Summer Corn Chowder and NEWS

I HAVE BIG NEWS! 

I've been blogging for about a year and a half now and loving every minute of it. One of the things I don't love is Blogger and my site design in general. So, starting this weekend I'll be MOVING to Wordpress! I am doing this with the help of Melissa of Fine Lime Designs - who is brilliant and wonderful and (most importantly) patient.

In one short week, I will have a snazzy new site with lots of convenient features - like printable recipes, pin it buttons, and an easy to navigate recipe index. I want to kick your Gen Y Foodie experience up a notch and make it easier to engage with the content here.

So I won't be posting here for the next week. :(

Where can you find me? I won't be going anywhere. Hit me up on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

In the meantime, email me at genyfoodie@gmail.com and tell me what sort of features and recipes you'd like to see on the new site. I am especially interested in some challenging takeout makeovers - so shoot me your suggestions.

And now it's time for the recipe....

The first corn of the summer arrived at the farmer's market this weekend and I am so excited!! I may have gone a bit overboard buying more ears than I could carry, let alone eat in a week. Regardless, after enjoying some of this tasty sweet corn on the cob, I decided to throw poor Craig a bone and make him one of his all time favorite foods: corn chowder.

Now, I have a complicated relationship with chowder (or chowda as we Bostonians call it). I generally hate it. I ate chowder for the first time when I was 25 and waiting tables at a restaurant that had great chowder so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. I wasn't impressed. As someone who only tolerates dairy, it never seemed that great to me. Craig, on the other hand, adores chowder and will eat it all year round, non stop until he makes himself sick. He has sampled every type of chowder imaginable, even in 100 degree heat! Back at Holy Cross, he would get super excited every Friday because the dining hall would serve corn chowder for lunch.

So, given the fabulous corn, potatoes, jalepenos and herbs I found at the farmer's market this weekend, I decided to give it a whirl. You can grill, roast or boil the corn - or you can throw it in raw. I recommend roasting or grilling to add more flavor and bring out its natural sweetness.

Now, I didn't set out to make this a vegan chowder - but it sort of ended up that way! I decided not to add any cream or milk because I wanted it to be light and summery. Even without any dairy, this chowder is creamy and comforting.

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Asparagus Potato Salad

Potato salad is one of those summer staples that you see at every cookout but rarely want to actually eat. Mushy potatoes swimming in mayo with little flavor is not my idea of a tasty treat. So I knew I could do better.

This salad combines tasty baby potatoes (I am in love with these multicolored ones) with fresh, seasonal asparagus. Adding a ton of veggies helps to keep the calories down and adds a tasty crunch to the dish. I used bacon, shallot and fresh chives for flavors and tossed everything with a light mustard vinaigrette.

This salad was incredible warm. I ate cold leftovers the next day and it was still super tasty and flavorful. The key is to just barely cook the asparagus, that way it will retain its nice crunch without feeling too raw.

I also wanted to give y'all a garden update! Things are coming along. My peas are growing like crazy and I'm excited to see how big they get. The kale and Brussels sprouts are coming along nicely on the porch.

In the ground, I have tomatoes, basil, cayenne and jalapeno peppers, butternut squash and baby watermelons. Watching everything grow is so much fun! I can't wait till August when I can start cooking with all this stuff!

Read more for the potato salad recipe
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White Bean, Potato and Prosciutto Pizza

Pizza night continues! So, for my second and more adventurous invention, I decided to combine some untraditional pizza toppings in hopes of coming up with a tasty white pizza. I wanted to use beans, since they are healthy, filling and packed with protein and fiber. I decided to mash some cannelini beans with garlic and olive oil and use it instead of sauce. I spread a thin layer on the crust and then topped with some parmesan, prosciutto and sliced fingerling potatoes. I've seen potatoes on pizza a few times and wanted to give it a try. I used fingerlings, which I par boiled and then sliced on top.

This pizza was amazing! I cut it into small squares like a flatbread and it was so yummy. The creamy beans paired beautifully with the salty, crisp prosciutto and potatoes. I thought yesterday's sausage version would be more popular, but we gobbled this up first!

I will definitely be making this for my next party. It makes for delicious finger food or a full meal.

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Shepherd's Pie with Horseradish Cheddar Mashed Potatoes

Shepherd's pie is one of those dishes Craig has been begging me to make for years. I have never tried it, since I'm generally turned off by super heavy comfort type foods. It always seemed like a very unhealthy and labor intensive dish to make.

