The Pig and I

You could call this vegetable stew if you wanted, too. It's burning my mouth, but it's so good I'm eating it anyway. Hopefully this will help my fever break. This should be served with saltine crackers. They are really yummy with it, and I am not generally a crackers-with-soup kind of girl. For dessert, I recommend two mint-chocolate chip cookies. This is made similarly to ratatouille, but it is not, by any means, the same thing. It is, however, a good way to get rid of a lot of veggies all at once. It could be good with rice, too. I'll make some tomorrow and find out. 1 medium red potato (last potato!), cut into cubes 1 red onion, cut into chunks 3 carrots, cut into chunks (I didn't peel them) 1 zucchini, cut into thick slices 1 large handful of green beans, ends trimmed and cut in half 1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks 3 celery stalks, w/ leaves, cut into chunks 1 can of stewed tomatoes 1 cup vegetable broth salt and pepper to taste 1/2 teaspoon:

I am doing the potato thing again. Because I had many, and now I only have one. So we're almost through this. Plus, I'm still sick and this requires next to no prep work. I'm trying to avoid the kitchen as much as possible for hot foods, since I'm still running a fever. My inclination is to not eat at all, in honesty. But I know I'll stay sick a lot longer that way. 1 pounds red potatoes 2 chopped hard boiled eggs 1 celery stalk, sliced 1 cup diced cucumber 1 sliced scallion 1/4 cup dill pickle relish (or, if you like sweet, use that) 1 teaspoon: American mustard, stone ground mustard, powdered mustard 1 tablespoon: mayonnaise, powdered fenugreek, paprika 2 teaspoons: sesoned salt, lemon pepper large pinch of salt water Put the potatoes in water to cover with the large pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, or until fork tender, then drain. Chop them up and let them cool. Mix the potatoes with everything else. Chill. Eat. Serves 2.

Well, it turns out I've got a fever. My lymph nodes are swollen, and I'm a little nauseated, dizzy and headachy (though the headache is likely due to lack of caffeine). I know I need to eat, but the idea of standing in the kitchen for more than 5 minutes is pretty much out. Yeah... because I'd mainly rather not eat than actually actively cook today. Roasted vegetables, to the rescue. Nutritive, filling, and no work. 1 teaspoon sesame oil 1 medium-sized red potato, cut into 9 slices salt and pepper to taste omani (crushed lemon - you can use lemon pepper instead, which is not the same but which does taste good) to taste 1 stalk celery, cut in half lengthwise, then into 1.5" strips 1 small (tiny!) onion, sliced into rings 1 teaspoon orange blossom water (optional) 1 teaspoon citrus vinegar of your choice (or just use balsamic, which is also nice) 1-2 tablespoons evoo Put the sesame oil in a small casserole dish and swish it to coat the bottom. Add a layer of potato, the

Strangely, I have very little to say about food today. I consider that odd, given the only two things that don't involve the people in my life that I think about are food and math. But, I've thought a lot about math lately - probably on account of my insane decision to take 12 hours this summer! Last night, my brother texted to let me know he was in town, and did I want to get together. We had some lovely, fragrant Pho. I got lost on the way to his hotel. Apparently, despite my half-hearted attempts to acclimate, I only know how to get to the grocery store, the post office, school, couple restaurants and the laundromat. I think I forgot to eat today. I remember eating some fruit salad (watermelon, pear, strawberries and lemon juice) for breakfast. When I remember to buy fruit for it, I make a big bowl and eat it every morning for breakfast. I remember having coffee. That's all I remember. I'm sure I must've eaten something. But if I did, I have no idea what it w

I've got all these breaded chicken breasts in the freezer, and frankly, I'm tired of chicken parmesan now. My appetite has been depressed, so I've been trying to pack as many calories as possible into each meal. I've been getting a ton of exercise lately by "spring cleaning" my house, so I wanted to make sure it was a protein dense meal. But today I really just wanted a salad, and oddly, with iceberg. So I decided to combine them. 8 ounces chicken breast (I used breaded, you use what you want) 2 new potatoes, cut into sixths 2 teaspoons paprika 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 cups torn iceberg lettuce 1/2 roma tomato, cut into six lengthwise wedges 1 hardboiled egg, quartered 1 carrot, cut on a bias 2 ounces crumbled feta Heat oven to 375F. Toss potato wedges in oil and paprika, then put on a baking sheet. Add chicken and cook 22 minutes, turning once. Allow to cool for a few minutes. Put all but feta on the plate. When potatoes are cool enough, ad

Sometimes, I live on wraps. Lately, I've been having my 4am snack wrap (which is not really a snack). I like wraps because they're easier to hold than sandwiches, when you have a lot of stuff in them. One of my favourite places for wraps is Banana Crepe in San Jose, CA. They make their wraps with crepes, which are simply divine. Anyway, I've been stuck on this one specific wrap the last few days, so I thought I'd share: 1 tortilla (2 if you're really hungry) 3 pieces hard salami (I'm using the oscar meyer brand hard salami for this) 4 pickle slices 1 slice of oil and herb soaked mozzarella, cut into a 1/4" thick round (I buy this mozzarella at Phoenecia, but if you can't find some you can always make up a mix of herbes and oil and marinate your mozzarella in it yourself) 1 teaspoon mustard (sometimes I use whole grain, sometimes American style) Lay one tortilla down and put a strip of mustard in the middle. Cover mustard with two slices of sal

