Happy Monday, everyone. Day 60. Can you believe it? It was cold and breezy here, and the day flew by.
It feels like I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and talks here in the Pandemic, and one person who's really been making the rounds is the psychologist Rick Hanson, who has a new book called Neurodharma. He is making the rounds on both the Buddhist and clinical psychology circuits, so I think I've heard book-related talks from him four or five times now. I found this talk, where he is joined by my favorite meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg. They had a really interesting discussion about lessons from psychology and meditation that can help us keep connected and well in these difficult times. Food for thought, and I thought I would share.
In addition to thinking about the meaning of life, we are also eating good food.
Red Curry Noodles
New Recipe Monday was a clean-the-pantry meal. I had a very old can of Panang red curry paste, that was a few months expired. Time to use it up! I picked up fresh egg noodles two Fridays back at Good Fortune, and needed to find a use. And the last of the Thai basil was also on the docket--it's too delicious to waste!
Google turned up Red Curry Noodles at my old favorite, Woks of Life, and it served as inspiration. Sarah called this one a "fridge cleanout meal," and we took that to heart. We didn't have any bean sprouts, but we did have some celery that is probably in its last week. Jeff sliced it into very thin matchsticks, and it provided a watery crunch that did the job. Red pepper and green onions. Check. Chicken thighs-- in the freezer. At the end, tossed in the last of the basil and some chopped cilantro. I found it needed a little more liquid to coat the noodles, so added a bit of chicken broth to distribute the sauce. But otherwise, the proportions were great. A grind of salt and squeeze of fresh lime finished the plate. The dish was spicy, creamy, fresh, and chewy; no nuts needed. Success!
Tuna Melt on English Muffin
Today's lunch was a tasty favorite-- I don't know the last time I had a tuna melt, but man. They are good. I mixed up the tuna salad this morning while the coffee was brewing, so I'd be ready to go at lunch. The salad has onion, red bell pepper, celery, sweet relish, mayo, yellow mustard, olive oil, dried dill, salt & pepper, and a squeeze of lime. I finished the end of a block of Extra Sharp Cabot cheddar. And the English Muffins from Trader Joe's, which really are puffy and delicious. Be sure to toast them in the toaster before popping under the broiler for the perfect crunch.
PREP NIGHT
Sunday night, we cooked several Indian dishes and a kielbasa and cabbage skillet for the week. Here's a quick run down:
Aloo ki Tiki
AKA: Samosa Patties. I can't remember which of us mentioned samosas the other day, but it developed into a household craving. We wondered whether there was a way to accomplish it without deep frying, and I came across this dish. First, I made a samosa filling following this recipe, and shaped them into small patties. I pressed panko bread crumbs into the outside, and shallow fried them in a mix of Crisco and vegetable oil. Served with a punchy mint chutney (using the rest of that amazing Good Fortune mint) and Trader Joe's Amba Mango Sauce, which is a fermenty, curry spiced treat. While definitely not a health food, these patties really hit the spot.
Bhindi Masala
Manjula's version of this stir-fried okra dish is delicious, and is great from frozen. I followed the recipe as written, aside from using all-purpose flour instead of gram flour. Yum!
Chana Masala
We cooked the chickpeas from scratch this time, finally cracking in to the dried beans we bought towards the beginning of this thing. As I've shared a couple of times before, Manjula's recipe is great. We always add some amchoor (dried mango powder) at the very end, and do the flour substitution, but otherwise follow to the T. It is a consistent workhorse of our kitchen!
Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet
Taking a different direction, this easy dish finally used up the rest of the purple cabbage that first made an appearance on day 16/17 A cabbage really is a TON of food! Here, the kielbasa was fried with some caraway and crushed red pepper; cabbage added in; and at the end brought together with some grainy mustard and apple cider vinegar. We'll look forward to warming this one later in the week. Verdict on kielbasa: nothing beats Hillshire Farm.
--
And that's it for yesterday and today, folks. I hope that this week brings you all some peace and gratitude, along with everything else that may be coming up. And that you get something tasty to eat.
