careful eye on them, ready to pounce with my masher as soon as they were ready. and when they were, i happened to stumble upon this recipe from the talented Christina Kim.
the recipe not only promised a banana bread that was delicious and nutritious, we also happened to have all the ingredients at home. ok, so we had fat free plain yogurt instead of greek and we had no vanilla, but besides that we followed the recipe. it turned out great, although some people (my mom) said it was not moist enough. true, it was drier than your traditional banana bread, but it was still tasty in its own way.

vamanos a la mission!

(i hope i said that right. i haven't taken spanish since 7th grade)

like any good san franciscan, i am absolutely in love with my city. if you ever come to sf and need a tour guide, i'm your girl. one place i would most definitely take you to is the mission, our mexican neighborhood.

mr. burbujas can't wait to see you!


if you are in the mission on a weekend and you see this delightful, yet disturbing, art work outside of la gallinita, go in immediately and get yourself some tacos and quesadillas!. during the week, la gallinita is a butcher shop, but on weekends they serve food.

a satisfying lunch. you've got a taco (pictured here: cabeza, which means "face" and is cheek meat. just try it, it melts in your mouth) and the completely genius creation of chorizo and potatoes wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried.

OMG!

you can also go with carne asada (grilled steak) for your taco. or a number of other fillings, including chorizo (my favorite) or sesos (brains. yum!)
after lunch, stroll around a bit, checking out mexican markets, a multitude of murals, and some great dollar stores, before returning to 24th and harrison for the amazingness that is humphry slocombe ice cream.

pictured: 1 scoop of peanut butter curry + 1 scoop of oolong tea.

easy curry, parts 2 and 3

two variations on the aforementioned easy curry.
first one is with lentils, second one is with about a cup total of kidney beans and black beans. they both have half an onion, one carrot, and about 1/4 cup trader joe's punjab spinach sauce.


saute your vegetables until just starting to get soft, about 5-10 minutes. add your legumes, stir, add your sauce, and heat, stirring for about 3 minutes. top with your favorite chutney (i used suki's mint chutney and i looked, but can't find a website for them. its available at the ferry building farmer's market in san francisco though) or plain yogurt and almonds.
this is one of the things i make when i need a quick lunch and want to use up some leftovers. just throw pretty much whatever veggies you have in there, add some beans or lentils (trader joe's sells pre-cooked lentils which makes this dish super fast and easy), and your favorite indian sauce, and you have a warm, comforting, and healthy lunch.

spicy soba noodles with shiitakes and cabbage

first of all, i love this dish because it has so many fun to say ingredients. you've got the alliteration of "spicy soba", then "shiitakes" which is fun because it has two i's in a row, and also the word looks like "shit" (well, that is fun if you're immature. i am obviously way too mature to be amused by such childish things), and to top it all off, you've got "edamame", which really rolls off the tongue.
anyhoo, both of us twins have long been fans of soba salads and soups. the salads, served cold, are perfect for a rare san francisco hot day, and the soups are exactly what you need when the fog inevitably rolls in.
so when i saw this recipe on smitten kitchen, i knew i had to try it.

yum! we used straw mushrooms (1 can) instead of shiitakes because that's all the grocery store had. we also used the thai chili paste, but this dish was not super spicy.

chocolate, date, and almond milk smoothies

"I'm taking you to cafe gratitude," my mom recently announced.
Tempted as i was to try amazing raw vegan food, i had always avoided the place because of the, for lack of a better word, hippy-ness, of it.
"Fine," I said, "but I'm not ordering my dish out loud. I'll just point to the menu."
"Stop being so judgmental," she replied, "they're very nice people."
So we went and when it came time to order, I found myself telling the rather perky waitress, "I am graceful". The thing about cafe gratitude is that all of their dishes are positive affirmations. So you order an "I am graceful" (bowl with quinoa, veggies, and cashews, and delicious enough to put up with the ridiculous atmosphere) then the waitress comes to your table, sets down your plate and says, "You are graceful" (which i'm not at all, btw. but apparently cafe gratitude is too positive to name a dish "I am exceedingly awkward and clumsy").
The most delicious thing of the lunch was dessert, a chocolate and date smoothie ("I am luscious").

Rita and I loved it so much, we decided to try and replicate it at home.
chocolate, date, and almond milk smoothie
serves 1
adapted from recipes included in the ultimate liquor-free drink guide and the complete book of raw food.
*3/4 cup almond milk (we made our own from this recipe. if you buy sweetened almond milk, you might not need as many dates and as much vanilla in your smoothie.)
*1 banana, frozen
*2 dates, soaked for 1/2 hour to an hour and pitted
*1 tablespoon hot chocolate powder (or carob if you want it vegan)
*1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1. blend all ingredients until smooth.
variation: I don't like bananas that much, and this shake had a definite banana flavor. I made another the next day with 1/2 a frozen banana and 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt. I liked the flavor of that better, but it wasn't as thick. But for those of you who like bananas (which is most people. i'm weird, i guess), the first recipe is perfect.
Also, our recipe is more breakfast food than dessert.
edit: cafe gratitude's original recipe, which i have not seen, is available in their cookbook, "I Am Grateful".

baked mahi mahi with potatoes, rosemary and garlic

sometimes there's a good story to tell about a dish, and sometimes its just "i thought i should make dinner and there was some mahi mahi in the freezer, so i searched epicurious and found a recipe."
the recipe i found was Marcella Hazen's baked fish with potatoes, rosemary, and garlic.
it was simple, delicious, and comforting.

it would probably be just as good without the breadcrumbs, if you don't feel like buying any.

super quick huevos rancheros

i'm a little embarrassed to post this, because its barely even a recipe. but it was delicious, easy, and healthy, so you should make it anyway.
all you do is take 1 can of mexican style diced tomatoes (if you have plain, add some chopped green chilies--i think that's the only thing that makes them "mexican"), throw it in a skillet and heat for a few minutes, crack two eggs into the pan, and wait until your eggs are cooked (5 minutes maybe--i broke the eggs, which is why you can see egg pieces in the photo and not a whole egg, but if you are a more experienced egg cook than me, i'm sure you'll manage to cook the eggs whole and correctly), and you have a yummy dish for two. serve with refried beans (also from a can) and warm corn tortillas.
see? only two ingredients, one of which is canned. it reminds me a little of my 6th grade home ec. class, which involved many "recipes" that were variations on the basic theme "different things spread on pillsbury biscuits". the class also involved sitting next to an evil girl who giggled ALL THE TIME, especially when the guy i had a crush on asked her out IN THE MIDDLE OF CLASS IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. but that is another story, and clearly one i am still a little bitter about, so we shall stop talking about in now, and enjoy our delicious, yet inauthentic and not from scratch, huevos rancheros.