Leavin' on a Jet Plane........

If I haven't mentioned it, Dirk and I are off to London on February 12th - me for 6 days and him for almost 3 weeks (yikes!). I am so excited, and am looking forward to a lot of window shopping, stressing about the exchange rate, and seeing all of our friends and family there. Although I have been there many times before, I've never been for 6 days at a time and I really want to explore new shops and see different parts of the city (of course we'll hit the usual Topshop/Selfridge's/Harvey Nichols trifecta) - does anyone have any great shopping tips for either new or vintage stores? 

PS - I love this print, from art.com

This is Terrifying.......

I have never liked large, or larger-than-life sculptures - I remember being afraid of the Big Bird "statue" at our local JC Penney growing up. So imagine my terror as we were walking down Grand Street in Soho and came across this setup celebrating Stefan Sagmeister's exhibit at the Deitch Gallery. The picture doesn't do it justice, but believe me when I say that a 40-foot-tall monkey that looks like it could get up and run after you is not something I like to run into (only in New York, right?) I would love to see the exhibit if I can gather the courage - if anyone has seen it I would love to hear your thoughts.

Tomato, Red Pepper and Chickpea Soup

This is a fabulous recipe courtesy of a friend, fabulous because it was really delicious and so easy to make. I usually stay away from most soups because of their lack of protein, but the chickpeas in this one make it really nutritious (it contains almost every food group, if you have bread with it - which we did). It also gave me an opportunity to use the hand-held blender that Allison gave me for Christmas 2006, and now I'm hooked - bring on more soup recipes!

Jar of cooked red peppers (use one or two peppers from it)
1 onion x 1
2 cloves Garlic
19 oz. can of chickpeas
28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
4 cups of vegetable stock
Heaping 1 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper
Fat free sour cream (optional)

* Fry onion
* Add heaped teaspoon of cumin
* Add chickpeas, stock, canned tomatoes and peppers, S/P
* Cook for 10 minutes or 1 hr - depends on how long you have
* Get immersion blender (or regular blender) and blend ingredients until smooth 

* Add a dollup of sour cream to the top before serving

Shrimp with Arugula and Couscous

This recipe is courtesy of Real Simple. It is really healthy, and more flavorful than expected. I toasted some sliced almonds to add, and served it with the lemon wedges. 

1 cup instant couscous 
3 tablespoons olive oil 
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced 
1 5-ounce bag arugula 
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
20 medium-size shrimp, deveined 
1 lemon, quartered 

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions and fluff with a fork. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Add the arugula and cook until just wilted, about 1 more minute. Combine the arugula and couscous in a large bowl, season with half the salt and pepper, and toss gently. In the same skillet, heat the remaining oil over medium-high heat, season the shrimp with the remaining salt and pepper, then cook 2 minutes on each side. Serve over the couscous with a squeeze of lemon.

Tip: Baby spinach makes a nice stand-in for arugula. Buy either prewashed and bagged to make this quick dinner even quicker. 

Yield: Makes 4 servings 

Imjadara

I have been trying to cook more, with all of our fun new equipment. My goal is to come up with 5-10 good veggie dishes to make for Dirk. This isn't the most colorful recipe I've ever made, but was really good - I used cous cous because they didn't have bulgar in the market downstairs, and finishing it off with the Greek yogurt was perfect.

Imjadara
4 cups vegetable stock
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of cayenne or a tiny squeeze (about 1/4 teaspoon) of chili pepper paste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup brown or green lentils, rinsed
1 1/4 cups coarse-ground bulgur
6-8 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions, halved and thickly sliced

In a large, heavy pot, bring the stock to a boil. Stir in the tomato paste and all spices except the salt and pepper, then add the lentils. Simmer, with the lid on, for about 15 minutes or until the lentils are almost tender.

Taste, and add salt and pepper if desired (you probably won’t need the salt if you’ve used a pre-prepared stock). Stir in the bulgur, put the lid back on, and cook over very low heat for another 10-15 minutes. Check it; if it seems dry, add a splash of water. Put the lid back on, remove from heat, and let the pot sit for another 10 minutes or so, after which time the bulgur should be tender and nicely plumped. Stir in 5 tablespoons of the olive oil (I occasionally stop at 3 if the bulgur is very moist.)

As your stock is coming to the boil, get started on the onions. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and fry over medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring often, until they’re very brown. Turn the heat up towards the end to caramelize the onions.

Serve the lentils and bulgur topped with the onions and accompany, if you like, with thick Greek yogurt. The dish may be served hot or cold.

Serves 4 as a main, 6 as a side dish.