Salad made with red leaf lettuce, kale, radicchio, almonds, dried cherries, blueberries, beets, sweet potatoes, hemp seeds, cucumber, chervil, basil, parsley, and maple cayenne lemon vinaigrette.
Just want to report that it was very good, as I knew it would be as soon as I opened the bag and the distinct aroma of lo mein wafted out even though it was frozen.
You need a large non-stick skillet with a cover (preferably glass), which I fortunately happened to have as I use it for dim sum.
I confess I made a piglet of myself and ate the whole thing. Package lists weight as 624 grams (nearly 1.4 pounds) but to be fair, a good part of that is sauce that gets thickened, and the water content of the noodles is probably pretty high. There were vast clouds of steam as I was stir-frying and the volume reduced considerably.
Very late dinner tonight will be spaghettini with a semi-homemade simple pasta sauce (OK, made by the little deli that I love) – Italian tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, onions, basil, sea salt, and pepper. No sugar, no preservatives. Just a basic marinara, which I will simmer with some meatballs from the same place. I just wish they hadn’t included diced tomatoes as I like a smooth pasta sauce. I’m tempted to put it in the blender.
My blender idea was inspired! The above-mentioned pasta sauce proved very good when I opened the jar, but it was indeed chunky and, furthermore, very thick – I literally had to spoon the last half of it out of the jar into the blender. Then I shook up the jar with about a cup and a half of water and added that, then ran the blender. It turned out silky-smooth and in fact the blending process seemed to subtly change the flavour – it has both a taste and mellow aftertaste, the way ricotta does. It’s now simmering with meatballs.
Last night was homemade fried cheeseburgers on the griddle, and homemade french fries. The burgers were good, the fries were excellent. We had enough meat to make extra patties, so we had more burgers and I made more fries tonight. Tomorrow will probably be the last of the burgers, but I might forego the fries since my sweetie will be home late from work and I won’t have any easy way to time good, hot fries for her.
Trying to eat a little lighter and healthier here in the new year. Last night I had a couple avocados that needed using in something, and we had some tortilla chips, so I made a little guacamole, a batch of fresh pico de gallo, and some refried beans from a can of pinto beans I found in the cupboard. I had a vegetarian chips 'n dip fest.
Since it’s been pretty cold here, I’ve been making some cold weather classics. Had pastitsio yesterday, and there’s enough of that left for two more meals. Chili’s on deck for tonight, and I’ve got enough of that for several more meals as well.
Next time I go to the store, I’ll pick up some fixings for Chile Colorado.
Well I found leftover pizza in the work kitchen so I had that for a late lunch along with potato chips and a can of coke.
Will just need a snack or a sandwich for dinner tonight.
Will try to make chili some time in the coming days.
Last time I was at one of my favourite supermarkets, which among other things has really good store-made soups, I got a bowl of Forest Mushroom soup which was terrifically flavourful and mellow, and enjoyed it with their equally good steak and mushroom pie. Their various soups are on rotation with 4 to 6 at any given time. I was happy to see they had Forest Mushroom again today. It will be had with a hot Montreal smoked meat sandwich on a toasted onion bun.
As a somewhat off-topic side note, another repeat purchase today was the fresh-squeezed orange juice they make in-store. I got some last time just to try, and man, what a difference from even the best mass-produced “not from concentrate” OJ. I don’t know what causes the vast difference, but it’s marked “not pasteurized” and has a very short expiry date. That may be what does it – perhaps the pasteurization wreaks havoc with the fresh flavour. It just tastes so much brighter and more refreshing than normal bottled stuff. It costs at least twice as much but is well worth it.
Tonight will be leftover homemade pizza, but I spent part of a windy, snowy afternoon trying out Kenji’s “Best Vegetarian Bean Chili” recipe. We’ll let it meld overnight and try it out for dinner tomorrow. It smells great but may need some adjustments. I made it non-veggie by using chicken broth for the dried chili paste and a little fish sauce but still, reducing the beef intake at least for a day is good! I used no-salt beans so we can do our own salting. I’m interested to see how the food-processed chickpeas do for adding body and texture.
Taco truck tacos al pastor with rice and refried beans.
Alas, for the first time in many recent visits to my favourite little deli, they didn’t have cabbage rolls. At least I picked up their fantastic store-baked onion buns, tuna salad, and, instead of cabbage rolls, rigatoni in meat sauce sprinkled with mozzarella.
