What does your cereal say about YOU?

Anyone who knows me well knows that I am not a spontaneous person. I do not live by the seat of my pants, but by schedule. I like routines. I like making plans. "Spontaneous" for me is sleeping until 9 A.M. on a Saturday and splurging on a bagel instead of my usual Kashi cereal. In fact, my brother and I were joking the other day about what kind of cereal we would be. We said he'd be Coco Puffs and I would be Bran, because I'm always regular (hehe). So that's me. A big bowl o' reliable Bran.

My need for a routine and structure translates into my eating habits as well. I always eat three square meals a day, and of course a snack and dessert (or two). I really do not understand people who just "forget" to eat a meal, or somehow manage to stave off hunger all day simply by eating a banana or yogurt. Not only do I get irritable like a 5 year old if I've gone too long without eating, but what I eat is all I think about. All. Day. Long. Thinking about food (and of course eating it too) is what makes my world go round. A life without breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert(s) is simply a life not worth living.

People always say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. And while I agree that nothing beats a big bowl of cereal with cold milk, I do think lunch gets shafted. Lunch is sadly an afterthought for many people in the busy working world. Scrapped for time, some people will just grab a so-so sandwich or soggy salad at the corner deli. But for me, planning my lunches every week is like a secret drug. Picking the recipe, making the shopping list - it's a Type A's dream. As soon as I get to work every morning I start counting down the hours until it is acceptable to eat lunch. If I didn't have a delicious lunch to look forward to, what would be the point of getting up every day?

Here I bring you my lunch for the week: wheat berry salad with figs, golden raisins, celery and red onion. Stirring the pot of wheat berries this weekend, all I could think to myself was "I cannot wait for lunch on Monday". I know I sound crazy - a compulsive planner with the mentality of a morbidly obese person - but you should trust me on this one. This salad is good. And totally worth a little compulsive planning.

Wheat Berry Salad adapted from The Kitchn
makes 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups wheat berries
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tbs honey
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried figs, finely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)
1 cup roasted almonds, roughly chopped
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

1. Cover the wheat berries with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and partially cover the pot. Cook 45 minutes, until the wheat berries are tender and chewy.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the rice vinegar, orange juice and honey together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and add the raisins and figs. Turn off the heat and let the fruit steep in the liquid.
3. When the wheat berries are ready, drain and add to a large bowl with the celery and red onion. Toss with olive oil and lemon zest. Add the vinegar and juice mixture, with all the fruit and mix. Stir in almonds, parsley and salt. Season with pepper as desired. Serve warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Eggcellent Spinach, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Frittata

One of my favorite dishes that my mom makes is her quiche. Quiche was a staple in my mom's weekly round-up of dinner recipes. Most frequently she'd make broccoli and cheddar quiche, which was delicious and suited to the picky taste buds of my younger siblings. But my favorite was the bacon and Jarlsberg quiche; the more pungent flavor of the Swiss cheese and the saltiness of the bacon were most satisfying to my "refined" palate as a kid.

Quiche always seemed like such an elegant dish to me when I was younger. I remember my French teacher used to ooh and ah about Quiche Lorraine, and I would envision myself enjoying the savory bite as I sipped un cafe au lait along the Seine (in fact, this is still a dream of mine...). Something about the indulgent ingredients - creamy cheese, fatty bacon, buttery crust - made me think quiche was a dish reserved for experienced cooks...

And it could be if you have the time and patience to make your own pie crust. But since moving to NYC, quiche has become one of my go-to dishes for entertaining or potlucks. Okay, I cheat and use pre-made pie crust, but it still tastes delicious and saves me so much time. From there, it's just a matter of mixing your eggs and preferred cheeses/veggies/meats et voila... quiche straight from Paris!

Now you're probably expecting a quiche recipe, when in fact I'm going to give you a recipe for a frittata. A frittata is like an Italian quiche, sans crust; therefore making it slightly healthier (depending on what cheese and other fatty goodness you put inside). In an effort to balance out the obscene amount of gingerbread and cookies I'll be eating in the coming weeks, I decided to fare on the lighter side by amping up the vegetables and opting for a lighter cheese (i.e. goat cheese). The great thing about this frittata (or quiche for that matter) is that it tastes great hot, cold or at room temperature, and makes for a delicious breakfast, lunch or dinner. Even though I cheat on the crust (or avoid it all together as I did here), I can still feel like a chic Parisian while I eat my frittata from my desk in New York. Bon appetit!

Spinach, Mushroom & Goat Cheese Frittata
makes 5-6 servings
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups baby bella mushrooms, chopped
3 cups fresh baby spinach
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper
7 eggs, beaten
4 oz goat cheese

1. Melt butter in a nonstick, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and mushroom. Sprinkle with a pinch of red pepper flakes, and season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat in butter and cook until onions become translucent, about 6 minutes.
2. Add the spinach to the pan. Stir until the spinach wilts down.
3. Add the eggs to the skillet. Continue to cook over medium-high heat, swirling around the eggs with a rubber spatula.
4. When the eggs start to set and the sides come together, sprinkle the goat cheese on top. Place the pan under the broiler until the eggs are fluffy and slightly golden, and the cheese is melted - about 4 minutes.
5. Allow frittata to cool slightly before cutting into slices. Serve warm, cold or a room temperature.