Hummus, Pizza Pockets, and a Whirlwind

It seems it's been a while since I last posted.

The last week or so has been a whirlwind of events. A good whirlwind, mind you (except for the fact that it seems to have destroyed my room). Classes were good, friends were visiting, games were played (intensely), food was consumed. Lots of it. The reason why I haven't posted in a while is because...well, I've been on a mac & cheeze kick. I've made it at least 7 times this last week, still trying to perfect the recipe. Which I did (recipe to come in a future post).

Another thing I did last week was finalize my summer plans. Half of them, anyway. All that remains is buying the plane ticket. See, I'll be in Lebanon from the end of May to mid-July. And I could not be more excited. Family, beaches, friends, margaritas, Lebanese food, arghile, and WARMTH--something I miss dearly on this dreary day, since April spoiled us last week.

Anyway, realizing that I had mac & cheez for lunch (...) I'm debating what to make for dinner, as I should probably have something different. I knew I wanted something with marinara sauce, but I was out of pasta. So I searched the fridge. Leftover cheez sauce, check. Marinara sauce, check. NaSoya wonton wrappers, check. (Pepperoni....unfortunately, not check.) So, what do these make?

Pizza pockets.

Delicious, crispy on the outside, molten-hot on the inside, pizza pockets. Those little pizza pockets we knew so well as children. I associate them with The Cluefinders game, as my mom would always microwave them for my brother and me while we played. Except in the microwave, it would always become kind of soggy, probably because they were frozen. Making them fresh and baking them instead seems to have solved this dilemma. I'll just be linking you to the recipe, since I didn't make any changes. It's from Dashing Dish, although it seems their website is under construction now. I hope I remember the recipe adequately enough.

"It's like my childhood is coming back to me..." -numerous people

Delicious as these are, I've only made them twice. A recipe that I have made easily more than 20 times, however, is a hummus recipe. A divine one. One that has converted hummus-haters to hummus-lovers. No, it is not traditional, but it is packed with flavor. The recipe is from Cara's Cravings, and since the recipe is perfect as it is, I'll just link you to it: Thai Peanut Pumpkin Hummus. So many ingredients that I love are in this hummus. Peanut butter, pumpkin, scallions, cilantro, chickpeas...the only thing missing is eggplant, really.

"Please make this hummus every day. EVERY. DAY." -my family

Anyway, I'm off to make my pizza pockets and eat this hummus (I made it yesterday. And the day before. That's how quickly it runs out). Enjoy the recipes!

Song of the Day-- Turnabout Jazz Soul- The Fragrance of Dark Coffee. This is a jazz rendition of the theme song of one of my favorite games: Phoenix Wright. I highly recommend you all play it. Assuming the majority of you don't have a DS, the first game is on the iPhone. Anyway, you can't really get classier than this song. Add some rainymood, or some real rain, and a glass of wine, and you've got yourself the classiest evening ever.

Recovery Quote of the Day-- "Not to spoil the ending for you, but everything is going to be okay." I should keep that in mind myself.

Listen to the song, remember the quote, and make the recipes (!).

With class,

Carina

Baingan Bharta and Chole Palak

Why I am awake right now is beyond me.

I went to bed around 1:30, and woke up at 8:03. Why?? Today is my day to sleep in (past 10, anyway). Yet whenever I do actually have time to waste the morning/afternoon away sleeping, I find that I cannot. This is torturous. Here I am, laying (lying) [down] in bed, eyes closing but still unable to fall asleep (yes, I tried putting the computer away). I have so much to do today as Turath is hosting two programs but I can't really bring myself to get out of bed to do said things.

Now before you judge me and [correctly] accuse me of being lazy, I have some exciting news! I'm hosting a lovely prefrosh from Hawaii until tomorrow (she arrived yesterday) and we've been having a wonderful time. But yeah so she's still asleep and I'd feel bad waking her (right, that's the reason....).

And now it's Saturday; Alisse has unfortunately left :( Please come to Wes!!!!

Anyway, while she was here my friend Ellen (who also had a prefrosh) and I decided we would all cook together. Ellen (pictured at the bottom of this post with me) and I are living together next year in Turath and we are both so so excited we can never contain our excitement when we see each other. We cook a lot, mainly deliciously spicy Indian food. Our food is very specific, since she's a vegetarian and gluten-intolerant, and I'm lactose-intolerant. But somehow we still manage to make delicious food (because of her, really). So I will share two delicious Indian recipes with you all today. But when Ellen and I cook, we don't really use a recipe, so I'm gonna have to wing that part. Indian food is really all about adjusting to your taste buds, anyway.

