One of my favorite new finds (ok…so Chris found it, not me) since moving back to Boston is B. Good. B. Good is a small chain with one store located in Harvard Square, one in Back Bay, and another soon to be opened in Coolidge Corner (my old home turf). B. Good is all about providing hungry consumers with healthy fast food alternatives. They serve baked french fries (which I’ve been duplicating in my own kitchen pretty successfully lately), lean cuts of meat, and poultry that is hormone and anti-biotic free. Their burgers are topped off with an array of fresh vegetables and delicious sauces and served on whole wheat buns. I’m the self-proclaimed “Queen of Cheese” and on my first visit I didn’t even realize that my burger didn’t have any on it at all — that’s how delicious these are! Their menu is small but so full of flavor you’re guaranteed to enjoy anything that you try. I tend to order the Carolina BBQ Turkey burger most often since I’m in love with the tangy/spicy sauce, and at only 325 calories it doesn’t completely ruin all of the yoga and elliptical work I’ve been doing lately. In addition, B. Good lists the nutritional information for all of their menu items right in plain sight so you know exactly what you’re eating even before you order it. I honestly can’t gush enough about this place! So if you’re in the area and looking for a quick and healthy bite to eat definitely stop by. I know you wont be disappointed!

PS: They have amazing shakes too made with skim milk and non fat yogurt — so delish!

I was so excited this morning to read about Ellie Krieger’s new cookbook which is scheduled to be released early next year. It’s pretty hard to miss that I’m a huge Ellie fan and I love making her recipes. In fact, the positive reaction to my Chicken Cacciatore post last summer, that was featured on the front page of Vox in the “This is Good” section, was a big catalyst in my decision to create this blog. Hopefully the new book will include a number of new recipes and not just those that she’s made on her Food Network show.

This evening I made a homemade macaroni and cheese. I layered everything together, popped it in the oven and returned a phone call to a friend. Suddenly I heard a loud crash and then a splash. Horrified, I opened the oven door and found a gooey shattered mess. My glass baking dish had exploded!  I have no idea what happened. The dish wasn’t cold, and I’ve used it dozens of times. I googled my predicament and apparently glass dishes sometimes get hairline fractures and then when they’re heated they break. I was seriously upset, but Chris was awesome and he made me laugh, and then drove to Whole Foods for a rotisserie chicken. He’s out in the kitchen right now cleaning the oven. Crisis averted — this time, but be vigilant. You never know when a Pyrex bomb will strike again!

I love Home Goods, it’s a gigantic store full of my favorite things that are usually relegated to four tiny aisles that you have to fight your way through at T.J. Maxx. Right before our move back to the city I was browsing around the store and I found these adorable pink canisters along with a Nigella Lawson cookbook. While flipping through Nigella Bites I realized just how much I adore her. She’s so incredibly full of life and sparkle and her recipes are homey and comforting. I’ve also been extremely intrigued by many of the Indian dishes that I’ve either read about or watched her cook on television so I finally decided to give one a try.

I Told You They Were Cute

Domestic Goddess Advice

The first item on the agenda was to find paneer for the Muttar Paneer. Thankfully I live practically right on top of Whole Foods now so my quest for this decidedly non American ingredient was a snap. Back in the kitchen I had a pretty harrowing time frying the paneer. Unless you have a splatter guard I wouldn’t recommend using the amount of vegetable oil called for in the recipe. I’d either use a much smaller amount or “dry fry” it. My difficulties may also have arisen from the fact that this is the first time in several years that I’ve cooked with gas heat. I love how hot it is, but my timing is completely off now. Silly electric ovens. After cooking the paneer the rest of the steps are very simple and I really enjoyed the earthy spicy flavor of the end product. Peas may be the main ingredient in this dish, but don’t be fooled as Muttar Paneer is extremely filling and can definitely be eaten as a stand alone meal. Plus it even holds up well when reheated.

Process	Dissolve
Fry (Look Out!)	Set: Pretty Pretty Paneer
Saute	Add Spice
Heat the Peas	Simmer
Dish	Dine

Muttar Paneer (Originally published by Nigella Lawson)

1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 ounces paneer, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-inch piece ginger, roughly chopped
Sprinkling of salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 (10-ounce) packets frozen peas
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 cup vegetable stock

Heat the oil a large skillet and add the paneer cubes, in 2 batches, and fry until they are golden. Remove the golden cubes to a double thickness of kitchen towel. (It is possible to dry fry the paneer cubes in the pan with no oil, to avoid the oil splashing you. Then continue with the recipe below.)Pour all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil out of the pan. Put the onion, garlic cloves, and ginger into a food processor and blitz to a coarse pulp. Fry gently for about 5 minutes with a sprinkling of salt. Stir in the garam masala and turmeric and cook for another 2 minutes before adding the still frozen peas.

Dissolve the tomato puree in the vegetable stock and pour over the contents of the pan. Stir again and turn the heat down to low, cover with foil or a lid and cook for 15 minutes, tasting to check that the peas are tender. You can cook muttar paneer up to this stage, if you like, uncovering and then reheating gently with the diced, oil-crisped cheese, or proceed directly now.

In which case, take off the foil and add the paneer cubes to warm them through before serving.

Remember my pink obsessed craft disaster and how I was so crushed to discover that there didn’t appear to be any way to buy new lids for my favorite glass jars (where I store all of my baking ingredients: flours, sugars etc…). Well I contacted the customer service department of the manufacturer directly and an extremely helpful representative sent me four replacement lids free of charge.  Thank you Anchor Hocking! I promise to treat these lids with kid gloves.

The Sopranos may or may not have disappointed last night, depending on who you talk to, but my baked Ziti definitely didn’t. No wonder Tony Soprano is so fat. This dish has some serious cheese in it. With the exception of the spicy turkey sausage I used, I think even Carmela would have approved, but really the biggest compliment to any cook is when someone asks for seconds.With Frank Sinatra crooning in the background, I followed Robin Miller’s basic recipe and ingredient list with the following changes: I used fresh herbs and garlic instead of dried, spicy sausage instead of sweet, and Pastene Kitchen Ready Tomatoes (my personal favorites to make sauce with) instead of the “diced tomatoes with seasoning” — that would have just been gross. Never buy canned tomatoes with extras (celery, spices etc…) Yuck!I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for dinner tonight! Now, am I the only one who thought that their DVR broke or cut off the end of the episode when the screen went blank? I wonder if the screams of HBO users across the country could be heard from space…

Remove the Casings	Brown
Prepare the Sauce	Set the Table
Bada Bing!