Seared Cod with Spring Veggies and Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette

Soooo....over 2 years since my last post.  In that time, I've completed my 2nd and 3rd year of med school, I've taken the first part of my national board exams (with round two coming up next month), and I have been preparing to apply for a residency in pediatrics!  By this time next year, I'll be a doctor and starting the next leg of the journey.  Crazy how time flies!

I recently got the opportunity to try Blue Apron for free for 1 week.  Blue Apron is a service that sends you all the fresh materials you need to make delicious meals, right to your door in a refrigerated and insulated box, perfectly portioned and ready to cook.  It costs $60 per week and you receive 3 different meals, each of which serve 2 people, so that means I have lunch for the next day!  I figured I'd try it out since it was free, and why not fire up the blog again?

The first recipe I made was the Seared Cod with Spring Vegetables and Lemon-Mustard Vinaigrette.  You can see below how everything is portioned out so that you use all of what you're given and there is no waste.  All you need are pans, cooking utensils, salt & pepper, and olive oil.  Everything else is provided!

Each recipe comes with a detailed card that lists the ingredients you need, nutritional information, and directions with pictures on the back.

 The first step is prep!  I chopped up the asparagus, potatoes, radishes, and lemon.  I've never cut radishes before - they were actually kind of fun to slice!

Next I blanched the asparagus by boiling them for 2 minutes and then immediately transferring them to a bowl of ice water.  I then boiled the potatoes for 10 minutes while I worked on assembling the vinaigrette.

The vinaigrette consists of the juice of a lemon, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, and 2 tbsp minced shallots, all whisked together while adding 2 tbsp olive oil.  It smelled amazing!

Next up was the cod!  I patted the cod dry and seasoned with salt and pepper while heating up some oil in a pan on medium-high heat.  After searing the fillets on one side for 3 minutes, I added some of the butter and flipped them to cook for another 2 minutes.

While the cod was cooking, I assembled the veggies!  I put the radishes, asparagus, and potatoes in a bowl and added capers and tarragon.  I then poured the vinaigrette on top and mixed it.  It looked so fresh and colorful, and smelled wonderful!

Finally it was time to eat!  The vegetables were amazing, and this recipe is something I can definitely see myself making in the future.  Quick, easy, fresh, healthy, and tasty!  The cod tasted pretty good, but it would have been better with a sauce or marinade of some kind.  But the real star of the show was the veggies!  I saved half of the veggies in the fridge for tomorrow, and I'm hoping that the flavor will get even better.

My next meal is seared steak with mashed potatoes!  We'll see how that goes!

Navidades!

I hope you had an excellent Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever holiday you celebrate this season!  I had a fun week full of family and delicious food, and now I'm just enjoying a few quiet days before heading back to school.

I was in class until the 20th, when we had our Cell Path exam and histology practical...adding another completed syllabus to the stack!!  To the right is a picture of all the syllabi and books I've accumulated in the first semester of medical school!  Classes start again on Jan 2, when we'll begin the pathology portion of the Cell Path course.  Then Immunology and Microbiology, all before spring break!  Looks like I have my work cut out for me...

My grandfather (we call him Abuelote) came up from Florida for the week of Christmas, and he got to meet his two newest great-grandchildren!  The two older kids remembered him, so they were happy to see him too.  We had a full house on the 22nd, just like on Thanksgiving!  We exchanged presents with my brother and his family, since they were leaving the next day, and ate a wonderful Italian dinner - turkey sausage and homemade meatballs in Ina's marinara sauce.  We also celebrated Abuelote's 85th birthday with a big chocolate cake!  I also spent a good amount of time playing and cuddling with the kiddos :)

Pork on pork! Mmmmmm

My sister and her family came down for Nochebuena (Christmas Eve) to do presents and dinner.  I got a lot of kitchen stuff, which I am super excited to try out!!  I have a lot of Crockpot recipes pinned on Pinterest, so I'm looking forward to trying them out on the weekends.  Nochebuena dinner is always pork and black beans over white rice - Cuban tradition!  The pork was marinated with a mustard/honey/garlic mixture and covered in BACON.  Oh yes.  Delicious.  My sister made the black beans from scratch, and they were wonderful as always!