It's been soup week here. Much of the impetus for me to eat so much soup is that I have this wide array of frozen vegetables. Honestly? I don't know what to do with most frozen vegetables, because I simply don't like most of them. Sure, frozen corn, broccoli, onions, potatoes and spinach are fine. Sometimes I even don't balk too much about frozen green beans, for casseroles or whatever. But the remainder of the vegetables I can think of just... lose something when they're frozen. Anyway, I have some (the bothersome ones in question are carrots). And I'm trying to use them all up before P gets home, so I can start filling the freezer with things we really do like. Soup is the only thing I can think of to use up these frozen carrots. It's way, way, way too hot for soup, but I'm just using the fan while I eat. This soup, however, made the carrots stop being distasteful to me, and now I see their purpose in the world. 2 cups chicken (mixed colours), cut

I got this craving for La Madeleine's Tomato-Basil soup yesterday, but I have a hard time rationalising spending 5 bucks on soup when I know I can make the same amount for under a money. Additionally, this month's theme for No Croutons Required is to exemplify an herb in a soup or salad, so I thought this would be a nice fit. Mine tasted a little different from theirs, but was still quite good. It was easy to make, inexpensive and tasty, so I'll definitely be making it again. Here you go: 2 garlic cloves, minced (I like a lot of garlic, as you may've noticed) 1 small onion, diced (yields 1/2-3/4 cup onion) 1 tablespoon vegetable oil salt and pepper to taste 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes 1 cup veggie broth pinch of sugar 1 1/2 cup fresh basil, torn up 1/4 cup milk or cream In a small saucepan, sweat the onions and garlic in oil, salt and pepper until the onions are transluscent. Add the tomatoes, broth and sugar, and let simmer for 30 minutes. Add in

I made it through the last of the andouille. Finally. I actually didn't think I was going to like this at all because, well... I'm kind of tired of andouille. I ate it for so many days, I was happy to see the end of it approaching. This was actually pretty good, though, so by the end I felt glad I'd had that last bit. This is a kind of casserole type thing. Simple to prepare and tasty in a very rustic-feeling way. 2 cups sliced and cleaned leek (remember that giant leek I talked about? I finished it with this meal too) small handful of dried shitake slices, rehydrated (or 1 whole dried shitake, reconstituted and sliced) 1 medium red potato, sliced into 1/4" rounds 4 ounces andouille, sliced into 1/4" rounds pinch of salt, sprinkle of white pepper and a shake of paprika light drizzle of lemon juice, vegetable oil and vegetable broth Heat oven to 400F. Put the leeks in a small casserole dish. Top with andouille and mushroom slices, then with the potato. Spr

Well, I've almost made it through the leftovers. Accurately speaking, I've made it through all the cooked leftovers (except a little baked chicken which I froze, since I was really tired of eating it). I remembered there was a little red rice left in the pantry; only enough for one person, really. There was also the last half of the andouille, and the remaining giant leek. So I figured I should get to work on them. It was kind of sad trying to figure out portions for only me, but I managed it. Aleister wanted some, but he was told no. So here it is: 1/3 cup bhutanese red rice 1/2 cup water pinch of salt Combine the ingredients in a small pot and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 14 minutes, then let sit, covered, at least 10 minutes. While that's going on, do the following: 1 1/2 cups sliced and cleaned leeks 2 cloves garlic, sliced 1 carrot, thinly sliced 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon orange blossom water 3 tablespoons vegetable bro

P is leaving tomorrow, so I wanted to make a nice dinner for him. I'm going to miss cooking for him while he's in Brazil. A lot. 1 large yellow onion, sliced into 1/4" thick rings 6-8 large brussels sprouts, cleaned and quartered 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced into 1" bits 3 celery stalks, cut into 1" slices 12 whole garlic cloves 4 tablespoons oil; half olive, half vegetable 1/4 teaspoon dill 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar salt and pepper to taste 1 large red bell pepper, cut in half then sliced 8 ounces andouille, sliced on a bias 12 ounces spaghetti water 2 tablespoons lemon juice Preheat oven to 400. Mix the first group of ingredients together and put it in the oven. Roast for 30 minutes or until well caramelized. Boil the water and cook pasta according to package directions. Pour the oil (or maybe just 3/4 of it; up to you) into a large skillet. Heat it up (if it's cooled) on medium to medium-high heat, and add the peppers and saus

Tamarind. The first time I was aware of having eaten it was in a now-closed Indonesian restaurant called the Rice Table. It was in San Rafael. I think on B Street. Another of my closest friends; my brother, really (though not biologically speaking) took me there. My favourite dish was the plate of tamarind mushrooms. I was successful in getting the recipe from the proprietor, but only on the condition that I never give it out. A woman of my word, I've made a slightly different version to share with y'all. Here it is. 1 tablespoon tamarind paste 2-3 tablespoons warm water 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced 1 large clove garlic, minced 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 pound button mushrooms, sliced 2 tablespoons lemon juice salt and pepper to taste Put tamarind in a small bowl and add the warm water. Mash the tamarind in the water with a spoon (I use a grapefruit spoon, but that's just me) to mix it into the water, and also to separate the seeds and the other crunchy b

Apparently, I'm channeling the memory of Irma today, in a way I never knew her. As you all know, I made that chicken yesterday, and as you probably expected, there was a lot leftover. I'd originally intended to use this chicken for chicken salad. Part of me doesn't see a good reason for this, though, since P is leaving for Brazil on Saturday (and he won't have eaten it all by then) and I don't particularly like chicken salad (alright... I admit it). While I was taking my calculus test (this will probably explain how many questions I couldn't remember how to do), I started thinking about tortillas. The conversation in my head went something like this (Be forwarned, I like to have conversations with myself in my head as though I were two people, since it makes sorting thoughts simpler): "I could really go for a tortilla right now. A butter flavoured one." "You really should go for figuring out this problem. Besides, we have all that chicken to ea