Flexitarian Menu

Well as much as cp can put up with eating non-meat meals on a regular basis, he gets tired of it. As much as he tires of it, I also tire of making food that I can’t eat, and have been doing it less and less. As a result, he has grown more and more displeased with eating, at home, anyway.

Now, there is an obvious solution to this, right? But pushing that idea on him would only prevent him from ever actually being willing to carry it out. So as hard as it is to resist, I haven’t pestered him to make his own food (that much). And, finally, my patience has paid off.

A few nights ago, he made his very first dish, transitioning to passive dishwasher to active participant in the kitchen by making pan-fried pork chops. He even took my suggestion for a more exciting topping. I had a bite of both creations, and he did a fine job. Not surprisingly, his recipe is very simple– as simple as they come in fact, but does not compromise quality because of its quick cooking time and simple ingredients.

It’s been a few weeks since I pledged to return to the basics. I’m still pretty much adhering to the plan, using simple ingredients, not spending enormous blocks of time on cooking, and making things that can be eaten for several days at a time, in various combinations. My personal quest to simplify my cooking naturally was inspired by the abusiveness of my employer, and the torment from teenagers that I continue endure. It should come as no surprise that I still suffer both ailments. (I really don’t hate kids even though it seems like I might. I mean, I’m trying to decipher some slang messages I just received on AIM as I presently type this blog entry.)

I told a kid today to cut his fingernails. Sure, maybe I should have been minding my own business, and not asserting my standards of hygiene on others, but teaching would be no fun at all if I did that. The kid promptly replied that he needed his nails to pick his boogers. He was really proud of this fact. And, I have to say that I appreciated his response. His openness. His logic. He further explained to a very captivated class that without his nails, he couldn’t scrape out those really dry ones on the side of his nose. The class then degenerated into a discussion about an assortment of off topic things, all of which made me laugh a whole lot.

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Argh, I still haven’t posted vacation photos anywhere except for the one above. I’m very behind, in general, not just here in blog world. I missed so many recipes in the week away from my reader. In trying to get through everything, I starred quite a few. Here are the ones I’d like to try most:

Savory

Fennel and Saffron Bread [Mediterranean Cooking in Alaska]
Goat Cheese and PSB Frittata with Black Olive Tapenade [Food Stories]
Dan Dan Mian [Closet Cooking]
Savory Four Layer Goat Cheese Torta [Little Bits]
Mushroom and Goat Cheese Strudel with Balsamic Syrup [Closet Cooking]
Beetroot and Quinoa Salad with Feta Cheese and Olives [Lisa's Kitchen]
Baked Cod in Yogurt Sauce [The Wednesday Chef]
Cauliflower, Bean, and Feta Salad [smitten kitchen]
Tofu and Almond Salad Bowl [Appetite for China]
Vegan Macaroni and Cheese [love like a vegan]
Seared Tuna Steak with Avocado and Lime Dressing [My Husband Hates Veggies]
Simple Tomato Phyllo Tart [everybody likes sandwiches]

Sweet

Iced Spiced Southern Coffee [jugalbandi]
Refreshing Cantaloupe with Mint [365 Days of Pure Vegetarian]
Basil Lemon Ice Cream [Not Eating Out in NY]
Arroz con Leche [Guerrilla Gourmet]
Mini Maple Walnut Cupcakes [Flour Arrangements]

Tuna salads and pasta salads conjure piles of substandard accompaniments drenched in mayo and other sauces, soaking sandwich bread or paper picnic plates. I know healthy versions exist, but rarely have I encountered them because my usual run-ins with the mayo-loving salad are via generic eating experiences like poorly catered work events or CUNY cafeterias. My other real problems is that I secretly love the creaminess provided by mayonnaise products, however gross they make me feel afterwards, which is why I never quite adjusted to eating tuna with olive oil. But because I just can’t seem to bring myself to drench anything in mayonnaise at home, I shy away from this sort of thing. And, then of course there’s the tuna problem. You know, that whole issue with mercury.

So I thought my life would be void of a truly good mayo-slathered substitute until I read about this at The Vegan Ronin, which may seem simple, but has changed my life forever. The version is based on chickpeas, and contains no tuna whatsoever. I took it one step further and removed nearly all of the mayonnaise.

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Well, it’s strange to say this at this point in my life because I never imagined myself going on a family sort of vacation ever again. The only breed of family vacation I’m willing to go on with my own family is the sort where my similarly aged brother and cousins may be involved– the type of thing where the young people can divorce the old, drink too much, insult each other, and maybe allow the creepy uncle to tag along. Those sorts of vacations don’t usually materialize though. And, I should have thought a lot harder before going on this vacation.