Among my kitchen-related gifts were a new cute cupcake apron from my sister, an Ina Garten cookbook autographed by Ina herself (!!!), a mandoline for thinly slicing food (and for making better potato chips), and the Crock Pot.

All the girls got aprons!

Ina Garten touched my cookbook!

Mandoline!

Sooo excited to try some new recipes!

Healthy Appetizers for your Nomming Pleasure!

Today was an excellent day!  Slept in until 10, attended a laparoscopic surgery skills workshop (starting to get more and more interested in surgery!), taught some high schoolers about how the heart works while walking them through a dissection of a sheep heart, and caught up on the lectures that I missed this morning!  I'm still trying to figure out my groove, but this seemed to work out well.  Sleeping in is always a plus!

I mentioned in yesterday's post that I would post about my Thanksgiving recipes.  2/3 of the things I made came from recipes I found on Pinterest!  (of course!)

Unfortunately we didn't take pictures of the stuffing (what were we thinking?! we always document!) but I made a basic, but delicious, sourdough stuffing that my sister had previously made.  You can find the recipe here.  We left out the mushrooms (and the 2 tbsp of butter that would have been used to cook them) because my brother is allergic to mushrooms.  But with my sister's mushroom gravy on top, it was perfection!  One serving made just enough for 7 adults and 2 kiddos.

Now on to what we DID document, because recipes aren't complete without drool-worthy pictures!

Low-Fat Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Everyone loves spinach-artichoke dip, right?  Too bad that restaurants make it with so much oil and cream and cheese (and cream cheese) that the nutrition info is downright scary!  This recipe uses fat-free Greek yogurt, low-fat cream cheese, and very little Parmesan cheese, but tastes every bit as good as the restaurant stuff!  

 Original recipe here.  I tweaked it just a bit.

Ingredients:
Olive oil or regular cooking spray (PAM)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic (or more if you like garlic)
9 oz fresh or frozen spinach
12 oz artichoke hearts
8 oz low-fat cream cheese
1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
3 tbsp low-fat Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp chives
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
12" round bread loaf

Dice onion and mince garlic.  Spray cooking spray on a nonstick or cast iron pan and add onion.  Saute onion until translucent and add garlic.  Saute mixture for about a minute, then add spinach.  If using frozen spinach, be sure to squeeze out any excess liquid before adding it to the pan and cooking for about 2 minutes.  If using fresh spinach, cook until it is just wilted.  Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool for a few minutes.

If you're going to be serving the dip right away, preheat the oven to 350F.  If you have a food processer, use that for the following steps.  We just had a small mini-prep processer so we had to do a couple batches.  Put the artichoke hearts and the cooled spinach-onion-garlic mixture into the food processor and chop until you reach desired consistency (some people like chunky dip!).  Add the cream cheese and Greek yogurt, and whirl together.  This can also just be done in a bowl.  Add the cheese, chives, and pepper, and mix.

Hollow out your bread and spoon the mixture in.  Don't throw away the bread innards!  Chop them up and place them on a baking sheet along with the bread bowl and bake for 20 minutes.  The mixture can also be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge until you're ready to add it to the bread and bake.  Time to enjoy!

Roasted Honey-Lime Shrimp...or not?

I love shrimp!  It's probably my favorite seafood, and it's always delicious.  I found this recipe and just had to try it!  Except technically, I haven't actually tried it, because...I forgot to add the honey to the marinade.  I realized it the second we were taking them out of the oven.  The upside is that they still tasted amazing!  So I guess there are two recipes in this...leave out the honey for some tangy Lime Shrimp!

