DAY TWO

So, breakfast was a slice of banana bread. Not necessarily healthy for you, but the one I made had whole wheat flour and the special high-fiber flour my family usually uses. Bananas and nuts provide nutrients and fiber, so all in all, if you're not eating too much of it, it's really not that bad. Also, this is my grandma's recipe, so you know it's good.

Banana Bread

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

2 eggs

1/2 c. sour/buttermilk (see note for how to make)

1/4 c. plain yogurt/sour cream

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour, sifted (for healthier bread, substitute 1 c. whole wheat pastry flour. The pastry part is very important as this will ensure the flour has the same texture and consistency as regular flour.)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. bananas, mashed (an easy way to do this is to take bananas that are bruised and freeze them until you have enough; bruised bananas are much easier to mash. You can just defrost them when it's time to bake.)

1 c. pecans/walnuts, chopped

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl. Add eggs and mix until incorporated. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to bowl in small batches, mixing until throughly incorporated each time. Add mashed bananas and nuts. Mix well. Pour into a greased and floured meat loaf/bread pan. Bake about 45-60 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the bread clean. Let rest and cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.

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Lunch was an unusual affair today. Normally for lunch I don't do anything fancy; a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and some applesauce is fine for me. But today Mr. Sullivan, my former Ancient World teacher, was coming over to discuss our upcoming trip to Israel, and since he was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes about a week ago, I had to specially tailor a lunch for him.

Which, seeing as my own healthy eating habits actually brought me back from the brink of diabetes, wasn't that hard. We had bruschetta with grilled garlic bread and roasted asparagus.

Bruschetta

3 large tomatoes, chopped into small pieces

2 tbsp. finely chopped shallots

2 tbsp. finely chopped garlic

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/4 c. chopped basil

1/3 c. buffalo mozzarella, chopped into small pieces

salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix throughly to combine. Chances are you'll probably have to adjust some of the ingredients by adding more, particularly basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. I don't really know how to tell you that it's good, but once you taste it, you'll know.

Roasted Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus

salt and pepper

olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the asparagus by breaking off the ends; there should be a natural weak point where they break easily. Arrange them on a cookie sheet. Drizzle olive oil over asparagus, making sure to coat each one; I recommend using a pastry brush to help with this as otherwise, you'll probably wind up with too much olive oil. Season with salt and pepper by eyeballing, erring on cautious; you can always add more later if you need. Roast in the oven for twenty minutes.

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Dinner was a delicious spinach and ricotta tart. I love having tarts for dinner because not only are they a perfectly balanced meal in and of themselves if made right, but it's an excuse to make pie crust. What, I hear you ask, pie crust from scratch? That must take hours of hard work! It sounds impossible!

Well that is where you are wrong, kiddies. Making pie crust is actually ridiculously easy, and tastes a million times better than anything you could buy pre-made. The secret to good pie crust actually lies in the technique used to make it; the best pie crusts will be made so that individual flecks of butter are still scattered throughout, so that when it bakes, they melt, giving the crust the desired flakiness. This is achieved by letting the butter touch your hands as little as possible, as your hands have lots of heat and will melt it.

Savory Pie Crust

1 1/2 c. flour (I used half whole wheat, half regular)

1/2 c. butter (1 stick)

pinch of salt

1 egg

Do all of the following on an open, clean kitchen counter.

Using a pastry scraper (or, if you don't have one, a good sized knife), cut the butter into chunks. DO NOT TOUCH THE BUTTER WITH YOUR HANDS. Pour the flour over the butter chunks, and using the pastry scraper/knife, cut the butter into the flour until fairly well mixed and butter chunks are all small and relatively the same size. Sprinkle the salt onto the mixture and cut it in a few times, just to mix.

Gather the mixture into a heap and make a little well in the middle. Crack the egg, and place it in the well. Cut the egg into the mixture with about twenty good strokes. Now comes the hardest part. Using ONLY the palm of your hands, bring the dough together between them and rub in opposite directions in one stroke. DO NOT LET YOUR FINGERTIPS TOUCH THE DOUGH. Continue to smear the dough between your palms, one stroke at a time, until it starts to become sticky and vaguely yellow colored; this will indicate to you that the egg is being properly mixed in. Continue until the dough can hold shape on its own. Gather into a ball-like shape, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until hard.

Dough can be frozen for up to a month.

Spinach and Ricotta Tart (from The Vegetarian Cookbook)

1 recipe savory pie crust

1 lb frozen spinach, thawed.

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 c. ricotta cheese

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Drain the spinach and squeeze out as much moisture as possible. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spinach and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool, then beat in eggs, ricotta and parmesan. Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Roll the pie dough out (while still cold and hard; this will make it much easier to work with, as rolling it out will soften it quite a bit) between two large pieces of wax/parchment paper. Line a 9 in. tart pan (or, I'm going to assume, a pie pan; I have a tart pan so I don't know how well that will work in comparison) with the dough, letting it hang over the sides before taking off the excess. If for some reason the dough breaks, it can easily be patched up with the excess dough, but use the knuckles of your fingers to press it into place. Spoon in the spinach mixture, spreading it evenly.

Bake for 30-40 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Now, the original recipe here has you make a lattice for this tart. This is, while not overly difficult, probably going to be a tricky process for those unfamiliar with making tarts/pies, so I would say it's not necessary. If you want to try it however:

Make an additional half recipe of pie crust dough. Roll it out the same way as above, but make it go really long one way so you'll have good sized strips. Using a sharp knife, cut 1/4 inch strips of dough, then, using a long knife, gently ease them away from the wax paper and lay them over the tart in a crisscross pattern. Don't be surprised if some of the stripes break; just squish the dough back together to repair. Press against the edges of the crust to secure. Brush with an egg glaze to make them nicely golden brown when baking.

Enjoy, my darlings!