little green balls

Yeah... Green balls. Sounds appetizing, right? Last year for the Super Bowl, I made French fries loaded with buffalo chicken, beer-cheese sauce, and Gorgonzola cheese. This is a very different snack.

I have no idea what to call these, but that won't stop me from being incredibly excited about this recipe! These little balls are:

• gluten-free

• dairy-free

• soy-free

• paleo/primal/whole 30

• vegetarian (but can be made vegan)

• packed with vitamins and nutrients

The issue is 'meatless meatballs' doesn't quite encompass all the ways your can eat them, and 'knock-off falafels' just doesn't sound appetizing. The best way I can describe them is little green balls of goodness, but even that was too long to name this post. So, little green balls it is.

I should also mention that they taste a million times better than they photograph and that I apparently got a bit of coconut oil on my camera lense. Sorry. 

These little balls are loaded with vitamins E, D, K, A, C, & B-complex vitamins, zinc, manganese, copper, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, phosphorus, fiber, and protein! They also contain spices that are thought to help digestion, control blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, prevent diseases, boost skin health, and increase immune system function. I am not a doctor and I am definitely not saying that eating these will make you the healthiest person on the planet... I'm just saying that these really are little green balls of goodness!

They are also a great way to use up any greens you have lying around, which can be a major challenge with a CSA. They also only require SEVEN ingredients, so your shopping is quick and easy. 

Throw them on a salad, add them to sweet potato toast, dip them in hummus, serve them with soft scrambled eggs for breakfast, make them bigger and use them as a vegetarian burger patty, bake tiny balls and eat them as a snack. Whatever you want to do, you can't go wrong. They're healthy and delicious and wonderful. What are you waiting for!?!

 Even Dixie wants to try them.

little green balls of goodness

ingredients  

• 1 bunch kale, stems removed (roughly 8 oz - you can also use chard, mustard, carrot, turnip, beet, and probably spinach, too)

• 1 small onion or 1/2 large onion, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoons curry powder , plus more to taste

• 1/2 cup whole unsalted cashews

• 1/4 cup nutrional yeast, plus more to taste

• 2-3 eggs

• oil/cooking fat of choice. i typically use grapeseed oil or coconut oil.

instructions

1. preheat oven to 350

2. pulse greens in food processor until finely chopped, but not mushy. move to large bowl, and rinse+dry food processor

3. add cashews and nutrional yeast to food processor, and blend until it resembles parmesan cheese - but stop before it turns to butter! stir into bowl of greens.

4. heat oil in a pan over med high heat. add onion and curry powder. cook until onions are soft and slightly caramelized. add contents of pan, oil and all, to bowl of greens and stir. the hot oil will allow the greens to wilt a bit, this will help them form balls.

5. taste the greens mixture and add more curry powder and nutritional yeast to taste.

6. Once satisfied with the seasoning, add eggs, one at a time, until the mix is able to be formed into balls that hold their shape.

7. Place balls on on a foil lined/greased baking sheet. bake until eggs are cooked and tops of balls are beginning to brown. cooking time will depend on the size of your balls.

8. attempt the urge to eat them all before they cool.

 stay happy + healthy darlings!

Wine Country Fun

In my last post, I talked about my four favorite winemakers in California wine country and our amazing tour guide, Barry. But we were in Napa for four days, and there was no way I could handle four straight days of non-stop wine tasting. I would either die (and by die, I mean vomit) or fall asleep in between the vines. Either way it wouldn't be pretty.

So what else did we do... 

We stayed in a beautiful villa on the golf course of the Silverado Resort just outside Dowtown Napa that I would 1000% reccomend. I loved having our own space (and fireplace!), but if walkability is important to you, definitely opt for a villa closer to the center of the resort! I'd also look into staying in Yountville. It is the cutest little town and conveniently situated between Napa and Calistoga. We sillily thought that staying there would be too out of the way, but we drove through it both days we spent wine tasting. Barry also told us that there are some amazing Airbnb & VRBO rentals available in the area.

