Cleveland, You Spoil Me.

I was very much looking forward to my weekend at home in Cleveland with my family...and with all of my home town's immaculate food. Anytime anyone asks me my favorite thing to do in Cleveland I immediately tell them the West Side Market. The WSM, Cleveland's largest publicly owned market, was opened in 1912. Over 100 food vendors of great ethnic diversity have booths at the market. You can find fresh sea food, meats, dairy, fruits & veggies--pretty much anything you need-- at unbeatable prices for such outstanding quality. This market is very well known, and draws in millions of customers yearly due to being featured in numerous shows on the food network. Every time I get the chance to visit the market, I have a set agenda of the booths I visit which typically consist of Ohio City Pasta, Noodlecat, Fresh Enchiladas, Mediterra Bakehouse, Steve's Gyros, Crepes de Luxe, and many more. HOWEVER, Noodlecat, my all time favorite booth that serves asian steamed buns no longer has a booth at the market. Yes, there were literal tears when I discovered this. 

Naturally, this weekend my older sister Alli and I made our routine stop at the market on Friday. I made her try Cambodian fruit called Rambutans which she thought were interesting...but good. I was happy she had the chance to try them since I bought them quite frequently on the streets of Asia. 

After our market excursion, we made our way over to East 4th and the theater district. Across the street I spotted the Noodlecat restaurant, and my weekend was immediately complete. I kid you not I ran across the street because I was so happy...Alli has the pictures to prove it. Her and I both ordered three steam buns each. Mine were Ohio City BBQ pulled pork (the best there is), onion tempura, and spicy fried chicken. While scarfing them down, we people-watched for about an hour. It was shocking how booming downtown Cleveland now during the lunch hour. Can't wait to live down there at some point. 

 

All around stuffed...

I owe this one to my roommate Alyssa for spoiling me last Thursday night with this delicious meal which I've been craving for months-- stuffed peppers. She even used a green pepper (my favorite) specifically for me while everyone else used red. 
--Filled with ground turkey, rice, chopped onions, topped off with cheese and sriracha, of course. The peppers were first boiled in water to become soft, then after the ingredients were added, she baked them in the oven. 

The peppers were SO filling and perfect washed down with a GLBC Commodore Perry IPA. Thanks, Lyss!

Kyra

Stirring it up!

Last night I felt like mixing it up and adding a little Asian zing to my week, so I decided to make stir fry for the first time ever. I've never attempted to make it because I truly believe nothing comes close to the stir fry dish my mom made in the wok growing up. Although I wasn't able to velvet my chicken (how chicken is normally cooked for stir fry in boiling water), it turned out to be quite a success. 

1) heated up the wok with oil
2) cracked an egg into the wok and let it cook for a few seconds
3) steamed an Asian medley consisting of broccoli, snow peas, carrot, & baby corn
4) added brown rice
5) sauteed chicken with a stir fry sauce, soy sauce, and sriracha
6) mixed it all up!

I was bummed that I didn't have pineapple or water chestnuts because those are my favorite additions to stir fry. Looking forward to my next attempt! 

Stay tuned...

-Kyra

Up North

There is nothing I crave more in the summer than a bowl of fresh cherries. In fact, while I spent my month in Asia I honestly thought of cherries quite often. Although the fruit there was exotic, the taste wasn't nearly as satisfying as the variety of fruit I usually eat at home. However, I contribute my cherry craving to the summers in Traverse City with my best friend Tia. Her family owned a cherry orchard up north, and for those of you who don't know, Traverse City, Michigan is incredibly well known for their cherries. They produce 70-75% of the U.S. tart cherries and nothing even comes close to tasting as tangy as they do. Usually around sunset, her and I would take buckets to the orchard and fill them up past the brim free of cost (the picture below is me in 2011). I even managed to smuggle at least a bag full home for my Dad every year, since he loved them just as much as I did. Today while I eat cherries out of my mason jar at the Athens Health Department, I can not help but miss those summer nights (and unbelievable cherries) I was able to experience in northern Michigan. I owe thanks to Tia and her family for those invaluable memories.

  
 

The Best Taste of Summer: Charcoal

Despite the horrendous weather we got in Athens this weekend from tropical storm Bill, we still found some sunshine to grill in. Alyssa's family (my second family) came to visit us on Father's Day and brought so much food to spoil us with!

We had...

• an orzo salad with fresh spinach, tomato, & Feta
• Grilled sweet potatoes dusted with brown sugar-- thanks to Alyssa
• Taco dip
• Pasta salad with mozzarella and peppers
• Watermelon
• Turkey Burgers on the charcoal grill
• Sugar cookie cake with a cream cheese spread topped with kiwi, raspberries, & strawberries-- also thanks to Alyssa

I wish I was able to be with my dad on Father's day but it was still such a great weekend to say the least. 

Saturday morning breakfast: avocado toast with a fried egg

Happy & Healthy Eating!

Over the course of the next two months I am interning for the Athens City County Health Department under the health education sector. Therefore, I am surrounded by "health" and even more motivated to eat healthy and aspire get creative with food at a low cost!

At the Creating Healthy Communities coalition meeting this past week, a plentiful amount of local food was served for lunch. There was black bean hummus, watermelon tomato & basil skewers (my personal favorite), snap peas, and salad with bean sprouts.  