"What should we make? Indian food?" "....is that even a question?"

Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry [somewhat])

Ingredients

• 2 large eggplants
• 15oz. can crushed tomatoes (with garlic if possible)
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• red pepper flakes
• cumin
• garam masala
• turmeric
• curry powder
• *all spices to taste

Instructions

1. Stab one eggplant with a fork all around and stick it in the microwave on a plate for about 7 minutes or until softened. Place outside to cool (if it's cold out) and do the same with the other eggplant. Once cooled, cut off the stem (?) and then slice lengthwise and widthwise. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon and place into a bowl. Set aside.
2. Fry onions in some olive oil in a medium saucepan and then add garlic and red pepper. Add all spices except red pepper flakes.
3. Add tomato sauce and eggplant, sprinkle some red pepper flakes. Cook for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Add more spices to taste, and blend with an immersion blender if you prefer a smoother texture.

Chole Palak (Chickpeas in a Spinach Curry Sauce)

Ingredients

• 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2-3 large handfuls of spinach, more or less depending on how spinach-y you want it
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 green chile, diced (I just used 1/4 of a can of diced green chiles)
• cumin
• garam masala
• turmeric
• curry powder

Instructions

1. Fry the onions and green chile in a medium saucepan. Add garlic and spices.
2. Add chickpeas and fry for a bit. Add enough water to cover the chickpeas and then add spinach. Cook until wilted. Add more depending on your preference.
3. Let cook for a few minutes, and add spices to taste.

Anyway. This week has been crazy stressful. We had an ice cream social yesterday for WesFest and then at night we had an Arab Cooking party where I taught people how to make fetteh and baklava (recipe coming soon!), and then other dishes that were made were koshari, om ali, tabbouleh, and mana'eesh. So good. It was a great night of food, hookah, and drinks.

Okay I'm really hungry and haven't had breakfast yet so I'm gonna go do that. Or maybe lunch, because looking at these pictures of Indian food is making me super hungry for something savory.

Song of the Day-- Toccatina by Mouse on the Keys. An awesome band with drums and two pianos. Innovative and beautiful.

Recovery Quote of the Day-- let's face it: the vast majority of us do enjoy dessert. If you don't want it, don't make a fuss. Decline it politely and leave it at that.

Enjoy this gorgeous day! Looks like Spring is finally here.

-Carina

Mac & Cheese, 3 Ways

Yesterday was the 6-month mark of my beloved grandpa Amal's death.

It's been a rough week in terms of grieving--he was in my dream 2 nights ago and when I woke up I thought that reality was a dream instead, and started crying. It took me everything I had to drag myself out of bed and go to Arabic. I was planning on taking the day off, but realized that it would've been the exact opposite of what my grandpa would have wanted. He was an academic, a scholar, a doctor--no way would he have approved of not going to class, especially if it were for his sake.

I miss him dearly, more than anyone besides my grandma, who died this past January. I've been taking this time since their untimely deaths to be in even more close contact with my living grandparents, understanding in October for the first time that mortality is, in fact, real, and it does affect people close to me.

So, I celebrated their lives. I celebrated life in general. I celebrated writing 7 awesome pages in an hour and a half for a paper. I celebrated not caring about the grade I got on my last stats test. I popped open a bottle of champagne with a friend and we made a toast to all of these things, enjoying the present, not caring about what came next.

Not yet, anyway.

Because, you see, dear readers, what came next was mac & cheese. What may immediately come to mind is the classic Kraft blue-box mac & cheese with the powder that somehow turns into this creamy cheese that as children (and as college students, let's face it) we simply adored. Not only the smell and the taste and the sight of it, but also the sound of it. The sound of that creamy macaroni mingling with the oddly-colored bright orange cheese....it's a sound that brings back childhood memories, for sure.

Anyway, I've been working the last 3 days at making and testing different recipes for dairy-free mac & cheese. And these ones, I've found, are the best. I also decided to add quinoa to it, but feel free to leave it out.

