Foodie Adventure! - Croatia and Italy

It has already been more than one month since me, Maggie and Levi returned from our 2 1/2 week trip to Croatia and Italy. The trip was amazing and magical - the insane blue of the Adriatic Sea, Roman ruins, swimming outside castle walls - and it reminded me of why travel is so important my soul. But, I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to talk about FOOD and boy, I have a lot to tell.

Something I regret from my years of being a restrictive eater is all the foodie adventure opportunities I missed out on. Before leaving on our trip I reflected on this and promised myself that I would not hold back. So much of a culture is expressed in their food and I wanted to soak in as much newness as possible in our short trip abroad.

The foodie adventure began in the Rome Airport on a layover to Croatia where I drank my first (of many many many) cappuccinos. From first sip I knew that my relationship with coffee would be changed forever. I am not exaggerating here - it was that good....

Our first several days in Croatia were coastal and, therefore, were seafood packed. I encountered my first foodie adventure challenge in Split when I was served my plate of shrimp, whole and unpeeled! I looked at my plate, said "challenge accepted" and continued to eat the plate clean. I have to admit that I had to turn my head when snapping the head, but I did it and I'm proud of myself for that :)

I think it's essential while traveling to not only sample the local specialties, but to explore the world of local fast food/ junk food as well. Paprika flavored potato chips were the only flavor chip you could really find aside from standard potato chips, so they were a must-try. Also pizza was by far the most present fast-food option. I'm guessing this is because of Croatia's proximity to Italy, but it was much more fast-food american pizza than Italy-style pizza. One night in Dubrovnik we turned in early and had a little paprika chip, fast food pizza party. I wouldn't rank it on one of the most delicious meals of the trip, but I feel really good about the decision.

Our last days in Croatia were spent in the north where the influence was significantly less Mediterranean and much more Bavarian/Baltic. After hiking for close to 8 hours around Plitvice Lake National Park I ate a dinner called Cevapcici that consisted of a plate of little sausages, fried potato slices and an AMAZING roasted red pepper dip. Of all the things I tried on this trip, this dip is the one thing I MUST learn to make. From a short google search, I think it's called ajvar.

Now, from before we even got on the plan and headed across the Atlantic, Maggie and I knew that we had a foodie-adventure challenge awaiting us on our last days in Croatia. The Istria Peninsula is one of only two places IN THE WORLD where you can find the famed white truffle. Our last day in Croatia was spent touring the small hilltop town of Motovun, AKA, Truffle Central.

We had our most decadent meal of the trip at the famous Zigantes where we ate a 3 course meal, all of which featured truffles, including truffle ice cream for dessert! 

The next leg of our trip was a whirlwind tour of Italy: Venice, Florence and Rome. We ate gnocci and ravioli in Venice, chianti soaked pasta in Florence, and Jewish style artichokes (carciofo alla giudia) in Rome. We ate paninis, pizza, arrancini, drank spritzes and Peronis, and of course, had cappucinos and gelato everywheeeeeeerrrreee! The food in Italy did not disapoint.

Ahhh, and here I am a month later, drooling over the pictures. It was quite the foodie adventure and I feel accomplished looking back. To be able to travel is a gift, and not something I take for granted. It's so easy for me to fall into my day to day routine and eat meal after meal consisting of the same 6-7 ingredients arranged in different patterns. Don't get me wrong, I love the food that I eat, but it's good to be thrown somehwere new where those patterns and ingredients don't exist, and to challenge yourself to see what you can make with the newness.

Cold and Creamy Tomato Soup

The SMACKdown:
A couple of Saturdays ago I spent my morning volunteering at my favorite local farm, Urban Roots. Austin's got a slew of totally awesome and active local farms, but Urban Roots is my favorite because of what they do in addition to farming. The farm's primary purpose is youth empowerment through farming. Local teens, mostly of low social economic status, can work as paid interns on the farm where they learn how to sustainably farm on top of developing leadership skills, working area farmer's markets and cooking for the public alongside local high profile chefs. And, of course, Urban Roots advocates accessibility to fresh and  healthy food by donating 40% of their crops to local soup kitchens and pantries.

So yeah, I love Urban Roots and spent my morning volunteering with them. I was placed in a group of 10 or so volunteers, led by one of the youth interns. We spent three solid hours harvesting squash and zucchini and weeding cucumber plans. In that single morning over 1000 lbs of vegetables was harvested on the farm! There was so much produce that we were able to walk away with as many tomatoes, cucumbers and squash as we could possibly carry. Well, it turns out I can carry a lot!

So then the challenge was, what should I do with all this produce?! I had more bright red, fist-sized, plump 'n juicy tomatoes than I knew what to do with. Mulling this over while eating a couple sliced tomatoes with just a little salt, I came up with a plan. It's July in Austin meaning that it's HOT. What better to cool you off then cold tomato soup made from freshly picked tomatoes? Few things.