We also had some great meals. My favorite restaurant was The Girl and The Fig in Sonoma. We live right next to an excellent French restaurant here in Durham, and this casual take on French "country" food was such a treat. I got the pastis-scented mussels and the potato gnoccchi with bacon, squash, parmesan, olives, and peppers. Yum, yum. yum. 

The barbecue at Bounty Hunter was also on point, and that comes from someone who's spent a more than appropriate amount of time eating Texas, Memphis, and North Carolina BBQ. Be prepared to wait for a table, and if you're lucky, you'll be waiting during happy hour.  They have a killer wine list and a BBQ sampler plate. I split the beer can chicken for dinner (eaten after stuffing my face with pork, brisket, ribs, and red wine).

Now, since I couldn't spend the entire vacation alternating between eating and drinking, we threw one big non-wine activity in their mix... ballooning! 

Okay, I can't even really say this was non-wine because we took off from Domine Chandon (part of Moet and producer of the absolute cutest sparkling wine bottles) and we were treated to a champagne brunch afterwards.  But it was so beautiful and we got the most amazing pictures.

...LOOK!

Oh, and we capped off our trip with a day in San Fransisco! 

Happy traveling darlings!

Napa Valley Vacation

I've had a nice long break from the real world. I was in Maryland for the holidays, California for a week, and then back in Durham where Monday was officially cancelled thanks to the south's inability to deal with snow. With the forecast headed toward the 70s later this week, the snow won't stick around for long and then I'm headed to the beach for a long weekend. I'll return to the real world eventually. 

But let's go back to my trip to California. There were a lot of amazing parts of my break - my family's Chirstmas Eve party definitely being one of them - but our time in Napa Valley was 100% the highlight. 

And OF COURSE, the two full days we spent wine tasting were my favorite days of the vacation. 

I am sure that Napa is beyond gorgeous in the summer when the temeperatures are as high as the state's residents and grapes are still on the vines, but there's something special about Napa during the holidays. The weather was chilly, but I never needed a jacket during the day, and the holiday lights were magical. Most importantly, all the wineries were delightfully uncrowded. You definitely won't be disappointed if you visit wine country in the summer, but don't overlook the colder months! 

bag by created beautifully

Barry of Why Spit Napa Valley Wine Tours  guided us through the many wineries of Napa, Sonoma, and the surrounding towns. He was AWEESOMMEE. I mean, he had a glass of champagne for everyone when he picked us up. You can't beat that. Plus, he made sure to get an idea of each person's wine preferences before the trip and planned our intinteries accordingly. If you take anything from this post, let it be that Barry rocks and you should have him take you around Napa. My favorite places ended up being the ones he recommended.

On Day One of wine tasting we visited:

1. Sterlings Vineyards in Calistoga

2. Joseph Cellars in Calistoga (Barry picked up our lunch while we were tasting)

3. Peju Province Winery in Rutherford (we won this tasting at the JDRF Gala)

4. Mumm Napa in Napa

5. Darioush Winery in Napa

... and on Day Two:  

1. Eleven Eleven Winery in Napa

2. Dean & Deluca in St. Helena - this day we shopped for snacks and gifts while picking up lunch

3. Honig Vineyard and Winery, in Rutherford (another JDRF auction tasting)

4. Domaine Carneros in Napa

5. Liana Estates in Napa

Real talk - five vineyards was ambitious and we almost tried to do a sixth. It's a lot, A LOT, of wine. That picture up there is what happens when you try to take a picture after doing five tastings. We didn't even build in nap time between wine tasting and dinner. It was rough. Luckily, we had a recovery day between our tasting days.

My top four favorite places we visited are Joseph Cellars, ElevenEleven, Liana Estates, and Darioush. I absolutley loved the tours and wines at Joseph and ElevenEleven and plan on magically appearing whenever my dad opens a bottle of their wine. I purchased wine glasses and a bottle of wine from Joseph Cellars, but they shipped it to my dad's house, and now he keeps sending me snapchats of him enjoying all my purchases. It's torture.