"No, no, you have to LISTEN to it" -me nagging my friend to....hear the mac & cheese

Dairy-Free Mac & Cheese with Quinoa, Three Ways
inspired by Oh She Glows, Tia Tofu, and Healthy Happy Life

Method #1:
Ingredients

• 15oz. pureed butternut squash or pumpkin
• 3 T cashews
• a bit of unflavored/unsweetened almond milk
• one large garlic clove
• salt
• dehydrated garlic
• mustard powder
• curry powder
• turmeric
• italian seasonings
• pepper
• 2 T nutritional yeast

Instructions

1. Ground your cashews in the food processor. Add almond milk, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, mustard powder, and dehydrated garlic.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin and the rest of the flavors to taste.
3. Put pumpkin in food processor with cashew mix and adjust seasoning to taste.
4. When pasta/quinoa is cooked, stir in cheese sauce and it will be heated by the pasta.

Method #2:

Ingredients

• 1.5 c cheddar Daiya
• 1 c dairy-free milk (I used unsweetened original almond milk)
• 2 T nutritional yeast
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Mix together the milk and nutritional yeast in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil.
2. Add the cheddar Daiya and black pepper to taste. Stir constantly until the Daiya is melted, about 2 minutes.

Method #3:

Ingredients

• 3/4 c nutritional yeast
• 15oz. can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• salt, pepper to taste
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1.5 tsp mustard powder
• 1 c pumpkin
• 3 T EVOO
• 3 T Earth Balance (or butter)
• 1 T agave
• 2 T tahini
• almond milk, to thin (if desired)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor. ........

"MORE QUINOA" -this picture

It really is quite delicious. Choose your favorite method and make it again and again! I've had mac & cheese 4 times this week already. I love the addition of the quinoa, it makes such an interesting texture.

My grandpa is the reason why, more often than not, I decide to have a good day no matter what. To be nice to everyone I meet, to give everyone a smile. He was an incredible man, and his smile will always be a beacon of light for us, reminding us of the good times, and the right thing to do in any situation. I miss him a lot.

I love you, Grandpa. This post is for you!!

Song of the Day-- Stand by Me, River Phoenix. Grandpa's song.

Recovery Quote of the Day-- "Promise me you will nourish your body with delicious food, your mind with knowledge, and your soul with so much love, because you have so much of it to offer." -Grandpa

-Carina

Baked Pumpkin Falafel and DIY Wave Earrings

One thing I wanted more than anything today: to be with all the Caligiuris in Buffalo for Easter.

I called all 3 households in Buffalo to wish them a Happy Easter, each time being told what delicious food they were about to bring over to Aunt Ro's, or what was already there. Even my immediate family back in Boston (suburbs of, to clarify) was having an Easter lunch. And to let you know just how much of a special occasion it was: my dad. ate. meat. Red meat. This is a man who will pick the chicken out of chicken soup if that's what we're having for dinner. No, he's not a vegetarian. He just 'doesn't eat meat.' (except he does).

Anyway, to soothe my soul on an already depressing day (let's face it, we all save our work for Sundays. Yes I still have Arabic homework to do), I figured I'd cook, as I usually do when I feel an emotion I don't want to deal with. I almost ordered in, but then my craving changed from Indian food to Middle-Eastern food, so I decided to make falafel. This is a recipe I've made many times--actually my go-to when I'm coming back from a party and am hungry. None of that 'falafel cart' stuff. Anyway, I figured I'd put a little spin on it since I had just bought 3 cans of pumpkin. So, you guessed it, I made baked pumpkin falafel. I got the original recipe from Can You Stay For Dinner?, a blog with great food and photos.

"DUDE LET'S GO TO MAMOUN'S" -majority of Wesleyan students on Saturday nights

Baked Pumpkin Falafel

adapted from Can You Stay For Dinner?

Ingredients

• one 15oz. can of chickpeas
• 3 T flour
• 2 T pureed pumpkin
• 2 T parsley, finely chopped (sub 1tsp dried if you don't have fresh)
• 1 T cilantro, finely chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Combine all falafel ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well blended.
3. Scoop the bean mixture into a bowl, coat hands with flour, and shape into 8 equal-sized patties.
4. Place onto a greased baking sheet, spray with olive oil spray, and bake for 15-20 minutes.
5. Accompany with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, tahini, and pita bread if desired.

