i ate an apple not too long after lunch. i don't think i was hungry for it really, but i wanted something sweet and crisp, and i've missed fresh fruit while sick.
** 1 fruit **i saw pixar's ratatouille last night, and so, i was inspired to make the inspiration for ratatouille's ratatouille, the very labor-intensive "confit byaldi," by french laundry's chef thomas keller.
the first labor-intensive part of this recipe was roasting peppers, peeling them, peeling & chopping tomatoes, chopping up onions, garlic, herbs, etc. normally i'd use diced tomatoes (from a can), but since i was doing this french laundry-style, i figured i'd go all out.
so here are all the veggies, after the roasting and chopping, along with sprigs of thyme, parsley, and a bay leaf.
this was the base of the ratatouille. and then came the fun part-- arranging all of the vegetables. luckily the slicing was a piece of cake, as i discovered that my food processor came with a slicing disc.
there were also 2 vinaigrettes involved-- one drizzled on top before baking, and one to accompany the final product (partly composed of a reserved amount of the earlier tomato/pepper saute)
after baking for 2.5 hours at a low heat:
and of course, since i was going all out, i figured i'd cook up some polenta for the ratatouille, and some lamb for some protein. ok, i've actually never made lamb before, and it is rare that i go for a piece of MEAT, but this was a fun change. plus, the lamb/polenta took all of 15 minutes to prep. i made the polenta in the MICROWAVE, stirring halfway, and it worked great. and i just rubbed the lamb with a mixture of garlic/rosemary/olive oil, and cooked it in FOUR minutes flat (i put the pan under the broiler for 10 minutes before putting in the lamb, so that it would cook on both sides at once-- brilliant, huh?! well i didn't come up with this idea, the internet did, but yes, it was a brilliant idea).
i was STARVING by the time this was ready (8:30). don't ask what's with all the caps
my plate:
look how perfectly the lamb cooked!
and then i went back for seconds on the polenta/ratatouille
total around ** 2 starch, 2 veg, 3 protein, 3 other ** although i'm sooooo tempted to add on a few more exchanges because the meat seemed not.so.lean. but the meat weighed 1/4 pound (including bone - i didn't weigh it but i know because i bought it!) so really, it couldn't have been THAT much extra...about an hour after dinner, i wanted something dessert-y. hmmm... not sure where this came from really. but realizing that i didn't really have anything in the apt. that classifies as dessert (except chocolate, and oddly i didn't want that), i decided to make something sweet and creamy, though perhaps not so much of a dessert.
raspberry wallaby yogurt, sliced strawberries, 1/4 cup maple granola** 1 dairy, 1 fruit, 1/2 starch, 1 other **
i feel uncomfortably full. like as if i did NOT eat intuitively for this snack. but i'm just going to sit here, and let it all digest, because i know realistically my body probably needs a bit extra to make up for the bit less i've eaten over the past few days.
today's totals:
7.5 starch
2.5 dairy
3 fruit
4 veg
5 protein
7 other
PRETTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDelete