Spice Up Your Morning...

...with awesome, healthy breakfast ideas. Breakfast is such a great meal! Why are we wasting it on corporate preservatives and sugar that only facilitates the 3 o'clock slump?

Tired of instant oatmeal or pretending that chugging a caramel latte is the same as sitting down to breakfast? I know, I am too. So I came up with some exciting, healthy breakfast ideas that are cheap and not so time-consuming. The first idea is for people truly on the run, with little time to make elaborate breakfasts, and the second is for people like me, who wake up early and like to enjoy a tasty bite with my newspaper.

Fruit and Oat Bake

What you'll need:

1 c. fresh berries (blueberries and strawberries bake best)

1/2 sliced pear, peach or plum

1 tsp. organic fruit preserves (I like Oregon Marion blackberry from Whole Foods)

1/2 c. instant oats

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp butter or soy butter

To prepare: (can be done the night before)

-Mix berries in oven-safe ramekin; mix in 1/3 of the oats, 1/2 of the butter and 1/2 of the brown sugar.

-Top with fruit slices

-Mix the rest of the butter, sugar, and oats with your hands until its crumbly, layer on top of the fruit.

-Put it in the oven at 450 before you get in the shower, and take it out when you're done.

Voila, a beautiful tasty breakfast treat that's filling and nutritious!

Veggie Egg-white Omelet with Peppered Turkey Bacon

What you'll need:

1 c of your favorite vegetables (for this I like fresh spinach, cremini mushrooms, and red peppers), lightly steamed or sauteed

1 whole egg plus 1 or 2 egg whites

1 tbsp skim milk

Peppered 97% lean turkey bacon

Brown bread or whole wheat toast

To Prepare:

-Scramble egg and egg whites with tablespoon of milk while veggies are heating up in a nonstick frying pan

-Add egg mixture in even layer, let it set (about 1 minute)

-Fold one side over so the omelet covers half the pan, and cook until the inside is mostly cooked through

-Flip and toast for about 10 seconds, and remove.

-Pan-fry two slices of turkey bacon and enjoy!

This breakfast is about 350 calories if using all egg whites and a low-calorie bread.

And, the best companion to any really good breakfast is a good coffee-- I particularly like Trader Joe's Scandinavian Blend ($7 for a large container).

So Far From Mexico, Such Good Mariscos: Lauriol Plaza in Washington D.C.

Strangely, Mexican food was the last frontier of "ethnic cuisine" for me. I've loved Thai, Indian, and Japanese since I was young, and more recently started experimenting with the flavors of West Africa and the Caribbean. But for a non red-meat-eating, cheese-o-phobic person with a peculiar distaste for fried things, Mexican for me was like diving headfirst into a smoldering abyss of all things cringeworthy.

Imagine how startled I was to find, in the heart of D.C., not just any old Mexican place, but a simultaneously upscale and inexpensive Mexican restaurant with food that tastes like it came right from the ground it grew in and flew straight out of my grandmother's kitchen (if my grandmother were Mexican, that is). And that place? Lauriol Plaza (18th and R, NW).

Lauriol Plaza wooed me from the moment I walked in the door. The place is huge-- 3 indoor stories, a patio, and a roofdeck offering lovely views of the city. Lauriol smells like toasted corn and warm steamy tomato-based things, and the overall atmosphere is casual and unassuming but inviting. Speaking (good) Spanish with the hosts will get you seated faster, but that's to be expected, right?

If you're short on cash, go to Lauriol for drinks and chips and salsa. The mojitos are above average, coming in lightly sweetened flavors like peach and pomegranate, and the frozen drinks are outstanding (try the strawberry swirl daiquiri, and don't drive home). The chips taste like they were toasted over an open fire, light on the oil and heavy on the crunchy sea salt. But wait, the salsa! The salsa is un-freaking-believable.

But if you are looking for more than nibbles and inebriation, Lauriol is still a steal. I ordered the salmon with marisco sauce (a pink seafood sauce, not heavy, very flavorful). The salmon was grilled to perfection, accompanied by a side of Cuban-style beans, plantains, and crispy vegetables, and 13 dollars later I was stuffed.

I'm also prone to sneaking my fork onto my dinner companion's plate when she's not looking, and that was how I came to taste Lauriol's Masitas de Puerco, a most enticingly succulent pork dish that must have been marinated for as long as I've been alive. Served with the standard rice and beans with a hint of a barbeque smoke, this dish is worth all 1,100 pennies you pay for it.

Lauriol has a number of characteristics that make it a great place for first-timers as well as seasoned fans: there's a wide variety of Latino food, including Cuban and Peruvian; it's relaxed but definitely classy and high-quality; and the food is just so good, you can't pass it up.

How did I go so long without Mexican food in my life, you might ask...and the short answer is, I don't know. Pervasive visions of Taco bell's creepy "Fourth Meal" combined with growing up without a huge Mexican population nearby or really good quality Mexican food probably helped. But I can tell you that I went back to Lauriol Plaza just a week later, and then I went back again, and back...

Welcome to my Kitchen

I admit it, I'm a hopeless foodie.

I've come across many types of foodies in my life, from the frazzled middle-aged woman trying to lose those last five pounds without sacrificing 70% dark chocolate-rubbed steak and mojitos, to the recent college grad playing mad scientist in the kitchen on a ramen-style budget. Since I'm closer to the latter, this blog will mostly be the trials and perils of my kitchen concoctions (for those of you keeping score at home, most of the ingredients I use are organic, and there's no red meat here).

Also featured here will be restaurant reviews from up and down the East Coast-- Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia, etc. Whether it's late-night cheap eats you crave, or a five-star prix fixe affair, there will be something for everybody.

Most importantly, this blog is for the hobby chefs, gourmandes, the people with regular 9 to 5's who secretly dream of donning a chef's coat, the moms who feed their toddlers green beans almondine and spiced apples. I want to share recipes that are easy and affordable, while still appealing to the sophisticated and adventurous home cook.

For example, tonight I made a to-die-for salsa, the perfect compliment to a toasty-roasty mild fish (I paired with macadamia-crusted halibut):

Ingredients:

-Handful of heirloom tomatoes (or just a mix of yellow and red)

-1 small eggplant, soaked in salt water

-1 garlic bulb

-1 sweet onion

-lemon

-jalapeno, seeded and diced

Prep:

Preheat oven to 450. Quarter tomatoes and cube eggplant; put on baking sheet with diced onions. Drizzle with salt, olive oil, and pepper and leave uncovered to roast for 20 minutes (or until skins brown).

Remove from oven, place into a large bowl, squeeze lemon and add chopped garlic and jalapeno. Mash with two forks until consistency is lumpy. Add a pinch of sugar to cut the acidity, and voila! A lovely, healthy, end-of-summery roasted veggie salsa.