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Yes, yes, I have a thing for roasted tomatoes lately. The juices I get out of them make me omit a salad dressing, and cooked tomatoes are supposedly better for you as the vitamin C is easier to absorb, and the antioxidants and lycopene supposedly goes up too.

Sitting on the couch, enjoying my morning bowl of oatmeal and coffee, I wondered what to do with the 2lbs of campari tomatoes I greedily bought from Costco. I decided I could make something for lunch, then it dawned on me that I could make a roasted tomato salad with red quinoa, acorn squash, and baby greens.

(No picture, since I haven’t made this yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.)

1lb campari tomatoes
approximately 10 pearl onions
5 or more cloves of garlic
1/2 acorn squash
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water or stock
5 leaves fresh basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Baby greens
Roasted nuts for garnish (walnuts or pine nuts)

Wash and stem the tomatoes, then place on a shallow baking pan. Score the bottoms of each tomato with an X. Halve the pearl onions and place on the same pan. Peeled garlic cloves can also go on the same pan.
Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil, season with salt and pepper.

Halve the acorn squash, and place in another baking pan sliced side down. Add about a 1/4″ of water to the pan. Place both pans in the oven at 400ºF for about half an hour. Remove tomatoes/onion/garlic pan from oven and let rest. Remove squash from oven, drain water, turn cut side up, add butter, salt and pepper, and broil for 15 more minutes.

Prepare quinoa by rinsing with water, then placing in saucepan of boiling water or stock. Reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.  When cooked and still hot, dump into large bowl and add oregano and basil. Pick out garlic and onions, slice finely, and toss in the same bowl.

When squash is cooked, peel and cut into 1/2″ cubes. Toss into quinoa bowl and stir. Gently add tomatoes and oils and juices from the roasting pan and stir to combine. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.
Let cool. Toss with baby greens, sprinkle with nuts and serve.

Optional: drizzle with olive oil.

Now, this will make a lot of salad, but I had 2lbs of tomatoes to start with. This could probably be my lunch for an entire week, but I’ll most likely also serve this as a side dish to roasted or BBQed meat.

We were low on groceries at the beginning of the week and I didn’t want fast food, so I walked to the grocery store on my lunch break and searched for inspiration. I made enough for dinner and leftovers, and when I brought it in for lunch the next day I received so much interest I took a picture and twittered it.

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
50g of wine salami (originally I wanted proscuitto, but they didn’t have any so I went with another salty meat)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
Pesto (I get mine ready made from a jar)
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 fat cloves of garlic
1/4 cup shredded italian cheese of your choice (optional)
Chopped romaine, or your choice of greens

Score the grape tomatoes with a vertical slit and place on shallow baking pan big enough to also fit chicken. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil.

Thinly slice garlic cloves. Remove the chicken tenders from each breast and set aside. Butterfly each breast and lay flat on cutting board. For each chicken breast, smear a tablespoon of pesto, add a couple of slices of garlic, a sprinkling of pine nuts, and slices of wine salami. Roll up and place on pan, opening side down. Add another tablespoon of pesto and smear on outside of chicken. Coat the chicken tenders with pesto and add on the same pan.
Place in 475ºF oven and roast until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches at least 165ºF. Add shredded cheese and broil until cheese is melty and brown. Remove chicken and slice. Place atop washed greens. Pick out tomatoes and tip juices onto everything. Garnish with more pine nuts, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, and serve.

When I brought this in for lunch, I put the sliced chicken and tomatoes in a small container, and brought the romaine in a separate one. I warmed up the chicken in the microwave until warm, threw the leaves into a pretty bowl, and topped with the chicken and tomatoes. As I was eating it I was reflecting, “I love this diet of mine”.

Today we tried to have a surprise birthday party for my brother, and I volunteered to make him a cake that would align with his affinity towards Domokun. For Christmas he got me a book called “The Golden Book of Patisserie”, and I decided to put it to use for my project. I would say the most difficult part was doing the fuzzy texture with the star nozzle as the icing was very stiff. (That’s what she said?)

It’s true, I’ve been eating healthier and getting more exercise since January 2 and I’m already down 4 lbs and have 7 more to go. I used to keep a Moleskine notebook as my daily log, referencing Calorie Count from time to time, but have finally taken the leap in becoming a member on their website. It’s less portable than my notebook, but already I’m appreciating the added features I get. I can keep track of my weight fluctuations day-by-day, and after filling in my food log, I’ll get an evaluation for the entire day.

Nutrition Report

It brings me back to my school days when I’d look forward to report card days. Additionally, as the food log tracks calories as well as quantities, I can tell if I’m eating too little or too much. I didn’t suspect that I was eating too little (after all, I find that I’m quite disciplined when dieting), but the numbers don’t lie. Keeping track of numbers this way also reminds me of my love of RPGs. When adding a food item, it’s like creating a character with a certain amount of character creation points available to me. When looking at my intake so far, it’s like seeing how many more experience points I need to gain a level.

Today's Intake

I’m supposed to eat between 1500-1900 calories otherwise I gain weight or go into starvation mode. Good thing I’m not tempted by cupcakes to fill in the gap for today.

(Filled with chocolate ganache and white chocolate cream)

This is what it’s supposed to look like.

So far it’s a dilapidated delicious mess on a cake plate from my grandmother.