A New Gig, A New Diet & A Great Green Bean Recipe

Can you hardly believe it’s MAY already? As I sit here and write (while mami yaps in vintage form—on speakersphone, saying ‘bye’ to her domino playing friends and asking me 3 times to hold on), I ponder all the great things that have already come to fruition in just 4 months. I am chasing my dreams and seeing them realize.

I loudly claimed 2010 was going to be ‘ON LIKE DONKEY KONG,’ and my goodness has it ever been!

* A self-produced (with the help of my awesome lawyer and friend) I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter commercial using a nifty HD Flip camera made it on American Idol‘s premiere night and then won best video,  two different weeks during their on-line sweepstakes (now making me a SAG card holder! woot woot!)

* 3 other bloggers and myself hosted STIR IT 28, a smashing nationwide cocktail party to benefit Haiti in their relief efforts and raised close to $5,000 for Share Our Strength and Yéle Haiti, in just a matter of 3 weeks.

* Dean & DeLuca chose my morel mushroom recipe as part of their Spring Produce Recipe Contest, in which I was featured on their blog and won some goodies.

* My blog post on a guy friend hiring me to cook for him and his lady, was featured in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, to much acclaim! (Thanks Wise Diva!)

* I’ve been asked by the local GA office of Share our Strength to be their Latin volunteer chef for the Operation Frontline program. I particularly love this 6-week endeavor because for the first time in a long while, I feel useful in giving back to my own community. For 2.5 hours every Friday, I have the opportunity to set an example and teach a quasi-underpriveleged and low-income Latin community (mostly women) how to assess their current eating habits and  how to better improve their health, diets and overall lifestyles.

Through healthy cooking demos, teaching them how to purchase food, how to economize on a budget and offering alternatives to preparing their native food, I’m honored to be able to empower this group to take ownership of their health and ultimatley enhance their lives.

*And, a new client has been so supportive of my business, he quietly gifted me with a new Nikon D5000 kit! Lord knows I’d been in serious need of a flicker that would entice you to continue coming back. I yield to the notion that the success of a food blog is largely  driven by the quality of its pictures. So, thank you client and friend, D! You’ve been a gift, too!

Wow! All these things are such wonderful blessings and I’m so thankful for the energy to focus, grind, give back, be creative and still manage the other elements of my business that have nothing to do with food. I’ve not really shared those things here because I’m trying to use this other blog (albeit a lax-y daze-y one) as my vessel to disseminate those things.

While all those exciting developments have individually been exceptional in their own right and opened other doors, I’m so thrilled to share my newest GIG!

But, I’ll get that to that in a minute!

As a Latina, one that is very in touch with my roots, is very proud and is thankful for being tri-lingual (thanks to my parents), there is nothing like knowing there are unique  and dedicated media outlets that highlight US as a strong, beautiful and powerful community. There are TV shows that dispel the stereotypes of the immigrant family. There is the Congressman, la madre, el padre, activist, CEO, news anchor or even Supreme Court Jstice that defies the odds of failing after crossing the border. And of course, there is the Hollywood type that demonstrates all dreams can come true. Seeing Latinos on the big screen is growing more and more and I’m just so excited to see my counterparts being recognized.

The Latin Billboard Awards just took place 3 days ago in LA, with a slew of our favored Latinos strutting the red carpet and being honored for their art through music.

And, LATINAMagazine was there to cover the nights’ celebration, the fashion, the hot couples, the tastemakers. The sexy swag bags.

They are one of those unique media outlets. LATINA is the go-to magazine for the Latin American woman that works, has a career, has a family or is single, love, understands and celebrates her roots, explores others’ traditions and cultura. The magazine is for me, a Latin woman who is orgullosa, can relate and is intrigued by my peers that are successful against all odds and celebrates all our facets!  Established in the 1996, LATINA is now the US’s largest print magazine for Latin women. 100 percent Latina.

Now that I bigged them up a bit, on to the the news.

As of yesterday, I am the new Weekly Food Columnist at LATINA!

YESSS!! You may wonder why I’m so excited, considering I’m a writer and am published in other magazines, both print and on-line; so nothing new, right! Well, LATINA is about me, for me, by me–the perfect platform to discuss the one thing that defines the crux of our culture: FOOD. I’d been talking with LATINA since October last year, right after my culinary trip to Cabo, San Lucas and finally penned this dulce deal. Working out deetz can be tricky and creativity can’t ever be rushed, you know.

I’m looking forward to sharing with YOU and the women (both Latin and other, that subscribe to the magazine for all things news, product review, events, beauty, fashion, lifestyle, travel, celebrities and food, of course) my personal culinary musings, recipes, traditions in Latin kitchens and undoubtedly excite them to get back in the cocina—-even in their baddest stiletto!

I’m particularly looking forward to emphasizing how important food is to our soul and reintroduce the art of  cooking and sitting at the dinner table, something I’m sure has been instilled in all of us, yet somehow missing in today’s instant gratification culture.

Appropriately, this Tuesday will be my first post, in acknowledgement of Cinco de Mayo. You’ll be able to read my Column every Tuesday (which will start here and lead you into their site), titled “Flanboyant Eats With Bren”

(I just love this commemorative T-shirt celebrating SotoMayor’s appointment–Would love one !*wink* *wink* editors! Latina.com, $22)

I hope you’ll mosey on over there! And with enough push, I’ll be on the cover, soon enough!

Adelante!

That being said, and to celebrate new gigs and new purposes, I’m vowing to eating healthier, working out with more passion, adding more greens (cuz I have a terribly hard time doing this) and really being a practitioner of what I preach to my clients and students.

I made this super healthy, extremely fast string bean salad, served as a side for dinner the other day. It’s simple enough to have it every day and can serve as that green vegetable to get you started in incorporating into your diet. I didn’t do anything to really Latin-fy it, however, if you’re gutsy, a 1/2 pack of latin seasoning will give a nice little kick.

 Oops. almost forgot this!

* THIS POST QUALIFIES FOR THE “HUNGER LIVES NO MORE “ ONE COMMENT.ONE EATS. POST! THAT MEANS FOR EACH COMMENT LEFT ON THIS POST, I WILL PERSONALLY DONATE ONE FOOD ITEM TO A LOCAL FOOD BANK FOR FAMILY IN NEED! AN EASY WAY TO DO YOUR PART IN GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY! THE MORE COMMENTS, THE MORE PEOPLE WILL EAT! THANKS FOR SUPPORTING ONE COMMENT.ONE EATS.! PLEASE SHARE BY TWEETING AND FACEBOOKING, STUMBLING, ETC… THANKS!

Eat well, love unapologetically, pray with true intention, and take care of yourself.

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Don't forget to check out my debut cookbook!

Enjoy

GARLICKY STRING BEAN SALAD

Ingredients:

• 1  lb. fresh string beans
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 3 tbsp. olive oil or “butter spread”
• s/p to taste

Method:

Wash and cut both tips of string beans. Bring salted water to a boil in medium pot. Add beans and cook, uncovered until fully cooked, but not too tender.* Drain and pat dry. Set aside in bowl. Heat large sized non-skick skillet and add fat (olive oil or butter spread). Reduce heat. Lightly sauté onions and garlic until translucent or for about 2-3 minutes on low-medium heat. Add string beans to skillet and gently toss using tongs. Add black pepper and a bit more salt if desired. Plate on serving dish.

Serves 4.

*I prefer to pressure cook mine, in which case they’ll be done in 5 minutes. Email me if you’d like instructions on how to pressure cook vegetables. Alternatively, you may also steam the string beans.