Bison Stuffed Peppers

When I was in college, I used to live and work out at my horseback riding trainer's ranch during my summer breaks.  I was in love with ranch life.  We got up before the crack of dawn to a big country breakfast, rode a million horses, and then came in at night, hot and tired, to dinner and a cold glass of wine.  My trainer's husband was the cowboy of all cowboys, and, incidentally, he was the one who did all of the cooking.

I remember waking up on one particular morning to a breakfast of fried spam and eggs.  "No," I said.  Then, quickly, "I mean, that looks great, but I think I'll stick to coffee this morning."  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all fried spam out there.  Most of the food he made was amazing, from fresh fried catfish (which he caught that same day, of course) to brisket smoked overnight.  My favorite thing about his cooking, however, was that he used ground bison instead of ground beef.  Bison is leaner than beef, but tastier than turkey.  We used bison for hamburgers, spaghetti, tacos...everything.  So the other night, when I was picking out some peppers to stuff for dinner, I decided to try them with bison instead of beef.  The peppers turned out to be a well-seasoned, lean-protein-packed, quick, and easy dinner.  I will definitely be making these more often on busy weeknights.

Makes 4 large stuffed peppers:

4 large green or red bell peppers
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. ground bison
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup wild or brown rice, cooked according to directions on the package
1 package taco seasoning
1/2 cup crumbled queso fresco
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook the rice according to the directions on the package, and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Saute the ground bison, onion, garlic, and salt and pepper until browned, about 7-9 minutes.  Add the taco seasoning and water, and continue to simmer over medium-low heat, as dictated by the taco seasoning package.  Remove the bison mixture from the heat, and stir in the rice.

Cut the tops off of the peppers, and remove the seeds inside.  Place the peppers in an oven-safe pan, and fill them with the bison mixture.  Sprinkle queso fresco on top of each pepper, and bake for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the peppers are heated through.

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Strawberry Pecan Smoothie

I used to be a morning person.  I really did.  A few summers ago, I remember being able to spring out of bed at 5:30 a.m., get my morning run in, go to the barn and ride a couple of horses, and be showered and on my way to campus for class before 10 a.m., without missing a beat.  Maybe all of my late nights up studying are catching up with me, or maybe it's all of the miles that I've put on my legs over the years, but I can't do that anymore.

These days, my alarm goes off at eight, assaulting me through the fog of sleep deprivation, sore muscles, numbers and data spinning mercilessly around my head, and last night's wine consumption.  Ten... fifteen minutes later, I'm dragging myself out of my grave of pillows and blankets -- grouchy, sluggish, and starving.   Coffee is a necessity, yes, but it can't bring me back to life on its own!  It takes more than that to get me through my workout, horse training sessions, and hours of schoolwork.

I like to eat healthily, but aside from my daily multivitamin, I'm not really a big advocate of nutritional supplements, and I'm especially wary of protein powders.  I like smoothies, but with just fruit and yogurt, they quickly become too sweet.  Thus, I had to come up with a different way to get some protein in my favorite breakfast recipe.

I have experimented with several different kinds of nuts, and pecans won my vote by a landslide.  I like to roast mine in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 350, until they are browned and aromatic.  If you are especially ambitious, you can use raw pecans soaked in water overnight for a healthier smoothie (soaking the nuts neutralizes the acids in them, making it easier for your body to absorb their nutrients). Coupled with a cup of strong coffee, this recipe can power me through the longest of mornings.

Makes about 3-4 smoothies:

10 large strawberries, chopped
3/4 cup chopped pecans (roasted or soaked)
3/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup crushed ice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Extra smoothie can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days.

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[quick bites] The Smith

THE SMITH
55 3rd AVE, NEW YORK (+ 2 other NYC locations)
www.thesmithnyc.com


So this picture is on the front page of The Smith's website. And guess what, it features BOTH of my favorite dishes there: the best tomato soup you'll ever consume, and a steaming pot of delicious mussels.

The Smith is one of those places I could eat at twice in a week (and have) - I'm always in the mood for it. Besides my personal favorites, they have some fab lunch sandwiches, nightly specials, a fantastic cocktail list and well-curated beer selection, and a great vintage atmosphere with white honeycomb tile floors and lots of dark wood. 

The "Roasted Tomato Soup with Cheddar Melt" is an appetizer portion of creamy tomato soup, with just the right amount of tomatoey, herby tartness to cut through what is probably a half pint of heavy cream per serving. It's the closest I've ever found to La Madeleine's legendary and unmatched Tomato Basil Soup. The "Cheddar Melt"? It's a piece of toasted sourdough covered in gooey melted white cheddar, ON TOP OF the soup. Your life is incomplete until you've had this.

The Mussels are a different kind of satisfying. Bathed in a velvety broth of white wine, butter, dijon mustard and tarragon, these little guys are everything I want when I order a pot of mussels. Shame of my life: after I finish the mussels, I dump the rest of the thin, crispy frites that are served with the dish into the remaining broth, and eat it like pho. Mmmmm.

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What I Always Want for Breakfast (and don't make often enough)

"How to make quiche" is one of those (many) completely useful things I learned from my mom, like putting baking soda in the fridge, hand washing with baby shampoo, and making cute throw pillows out of table linens from the sale bin at Anthropologie. Quiche is so easy, and always turns out so well, that I hate myself for wasting money on bodega bagels for breakfast when if I had planned ahead I could have been eating leftover quiche for breakfast all week. Yep, quiche one of those elusive foods that are actually better the next day.

What really puts quiche into that amazingly useful category, though, is the way you can throw anything into it. It's like a peasant stew: whatever you have in the fridge that could reasonably be paired together will make a good quiche.


That said, I usually start in the neighborhood of quiche lorraine because not many things I want to put into a quiche don't go with bacon and cheese. That was the plan this weekend when I whipped up the below Turkey Bacon and Mushroom Quiche, which turned out quite tasty. I prefer a flaky butter crust (Pillsbury makes a decent frozen one) to a shortening crust, and grainy spicy mustard over traditional Dijon.



BASIC QUICHE BASE:
3 eggs
1c milk or cream
3 tbsp spicy mustard

FOR TURKEY BACON AND MUSHROOM QUICHE:
5 strips turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
1 cup shredded gruyere
1/4 cup minced onion
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste

Pie crust for 9in pie pan

Beat eggs, milk, and mustard in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Pop into a 450* preheated oven for 35-45 minutes, covering the edges with foil just as the crust starts to brown (about 15 min). Filling should be set when done, and a knife should come out clean when inserted. Allow to fully cool before serving. Voila!

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