The Art of Food

6 Ways To Eat More Healthy:

1. Substitute animal fats and oils with vegetable oils. For example, instead of using butter, use olive or canola oil to saute your meats and vegetables.
2. Don’t eat diet anything! Just don’t do it. All those chemicals are worse for your body than eating the real thing. They also make you feel as if you didn’t get that craving satisfied. Instead, use real sugar or butter, just use less!
3. Season your salads! Instead of loading up your salad with heavy dressings for flavor, try seasoning it with dried herbs and spices first. Then you’ll only need a light drizzle of dressing. Better yet, skip the dressing and do an even lighter dash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Always delicious.
4. Eat more fiber! Everyone’s heard this one before but it really does help. Not only is your stomach using more calories to digest the fiber, it also helps your digestion system work more smoothly and properly. This promotes better flow of energy through your body and when your body is working correctly, you won’t want to overeat.
5. The darker the bread, the better! Not all bread is bad. White breads have been stripped of most of the good stuff, it’s true, but black or brown breads are full of everything your body wants in a grain-made food. Being Russian, I grew up eating very dark, “black” bread. After one slice, you feel as full as if you ate a bowl of oatmeal. Try buying this type of bread for sandwiches. 
6. Portion control is everything! Use a smaller plate size to control how much you serve. After serving, immediately put the leftovers in tupper-ware and in the fridge, out of sight. The less your eyes see, the more you’ll rely on your stomach to know when you’re full.

Perfect Fried Egg with Prosciutto (Recipe by Marina)

Ingredients:

• 1 egg, free range or organic
• 1 slice prosciutto
• Goat cheese crumbles
• Chopped chives or green onions
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil

To Make:

1. Heat a large frying pan on high heat.
2. Add a lug of olive oil and heat for 30 seconds.
3. Crack the egg into the frying pan. Immediately turn the heat down to medium.
4. Hit it with a dash of salt and pepper. Not too much as the prosciutto is naturally salty. 
5. Cover the egg with a lid and fry for a couple minutes.
6. Take the lid off and add a slice of prosciutto into the pan, on the side. Turn the prosciutto when the first side is starting to get crispy.
7. Cook everything for another half minute and turn off the heat.
8. Arrange on a plate and sprinkle over with goat cheese crumbles and chopped chives.
9. Enjoy!

Covering the egg with a lid adds a nice heat to the top of the egg so that the yolk cooks as well. Personally, I prefer eggs over easy but with a lid, this fried egg is just perfect.

Prosciutto Wrapped Sugar Snap Peas (Recipe by Marina)

Ingredients:

• A handful of sugar snap peas
• 2-3 slices of prosciutto
• Goat cheese crumbles
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Dried basil
• Thyme
• Honey

To Make:

1. Cut prosciutto slices in half.
2. Arrange 2-3 sugar snap peas on one end of each prosciutto slice.
3. Roll the snap peas into the prosciutto.
4. Arrange rolled snap peas on a plate.
5. Sprinkle over top with goat cheese crumbles.
6. For dressing, combine 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, a pinch of dried basil, a pinch of thyme, and a tiny squeeze of honey. Whisk everything together until incorporated.
7. Drizzle over the prosciutto wrapped snap peas.
8. Enjoy!

This is a simple recipe that enhances any dinner.

Homemade Gnocchi (Recipe by Marina)

Ingredients:

• 2 russet potatoes
• 1 egg
• 2-3 cups of flour
• Salt and pepper
• Turmeric
• Balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil
• Dried basil
• Thyme
• Honey

To Make:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into large chunks (about 2 inches).
2. Boil the potato chunks for 12 minutes until softened.
3. Mash the potatoes or run through rice mill.
4. On flour dusted surface, arrange potatoes into a mound and make a well.
5. Add 1/4 cup of flour, a dash of turmeric, and a good pinch of salt into and around the well.
6. Crack the egg into the well.
7. Using a long fork, begin cutting the egg into the potatoes and flour, making sure to keep it in the well.
8. Mix everything together until all the dough has incorporated the egg and flour.
9. Add more flour 1/4 of cup at a time until the dough is not squishy. The dough should not be sticking to your hands.
10. Gently knead the dough.
11. Cut into sections and roll each section into a long rope.
12. In a large pot, boil water with a pinch of salt.
13. Cut the rope into little pillows about an inch long, into the boiling water. Boil in batches if making all of the dough. Don’t crowd the pot.
14. Cut the rest of the dough and save any gnoochi that you won’t be eating in the fridge.
15. Gnocchi are done after a minute or so, or when they float to the top.
16. For the dressing, combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar, a pinch of dried basil, a pinch of thyme, and a tiny squeeze of honey. Whisk everything together and pour over the gnocchi while hot.
17. Enjoy!

Gnocchi seem intimidating because of the flour and dough part, but in reality, they’re really simple to make and are absolutely delicious. This only took me a total of 1 hour from start to finish and I was going really slowly as I’ve never made them before.

Thai Red Curry Mac N’ Cheese (Recipe by Marina, inspired by Aarti Sequeira)

In honor of National Cheese Lover’s Day, this mac n’ cheese is killer!

Ingredients:

• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound macaroni (I used spirals)
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (4-ounce) jar Thai red curry past (I only had a little Thai red curry paste left so I combined it with Mild Curry Paste)
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups cream (alternatively, use 5 cups whole milk instead of both milk and cream) (Additionally, you can sub cream with sour cream or yogurt)
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated
• 8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated
• Handful of panko crumbs (Originally, you would combine another 2 tablespoons of melted butter with the crumbs but I thought this was already rich enough without the added butter so I used just the panko crumbs.)

To Make:

Preheat oven to broil.

Part 1: Cook pasta according to package, until el dente.

Part 2: Make the roux

1. In a large frying pan, melt 5 tablespoons butter on medium heat and carefully whisk in the 5 tablespoons of flour.
2. Continuously stir the roux so it doesn’t catch and start burning. Keep an eye on the heat level and if you feel like it’s starting to burn or isn’t cooking fast enough, either turn the heat down or turn it up a bit. Fire is your friend in this technique, use it!
3. Add the curry paste and continue stirring until fully integrated.
4. Add in the milk and cream and continue stirring.
5. Bring to a boil and immediately turn the heat down to a simmer.
6. Simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.
7. Take it off the heat and add the cheeses. Stir in until everything is a nice, creamy consistency. 

Part 3: Bake the mac n’ cheese!

1. Add the pasta to your baking dish.
2. Pour your cheese sauce over the pasta.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Stir everything together.
5. Sprinkle over with panko bread crumbs.
6. Stick it in the oven on broil for a few minutes until everything is bubbling and brown and crispy.
7. Serve with some chopped chives or green onions or a squeeze of lemon juice. This addition really gives a nice punctuation to the dish and brings it to life!
8. Enjoy!

Bear Tea Mug!

For the bear in your life. ;)