Ugly Delicious Is The Theme

Last week (that's right, I'm only a week behind now!), I made some pretty ugly, but pretty delicious food. I've noticed I've really been putting my own spin on most recipes I use now. I have the recipe in mind at the store and just go with whatever looks good. Ever so slowly, but surely, I am learning to trust my own ability to throw a descent meal together. However, I haven't quite worked out all the aesthetic aspects. I give you exhibit A:

Please, avert your eyes

Erm. Hey look! Cauliflower! A food stylist I am not, but it tasted divine. I'll have to work on presentation. Here's what I ate last week:

• Spinach, sage, and prosciutto stuffed pork, courtesy of My Kitchen Addiction. For whatever reason my grocery store only sells tiny pork tenderloins. They are usually about a pound, if that. That's small, right? I ended up making two, just so there would be enough for the week. I kind of royal f-ed up this dish. I didn't pound out the pork thin enough. Definitely make it as thin as you can! As a result, my pork wasn't all beautifully wound like Jen's. I also blame the fact that the tenderloin was long and thin, and that definitely hindered it's roll-ability as well. I also may have forgotten a bunch of ingredients in the spinach mixture. Like, say, the breadcrumbs and eggs. Oops! I (on purpose, I should clarify at this point) used feta cheese instead of ricotta because it was a little healthier and just sounded yummy at the store. I also used more like 1/4 cup because I wanted the filling to be mostly spinach with a little cheese for flavor. Oh yeah, I also just about quadrupled the spinach, but I also wanted extra, since I had two pork tenderloins instead of one. I also didn't quite bake it for long enough. The thermometer said it was done, but then I cut into it, and it wasn't quite. That ended up being perfect because it was for lunches, which I always nuke first anyway, so it meant the pork was perfectly done after being reheated, rather than over-cooked. And even though it was undercooked and missing some ingredients, and other mishaps that I don't want to talk about...it came out really freaking good! That's a testament to the recipe, I guess. More or less get the ingredients together and they'll sing. Heh. The pork was tender and moist, the spinach went seriously well with it. And the prosciutto was crispy and delicious, as it should be! Don't let my failure scare you off. It was actually pretty simple to make if you use half your brain, which apparently I was not apt to do.
  

Ugliest most delicious bit of food there ever was

• Barley risotto with mushrooms and spring vegetables, courtesy of me! Recipe to follow. Oh man, this was good. This was my first attempt at non-arborrio risotto, and it came out just like it should!
• Kale, white bean, and cheddar soup, courtesy of me again. Recipe to follow shortly. I have a theory that you can pretty much combine cannellini beans, sharp cheddar cheese, and any green vegetable to get the most delicious and healthy soup ever.
• And technically I made these blueberry crumb bars, courtesy of Smitten Kitchen, ages ago, but they never quite fit into any of my posts previously, so I'll stick them here. They had a 1lb container of blueberries on sale for $6 at Trader Joe's. You can't not buy blueberries for that price. And you can't not bake when faced with that many berries of any kind. I'm pretty sure it's a law of nature or something. These were fantastic. Sweet, buttery, crumbly, delicious!
  

Hellllllloooooo beautiful!