Note: The falafel will be sticky! They won't be perfectly shaped, but they'll still bake fine.

"no." -my response to the falafel cart suggestion

Why go to the falafel cart when you can make it at home? The texture is better baked anyway, in my opinion.

So good. I'll probably definitely be having the leftovers as a midnight snack.

Anyway, when I was on my DIY kick, I made these earrings, inspired by this tutorial. I was too lazy to do wire-wrapping (read: cannot do wire-wrapping), so I just ended up alternating gold jump rings and beads. I like them though!

They're great with a white dress and gold bangles.

Song of the Day-- When I Fall in Love by the Bill Evans Trio. A beautiful variation on a beautiful song. Fits the 'Sunday night' mood well.

Recovery Quote of the Day-- "He who plants thorns must never expect to gather roses." -Arab proverb

Okay, now I should do work. Gotta read up on my Arabic authors!

-Carina

Mole Tofu Tacos and Carrot Cake

Sometimes I get up early on the weekends.

This is not by choice.

I went to bed at 3 AM, clutching my hot water bottle (and teddy bear) like a baby and lamenting the fact that my nail polish had smudged. But then I woke up at about 5:24, rip-roarin'-ready to go (probably the Red Bull I had at like 11 PM last night). This happens quite often, actually, and so when I can't get back to sleep, I take advantage of my lack of exhaustion (rarely happens when I actually need it) and clean. Clean, clean clean. Especially when my parents will be seeing my room around 4 hours later. Can't wait to see you, Mama and Baba!

Anyway, after I took a walk (me? walking?) out on Indian Hill with a friend of mine, I came home and decided I wanted to make something with tofu again, since I finished the ginger-sesame marinated tofu pretty damn quickly the day before. I had been eyeing this mole tofu taco recipe from Cara's Cravings for quite some time, but I always shied (that word looks SO weird) away from it because getting chipotles in adobo sauce would involve going to the store since Weshop doesn't carry them. But I figured I'd improvise, as usual, and just use green chiles (I'm so creative). Also Cara's Cravings has tons of other amazing recipes and you should all check it out.

About a third of the way through the recipe (aka the important part), I realized that I had forgotten I was halving the recipe. Meaning I had just put a tablespoon of molasses instead of half a tablespoon. I hate molasses and was reluctant to put it in the sauce, but I figured it was somewhat essential to the flavor. Anyway, we just added another onion (my friend Naomi was over. Hi Naomi!) and it turned out fine. I'd even go so far as to say...delicious.

"You should definitely add cilantro. It'll make the photo look less....yeah just add the cilantro." -Naomi

Mole Tofu Tacos
from Cara's Cravings

Ingredients

• 2 14oz. packages firm tofu
• 1 1/2 large onions
• 1 T coconut oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced (I used green chiles instead, but next time I'll be less lazy and go to the store to get these)
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 T molasses
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 T unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 T creamy peanut butter
• 2.5 c vegetable broth
• 3 oz. tomato paste
• 3 dates (I didn't have these, so I omitted)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Spray one or two 9x13" glass baking dishes with olive oil spray. Drain and press the tofu, then dice into cubes and arrange in the trays. Spray the tofu with more cooking spray. Bake for 30 minutes, turning 3-4 times, until lightly browned on all sides. Remove from oven.
2. While the tofu is baking, heat the coconut oil over medium heat in a saucepan. Sauté the onions for about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, chipotle pepper, cumin, and coriander. Cook for about 1-2 minutes more, stirring.
3. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and puree the sauce, using an immersion blender or a regular blender/food processor.
4. Return to pot and add the cooked tofu. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, uncovered, until sauce thickens.
5. Heat some corn tortillas, get out lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, whatever you want.

So delicious. So thick. Who knew that chocolate, peanut butter, adobo sauce, and tomatoes went together?

Anyway, after I took a nap instead of doing work, I had an hour to kill before my friends Ellen and Codi arrived. Since house brunch was the next morning (aka in 3h20m), I figured I'd make the carrot cake then instead of waking up earlier to make it in the morning. It was easier to make than expected. I (smartly) thought that I had to grate the baby carrots by hand, until I realized (aka looked up on the internet) that I could just throw them in the food processor for a few seconds. Those things are magical, I tell you.

