Roasted Eggplant and Zucchini Salad

I adapted the recipe from this one on recipezaar. I did make a few changes... Used honey rather than sugar, added zucchini and yellow bell peppers, and opted for fresh chopped mint. I also roasted the eggplant and zucchini before assembling the salad and subbed red onion for the shallots. Omitted the sake as I didn't have any on hand.

Comarca Kuna Yala

A few of my favorite shots from a recent trip to the San Blas islands. From now on, I will mostly be posting travel photos in this format... To see the rest, go to my photo blog (link is on the sidebar under *gasp* links)

Tuna Croquettes With An Asian Twist

This is a quick and simple alternative to tuna salad. I served my croquettes on mixed baby greens with mandarin orange slices and toasted almonds, but they could also substitute for burger patties (maybe with some wasabi mayonnaise?).

Ingredients

1 can of tuna (I like to use solid white albacore)

1 egg

Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

2-3 tablespoons of finely minced onion

Sesame oil

About a handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1 clove finely minced garlic

1-2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil for frying


Lightly beat the egg and add all ingredients except the breadcrumbs and a few cilantro leaves (for garnish). Mix until well combined. Add in the breadcrumbs until a consistency is reached which can be formed into 2 patties. Pour about a tablespoon of oil into a skillet and put on medium-high. Wait until the oil is sizzling hot and drop the patties in, leaving them to brown for about 4 minutes on each side. Garnish with fresh cilantro, serve immediately.

Flickr Meme

How its done:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.


1. What is your first name? Rachel
2. What is your favorite food? Spicy tuna rolls
3. What high school did you go to? Countryside High School in Clearwater, FL
4. What is your favorite color? Blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Gael Garcia Bernal
6. Favorite drink? Mojito
7. Dream vacation? I would to spend some time in India
8. Favorite dessert? Dark chocolate souffle
9. What you want to be when you grow up? A chef in charge of my own restaurant/bar
10. What do you love most in life? Travelling... meeting new people and exploring new places
11. One Word to describe you: Curious
12. Your flickr name. wanderlust130

1. Rachel, 2. Lunch, 3. Looking West on High Street, 4. Blue Morpho, 5. OUT916512, 6. Sunday confessional..., 7. Taj Mahal, 8. belgian chocolate souffle, 9. Little Chef, 10. Amazing Thailand, 11. A Discovery, 12. Ulun Danau Bratan Temple

My New Favorite Salad

I was never a fan of beets growing up. I would diligently pick them out of my Greek salads and wrinkle my nose at the bright pink traces they left behind. However, the other day something inspired me to pluck some out of the produce section and revisit my feelings on the beet. I'm glad I did. This salad satisfied my craving for something crunchy and fresh without being heavy (not to mention the fact that it is packed with nutrients and promotes detoxification of the blood and better liver function). You can find the original Williams Sonoma recipe here - I pretty much followed it exactly. I left the beets raw rather than cooking them. I would also recommend putting the dill in right before serving for a colorful presentation, as the beets will dye it magenta.

Ingredients

Fresh beets (any variety will do)

Extra virgin olive oil

Red wine vinegar

About a cup of walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped

Fresh dill

One or two cloves of garlic, finely minced

Sea salt to taste

Peel and cube the beets. Combine with the toasted walnuts and set aside. To make the dressing, whisk together equal parts of olive oil and vinegar (lemon juice would also work nicely) along with the garlic. Toss the beets and walnuts to coat. Finally, chop about a handful of the dill and mix it in. Voila!

Although I didn't have any handy, I think some feta cheese would also pair excellently with this.

A few randoms from Bolivia

So I still have no camera... But thanks to my friend Mario, aka the photo nazi, more pics will come when I stop being too lazy to burn a cd.



Salar de Uyuni with (from left) Simone, Mario, Helen, Helen, me, and Alex



Playing Charlie´s Angels



Piedras de Dali. From top left: me, Mario, Simone, Helens



Mario and I playing King of the Hill



Looking super sexy after biking the world´s most dangerous road from La Paz to Coroico



Sunrise over the flats

More Photos

So first of all, the pics are in order chronologically from bottom to top, so they make more sense if you look at them that way... I have been up to all kinds of exciting stuff, but it took me forever to do that, so I dont have a ton of time to write about it. I´m now in Salta, in the northern part of Argentina. This morning we went bungee jumping, puenting (jumping off a bridge kind of like bungee, but holding the rope instead of having it tied to your ankles), zipcording, and another rappel. Pics of that will come later. I also have action shots of the rafting, but they are on another cd, so wont come until later. Lots of love <3 Rae



And finally... McDonalds is sooo much better in Mendoza



Another pic of me on the mountain



Rappelling



Me and Piers after our trekking/rappelling adventure in Mendoza



Our whole crew, ready to take on Rio Mendoza



Aquagirl



Basecamp for our rafting tour




Outside of a bodega



Lots and lots of grapes




Bikes and wine tour... 25 Km of fun!!




Bye bye Chile, hello Argy!... Sunset on the Andes from the frontera




View of the coast in Viña del Mar, Chile

Don´t cry for me Argentina

So I have finally left Buenos Aires, Tuesday night me and the lovely Lacy Garrison hopped a bus to the lake district. Since then, we have spent a day at the hippie town of Bolson, taken a 10 km hike around the Circuito Chico in Bariloche, eaten tasty fresh (and cheap) ceviche in Puerto Montt, and are currently hanging our hats in Santiago.

Arrived here this morning by bus, and met up at the hostel with my good friend Piers whom I met in Buenos Aires. Most museums and such are closed today, so I think we are going to just hoof it about town for awhile, and maybe attempt Cerro San Cristobal to get a view of the city.

Anyways... don´t have loads of time right now, but I have been trying to make notes of my travels on buses and such, and maybe will fill things out later on. Just wanted to let everyone know of my whereabouts, and that I haven´t been kidnapped or maimed or anything.

Lots of love!!