No matter the time, season, or weather - Joseph Cellars and Eleven Eleven are the two wineries to visit and the cellar clubs to join. These two easily had my favorite wines, the best atmospheres, and the most engaging staffs. If I made regular trips to Napa, I would join Joseph's wine club because they have a great lounge where club members can relax, drink wine, and chat with staff/the owner/the winemaker. Since I currently live on the other side of the country, I'd probably join ElevenEleven's cellar club first because their cab sav is 🔥🔥🔥. (& that is the technical wine terminology.)

liana estates

As for my other favorites...

Darioush was had the most crowded tasting room, but they set us up in a space with a comfy couch and awesome cow chairs (I'm currently going through a cow print phase). They were friendly and had a great atmosphere and delicious wine. Oh, and they kept bringing us bottled water, which was GREATLY appreciated. Did I mention the cow chairs? I tried to find them online and found these at CB2 instead and now am completely obsessed and must have one. 

Liana Estates was definitely the most fun and the only one where we didn't do a tasting. Instead, we just bought a few bottles and enjoyed them as we wandered around their space. Besides wine and cheese (which is all you really need for a good time), Liana has horseshoes, cornhole, and bocce to play. They also had picnic tables and an amazing view of the sunset. It would be a great lunch spot, but for us it was the perfect way to end the day. Oh and it's female owned and operated which is badass and worth supporting. 

Obviously, we only got to visit a very very tiny portion of the wineries and vineyards wine country has to offer. But what we did see was amazing. Seriously, ElevenEleven's 2014 Cabernet was probably one of the best wines I've ever had. 

All the places we visited have websites where you can buy their wine, and if you're ever in wine country, be sure to call Barry! 

& stay tuned for our non-alcoholic adventures in Napa Valley! 

Medianoche Sliders

I'm back in Baltimore for my family's Christmas Eve extravagaannzzaaaa and to destroy my mothers kitchen in a boozy flurry of baking, roasting, sautéing, and probably something involving my new smoking gun. 

I can make a truly excellent mess in a kitchen. 

Every year for our Christmas Eve party, I get to make an apetizer, a side dish, and my absolute favorite Garden and Gun bourbon punch. I've been striclty assigned those three items in a futile attempt to limit my mess. But this year, I'm allowed to do more!

This Christmas Eve party stared small, but over the years it has grown to almost 100 people. Kids outnumber the parents, which actually made things easier at one point. Throw some frozen chicken nuggets in the oven and heat up some mac and cheese and us kids were good. Leave the fancy roasts and side dishes for the grown ups.  

But now the "kids" are graduating college, getting married, and the BABIES that I remember being born are old enough to drive. Oh, and we all want to eat the grown up food. 

Which brings me to these sliders. Instead of preparing enough steak for 100 "adults" (!?), I get to make one more dish! 

YAY. 

These sliders aren't your typical cold weather, curl up by the fire, burrow in a blanket with a good book food. But they are sweet, salty, savory, and oops-did-I-just-eat-the-entire-tray delicious. 

They're really great for all seasons, the pulled pork makes them feel like fall, the pineapple makes them feel like spring, and they can be served hot in the winter or cold in the summer.

I've made these sliders so many times for so many different occassions. For the boyfriend's law school class, for my golden birthday, and for a honeymoon-themed Bridal shower to name a few. They're called "medianoche" because they're what you want to eat in the middle of the night, which happens to be when the Christmas-eve party ends. Whether you spent the night drinking, partying, studying, or netflixing in sweats, these are the perfect late night snack. 

They are also SO EASY and as close to mess-free as you can get. They only need 25 minutes in the oven, and if you have pulled pork in the fridge (or if you just leave it out of the sliders), the sandwiches can be put together in less than 10 minutes. Perfect for those times you forget that you are supposed to bring food to a party. If that doesn't sound like you (aka if you are an organized and put-together human being)... you can assemble the sandwiches two days in advance. 

medianoche sliders

for the sandwiches: 

• 2 packs Hawaiian dinner rolls

• 2-3 packs deli ham (go with 3 if leaving out the pulled pork or if the ham is thinly sliced)

• 2 packs sliced Swiss cheese

• 1 jar sweet pickles

• pulled pork

for the pulled pork (you will have extra):