Also another jar of their chunky marinara sauce, which will need to be thinned and pureed in a blender, and a larger jar of garlic marinara which will not. The former makes a really excellent marinara once pureed, the latter I haven’t tried before.
I baked a quiche a coupla nights ago (caramelized onion, spinach, tomato, and a bit of garlic) and although I usually add some sort of piggy - ham or bacon, or gild the lily & do both - this time out of sheer laziness I opted for a veggie version this time.
I don’t know if I’ve added chopped tomato to quiche before, but it played very nicely with the spinach. Prettily colorful, too.
Heavy cream for the dairy.
Anyway, that’s been a couple of meals.
For tonight, I have half of an absolutely gorgeous marbled ribeye (or maybe I was just really hungry when I saw it) marinading in a mix of W-shire, soy sauce, a splash of orange juice for sweetness (it gives kind of a teriyaki vibe) plus some of the elderly red wine that’s been sitting around, nit getting any younger, since the last time I made a pot roast.
The plan is to saute an onion in my cast iron pan - a tasty way to let the metal slowly heat up - and then sear that sucker.
Possibly a roll to go with.
The other half will hafta wait for another night - maybe that one I’ll go with a simple oil-and-salt rub instead, plus butter and some garlic cloves.
Oh, here’s the quiche:
A “chicken” Caesar wrap (with vegan chicken analog) and tater tots.
@purplehorseshoe, your quiche looks great!
Thanks! I still have the other pie crust (comes in a box of two) and more spinach, so will be rolling out - heh - Quiche v2.0 soon.
Meanwhile, tonight’s half a ribeye was delishush.
About to have my favorite yogurt (Oui brand, vanilla with weeeee little chocolate flakes) for dessert.
Tonight my sweetie made a city ham and home made biscuits and baked green beans with shallots. MMM, delicious ham, and very nice biscuits. The shallots did a great job of complimenting the bitterness of the beans. I’ll be making ham and biscuit sandwiches for a few days. If I don’t scavenge it too badly, we’ll make ham fried rice near the end of the week. MMM, again.
This weekend I made a ham, corn, and potato chowder with leftover Christmas ham I had in the freezer. So so good. Other meals included Rebo’s Red chili, Shrimp Primavera, homemade pizza, and homemade pork Lo Mein.
Tonight? Hmm. Maybe Orange Chicken and Broccoli, made with harissa. Or steaks and twice-baked baked potato and tossed salad. I think the latter, it’s easier and I’m working at the office today.
So Saturday at the store they had a sale on strip steaks, and I thought, hmm, I’ll make the old La Choy style pepper steak for Sunday dinner. It’s a blast from my past that I make as a copycat recipe once or twice a year.
Way back in the day La Choy used to sell a ‘pepper steak’ making kit that is no longer sold, though La Choy does still sell other ‘family meal’ style dinner kits. It consisted of a big can of limp and soggy red and green bell peppers, onions and bean sprouts; and a packet of powder to mix with water to make a sauce. You supplied the steak and the rice. My mom would occasionally make it when she didn’t feel like cooking something complicated, and I used to make it in college when I was first learning how to cook for myself. Though it doesn’t sound too great, something about it was just absolute deliciousness. Maybe it was all the MSG.
My version is actually pretty healthy, since I use fresh vegetables, except for canned bean sprouts. But, one essential ingredient is La Choy brand soy sauce, so I bought a bottle of that too. I know, La Choy soy sauce is absolute garbage-- I think it’s made out of ashes, HFCS and caramel coloring. I never use it otherwise-- I have much better, more authentic soy sauces on hand. But for this meal, it’s gotta be La Choy soy.
That steak indeed looks delishush – that’s about what I’d call medium rare and is my perfect doneness!
I, too, am going with a beef-themed late dinner tonight, but in the less elegant form of a steak & mushroom pie. Maybe with a side of fries from the air fryer if I feel sufficiently peckish. It will be tasty but not particularly photogenic!
Quiche here tonight too - feta cheese, ricotta and spinach. Big green salad with olives and anchovies and little spanakopita triangles that I got from the Greek Orthodox church. Nom.
At Yvette’s in the Quarter De Orleans on Saint Martin had an amazing meal. Appetizer of Conch Ceviche
Then Snapper Creole style. Caught that morning.
With rice&peas, Johnny cakes, plantains, salad
Girlfriend had conchs & dumplings
With white wine.