It feels like I've been listening to a lot of podcasts and talks here in the Pandemic, and one person who's really been making the rounds is the psychologist Rick Hanson, who has a new book called Neurodharma. He is making the rounds on both the Buddhist and clinical psychology circuits, so I think I've heard book-related talks from him four or five times now. I found this talk, where he is joined by my favorite meditation teacher, Sharon Salzberg. They had a really interesting discussion about lessons from psychology and meditation that can help us keep connected and well in these difficult times. Food for thought, and I thought I would share.
In addition to thinking about the meaning of life, we are also eating good food.
Red Curry Noodles
New Recipe Monday was a clean-the-pantry meal. I had a very old can of Panang red curry paste, that was a few months expired. Time to use it up! I picked up fresh egg noodles two Fridays back at Good Fortune, and needed to find a use. And the last of the Thai basil was also on the docket--it's too delicious to waste!
Google turned up Red Curry Noodles at my old favorite, Woks of Life, and it served as inspiration. Sarah called this one a "fridge cleanout meal," and we took that to heart. We didn't have any bean sprouts, but we did have some celery that is probably in its last week. Jeff sliced it into very thin matchsticks, and it provided a watery crunch that did the job. Red pepper and green onions. Check. Chicken thighs-- in the freezer. At the end, tossed in the last of the basil and some chopped cilantro. I found it needed a little more liquid to coat the noodles, so added a bit of chicken broth to distribute the sauce. But otherwise, the proportions were great. A grind of salt and squeeze of fresh lime finished the plate. The dish was spicy, creamy, fresh, and chewy; no nuts needed. Success!
Today's lunch was a tasty favorite-- I don't know the last time I had a tuna melt, but man. They are good. I mixed up the tuna salad this morning while the coffee was brewing, so I'd be ready to go at lunch. The salad has onion, red bell pepper, celery, sweet relish, mayo, yellow mustard, olive oil, dried dill, salt & pepper, and a squeeze of lime. I finished the end of a block of Extra Sharp Cabot cheddar. And the English Muffins from Trader Joe's, which really are puffy and delicious. Be sure to toast them in the toaster before popping under the broiler for the perfect crunch.
PREP NIGHT
Sunday night, we cooked several Indian dishes and a kielbasa and cabbage skillet for the week. Here's a quick run down:
Aloo ki Tiki
AKA: Samosa Patties. I can't remember which of us mentioned samosas the other day, but it developed into a household craving. We wondered whether there was a way to accomplish it without deep frying, and I came across this dish. First, I made a samosa filling following this recipe, and shaped them into small patties. I pressed panko bread crumbs into the outside, and shallow fried them in a mix of Crisco and vegetable oil. Served with a punchy mint chutney (using the rest of that amazing Good Fortune mint) and Trader Joe's Amba Mango Sauce, which is a fermenty, curry spiced treat. While definitely not a health food, these patties really hit the spot.
Bhindi Masala
Manjula's version of this stir-fried okra dish is delicious, and is great from frozen. I followed the recipe as written, aside from using all-purpose flour instead of gram flour. Yum!
Chana Masala
We cooked the chickpeas from scratch this time, finally cracking in to the dried beans we bought towards the beginning of this thing. As I've shared a couple of times before, Manjula's recipe is great. We always add some amchoor (dried mango powder) at the very end, and do the flour substitution, but otherwise follow to the T. It is a consistent workhorse of our kitchen!
Kielbasa and Cabbage Skillet
Taking a different direction, this easy dish finally used up the rest of the purple cabbage that first made an appearance on day 16/17 A cabbage really is a TON of food! Here, the kielbasa was fried with some caraway and crushed red pepper; cabbage added in; and at the end brought together with some grainy mustard and apple cider vinegar. We'll look forward to warming this one later in the week. Verdict on kielbasa: nothing beats Hillshire Farm.
--
And that's it for yesterday and today, folks. I hope that this week brings you all some peace and gratitude, along with everything else that may be coming up. And that you get something tasty to eat.
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