• 2 lbs pork loin

• 1/2 cup smoky BBQ sauce

• 1 can pineapple

• 1 tsp liquid smoke

for the sauce: 

• 1 stick butter

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

• 1/2 small sweet onion

Preparation:

to make the pulled pork, rub salt and pepper over the pork loin and place it in the slow cooker. Whisk the BBQ sauce, pineapple (liquid and all), and liquid smoke in a bowl, and pour it over the pork. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred with two forks (or use an electric mixer to shred). Discard all but 1 cup of the liquid in the slow cooker, and return the shredded pork and the reserved liquid to the slow cooker, and set aside. 

to assemble the sandwiches, put the bottom half of the Hawaiian rolls in the casserole dish. Layer in the ham, followed by the pulled pork, then the pickles, and finally the swiss cheese. Add the tops of sandwich rolls, and cover & refridgerate if you will not be baking right away. 

to bake with the mustard sauce, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Finely dice the onion and melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Whisk the Dijon mustard and diced onions with the melter butter. Pour the sauce over the sandwiches and cover with foil. Bake covered for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes or until the top is crispy (but not burnt). 

slice and enjoy hot or cold for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a midnight snack. 

Marzipan Chocolate Chip Cookies

So desserts are not really my thing. Generally, I feel like dessert recipes are overly complicated (this one requires THREE types of sugar) and they take too long and use fifty bowls and then once you're done you can only have a little bit of whatever sugar-filled item you painstakingly labored over.   

So why am I sharing a cookie recipe today? Because, it's Christmas darlings.

...and because its also law school exam season and the boyfriend has banned all things merry and bright until after exams are over ON THE 19TH! That baaaaaarely leaves any time for Christmas cheer.

[insert overly dramatic sigh here]

Luckily, this ban does not apply to food so I am cooking and baking my heart out. So far, I've made my 10 step breakfast bread, two batches of pop tarts - one batch the boyfriend stress ate so I had to make a second batch, which I forgot to take pictures of, so I'll be making a third batch soon - then I had extra pie crust so I made super yummy chicken pot pie from scratch, and then I got tired of baking/all of my pans and mixing bowls were dirty so I made a huge batch of my favorite momofuku soy sauce eggs (I'll be sharing my paleo version soon) which I then proceeded to eat on everything and anything, and finally, I ran out of pop tarts and needed to get my sugar fix elsewhere. 

Enter cookies.

These cookies are delicious. They are salty and sweet and have the best sugary-almond surprise. The recipe is kind of a pain in the ass, but only if you plan on baking alone. Grab some friends (preferably one who has a kitchen aid stand mixer), a bottle or three of wine, and gather in the kitchen. That's what the holidays are about.  

Chocolate Chip & Marzipan Cookies

adapted slightly from i am a food blog 

• 100 grams marzipan (i buy this marzipan found in most grocery stores and use half of the package in this recipe)

• 1.75 cups all purpose flour

• 0.75 teaspoon baking soda

• 0.5 teaspoon salt

• 1 stick butter

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• 1 bag milk chocolate chips (the bag I used was 12 oz)

• flaky sea salt

Preheat the oven to 360°F.

Roll marzipan (100 g) into little balls, roughly the same size as the chocolate chips you are using. 

Whisk together the dry ingredients (1.75 cups flour, 0.75 tsp baking soda, 0.5 tsp salt) in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, use a stand or handheld electric mixer to cream butter (1 stick), white sugar (2 tbsp), turbinado sugar (2 tbsp), and brown sugar (1 cup). Once the butter/sugar is light & fluffy, add 1 large egg and vanilla (1 tsp) & mix until combined.

On a low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, chocolate chips (12 oz bag), and marzipan balls until all the ingredients are is just barely incorporated.

Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and flatten oh so very slightly.  Place the balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You'll want them to be about 2 inches apart. 

Sprinkle with flaky salt and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, check on the cookies. You want to remove them from the oven once the edges are golden, but before they turn golden brown.

Once you've reached (or surpassed.. it happens) the perfect golden edges, remove from the oven and let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for five or so minutes.

Enjoy with red wine or whatever bottle is open by the time you finish the recipe.

Happy holidaze!