NomNom: Avocado Spread

Whenever I'm feeling lazy in the kitchen and want to make something quick and simple, I turn to sandwiches. I'm always on the hunt for a good sandwich place (Taylor Gourmet, Jimmy Johns, and Fast Gourmet are my local favorites) but still satisfied with something as simple as a PB & J. I loved it as a kid and still love it as an adult.

My favorite combo when assembling my ideal sandwich usually involves these key players: turkey, bacon, cheese, tomatoes, and avocados. Nom.

Instead of adding buttery sliced avocados into my usual sandwich, I decided to make a spread that could very well be used as a dip for other things such as chicken, fish, chips, veggies, or basically anything your avocado loving heart desires. Thumbs up to using simple ingredients to reap simple rewards.

Have a great Monday. Xo.

Recipe
1 ripe Hass avocado
1/4 cup sour cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoon lime
Dash of cayenne

Procedure
Add avocado, sour cream, lime to a blender to small food processor  and blend until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Summer Leopard

 

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Top-French Connection (old)

Jeans-Zara (love these too)

Clutch-Marc Jacobs

Hat-F21 (old)

Cuff-Hermes

Sunnies-Karen Walker

Thank goodness it's Friday! Couldn't be more happier that this week is over, especially because my 10 day staycation starts on Monday. I'll most likely be sleeping in, reading for fun, bikram yoga-ing, visiting NYC, catching up with friends, and just relaxing. Totally need this after a rough couple of weeks. 

Have a great weekend. Xo.

  

Summer Date

Photos courtesy of Sung Shin

Dress-Malibu Fox

Shoes-Pour La Victoire

Clutch-YSL

Sunnies-Celine

Cuff-Kenneth Jay Lane

Rings-David Yurman, Kelly Wearstler

Hi everyone! If you've noticed on today's post, I'm wearing an unusual accessory on my finger. Over the weekend, I had an accident involving glass from my Tiffany crystal bowl and ended up going to the hospital to get stitches. I'm still getting over the shock of what happened because all I did was just pick up the bowl and the entire rim just came off, which took off a big chunk of my skin. When I contacted the company about their defective product and the accident, the company's response was to give me a refund.

I am so utterly turned off by their lackadaisical response (the store manager contacted me, yet was told someone from headquarters would) that I will NOT support their business from this point on. This is the item that caused the accident so please be aware: http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=GRP02936&mcat=148207&cid=288215&search_params=s+5-p+50-c+288215-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+

I'm just thankful that this accident didn't occur on my writing hand or that I broke anything, but until I get my stitches out in about 12 days, you'll be seeing a wound dressing on my fingers. I know it's not a fashionable accessory but please bear with me until then.

Have a great week. Xo.

NomNom: Slow Cooker Indian Chicken Stew

There's something about Indian cuisine that is a huge sensory stimulation for me. The colors, the fragrant smell of curry, and the array of spices the dishes encompasses.

I don't often get to use my slow cooker much but I decided to get some use out of it on my day off with today's recipe. This stew brings all the wonderful and complex flavors that Indian cuisine promises and is a protein packed dish from the spinach, chicken and garbanzo beans. Easy, great flavor profile, and healthy? Bookmark it, folks.

This hearty stew probably is ideal during the fall/winter but for me, I don't discriminate when food should be eaten. Breakfast for dinner? Happens frequently. Warm stews during the summer? Makes sense.

Have a great Monday. Xo


Ingredients (Adapted from Better Home & Gardens) Serves: 8
Nonstick cooking spray
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup onion, chopped (1 medium)
3 cloves garlic, minced
5 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper and/or cayenne pepper
2 15 ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
2 14 1/2ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 9 ounce package fresh spinach (optional)
4 cups hot cooked rice (optional)

Procedure
1. Lightly coat a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add chicken, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker. Add curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, broth, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.

2. Stir lime juice into chicken mixture. If desired, stir in spinach; let stand for 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt. If desired, serve in bowls with hot cooked rice.

NomNom: Avocado Semifreddo

How is it August already?

Summer has always been one of my favorite seasons because it involves grilling, dining al fresco, enjoying refreshing drinks and taking vacations. I'll definitely be utilizing all the free time I have to squeeze in all the summer activities I want to do before the weather starts to cool down for Fall. This weekend I have plans to go stand up paddle boarding which has been on my summer bucket list! So looking forward to that.

Cooling down with any type of resfreshing desserts such as gelato, froyo and bing soo (Korean shaved ice) is something that occurs on the regular for me during summer days. I can never say no...it's a weakness of mine and I'm okay with that.

I was intrigued with making this because I've never had avocado as a dessert. That's just weird, right? But I love, love avocados so I had to make it and it doesn't involve an ice-cream machine. That's clutch right there.

I have to warn you though, if you're not a big of a fan of avocado (but whyyy?!) this dessert is not for you. There's a definite taste of buttery smooth avocado flavor in each bite but with just the right amount of sweet and saltiness from the condensed milk and pistachios that is mixed in. So good.

Since the main star of this dessert revolves around an avocado, does this count as being healthy? Me thinks so.

Have a great weekend. Xo.


Ingredients (Adapted from EveryDay w/ Rachel Ray mag) Serves:8
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup raw pistachios, chopped
2 tbsp sugar
salt
cooking spray
1 large avocado
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 cups cream

Procedure
1. In nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add nuts, sugar and pinch salt; stir until sugar browns, 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

2. Coat 5x9 inch loaf pan with cooking spray; line with plastic wrap, leaving 3-inch overhang.

3. In food processor, puree avocado flesh, condensed milk, lemon juice and pinch salt.

4. Whip cream to stiff peaks; fold in avocado puree and nuts. Pour into pan. Cover with plastic overhang; freeze until firm, 4 hours. Unmold on to platter. Slice and serve immediately.