The only thing worse than going on vacation with your own bickering family for a week, is going on vacation with someone else’s family that doesn’t bicker at all. And worse than the monotony of being surrounded by the seemingly normal, is being subjected to the regular habit of just eating anywhere, anytime, to meet the objective of becoming full. I mean that in the most endearing way possible, but being trapped inside a car for almost six days (the very bad sort of family vacation) circling around the arid southwest without giving any priority whatsoever to eating is simply torturous for a person like me.

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So we’re heading out tonight to Las Vegas until Sunday. About two weeks back, cp’s parents called him and asked if we’d like to join them on their trip out there. The gambling and entertainment mecca certainly wouldn’t be our first choice in destinations but we had no other plans and haven’t left Brooklyn in almost two years, so how could we refuse? And, considering the low-cost (read: free) nature of the trip, I simply would be unable to turn it down regardless of having to visit a strange land. …So here I am, getting ready for a journey to Vegas. I’m wholly unprepared–a dark wintery person, owner of a five year old bathing suit not touched in years, a virgin gambler….. I should fair alright so long as I get to sample a few buffets. (Okay, one buffet will certainly be enough.) And so I leave you with this long post, with three recipes (four, if you count the the dipping sauce) and many photos.

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I always have containers of old rice that get forgotten about and lodged between other containers of leftovers in my very disorganized refrigerator. The rice usually hardens a bit, clumps together, and starts to adopt the slight stale fridge odor. When this happens, I know it’s time. The rice is ready to be fried into my all time favorite easy dish: fried rice.

This is the perfect rice cover up. It’s easy too. The only trick–which may seem obvious and hardly a trick at all, is to either create a well in the center of the frying pan to scramble the eggs so they don’t mix with the rice or to just scramble the eggs separately in a different pan, or in the same pan ahead of time and set them aside. I opt for the second choice because I’m not skilled enough to make the rice well. Doing it in one pan, at once, clearly eliminates clean up and looks much more professional– the way food might be cooked up in a flash in front of an audience. But my slightly more remedial way works as well too.

An Explanation of the Recipe Round Up

I only recently started using a feed reader to keep up with blogs. Well, mostly because before I had my own blog, I wasn’t trying to keep up with about a hundred blogs a day. And that number grows every week, as I continue to discover new great food blogs. I initially began by using Google Reader because I didn’t know any others, and because Google anything is typically pretty convenient so I figured I had little to lose by giving Google Reader a shot. I’ve stuck with it and now I have a huge list of starred recipes each week, and these are the ones I want to make most.

Savory

Corn Cakes with Blue Cheese and Honey [Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen]
Mediterranean Vegetable Cheese Pie [redacted recipes]
Charred Pepper Pupusas [little bits]
Baked Olives and Cabbage Omelette [The Sugar Bar]
Seaweed Egg Drop Soup [Appetite For China]
Garlic Confit [A Chicken in Every Granny Cart]
Mock Tuna Spread [The Vegan Ronin]

Sweet

Chocolate Pudding [Green Gourmet Giraffe]
Green Tea White Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies with Chocolate Ganache [Closet Cooking]

Without many vegetarian options in the (gentrified enough though not yet over run with healthy eating options) neighborhood where I work, I lunch on rice and beans a few times a week. In part due to laziness, and necessary cheapness (really, the bank account is pretty empty anymore), the comfort provided by the $3.50 rice and beans satisfies me. I mean, I’m fine with eating the same thing day in and day out, and I can gracefully accept the harmless ridicule I face of my coworkers and the employees at the “Mexican” food-for-all where I get my rice and beans. But, at the end of the day, I grimace at the thought of having to spend money on a meal I can so easily produce.

Not surprisingly, the rice and beans I buy taste phenomenal. Far better than any beans I could produce in my own home. After all, I would never have the courage to add pounds of oil/animal lard/god knows what else that make up the beans that taste so great.

So I’ll admit it, these beans might not blow you away. They aren’t the mystery grease filled delightful beans that you get at the burrito place down the street, which are always shockingly delicious. But they also aren’t drenched in lard. So that’s a plus.

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This is about using ingredients I already had. And planning ahead by getting organized to be able to whip it up in a flash by premixing the spices until ready (instead of scrambling around the kitchen looking for them right before they are needed like I usually do) because…

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