The goal of the coalition is to create policy, system and environmental changes to increase access to healthy food, increase opportunities for physical activity and eliminate tobacco use. It is so crucial to address these issues in Athens because the region suffers from limited access to health food, high use of tobacco rates, and low physical activity...all of which increase the chances for chronic disease. 

As my supervisor Ruth Dudding said at the meeting,

 "We want people here to live healthy because we love Athens."

Yup, we sure do!

Health is something I am so passionate about. Therefore, I am thoroughly appreciative of the opportunity I have to experience the environment of a public health setting. 

Anyways, today I was running slightly late and didn't have time to prepare any extravagant breakfast and lunch (and I forgot to make my overnight oats last night that I typically eat for breakfast every morning). Instead I made two eggs for a quick breakfast and used half of them to put on my spinach salad for lunch!

In addition to the egg, I added some cherry tomatoes, cucumber, pepper, mozzarella, dash of Heinen's strawberry dressing, garlic red wine vinegar & balsamic.

I'm starting to worry about my egg consumption, but they're just too damn good...

-Kyra

P.S. Still recovering from Taco Tuesday.

EGGS!

As I mentioned earlier, breakfast is one of my favorite meals to make due to the endless possibilities. Here are some of my other egg dishes I have made recently. (If you haven't noticed yet, I put sriracha on everything!)

Omelette garnished with my mom's homemade salsa, red pepper flakes, cilantro, & sriracha

More sunny side up eggs with sauteed spinach, basil, cherry tomatoes, sriracha, and baguette slices

Starting Tuesday with a bang!

This morning I was pretty motivated to get creative with the ingredients in the fridge before heading off to work. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals because there are endless combinations you can make-- even with eggs alone. I even decided to spoil my roommate Alyssa and make her this plate as well:

Two sunny-side up eggs garnished with parsley & pepper

Colbyjack toast on everything bread with sriracha

Cucumber salad with red wine vinegar, pepper, salt, garlic powder

Cherry tomatoes garnished with purple basil 

It was a big success. GO CAVS! - Kyra

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, & Tomatoes

Tonight I was craving something fresh to help deter my long, rainy day at work. After a procrastinated trip to the grocery store, I decided to make a simple and tasty summer dish incorporating my basil plant: tomato, mozzarella, basil, balsamic, & sea salt (washed down with a Southern Tier IPA, naturally). My mom would ALWAYS make this growing up...it's definitely a Hall girl favorite. The picture on the bottom is actually from a few years back when I was asked to prepare this dish for a party-- & on the top is what I enjoyed tonight although it doesn't look as mouth-watering...but believe me it was.

A Taste of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

During the month of May I was fortunate enough to travel abroad to Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand with the Global Leadership Program at Ohio University. After returning from my trip, the most frequent question I've been asked is "what was your favorite dish you ate in Asia?"  Luckily, since I took pictures of every damn thing that I ate, I was able to quickly decide. Out of all three countries, my palate fell in love with the kick and spice of malaysian foods. In Cambodia, I was unable to fully satisfy myself with the level of spicy I normally make my food (which is super, super, spicy). When I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, two friends and  I ventured our way to the Chinatown that was just a few minutes away from our hostel. Since we were unsuccessful in locating a specific food vendor serving the famous malay dish "laksa"-- a spicy noodle dish- we came across a mother and a son next door who were cooking a variety of soup dishes. My dish contained homemade noodles, cabbage, dried fish, fish cakes, and pork. I wanted this to last forever. Though my spicy ego won't admit it, the spices in here sent me off to chug a bottle of water! This huge portion cost me $1 USD, and they even put my leftovers in a ziplock bag for me.

Front Porch Cookin'

This past week I have finally moved into my first apartment here in Athens, Ohio. Besides the many luxuries of living in your own  apartment (shared with awesome roommates), I am most excited about having a kitchen and not the restriction of  a dining hall meal plan. On the way down to Athens from Cleveland, my mom and I made a pit stop  at a local plant market in Marietta, Ohio where I picked out jalapeno and basil plants to grace my front porch. Despite how hectic my week began by jumping into the start of two jobs and an internship, I found the time to spoil myself with the help of my new friends jalapeno and basil.

With leftover noodles I brought home from Thailand, I made myself spaghetti using an organic tomato basil sauce, fresh basil & jalapeno from my plants, accompanied with some garlic bread-- feels good to be back in action!

My Food Frenzy

I grew up in a household where new and wonderful fumes constantly bombarded my nose, and where testing unfamiliar tastes was quite common. For as long as I can remember, I have loved cooking & food so relentlessly. For this, I have my mother to thank (and blame). My mother's passion as a pastry chef and a cook has evolved and spurred my passion for it as well. After years of observing, asking questions, and nagging my mother about her cooking techniques, I like to think I've adopted her cooking touch. On the other spectrum, my father has always had such immense passion for photography, and spent endless moments of his time capturing memories of my childhood behind a lens. Therefore, I've always felt connected to pictures and the sentiment attached to them. So, what's the connection here? For those of you who know me  (and know me well ), I have quite an obsession with taking pictures of food. Though to some people it may seem like such an odd concept, I truly love having the ability to "savor the flavor" and hold onto memories through pictures of my food extravaganzas. I have compiled hundreds of pictures of meals I've made with my family, meals I've cooked with my friends, food from abroad, and food that has simply blown my mind. Besides keeping pictures for my own liking, I enjoy sharing with people who appreciate them just as much. If you are one of those people I hope you enjoy.

Bon Appetit! - Kyra