After eating a good portion of the batter (fingers crossed no salmonella), I poured it into the springform pan (I don't have a cake pan)....and the bottom almost fell out. Luckily I have awesome reflexes, so I caught it just in time. But man, if it had fallen....I don't even want to think about what cleaning that would be like. K here's the recipe, sent to me by my awesome friend Ellie.

Also I don't like cream cheese frosting, so you can just look up the typical recipe for it if you want.

"I'm too tired to think of a quote right now but I'm so overtired I can't even go to sleep so that's why I'm writing this blog post" -an exhausted me

Carrot Cake with Vanilla Icing
recipe courtesy of The Food Network

Ingredients

• 2.5 c all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces grated carrots (if using baby carrots, just throw them in the food processor for a few seconds)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 c sugar
• 1/4 firmly packed brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 6 oz. plain yogurt
• 6 oz. vegetable oil (I used half Smart Balance, half vegetable oil)
• frosting/icing/whatever

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a springform/cake pan with some Pam. If using a cake pan, use a 9-inch round and 3-inch deep one, and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
3. Put the carrots into a large mixing bowl and set aside.
4. Put the flour, baking powder, spices, and salt in a food processor and process for 5 seconds. Add this mixture to the carrots and toss until they are well-coated with the flour.
5. In the bowl of the food processor combine the sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and yogurt.
6. With the processor still running, drizzle in the vegetable oil. Pour this mixture into the carrot mixture and stir until just combined.
7. Pour into the springform/cake pan and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 45 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees F and bake for another 20 minutes.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and allow cake to cool 15 minutes in the pan. After 15 minutes, turn the cake out onto a rack and allow it to cool completely. Frost or ice with frosting or icing (...).

Yeah I made the mistake of just pouring the icing on with a mere plate underneath. It ended up getting everywhere--on the floor, on the table, on me. It was not fun to clean up this morning. The floor was really sticky.

Oh also I was in the Argus (our school newspaper)! Naomi wrote an article on food and blogging. There are some other really cool blogs there too, so check it out!

Song of the Day-- Salento by René Aubry. A beautiful song to listen to as the sun is rising, or at any time of day.

Recovery Quote of the Day.

Okay, I think it's time I go back to sleep until Mom and Pops get here (slash play DS). Happy Easter (weekend) and a shout-out to my whole family, wherever in the world they may be--love you and wish I could be with you all!!

-Carina

Caligiuri Girls' Weekend in Chicago

Words (besides food and wine) are unable to describe the sheer wonder of this weekend. So I'll let pictures do the talking.

Piranha Plant design in espresso at video game-based café

Table set for 6

....clearly unhappy on the train ride to the airport.

What an amazing weekend. I am so lucky to have such awesome cousins!!!! Love you all so much!! #CGW

Song of the Day-- Daydream in Blue. Great song to jam to in the car.

Recovery-- A nice blog to check out: Stop Hating Your Body.

-Carina

Eggplant Quinoa Lasagna and Chicago Travels

I'd like to think I'm a smart person.

I get good grades (most of the time), I have common sense (some of the time), and I make good decisions (.....).

But yesterday morning, my common sense was a bit off due to the fact that I got approximately 4 hours of sleep (my flight was at 7:35 AM so we had to leave at 6:15). Still, I woke up so excited, because I was gonna fly to Chicago for a girls' weekend with my cousins (#cgw [Caligiuri Girls' Weekend])!!

Anyway, we left at around 6:35 because that's Arab time for 6:15, and arrived about 15 minutes later. I had already checked in online, so I went through security and looked for the gate on the TV screen. I couldn't find it. I checked my boarding pass and realized....I was in the wrong terminal. For some reason, I thought I was flying Continental, mainly because the stupid United logo is the exact same as the Continental logo, (why I looked at the logo and not the name of the airline, I do not know). They merged, but for some reason they decided to keep being separate, and for another strange reason, Logan decided to have them be in different terminals -____-

I asked a security employee what I should do, and he gave me directions for Terminal C (I was in A). I ran like the wind (jk my bags were too heavy. I walked.) and arrived to a new, longer security line. I was freaking out that I was gonna miss my flight. I exchanged conversation with probably the most pleasant airport employee I've ever met, which was nice, and then actually ran like the wind to my gate. I barely made it, thank God. But we ended up waiting on the runway for like half an hour, lol. I felt like such a flying noob when I arrived and was hitting everyone with my bag. The flight attendants kept saying "Is this your first time flying, sweetie?" and I was forced to smile sweetly back and then say "no."

