My first entry!! :)

I've been wanting to have a blog for a long time, but for one reason or another I haven't started one. As you may have guessed from the title of the blog, this is going to be about cooking and food. I eat vegan-ish, meaning I don't eat meat, dairy, or eggs, and I still eat fish occasionally, and I'm not super strict about small amounts of milk, eggs, etc., added in cooking. And I will eat "normal" when I'm at someone's house. I used to think that being vegan is extreme; but I'm finding that it's really not all that extreme. It sound restrictive, but in reality it's opening up a whole new world of food I would never have tried before. Foods that I am, in fact, enjoying.

One of those foods is greens. Spinach, kale, swiss chard, rapini. Several years ago, I ate some cooked spinach, nearly gagged, and ever since then, swore off greens altogether. Last year, I discovered that I like greens if they are sauteed with a little oil and seasoning. Delicious. When Mom and I went shopping last week, we got some "broccoli rabe", also know as "rapini", which we haven't tried before. What is it exactly? Well, it a short dark leafy green with "broccoli buds" on it. After doing a Google search, I decided to saute the greens in olive oil, garlic, and chili powder. I then topped the dish off with chopped kalamata olives and fresh squeezed lime juice. Salty and acidic flavors help soften the bitter taste of the greens. The greens were strong tasting, but good. The only thing I didn't like was that they were a little bit on the tough side.

Chili Lime Rapini 
Total cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2

10 stalks broccoli rabe
2 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. pureed garlic
dash chili powder
dash sea salt
10 kalamata olives, chopped
juice of 1/2 lime

Place the washed and trimmed greens in a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes. Drain, and transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water. Blanching the greens helps reduce the bitterness; placing them in the ice bath stops the cooking process and preserves the bright green color. Heat the olive oil with the garlic and chili powder in a large pan. Saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the olives and lime juice and cook just until the olives are warm. Serve immediately.