The Cute Epicure

Do you ever loop a song over and over again? I think my neighbors may want to throw a brick at my record player. The song is that good. So I will loop once more…and then again…and again.

As I listen, I am enjoying a glass of Firesteed Pinot Noir. It is a perfect wine for the concluding days of July. As we embark into August, I will enjoy many more glasses of this wine. As for a meal, I would like to share my new favorite recipe. (See below)

Now you can loop The National, let them serenade you, sip your favorite summer red, and enjoy a nourishing meal. My favorite place to enjoy is on my patio. My antique red table was once my grandmother’s. The scene is rustic, simple, and elegant. Divertiti!

Pesto Quinoa with Avocado and Mixed Greens

Recipe:

1/4 Cup Quinoa

2 Tablespoons Pesto

1 Avocado

Mixed Greens

Salt & Pepper

Method:

Wash and drain the quinoa. Add 1/2 Cup water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover with lid, and simmer until translucent. About 10-12 minutes. Add pesto. Mix thoroughly. Plate over mixed greens. Add sliced avocado. Garnish with salt and pepper.

Note: The measurements are forgiving. May increase or decrease ingredient amounts to suit individual tastes and appetites. Try adding sliced almonds for an added crunch or shredded chicken breast for a heartier plate.

Life can be a warm gooey oatmeal raisin cookie or a bitter grape. Like the ones withered at the bottom of the clear plastic bag, sometimes covered in white fuzzy mold. I usually wash it off, only to bite into a rancid ball of foul taste. When will I learn…

Presently my life is neither. It is unfamiliar. It took a shift recently and my life has become more like the grapevine. I am back in growth. That awkward stage where one minute I am reaching my vines and guiding my leaves toward the sunlight, and another minute I am slithering down the wooden stake into the ground, wanting to hide in shade.

Food is life. It mirrors our individual self, our families and friends, our communities. Food brings people together or can cause them to drift apart. Sharing food is a sensual and personal experience. It is vulnerable. Cooking for someone is vulnerable. It is giving a piece of you to them, hoping they will take a bite and approve the food, in essence, you.

We all enjoy a cookie every now and then. We all are also served a bitter grape every now and then. But either way, the ingredients came from the ground, a vine, a tree. In theory, we are the ones who put judgement on a cookie or a bitter grape. Not nature. Just let it be. Stop judging life and experience the tastes of all.

 ♫ Let’s talk about nuts.
Let’s talk about nuts, baby
Let’s talk about you and me
Let’s talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let’s talk about nuts.  ♫

Add a little Salt ‘N’ Pepa, and I’m satiated.

Introduce my new love, Marcona Almonds…

Known as “almonds ascended to heaven”,  these nuts are doused in sunflower oil and sea salt. They are generally fried, have a distinct crunch, are well-salted and very addictive. They’re a natural alongside Spanish cheeses like Manchego or Garroxta, but also very good with English Cheddar and a good stout.

I enjoy them with sliced apples (Fuji or Honeycrisp) and a generous pour of Cabernet Sauvignon or my new obsession, Frog’s Leap Zinfandel. They go amazing with a chilled Blue Moon Agave or 312. Oh, can’t forget Rahr and Sons Blonde Lager.

These nuts are the ultimate gourmet snack for enjoying a leisurely afternoon, a good book, the sunshine, and possibly some good conversation (between the sips of your chosen delectable beverage and mouthfuls of nuts).

Happy National Peanut Butter Day! The stuff is yummy, but did you know that peanut butter can also play a role in preventing everything from heart disease to Alzheimer’s?

Keep in mind that all-natural peanut butter without added ingredients is the healthy option — many brands include added sugar. And, as with all good things, everything in moderation: a spoonful may be healthy, but a whole jar is certainly not.

Here are some top health properties for peanut butter:

It’s Heart Healthy
Yes, peanut butter has saturated fat and some sodium, but that doesn’t automatically disqualify it as a good-for-you treat. As nutrition expert Dr. Walter C. Willett wrote in the Havard Heart Letter, one serving of peanut butter (about two tablespoons) contains 3.3 grams of saturated fat, but a whopping 12.3 grams of unsaturated fat. That ratio of about 80 percent unsaturated fat is akin to olive oil, a known heart booster. Explained Willet:

The body’s response to saturated fat in food is to increase the amounts of both harmful LDL and protective HDL in circulation. In moderation, some saturated fat is okay. Eating a lot of it, though, promotes artery-clogging atherosclerosis, the process that underlies most cardiovascular disease. In contrast, unsaturated fats, which make up the majority of the fat content in peanut butter, help reduce LDL cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease.

It’s High In Potassium, The ‘Good’ Salt
A high-sodium diet is associated with high blood pressure, stroke and a host of other conditions, but a high-potassium diet can actually reduce risk of heart disease and improve health. One 2010 study even found that eating just 4.7 grams of potassium had the same health benefit as cutting out 4 grams of sodium. (Of course eating enough peanut butter to reach 4.7 grams of potassium would be excessive, but try combining it with a banana, for a double punch.)

With about 200 milligrams of potassium, peanut butter is a good source of the salt that also helps stave off arthritis, cancer, digestive disorders, and infertility.

It Keeps You Full To Prevent Weight Gain
Peanut butter is definitely a rich food, but it can help keep you full for longer. In one study, adults who snacked on peanuts and peanut butter reported feeling fuller than those who chose lighter fare like rice cakes and pickles.

And in an unrelated study published in Obesity of nearly 9,000 Spanish men and women, those who incorporated nuts into their diets at least twice a week were 31 percent less likely to gain weight than a control group.

It’s A Cheap Source of Good Calories
At about 30 cents per serving, peanut butter is an affordable source of good quality calories — containing fiber, protein, potassium, unsaturated fat, folate, vitamin E, magnesium and resveratrol. That’s a lot better than other affordable calorie sources, like fast food value meals.

It Could Keep You Sharp
Peanut butter has about 4.3 milligrams of niacin per two-tablespoon serving — an important nutrient that plays a protective role in preventing cognitive decline. A study of 3,000 men over the age of 65 in Chicago found that those who consumed 22 milligrams of niacin per day were 70 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s than their peers who consumed just 13 milligrams.

Article complements of The Huffington Post

Stepping into Charlie Palmer’s Aureole at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, my eyes gawked at the centerpiece: a four-story wine tower with its very own Wine Angel Stewards, who gracefully ascend the tower to retrieve bottles. Think more Mission Impossible, less Striptease. It was a site always to remember…nothing short of Vegas.

I was familiar with the fare of Charlie Palmer, once having tried his restaurant at The Joule in Dallas. It was one of my most memorable dinners in The Big D. I dreamed of those lobster popsicles and buttery crusted trout for weeks after. Aureole pulled through for my high expectations.

We began with the wine…one of the restaurant’s specialties. Opting for a beautiful crisp Chardonnay, we decided on a dozen oysters on the half-shell for our starter. With each oyster, fresh salt water burst from every succulent mouthful. It was a magical moment. Next, we chose to share the beautifully caramelized Filet Mignon. I will not deny if one heard a moan murmured. This is Vegas, so of course, there was dessert. Nothing was more romantic than sharing the Tasting Plate, filled with cookies, meringue, mousse, and chocolate truffles. Oh my!

The rest will go unlisted. As the adage goes, what happens in Vegas, well, stays in Vegas.