Okay that's enough about my lack of common sense. Time for food.

Every week I make lunch or dinner with my friend Codi, so this week we decided to make Eggplant Quinoa lasagna, inspired by Peas and Thank You. The original recipe calls for Zucchini, but Codi and I are both eggplant fiends, so we decided to replace it. (btw I'm watching TV right now and I find it really funny that the Magnum ice cream company's slogan is "Magnum. For pleasure seekers."). I attempted to slice the eggplant and cut my finger in the process, so my housemate, an expert chef, had to take over for me. We smoked some delicious hookah while waiting (coconut flavor--Leavitt and Peirce in Harvard Square was having a huge sale so I stocked up) until it was ready. And man, was it good. So, here's the recipe. My Auntie Rada made it for me when I was in Dubai over Winter break and it was the most amazing thing. Ever. Love you! Kick Nadia and Amino for me.

"I guess it's more like lasagna casserole. It doesn't really actually looks like lasagna...most of the time." -yours truly

Eggplant Quinoa Lasagna

inspired by Auntie Rada and Peas and Thank You

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant, cut into thin slices
• salt
• 1 c red quinoa
• 2 c vegetable broth
• 1/2 c tomato sauce
• 1/4 c minced onion
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 c fresh basil, chopped
• 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• cheese (optional)

Note: Weshop was out of fresh herbs so we just subbed with dried. I tend to use a 1:2 ratio (dried:fresh).

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. To prepare eggplant, cut of a strip off of one side to make a flat base. Then, thinly slice eggplant into 'noodles.' DO NOT CUT YOURSELF. This is important. Really.
3. Place noodles in a colander and sprinkle with salt, layering between paper towels.
4. Let this sit and absorb moisture while preparing the quinoa.
5. Combine quinoa, broth, tomato sauce, onion, and oregano in a large saucepan and bring to a boil.
6. Cover and lower heat, simmering for 20 minutes.
7. When quinoa has absorbed all the liquid, fold in herbs.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Pour enough of the marinara sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 baking dish to cover the bottom.
10. Using a dry towel, blot remaining moisture from eggplant and layer enough noodles to cover the next layer over the marinara.
11. Repeat with another layer of quinoa, sauce, and eggplant.
12. Top the final layer of eggplant with remaining sauce and cheese, if using.
13. Bake 35-40 minutes, let cool for 5 minutes.

Seriously, this thing is delicious (all of the time). Make it. Now. It's gluten-free, vegan (if not using cheese, which we didn't), and..delicious. I said that already. The eggplant replaces the lasagna noodles, and the quinoa replaces the meat, but feel free to mix the eggplant with regular noodles.

Anyway, back to the Windy City. Chicago has been awesome. Seeing my cousins has been wonderful, and I was able to see a dear friend of mine who I hadn't seen since May. She took me Intelligentsia yesterday, which was delicious.

"How do they do that?????" -most people, I would think

She took me to Wicker Park today and I got an awesome '50s style dress at Buffalo Exchange. White, classic. Gram would've loved it. We went to a great coffee shop, too, but more on that in the next post.

Anyway, I should get to bed. I'm exhausted and my nails just dried so I can actually go to bed without ruining them (hopefully). Sleeping on the couch is awesome cause then you can watch TV and fall asleep (which I would be able to do if I hadn't forgotten my glasses at school -_____- ).

Song of the Day-- The Phantom (1930 Version) by Parov Stelar. A very catchy song, fun to blast with the sunroof open and windows down.

Recovery Quote of the Day-- I've been looking for a quote like this for a while. I always see "When Did This Become Hotter than This??" with pictures of people like Keira Knightley on top and Marilyn Monroe on the bottom and get really aggravated. Reasoning below.

"Just because you call a woman beautiful who isn't stick thin doesn't mean you're promoting body acceptance. I've said it before, but I'll say it again: We won't resolve our body image issues by creating a battle between size 12 and size zero, or judging someone's health by rudimentary and outdated measures."

K now I should really go--my contacts are so dry. It's really uncomfortable.

-Carina