Well. I decided to give it a try this weekend. Craig and I celebrated Valentine's Day a bit late. On Saturday, he took me up to the White Mountains to finally try snowmobiling! I have been wanting to try it for years, and I actually had it on my list of things to try before I turn 30. We went on a tour up through the mountains and it was so beautiful. More importantly, snowmobiling was so. much. fun. I had a blast. I only wish the instructors had let us drive faster! It was a great way to spend a beautiful Saturday. So when we got home, I finally made Craig the shepherd's pie he's been requesting.

Having no clue how to make this dish, I primarly got my inspiration from an article in Men's Journal that Craig had shown me a few months ago. I found an online version here. I started with the suggestions in the article and sort of made my own modifications. I tried to cram in a lot of delicious root veggies and kept the mashed potatoes as low calorie as I could. For flavors, I used thyme and bay leaves, as the article suggested and then used horseradish to flavor the potatoes. I bought a huge horseradish root this weekend, so I'll be incorporating it into a whole bunch of recipes this week.

The result was delicious. The preparation is pretty straightforward and easy to put together. I was really impressed with the delicious flavors and found the veggies added great texture to the dish. As expected, it falls into the super filling, comfort food category, the sort of meal that makes you feel sleepy when you're finished. I can officially say I'm a shepherd's pie convert! I am already envisioning all sorts of variations to this simple recipe.

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Delicata Squash with Kale and Potatoes

Happy New Year! This is my first post of 2012! As much as I love the holidays, I am excited to take a break from excessive celebrating and get back to some healthy eating! I have dubbed this week the week of kale. Since kale is one of my favorite veggies and an incredibly versatile ingredient, I wanted to show you some unique ways to prepare and enjoy it. Personally, I usually like it raw, but it's a bit of an acquired taste. So I decided to kick off a healthy 2012 with some new and interesting kale recipes.

This dish is a hodgepodge of incredibly vitamin rich ingredients. You start with roasting some creamy delicata squash and fingerling potatoes and then toss that with crunchy kale and radicchio. The heat of the roasted squash will wilt the greens, making a warm, flavorful salad that I top with a light lemon vinaigrette. Radicchio has a slight bitterness, which is offset nicely by the sweet and creamy squash. This dish is light and flavorful while also being absolutely packed with fiber and vitamins. Most importantly, it's simple and easy to prepare.

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Greek Yogurt Smashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions

How do you bring good living to your life?

To me, "good living" means being good to yourself and putting your physical and mental wellness first. It includes taking time every day to do things that relax and fulfill me. During law school, it became apparently that I needed to take a step back and define my priorities for maintaining my sanity. I came up with a three part plan: cooking, exercising and reading. I love doing these things, and all three contribute greatly to my physical and mental health. So I decided that if every single day included these three things, I would be able to survive anything.

Since starting my blog last year, cooking has become an even greater part of my life. After a day of doing serious things at the office, I enjoy the meditative quality of being in my kitchen and creating things. Despite the fact that I usually make a big mess and dirty a dozen plates taking photos, this is my "me" time and I really enjoy it.

Mashed potatoes have been featured a lot around here lately, which I think is because I have Thanksgiving on the brain! I saw some gorgeous purple potatoes at the store and had to use them. I got such a great response to my Skinny Mashed Potatoes on Kelly's blog last week I wanted to create another version as well. Once again, there is no butter or cream in these taters - I used Fage Greek yogurt to create a smooth, creamy texture. As I've mentioned a million times, Greek yogurt is packed with protein and calcium and is a perfect, healthy substitution in so many recipes. I've already used it to make muffins and Indian food. So, these taters are super simple. Greek yogurt creates the amazingly creamy texture and adds protein while caramelized onions add a ton of flavor As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here.

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Guest Post at Eat Yourself Skinny!

I am so honored to be guest posting today over at Eat Yourself Skinny! One of the great things about this blogging adventure is that I am meeting the most amazing people. Food is such a personal experience, and I am enjoying getting to know other bloggers and their unique takes on cooking and recipes. My girl Kelly is an absolute sweetheart and has a fabulous blog. You must check here out immediately. 

For my first guest post at Eat Yourself Skinny, I decided to create some skinny mashed potatoes just in time for the holiday season. You can find the recipe here. Make sure to check out Kelly's blog and leave her some comment love!!!!

