It was 103 degrees in NYC yesterday so there was no way in the world I was going to stand in the kitchen any longer than absolutely necessary.  We live on the 4th floor of a small walkup building and it gets – and stays – really hot in our apartment.  Combine that with the fact our air conditioners are small units that are not really capable of cooling down a 100 degree room and you have a recipe for a very hands-off dinner.


Eating out and a big salad were not options (the former because we have so much produce from our CSA share and the latter because we had already had one for lunch), nor were turning on the oven or anything that needed more than 20 minutes on the stove so as to not overheat the apartment or the person standing over the stove in the kitchen (which would be me).

Part of our first CSA pickup was a bunch of beautiful leeks. The stalks were thick and creamy white, unlike the streaky, somewhat dried-up specimens in the supermarket. These particular leeks were even better than ones I’ve gotten at the farmers market – they were incredibly tender and amazingly grit free.


My CSA sends out an email on Mondays letting us know what’s in our pickup the next day, so I’ve taken to meal planning for the week based on what I’ll be getting the next day. I saw leeks on the list for that first week and I knew right away what to make with them.

I promised a friend that I’d post this last week, and, of course, I’m only getting around to it now….


I’ve always loved cheese (I have a hilarious/embarrassing childhood story about my love for cheese), so it naturally follows that I’ve always loved mac and cheese. I always looked forward to the one Saturday a month that mom made the Kraft stuff for me and my brother, and I continued to love it (and try to not eat the whole box) well into my early 20’s. But then one day I went to Artisanal (aka the temple of cheese) with my friends Elise and Kristen and we decided to be indulgent and order a side of their mac and cheese. It was amazing – light years better than the stuff made from powdered cheese, and even more satisfying. I have no idea what blend of cheeses they use, but it was perfect – pungent, creamy, rich, and perfectly seasoned.

“What makes these gnocchi French?” is the question that was asked when I served them. A very good question, indeed.

French gnocchi are made without semolina or potatoes that are used to make the more common Italian gnocchi. They are actually made from pâte à choux, that incredibly versatile dough that is used to make everything from gougères to éclairs. Pâte à choux is composed simply of butter, flour, eggs, and water (sometimes milk); the proportions of these ingredients vary depending on what the final product will be.

I've never heard of or seen a vegetarian version of carbonara sauce, which is really strange to me - how hard is it to just leave out the bacon? I guess the bacon is the main element, but it seemed pretty obvious to me to replace it with mushrooms, which are frequently used as a substitute for meat. I first made this a few years ago as a little experiment and clearly it worked. And since I was desperately craving it last week, I decided to make it last night. I won't lie and say it's good for you, but it certainly does make you feel good when it's freezing cold in your apartment!

One of my favorite things to do is to go to the Sunday Market – for some reason it reminds me of NYC (probably because I used to go to the Union Square Greenmarket all the time).


Although the pickings become slim as the weather gets colder, there’s still plenty of good stuff to be had, such as this item that I picked up this past Sunday:

This is seriously one of the easiest meals to make. I bought a ton of kale from the market on Sunday and was planning on turning some of it into a soup along with some white beans (a classic combination), but I didn’t really have plans for the rest of it. I hadn’t made anything for lunch yet (and yes I always make my lunch and take it to work with me because, well, don’t we all know why it’s better to do that?) and the mountain of kale in my fridge was staring at me. So that’s how I got the idea for this quick and hearty lunch.

The 7th annual Baltimore Marathon took place yesterday, and the streets of Baltimore were taken over by about 12,000 runners, one of whom was yours truly. I ran the marathon as part of a four-person relay team that was made up of myself, my brother, the bf, and the bf’s very tall friend. The 26.2 miles of the marathon were divided into 4 legs, the shortest of which was 6.0 miles and was very hilly, and the longest of which was 7.3 miles and had a long downhill stretch. My leg was 6.1 miles, the last two of which were uphill.

I don’t think I need to reiterate that eggplant is my favorite vegetable. As I previously mentioned, there are so many lovely ones available at the market this time of year, and I always buy lots of them. Of course, there’s also a plethora of tomatoes at the market; I end up buying a few pints of different cherry tomatoes in addition to heirlooms and romas. Of course, at this point, I find myself with too many tomatoes and eggplants (amongst other vegetables) on my hands. Although I love being in the kitchen, trying to use up all this produce sometimes tires me out, which is why roasting has become my preferred method of dealing with much of my summer produce. Not only is it incredibly easy, but I find that it really brings out the flavor of the vegetables.