Bananas with Sal y Limon

Sal y Limon can be roughly translated to "Salt and Limon". 

Today I got a craving for my favorite Costa Rican snack, "Platanos Con Sal y Limon". I ate my weight in Platanos con sal y limon while I was in Costa Rica. Also cookies, I ate my weight in those. It's a long story, I was on a small budget and I spent it all on expensive lattes. Neither here nor there.

My first tip is to anticipate the craving of this snack BEFORE it occurs, that way you don't have to wait in sheer torture the entire 2 hours that the bananas are slow roasting at 200 degrees, teasing your taste buds with an ever so slight aroma of sweet platanos in the air while you are day dreaming of doing yoga overlooking the pacific eating massive amounts of sal y limon chips in a hammock con una cerveza. Pura Vida.  

Ingredients
1 Banana 
Salt 
Limon 

Directions
Spray pan with PAM (or whatever hippie ingredient you want) 
Slice banana
Drizzle Lemon Juice
Sprinkle Salt like a Chef
Bake @ 200 for the longest two hours of your life

Word to the wise: These are not crispy. But I find them even more delicious this way. 

XOXO,
Chef Emily

Dirt Candy Day 4

A beautiful day! Atticus and I walked over to in.gredients to fill our growler with Oatmeal Stout. Atticus bought 6 animal crackers (from the bulk bin. "How many do you want?" "Two! Three! More three?").

I made sweet potato fries, baked in the oven. I served them with ketchup and tomatillo aioli.

I also made the previously promised black bean burgers. They were delicious, and much more successful than past attempts. I held the beans together with an egg and bread crumbs. I also added onion, garlic, and broccoli.

Dirt Candy Day 3

I was going to make black bean burgers, but due to the Texas "light freeze" (40 degrees...maybe?), Hans requested soup and grilled cheese. As it is still vegetarian, I agreed. Not picture worthy, but I will plug the sources of our nourishment.

Wheatsville. Literally the best. They are so, so nice, especially to Atticus. All the food is healthy, ethical, and delicious. This is where we purchased tomato basil soup, Vermont aged cheddar, Sweetish Hill sunflower and flax seed bread, and Shiner Farmhouse Ale.

Shout outs:

http://wheatsville.coop/

http://www.sweetishhill.com/index.html

If you remember, we had to buy bread because the dog ate an entire loaf of homemade Amish bread. When someone requested that I make more, I used my best withering look.

Finally, we finished it up with blueberries and hand-whipped whipped cream. My forearm is embarrassingly sore this morning, and the whipped cream was more yogurt consistency. Isn't that a standard action item on Top Chef? Paul Qui, if you read this, I'm available for private lessons and tastings at all your restaurants (free...obviously)

Tomorrow: probably hummus sandwiches with sweet potato fries.

Dirt Candy Day Two

First course: kale chips. As promised.

Entree: poached egg over stone ground grits and mustard greens. 

I also made two loaves of delicious Amish bread. This picture is taken before someone left a whole loaf on the counter and the dog ate it. No names, but it wasn't me, and Atticus can't reach the counter.

The critics all gave the meal five stars. 

Day One of Dirt Candy week

What is Dirt Candy? VEGETABLES! I wish I made that up, but it has to be attributed to the vegetarian restaurant in New York...Dirt Candy! http://www.dirtcandynyc.com/

For my birthday, Hans got me the Dirt Candy cookbook. Better yet, it's a graphic memoir cookbook. With vegetarian recipes. http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Candy-Flavor-Forward-Vegetarian-Restaurant/dp/0307952177/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360818581&sr=8-1&keywords=dirt+candy

So I persuaded Hans to get on board with a week of only vegetarian recipes. Mostly from the Dirt Candy cookbook, but with a few standards, like kale chips.

Day One!

We got our veggie box today, complete with the coveted carrots. So I made Carrot Risotto! Did I also make the carrot dumplings and carrot ribbons? Be serious, obviously not.

I'm just going to be honest here. While I took all the time and love to make a risotto, I did not follow every step. Turns out, to be a respected vegetarian chef, every dish you make must include 667 steps. I did not make carrot broth, I did not use carrot juice, did I mention not making carrot dumplings? However, I did make my own vegetable stock in a beautiful pot inherited from Emily.

Next, I drank a glass of Pinot Noir. Highly recommend.

Finally, lots of stirring, homemade veggie stock, and NPR later...carrot risotto! Rich, filling, and delicious!

Tomorrow, I think I'm going to make a Valentines spread: frozen grapefruit candy, beet chips (cut into hearts?), hummus, kale chips, and some fresh bread. It could be a sight to behold, or it could be a hot mess.

PS - Hans gets to choose the menu for next week. Expect pizza...and pizza...and meat on pizza.