Original recipe here.  The recipe serves 2 people with 1/2 pound of large shrimp.  We had 7 adults and 2 kids, so we quadrupled the shrimp and used more garlic, but kept everything else pretty much the same.  There was no need to quadruple the olive oil or lime juice - there was plenty of marinade to go around, and the shrimp was definitely not lacking in lime flavor!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound large shrimp, peeled

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp honey (apparently optional!)

juice of one small lime

zest of one small lime

2 cloves garlic (or more!)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Combine the marinade in a large plastic bag.  Add the shrimp and let it marinate in the fridge for 30-60 minutes (don't do much longer, because the acid in the lime will start to cook the shrimp).  You can cook them in a pan, but it would have taken forever to do that with 2 lbs of shrimp, so we roasted them and it was super quick and easy (and easy cleanup!).  Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a pan with foil and spread the shrimp out in one layer.  Roast for about 8-10 minutes, watching them closely near the end to see when they turn pink.  Serve and enjoy!

UPDATE:  I've made this shrimp two more times, both times with the honey, and it's really good!

And just to close it out, here's a pic of our turkey.  Nom!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I've been up to a lot since my last post!  I should really write more often...

A couple weeks ago, I went bowling with my FAST group and another FAST group.  For those of you  not in the know, FAST stands for "Faculty and Students Together."  The name is cheesy, I admit!  Each group consists of a faculty advisor, two MS2's, and five MS1's.  I'm pretty sure I have the best group!  We ditched our genetics syllabus for a few hours and enjoyed pizza at the other group's advisor's house and then a couple rounds of bowling at a cute little alley in Squirrel Hill.  While I didn't do horribly, let's just say bowling is not my calling...I'll stick to med school!

I don't think we have enough bowling balls...

My acapella group had another performance, this time in the Heinz Chapel, a gorgeous Gothic-style chapel in which my mom SWEARS I'll be getting married sometime in the future... :P  The acoustics were amazing.  I don't even think we needed the microphones.  Even our warmups sounded great!

I apologize for the poor quality of the picture, it was taken on my phone!

So after all that fun stuff, we took our genetics final.  But the second that thing was over, I was on my way home for Thanksgiving!!! I was very much looking forward to seeing my family, meeting my brand new nephew, snuggling with my puppy, and, of course, eating some delicious food!!

Here is my "puppy" (aka a lovable 6 y/o 100lb black lab/MOOSE) impatiently waiting for his chance to lick my empty yogurt cup clean.  He is so cute!!!

Are you done yet? Are you done yet?  Huh? huh? Are you done now?  My turn?  *drools*

Thanksgiving was great!  I had no academic obligations (well I did, I just chose to ignore them) so it was nice to take a break for a few days and just relax with family.  My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew came up from Alabama for the holiday, and of course my sister, brother-in-law and 2 nephews in the north came down for dinner as well.  It was a full house!!  Next year will be crazy with 4 kiddos running around!  This year I was very excited because I finally got to cook something!  I made the stuffing, and I also made two appetizers - a healthy spinach artichoke dip and honey lime shrimp (funny story behind that...).  I'll make a separate post about those!

Not much has happened after break.  We started a new course, "Cellular and Pathological Basis of Disease," aka Cell Bio, and it's pretty interesting so far.  I have to do some major practicing for our physical exam class, as we're expected to be able to do a full physical exam in just a couple weeks!  Eek!  Where does time go???

Tonight I volunteered at a soup kitchen in the basement of a gorgeous church in East Liberty.  Every night, a different group of people comes in to cook a meal for about 40 men who eat and then sleep there overnight.  I went with a group of students from the med school, who go once a month, but this was my first time.  We try to serve a healthy, well-balanced meal to encourage healthy eating.  The meal tonight was chicken and baked potatoes with cooked broccoli, mushrooms, and onions.  I helped to butterfly the chicken breasts into two thin pieces and then helped to season them.  Everything smelled so good!  After dinner, we got to chat with some of the men and practiced taking their blood pressure.  It was my first time taking a BP on someone who was not a classmate or family member, and I did pretty well!  It was very fulfilling to step away from school for a night and help to provide fresh, healthy food to people in a nearby community.  I can't wait to go again!

That's some well-seasoned chicken!

It smelled amazing!!!

Stay tuned for some cooking posts!

Study break munchies

Original Recipe: Baked Spiced Chickpeas

I have a minor obsession with Pinterest, mainly the food & drink category.  My board of "Recipes I Want to Try" is nearing 50 pins, so I should probably start working on actually trying them instead of just drooling over their pictures!