When I studied abroad in Seville my host mother, Manoli, would make this AMAZING cold tomato soup called salmorejo. In the years since returning from Spain (it's been a while) I've daydreamed about this soup. Was it real? Could it have been as delicious as I remember? Was it really as simple to make as Manoli had described? I've talked about salmorejo with other friends who've been to Spain, and no one ever knows what I'm talking about. After a quick Google search (duh, Google has answers to everything!) for "salmorejo," it was confirmed that I wasn't going crazy... at least not over tomato soup.

So what is salmorejo you are probably thinking, and do I really just mean gazpacho? NO. Salmorejo is like the sexy older sister to gazpacho - smooth, creamy and you eat it with a spoon (that's right, gapzacho is supposed to be sipped, whaaaaaat?!?!). The ingredient that makes it thick is bread! I'm sure you are thinking "Blech! Gross soggy bread in cold tomato soup. Nothing could be more disgusting!" Trust me here.

While planning my cooking adventure with salmorejo I remembered Manoli saying that instead of using bread as the thickening agent of the soup, you could also use carrots. I did another quick Google search for "salmorejo without bread" and found a recipe that called for using zucchini as the thickening agent. PERFECT! I had carried as many zucchinis as I possibly could that morning and definitely had one to spare for my soup.

Ingredients:

6 large ripe tomatoes, seeds removed

1 large zucchini

2 cloves garlic

1 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

salt to taste

sliced hard boiled eggs for garnish

Directions:
1. Slice your tomatoes in half and remove the seeds with a spoon.
2. Cut up your zucchini into 1/8's (They can be good sized chunks).
3. Add your tomato halves, zucchini and garlic to your blender. Blend on high until creamy. If you are making a full recipe, you will most likely  have to do this in batches.
4. Pour into a large bowl. I used a glass bowl I could see the consistency throughout.
5. Add the red wine vinegar and olive oil to your mixture and stir until well combined.
6. Salt to taste.
7. Garnish with a few slices of hard boiled egg.
8. Devour.

Classic salmorejo is most often topped with jamon iberico. This is hard to come by so more convenient options are diced ham or crumbled bacon, if you want to add a little more protein to your soup.

Buen Provecho!

SMACK 'n Cheese

SMACKdown:
If you are like me and you like love cheese, then you will love this recipe. I know I'm only 5 blog posts in, but I am pushing spaghetti squash for a second time. An intense craving for cheese a little while ago put mac n' cheese on my brain, which led to a quick internet search that landed on this recipe. How come I hadn't thought of this sooner?! Cheesy spaghetti squash deliciousness is pure brilliance!

I want to express my feelings about spaghetti squash. Lots of people like to say that you can swap it for pasta any old day in any old recipe and that it tastes exactly the same. I beg to differ. Spaghetti squash is not pasta nor does it have the same taste or texture. So why are we fooling ourselves?

What spaghetti squash gives us is a platform on which we can build recipes, similar to pasta. Alone, it's a bore. Jazzed up, it's awesome.

For me, mac 'n cheese is all about the cheese. The pasta is merely a vessel for getting it into my mouth. So why not substitute the pasta for something that won't cause a sugar crash thirty minutes later? I was actually super surprised about how truly delicious this came out. Trust me on this one, you aren't going to be disappointed :)

Ingredients:
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 Tbsp grapeseed oil
4-6 strips of bacon (you want to estimate 1 strip of bacon per serving)
1 head of broccoli cut into florets
1Tbsp. ghee
1 c. milk (I use whole milk)
1 1/2-2 c. shredded cheddar
1/2 c. shredded parmesan reggiano
salt and pepper

Directions:
Part 1: Prep the Squash
1. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.
2. Brush the squash with grapeseed oil, season with salt and pepper,  then place it on a cookie sheet face down. Cook for 45 minutes.

While the squash is cooking...
- Cook up your bacon until it's nice and crisp.
- Prep your broccoli florets
- Shred the cheese for the sauce

3. When the squash is done, let it cool for 15 minutes (this is a great time to begin your cheese sauce!).
4. Once cooled, scoop out the squash into a sauce pan and add in the broccoli florets. Cook over medium heat, letting the moisture from the squash lightly steam the broccoli.
5. When the broccoli has turned a nice vibrant green, add in the crumbled bacon, stir and turn off the stove.

Part 2: Prep the Cheese Sauce
1. Over medium-low heat melt the ghee.
2. Once melted, slowly whisk in the milk.
3. When all of the milk has been added, turn the heat a bit lower and slowly add in your shredded cheese until you have a creamy delicious cheese sauce.
4. Once your sauce is at your desired cheesiness, pour it into your pot of squash.
5. Stir it up and enjoy!

Quinoa Tabbouli Salad

SMACKdown:
I recently learned via the Dirty Kitchen Secrets blog that tabbouli salad is mainly parsley with just a bit of bulgar wheat thrown in. This contrasts greatly with what most of us think about from our experiences with tabbouli, which basically is this bulgar-parsley ratio in reverse.

