Albondigón de hierbas

Before even traveling, I had already planned writing an extensive post on my trip to Puerto Rico. I spent a week there, and every night I took notes, I studied recipes, and I wrote mini-reviews of eateries and restaurants. Hell, I wrote enough details of my day-to-day “adventures” to write my own damn book. But the universe had other plans for me, and instead of writing the great American novel, I had to use all of my energy on fighting a nasty cold that completely annihilated my will to live. When I was not whining and feeling miserable, I was shoveling my car out of the snow. Agh.

But those are all old news now. Enough with the past. This week I was featured in Eric Hollingsworth’s week-long Clean Eating Challenge on Facebook. The challenge was not only to eat clean, but to season your meals with more than just salt and pepper. When I heard of the challenge, the absolute first thing that came to mind were pork chops and squash with pumpkin seed vinaigrette, a recipe I learned from Bon Appetite, and had since shared on this blog. So I shared that recipe with them, and I spent time answering some questions, and seeing pictures of the great meals the challengers had made.            

Talking to some of these highly motivated guys proved to be fulfilling and stimulating. I was inspired to cook something special, something that follows well the guidelines of the challenge: my albondigón de hierbas. Albondigón literally translates to big meatball, which is a meatloaf. This delectable meatloaf has only a handful of ingredients, and herbs are heavily featured. My star ingredients are oregano and parsley. Nobody likes a dry meatloaf, so I used ground chuck (80% lean), instead of a leaner cut of meat. The fat gets rendered during the roasting process anyway! The result is a delicious meatloaf that looks beautiful, and tastes even better.

On the road shortcut

1lb ground chuck

½ cup oregano, chopped

½ cup parsley, chopped

½ cup panko breadcrumbs

3 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon cumin

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Mix all the meatloaf ingredients by hand until fully incorporated. Do not overwork the mixture. Shape as a small loaf. Roast in a cast iron skillet 45-50 minutes.Let it rest 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Meatballs

I met with my thesis committee this week to get my project – and me- evaluated (and judged). To me, the whole process feels like being on a reality TV competition. You do your thing, then you leave the room so the committee members can deliberate, and then you come back to get your critique. It has all the elements needed for a good TV show, including the suspense, the crying and all the drama behind the scenes. So if you are a TV executive looking for your next hit TV show – Grad School Shark Tank - give me a call and I’ll give you some ideas.

Some fellow students claim that meeting with their thesis committee is not a big deal. Not to be disrespectful, but that’s a lot of bull… It is very, very stressful, and you need to prepare quite a lot to be ready. You have to prepare a power point presentation, write a progress report and be ready to answer all sorts of questions.  It can go well, but it can also go south pretty quickly. I’ve had some meetings that have gone so bad that I’ve thought of storming out in a song- Broadway style- to protest, but I’m not a good singer and I certainly don’t want to go viral on YouTube “singing” my heart out. I’ll leave that to the cast of Glee. So instead I’ve taken notes and I've worked harder and harder. This time the hard work finally paid off. Now I’m a step closer to that Ph.D. and more motivated to finish than ever.

The last part of getting ready for my meeting was to actually chill a bit during the last few days before my meeting.  We went to see (or to listen to) the Cleveland Orchestra performing Beethoven’s Piano Concertos 2 and 3, and we went to Playhouse Square to see Wicked. I’ve been listening to the original cast recording for years, but I’ve never seen the actual musical. I was so excited! Going to the show was meant to be the highlight of the weekend, but I’ve got to say it was harsh, man. The bad acoustics of the theater were nothing compared to the problems created by the people attending the show. The worst of it was this woman saying hi (yelling, actually) from the second floor of the theater to someone in the first floor DURING the second act. She is so lucky that I’m not a witch, because I would so be a wicked one. She would’ve been turned into a flying monkey in no time. Still, I did my best to enjoy, and I did. It was a good performance, but it wasn’t the stress-free evening I was going for.

I still needed another way to relax and to enjoy myself. Frankly, I don’t know a better way than to have a nice homemade meal to feel relaxed and happy. Cooking makes everything better. I wanted to cook, but I couldn’t make anything complicated (or that involved getting many dishes dirty) because of time constrains. Meatballs were the solution to all of my needs. They’re easy to make, they’re done quickly, and they can be low in calories. The ones I made were just 239 calories per serving. They were so good! They were also an inexpensive dish! In my last blog post I said I could cook nice meals regardless of the budget. Well, these meatballs are the perfect example; they were made with just about $5.00 for the whole dish, or just $1.00 per serving! These meatballs really gave me that “everything will be alright” feeling I was longing for!

On the road shortcut
Nutritional info per serving (serving size 2 meatballs):
239 calories, 4 g carbs, 14 g fat, 23 g protein

1lb 93% lean ground beef (calories calculated using 1.13lb)
1 teaspoon salt
½ ground pepper
½ dried oregano
½ dried thyme
1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs
1 jumbo egg (beaten)
2 tablespoon olive oil

cooking spray

optional: fresh parsley (to garnish)


Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a mixing bowl, season the beef with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme, and add breadcrumbs. Add the egg and oil, and mix with your hands.

Using an ice cream scooper, scoop the meatballs (about 10) into a baking dish lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

(Optional: lightly spray the meatballs with cooking spray.)
Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Turn the meatballs, and bake for 5 more minutes.

Chili

Last week I spent it "home alone". I'm glad to say I didn't have to use any of the training I've gotten from watching Macaulay Culkin battling home invaders dozens of times. I could have used some of those fancy skills when someone broke into my apartment almost 5 years ago, and stole my bike and laptop. However, I wasn't actually home when it happened, which prompts me to send a message: Telemundo and other Puerto Rican TV networks, stop showing Home Alone every few months! It won’t help anyone in real life!

Anyway, the main adjustment I had to make being alone was to cook for just one. It wasn't a big deal; I just had to follow the rule I lived by for years. It's simple; when you want to cook for one, you cook for two. I know that it sounds counterintuitive, but it really works, and to me, it makes perfect sense. When you cook for 2 (but only one person eats) not only you'll have leftovers to eat the next day, but many times it's just easier. I hate it when a recipe for one calls for half an egg, or 1/16 teaspoon of X or Y spice. Even worst, sometimes you have use different pots and the heat doesn't get distributed the same way the other one would, so the end result is not the same. So to avoid complicating my life, I cook for two when I want to cook for one. My rule kept me eating well all week, for less money than what I would have had to spend dining out, even if I were to go to fast-food restaurants (and we all know I wouldn't have gone there).

I had two goals for the last day I was by myself. The first one was to go out and enjoy the fall foliage. Since it was muddy everywhere, I didn't go hiking but I went on a short road-trip through the Ohio countryside to see historic towns embellished by the beautiful foliage. Turns out it wasn't a particularly bright idea to drive through Amish country on a Sunday. Of course, everything was closed so I could only see some historical buildings here and there from the outside, but not much more. I did see a lot of buggies, though... When I got hungry, I stopped at a restaurant that lured me in (Dutch Country Restaurant). Turns out they didn't quite have what I was expecting to eat, but they did have turkey and mashed potatoes. I don't think I've ever said no to turkey, so I had some. The food was delicious and the price was awesome.

After my "road-trip", I was ready to deal with my second goal for the day: grocery shopping and making dinner. I was finally done with the cooking for one. I asked myself, Angel, what would a good welcoming food be like? And then it hit me. When you welcome someone you love with food nothing says "Welcome!" like making one of his (or her) favorite foods. In my case I knew very well how much he likes the smell of simmering chili, and even more the spicy taste of it, so I decided to follow his favorite chili recipe and have it almost ready by the time he made it home. The result was the most amazing "Welcome Chili" ever. After simmering for an hour and a half, it had the perfect consistency, the perfect spiciness and the most deep, delicious flavor anyone could ask for. I'll share the recipe but like with most of them, as corny and cliché-y as it may sound, the most important ingredient is a touch of love. 

On the road shortcut

Recipe adapted from America's Test Kitchen family cookbook
Nutritional info (without toppings): 430 calories, 39 g carbs, 18 g fat, 34 g protein

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus 1 more for later, if needed)
2 yellow onions, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped
¼ cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt, divided
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds ground beef (90% lean)
2 (15-ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, bell pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne and ½ teaspoon of the salt. Cook until the vegetables have softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for another 15 seconds.

Add the beef and increase the heat to medium-high. Break up the beef with a wooden spoon as you cook it until there’s no more pink (about 10 minutes). Since I used 90% lean beef I added an extra tablespoon of vegetable oil, but if using 85% beef it should be avoided. Stir in the beans, diced tomatoes (with their juice), tomato puree and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat so it maintains a slow simmer. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue to simmer for an additional 45 minutes. If needed, season with additional salt and pepper to taste before serving. It can be garnished as desired. I used shredded asiago cheese and cilantro, but other cheeses, sour cream or plain Greek yogurt can be used.