I chose to make the baked spiced chickpeas because I've been looking for a healthy, nutritious snack food to satisfy the munchies I get when I study.  I NEED something crunchy (I think I get that from my mom and her need for something crunchy on long car rides!)  Carrots and apples only go so far, and I usually crave something salty/savory anyway.  These take very little time to make, and not only do they taste great, they have a lot of protein and fiber!

I linked to the original recipe at the top of the post, but I made a slight alteration in the recipe by leaving out the cayenne pepper and using less sugar and oil.  I also only used 1 can of beans, because I've only used my oven twice and I wanted a backup can in case I burned these!

Ingredients:
2 cans chickpeas
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp spice mix

Spice mix:
1 tsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Drying the chickpeas

Ready to be baked to a crisp!!

Looking toasty and delicious!

Rinse the chickpeas and lay them out on a towel to dry, and make the spice mix while they are drying.  Set the oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and non-stick spray.  In a small bowl, mix the chickpeas, olive oil, and 3 tsp of the spice mix (save the rest of the mix for use later - it smells amazing!!).  Put them in the oven for 40-60 minutes, or until they are firm and crunchy!  I set a timer for 20 minute intervals and mixed them around a bit each time.  It took 40 minutes in my oven, but different ovens may vary!  I used the skins turning black as my cue to take them out.  They will get crunchier as they cool.

Enjoy!

ISTJ

The other day, I received a large envelope from Pitt Med.  I was expecting information on orientation and the white coat ceremony, but all it contained was a Meyers-Briggs test that we had to complete before arriving at orientation.

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is essentially a personality test that measures how you prefer to interact with the world and make decisions.  There are 4 dichotomies represented by 8 letters, and your "type" consists of one letter from each dichotomy.  The 4 dichotomies are:

1 - Extroversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
2 - Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)
3 - Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)
4 - Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

I took the self test, which consisted of 93 questions asking to choose between two opposing scenarios or words.  For example, I had to choose between the words "possibilities" and "certainties," or choosing between going by a set schedule or just going with the flow.  Each preference is correlated with a certain letter above.

My score is ISTJ, which is apparently one of the most common scores (10-14% of the population according to Wikipedia).  This is the little blurb associated with my score in the test booklet:

Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability.  Practical, matter-of-fact, realistic, and responsible.  Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions.  Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized--their work, their home [HA!], their life.  Value traditions and loyalty.

Basically dead on except for that little part about having an organized home.  My room at home is pretty messy (ok, extremely messy) but in my defense, I know where EVERYTHING is.  So maybe that part isn't complete false?  I think my family would beg to differ.  ;-)

I always find myself wanting to learn more (sometimes I just get lost in Wikipedia learning about random things!) so while researching my score, I found this website.  ISTJ is the "duty fulfiller."  Here are some lines from the site that I think especially pertain to me:

As an ISTJ, your primary mode of living is focused internally, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion.  Your secondary mode is external, where you deal with things rationally and logically.

Organized and methodical in their approach, they can generally succeed at any task which they undertake

ISTJs have tremendous respect for facts.  They hold a tremendous store of facts within themselves, which they have gathered through their Sensing preference.

ISTJs usually have a great sense of space and function, and artistic appreciation.

ISTJs tend to believe in laws and traditions, and expect the same from others.  They're not comfortable with breaking laws or going against the rules.

The ISTJ is extremely dependable on following through with things which he or she has promised.  For this reason, they sometimes get more and more work piled on top of them.  Because the ISTJ has such a strong sense of duty, they may have a difficult time saying "no" when they are given more work than they can reasonably handle.

I could go on with more descriptions I found, but I'm thinking that others might not share my "tremendous respect for facts."  If you've never taken a Meyers-Briggs personality test before, take it now!  I'm pretty amazed at how accurate this was.  There are some free MBTI-type tests here and here.  They're not official tests and I'm not sure how accurate the results are, but it can't hurt to try!

I'm officially back in Pittsburgh, and it is HOT.  The place we're living doesn't have air conditioning, but with 2 ceiling fans and 2 other fans, it's fairly comfortable.  Time to start unpacking and go through orientation!