While I LOVE traditional tabbouli salad and LOVE parsley, the base of my recipe is quinoa. Why quinoa and not bulgar wheat? Because I love it and it cooks in a snap! The reason I chose to bulk up my tabbouli is because I wanted it to be able to stand alone as a meal if needed. Just slap a spoonful of hummus on top and your set to go!

I find this recipe absolutely delicious and I make it probably twice a month (and it lasts for several days). I hope you think it's a keeper too!

Ingredients:
1 c. uncooked quinoa
1 bunch parsley, chopped finely
2 c. tomato, chopped (I like using cherry tomatoes sliced in half)
2 c. cucumber, chopped
1/2 c. red onion, chopped finely
1/2 c. olive oil
2 lemons
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Cook the quinoa as usual. If you're a rookie quinoa cooker this means 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa. Add both water and quinoa to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes until all water has been absorbed.
2. While the quinoa is cooking, chop up the parsley, cucumber, tomato and red onion and place in a large mixing bowl.
3. When the quinoa is finished, add to the mixing bowl and mix with the vegetables until evenly dispersed.
4. Add the olive oil and the juice from the 2 lemons and mix throughout.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Best if refrigerated for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Shrimp Scampi

The SMACKdown:

I finagled this recipe one night when I really just wanted something garlicky and didn't have any meat thawed and ready. Oh no! What to do?! No worries, we've got frozen shrimp to the rescue! Garlicky + shrimp led me on a hunt for a simple scampi recipe. I adapted a Publix Aprons recipe I came across after a quick google search and was happy enough with the results that I've made it several times since! Good sign. Things to note:

• I did not use pasta (can you call this shrimp scampi then? Not sure) 
• I did cook up some wild rice and served the shrimp over that and it was quite delicious. I definitely recommend putting this over some sort of grain or salad because it comes out pretty wet and you don't want the delicious sauce to go to waste in a pool on your plate!
• Oh yeah, it's so quick to make! Major bonus!
• I have no idea why I included a lemon in the picture above. No lemons were used, silly me.

Ingredients:
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 c. shredded parmigiano reggiano
2 Tbsp grapeseed oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
12 peeled and deveined shrimp, thawed
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 c. chicken broth
1 Tbsp ghee
4 c. baby spinach

Directions:
1. Heat a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes until golden.
3. Add the sliced bell peppers to the pan and cook 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the shrimp, crushed pepper, salt and pepper to the pan and cook for one more minute, stirring all the ingredients together.
5. Pour the chicken broth into the pan and cook 2-3 more minutes until the broth has reduced by half. The shrimp should be pink and opaque at this point.
6. Add the ghee, cheese and spinach to the pan and stir all together for a minute or two more and voila!

Spicy Beef Picadillo

The SMACKdown:
I was inspired to make this dish after eating the beef picadillo from the Whole Foods hot bar. It seemed easy enough to make and, true enough, it was. I love this beef picadillo recipe for a basket full of reasons...

• It's super easy and quick to make
• It doesn't take a lot of ingredients
• You don't have to be crazy precise with measurements (not my strong suit)
• It makes awesome leftovers

This recipe is also great because you can't really mess it up as long as you have the main elements of beef, cumin and onion. I've made it without the potatoes and it was still delicious. Also, this last time I made it I bought the wrong chipotle peppers. As you can see in the top picture, I bought chipotle salsa when I meant to buy the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. The salsa made the picadillo a little more wet, so I had to cook it down a bit longer, but the taste was still awesome.

This recipe can also be relatively cheap to make depending on your meat selection. I always go for grass fed beef which definitely increases the price of this meal. We are in the habit of getting our meat from Whole Foods because their meat rating system makes it simple to know what quality of meat you are getting, and if there's one food category I am picky about, it's meat (food snob alert!).

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil

1 whole onion chopped

2 garlic cloves minced

2 bell peppers chopped (green, yellow, red, orange, whatever you prefer)

5-6 little red potatoes chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 Tbsp. cumin

1 lb ground beef

1- 4oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce chopped (use as much as you like depending on how spicy you want it)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat the grapeseed oil in a pan over medium heat.

2. Add onion and garlic and saute 3-5 minutes or until the onion begins to become translucent. 

3. Add the potatoes and peppers to the pan and cook an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Add the cumin, salt and pepper to the pan and stir so everything is evenly coated.

5. Add in the ground beef. Using the tip of a spatula or a spoon, break apart the beef and stir to combine with the vegetables.

6. Once the beef is fully broken apart, add in the chipotle peppers and some of the sauce from the can.

7. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 10-15 minutes.

You can go absolutely wild with the leftovers. Serve them over tortilla chips to make a spicy nacho snack, put it on your salad for lunch, or, have them for breakfast my favorite way... with eggs over easy and a side of steamed spinach!