One of the benefits to eating beans all day is that you have room/calories to indulge in some sweets. I prefer to bake my own so I know exactly what I'm ingesting & digesting. I found this simple peanut butter chocolate chip brownie recipe on cooks.com. I actually found 6oz of chocolate chips to be too rich for my blood, so I made a ganache and blended it through the batter. They came out perfectly soft & moist. Fantastic recipe.

I Dream of Beanie . . .

I remember the first time I had dal. My friend Haroon shared some he made in his Cook College Kitchen. I was surprised at how smooth and creamy they were. I'd tried to recreate them several times over the years without much success, I couldn't get the right consistency. But alas, I was using the wrong beans! I was cooking yellow split peas instead of red lentils. I watched Mark Bitman whip them up on the NYTimes site last Monday and realized my error. And because I'm such a nerd, I woke up the next day with visions of a warm bowl of beans dancing in my head. Luckily, I had some waiting in the cabinet and have enjoyed them as a high protein, low fat, mid-day snack.

Red lentils garnished with crispy onions & scallions.

ACP.

Adam Clayton Powell ascends on 125th & ACP.

Pimenton Party!

Oh Mark Bittman, I cannot thank you enough for introducing me to pimenton. I remember watching him gently stroke the magical spice on some swordfish about a year ago. I was instantly captivated and bought some pimenton the next day. I've yet to make the swordfish, but we've certainly had some fun times. Here's an extra easy recipe for pita chips. I mean really you can tell what to do by the photos alone. {One hint, bake around 300-350 for 10-15 minutes. You may need to re-arrange them to make sure they are all getting the oven's lovin' warmth.}

Just Like Mom's . . . Almost . . .

Back, way back in the day my Mom used to make some bangin' chicken soup from scratch. I've quit the cock since then and geniusly used steamed tilapia instead. {I also came up with the word geniusly} Ingredients are: freshly chopped onions, red potatoes, carrots, red peppers, corn, & tilapia of course. Perfect for a cold winter day.

Harlem Up in Smoke.

Steam pipe outside of Grant Houses on Amsterdam & 124th.

New Frontiers . . .

First & foremost, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  2009 was some rough shit, but hey we made it! My overarching resolution for this year is to keep evolving through exploration. And this of course extends to my kitchen creativity. The new ish{es} for tonight were fish sauce & red chili paste. I am usually quite absurdly opposed to pre-blended concoctions but, hey they were on sale at Whole Foods. Sweet Jesus, I've been such a fool. My salmon turned out so delicious. I had to be a bit stubborn/non-conformist so I didn't exactly follow the recipe on the package. Drool & start exploring!

Mmmhmmm, edamame steamed over basmati rice.

I pan fried the salmon in a little olive oil, removed the fish, made the sauce in the same pan, then put the pieces back in to soak up the flavor.

Awww shit, look at all that garlic. . .

Edamame out of it's shell & garnished with chopped peanuts.