Trying to avoid stress carb/junk food, so tonight is a taste explosion!
A pair of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, now resting after rubbing in a homemade paste of olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and just a pinch of turbinado sugar. I’m going to sear them in the skillet, and then use the same pan to lightly brown some cubed butternut squash in a bit of butter with a dash of Penzy’s Chili powder to match the flavors up better.
I felt rather peckish this morning so had the last half of a roast turkey sub that I bought yesterday. It was so good that I went out just now for the express purpose of getting another one, along with a roast beef sub.
So dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow will be some combination of a turkey sub with cheese, lettuce, sliced vine tomato, red onion, and Hellmann’s mayo, and a hot roast beef sub with mushrooms and sauteed onion with lots of Dijon. And at some point a Greek salad with black olives, red onion, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and Renée’s feta-cheese Greek salad dressing.
We have salads in regular rotation as the main/sole dish for dinner, and it looks like that’s the plan tonight. Veggies will be lettuces, baby kale, radish, onion, carrot, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, and asparagus. Other components will be croutons, feta cheese, and I’ve also gotten into the habit of taking a can of beans (either black or chickpeas), seasoning them with dried herbs and salt, and putting them in as a protein and filler.
I also make my own dressing on the tangy/vinegary side of things- dijon mustard, salt, olive oil, and white wine vinegar, with the occasional addition of chopped garlic, balsamic vinegar, or some other flavor.
Being something of a piglet, both the turkey and roast beef subs have been consumed. So for the big Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final tonight, I will be sauteeing white onions and then adding Bush’s Homestyle beans with bacon and hickory smoke barbecue sauce and pieces of all-beef frankfurters, which can simmer and I will occasionally stir while watching the game. Will be served with homemade fries from the air fryer – I already have the sliced potatoes soaking in water. Later they will be tossed in olive oil and garlic salt, maybe a bit of Herbes de Provence, then air-fried.
Too late to edit, but if anyone cares about my homemade French-fry recipe, you need to cut and soak the potatoes in water for at least an hour (I use russet baking potatoes, and I wash and scrub them but leave the skin on). Then dry and toss in a plastic produce bag with olive oil and garlic salt. Set the air fryer to 375F and 20 minutes, but check when there’s about 4 minutes left on the timer – they should already be crisp and golden brown. Resume frying or not, according to preference.
I decided on a banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) for lunch, but forgot that the roads to the Vietnamese area would be impacted by the rallies today. So I got a lesser banh mi from a place just up the street. Not actually bad, but not what I was hoping for.
For dinner, I haven’t decided if I’ll eat the 2nd half of the sandwich, or go grab a Mexican adobada (spicy pork) torta. Or an adobada bowl. So many choices…
Tonight is a red salmon filet in a honey/soy/garlic sauce, saffron rice with toasted almonds, and roasted asparagus spears. It’s not beans and wienies, but it’ll do.
7 oz ahi tuna steak, marinating in a ginger-yuzu pepper-ponzu sauce, cooked hot and fast to just past medium rare, mixed greens in a matching dressing, along with chunk of rosemary garlic focaccia with a olive oil and balsamic dipping mix.
Just made the dressing that will be used for the fish and dressing, and letting it come together, but I’ll only want to give the fish 10-20 minutes in it prior to cooking, or it’ll overwhelm the tuna’s own flavor. But it’ll all come together nicely in a couple of hours.
I made a pizza last night. Started the dough on saturday to let it get some fermentation time. Mozz, a simple tom sauce of whole canned romas with salt and pepper blitzed with a stick blender, pepperoni, feta and sun-dried tomatoes. 550 on a pizza steel for about 13 minutes. Lovely leoparding on the crust and was quite yum. Gonna have the leftover tonight.
Dinner tonight will be … nothing! How’s that for a new twist?
I had a roast turkey sub for a late lunch, and the local supermarket deli really lays on the turkey. There was some old commercial that used the line “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing!” That applies here. So, no dinner, but I did have some tortilla chips with tzatziki dip.
Szechuan Beef and fried rice, sprinkled with chopped green onions and maybe a dollop of Huy Fong chili garlic sauce. For dessert, Game 6 of the NHL Stanley Cup Final with some vanilla ice cream and raspberries drizzled with sweet four-star balsamic vinegar.
So, no dinner, but I did have some tortilla chips with tzatziki dip.