Smoked Trout Hash

We recently discovered a fabulous restaurant around the corner from our new apartment. One of their brunch specialties is smoked trout hash. Since the wait for a table is usually more than an hour, we decided to create our own version. We don't have a smoker, but Craig was intrigued by the idea of smoking fish on our charcoal grill. So after cooking dinner one night, as the heat was dying down, we smoked some fresh Rainbow Trout we had picked up. We used a cedar plank, which gave is a fantastic smoky flavor. After picking the meat off the bones, we just stored it in the fridge. The next morning, I used it to make this dish. Traditional, but with the flavorful fresh fish, this is a filling and impressive breakfast. The hash itself is simple to throw together in 20 minutes or so. You can serve alone or topped with fried or poached eggs. A liberal sprinkling of black pepper is required.

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Lighter Fish Chowder

I had the most amazing adventure on Sunday! I got to spend the whole day out on a boat fishing by Provincetown, Ma. It was so beautiful and relaxing. I also caught my first fish! I had to reel it in, which was actually quite difficult and a good workout. I was so proud of catching this fish I had to take it home and dream up some new recipes. I also had the good fortune to catch a bluefish, which is known for its feisty temper and dark, flavorful meat. I ended up preparing it in a couple of different ways, but decided to use some of the leftovers (there was so much) to make chowder.

Full disclosure: I don't eat chowder. I have never eaten chowder. I dislike the look, smell and taste of it. I understand as a New Englander this borderline blasphemous, but I just have never liked it. However, Craig LOVES chowder, and has been begging me to make some and put a Dara-style spin on it. This seemed like a good opportunity to create something light and flavorful with our fresh catch and get over my chowder-phobia.

I used bluefish, but you could also substitute any dark, fatty fish. Mackerel would be really good. I think a more fishy-fish sort of lends itself to chowder, so go with something a little stronger than cod. I also used some leftover corn we had from a cookout the previous night. Grilling corn really brings out the flavor and sweetness. Adding grilled corn to the chowder instead of boiled actually made a great difference in the taste. You could roast them as well for a similar result.

In order to lighten up this chowder, I only used a little bit of heavy cream and cut back on the potatoes. The rich flavor comes from the fish, the corn and some fresh herbs, especially chives. Add a ton of black pepper and you are good to go. This also reheats well if you want to bring leftovers for lunch.

So...I actually loved this chowder. I never thought in a million years I would like it but it was so light and flavorful. I am now a chowder convert!

Read more for the full recipe and photos.
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Frisee Salad with Bacon

I love all the lettuce varieties that are starting to show up in the grocery store. I saw some frisee yesterday and decided to put together a tasty salad that highlights its peppery taste. I wanted to create a hearty meal, so I added some applewood smoked bacon and roasted potatoes. Craig called this a "man salad" because of these filling and substantial ingredients. Despite the meat and potatoes, the frisee remains light and crisp. A simple shallot vinaigrette adds a bit of a kick. Dress the salad minimally, it is intended only to compliment the flavors. This recipe has a few more steps than the salads I usually make, but it is absolutely worth it.

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Lentil Stew with Potatoes

Lentils are one of the world's most consumed foods. In addition to being cheap and easy to prepare, they are packed with filling protein. One of the worlds best plant based protein sources, they are an excellent source of iron, folate and B vitamins. I love lentils because they are comforting and filling. This is a simple and tasty dish that full of flavor as well as nutrients. Lentils, potatoes and some veggies make for a a cheap stew. Flavored with balsamic vinegar, habenero and fresh herbs, it is a healthy comfort food. I usually make this once a week or so and the leftovers last for days. Sprinkle some parmesan and black pepper and serve with some green veggies for a complete meal.

Full recipe after the jump.
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Dangers of Non-Organic Potatoes

Wow... I had no idea.

According to Prevention Magazine, non-organic potatoes are especially dangerous to consume because the potatoes absorb the pesticides, herbicides and fungicides right out of the soil. Since these dangerous chemicals are directly absorbed, no amount of washing will make it safe to eat.

The Prevention piece quotes Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board, who says "I've talked with potato growers who say point-blank they would never eat the potatoes they sell. They have separate plots where they grow potatoes for themselves without all the chemicals."

Non-organic potatoes may also contain traces of dieldrin and methamidophos. According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (a division of the CDC), dieldrin is a toxic insecticide which has been banned in most of the world, it is linked to Parkinson's disease, breast cancer, and immune, reproductive and nervous system damage. Yikes! 

Prevention: 7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips