Apples and Oranges. Well, not yet.

More about eating in-season- check out the Farmers' Market in Union Square. Today was beautiful, sunny and packed around 3pm. I found yummy apples but it's only March. Lots more colorful goodness to come.

Random Helpful Hint

Try rolling lemons/limes before you squeeze to get more juice out of the fruit. You can also zap them in the microwave for about 5 seconds and then squeeze if you dare. I live in an apartment with a kitchen the size of a postage stamp. A microwave is a far, far away dream. Oh, and and make sure your fruit is room temperature- it's easier to manipulate them while squeezing.

Rainy Night Roast Chicken

Tonight is super rainy and gross. My favorite thing to do on these nights is to make a yummy roast chicken with in season veggies. What do I mean about in season? Well, I was recently inspired by the book "Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan. Among many of the lessons in the book, one of the resounding ones personally was the idea of eating food as it grows. This means brussels sprouts in the winter, asparagus in the spring, and apples in the fall. The less we eat out of season, the less damage we do to our environment and the more vitamin rich our locally grown in-season food is...basically. So according to that theory if I go to my local fruit/veggie stand or market I would be looking for eggplant, asparagus, snow peas and zucchini to compliment my chicken.

My mom taught me a great way to take a chicken and place it on a roaster thus using the natural juices with a little olive oil to cook the veggies. This whole meal? All of 2 hours depending on the weight of the meat.

Roast Chicken and Spring Veggies

1 kosher roast chicken
I bundle of asparagus
1 large eggplant
1 medium yellow onion
1 red onion
1 bunch broccoli
3 large cloves garlic-diced. Divide into 2 piles
2-3 lemons
salt/pepper
paprika
dill
Olive Oil
White Wine

Preheat oven to 370*. If you have a good oven, 350* will probably work but my oven is awful so I have to increase temperature.
Cut up red onion, broccoli and eggplant into 1 -2 inch chunks. Toss in 2 tspn of olive oil or less. You need such a small amount. Layer the bottom of a roasting pan with the veggies and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the roaster over the veggies.
Take the chicken, make sure giblets are removed and the neck bone is cut. Cut the yellow onion in half and stick inside the chicken. Add salt/pepper. Take 1/2 a lemon and squeeze the juice inside and then place rind inside the cavity.
Place chicken on roaster. Sprinkle liberally with salt/pepper/paprika and dill. Take 2 leftover lemons, slice and squeeze juice all over the chicken. Place rinds on veggies. The essence of the lemon will infuse the veggies.
Take 1/4 cup olive oil and pour over chicken until it is covered but not drowning in oil (cause...ewwww, and you will get fat drippings from the skin)
Cook for 1 hour then take chicken out. Stir veggies and pour white wine over chicken to add some liquid.
Cook for another 45 min to an hour ( I like my chicken dry so I cook it longer, personal flavor).
Let sit for 5-10 minutes to collect the juices...carve and serve with fresh bread!

Weekend Plans

This is what I will be doing all weekend.

Sauteed Eggplant and BK

I spent my afternoon yesterday in Greenpoint BK, and in Williamsburg. The view there is so beautiful. This is from a park in Greenpoint ( and on my blackberry) that they are currently re-doing, although it has been slowed due to the economy.

So, after my afternoon exploring, I decided to do a little cooking. I am a self taught, slightly obsessed foodie. You will probably notice I only post this to twitter when I have a recipe that I think I can share. I wanted an easy place for my friends and family to be able to access my thoughts about food....because I have a lot of them and it's torture to read a recipe on the phone.

I LOVE this sauteed eggplant from Sabra, and they stopped selling it in my Food Emporium. (Sadly enough these are the little things that you notice when you don't have to be at work 9 hours a day.) I decided that instead of hunting it down at another supermarket in the city like a normal person, I would try and re-create it at home. First shot, not so bad or hard at all. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I'll be making eggplant for the next few weeks. I tend to find a veggie and eat it constantly for a few weeks so I can figure out exactly how I like it. I just finished the winter of the brussel sprout :) Eggplant is on deck for spring.

Sauteed Eggplant
2 mini eggplant- pierce skin 2-3 tims
3 whole garlic gloves peeled
one small onion-cut in quarters
1/4 cup of tomato sauce
olive oil
Salt/Pepper
1 tsp of sugar
Dash of red wine
Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Heat oven to 400*
Place eggplant, onion and garlic in a pan, drizzle a small amount of OO and salt/pepper over the veggies. Roast for 35-45 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Slice eggplant in half.

Heat up a skillet on the oven on low to medium heat, add a little olive oil.
Take out your Cuisinart, pulse chop the veggies until they are chunky.
Put veggies in skillet, add balsamic, red wine, tomato sauce, salt, pepper and sugar.
Cook over low/medium heat for about 5 minutes or until liquid is almost cooked off.

Serve over crackers or on mini whole wheat pita as a great appetizer or snack!