Yesterday I wrote about how often I struggle with good lunches, but maybe I’m on a roll. Today I sauteed up some fresh corn that I just got in the weekly veggie box, tossed it with last night’s sticky, soy glazed grilled salmon, some cucumber and lettuce and a light rice vinegar dressing. I hope I can keep it up. It tasted amazing (there’s just nothing like sweet summer corn) and I felt great afterwards.
Even though I work at home, lunches can be challenging for me. It seems like it would be a welcome break, but often I realize I am starving at 2 pm, having sat at my desk for hours in the middle of a project. For a while I had an alarm on my computer that would say, really loudly, GET UP AND MOVE. And I would. I’d fill my water, go empty half the dishwasher, make a nice lunch and so on. It worked really well until my free trial ended and I didn’t bother finding another program. And so … Continue reading
Sometimes I stare at the recent delivery of items from the weekly veggie basket and have no immediate ideas. On such occasions I usually throw a few ingredients at Google and see what happens. This time around I think I just did “turnip radish” and the very first recipe I found happened to be from David Chang. Considering he is reponsible for my favorite brussels sprouts recipe EVER, I decided to make his recipe exactly no questions asked. Supposedly it is a “play on Korean sweet-and-sour pork” but using shiitakes and radishes and turnips. The root veggies are browned then … Continue reading
There are some nights I am pretty proud about a meal that was pulled last minute from the back of the freezer and pantry, elevating sad little leftovers to a entirely new level. This meal, as oddly paired as it might seem, was one such event. We had just two small cups of chilled corn soup from the night before. I almost always have carrots on hand and apparently had some radishes as well. The carrots and radishes got a quick pickling in my standard mix of rice vinegar, sugar and chili. I meanwhile had started thawing two mahi mahi … Continue reading
This photo has got to be one of the worst in the bunch and I hesitated to show it, but I remember enjoying eating this dinner and we do often eat vegetarian (or at least meat minimal) meals so I decided to include it. When we had first moved back to Denver and were living with, and caring for, my dad, I cooked dinner for all of us most nights. Other than broccoli slathered in hollandaise or endive baked in a cream sauce, my dad was not a big fan of vegetables. So I was always trying to find ways … Continue reading
I had heard about garlic scapes several times, but had never had the opportunity to try them. Then one day they appeared in our weekly veggie basket. I found out that they are the flower of a garlic plant and are often removed in order to promote growth in the garlic plant itself. It was only recently that farmers realized people were willing to pay a premium for these mild flavored, crisp stems and so they have been showing up in more and more places in early spring/summer. We decided to try grilling them and after testing one found they … Continue reading
I love kabocha squash. Love love love love love. It has a fabulously sweet and rich flavor and makes the creamiest soup possible. Usually I will slice it into moons, brown it in oil, then simmer briefly in a smokey, dashi broth. But this go around I decided to stuff it with the ground pork I had. And, not knowing what to do with the collard greens that had arrived in our weekly veggie basket, I threw them in too. I briefly marinated the ground pork with a touch of soy, some sherry, garlic and chili flakes. I then browned … Continue reading
Often I will get (or send) IMs from/to my sister-in-law in Minnesota regarding that evening’s meal. This particular say she sent me a link to a recipe for a potato, lentil and walnut salad that sounded really good. I don’t even remember the original recipe, but when I was in the store later that afternoon I decided I’d make a version of it. I would serve it with some simple, pan-fried salmon and a cold corn and tomato salad with the basil I was finally growing in the garden. For the salad, I cooked some new red potatoes in water … Continue reading
I don’t even remember what we did on the 4th this year, but looking at the photo for that meal, I’m assuming I cooked a lot and then maybe went to bed in a salty-induced coma. I do recall that I had been embarking on making my own, home-made tofu. For the first step I had soaked the soy beans, ground them and strained them to make the soy milk. I then heated it slowly until a skin formed on the top and carefully lifted it off and onto a plate. It is like a very delicate noodle and that … Continue reading
When I lived in San Francisco, I worked across the street from a decent restaurant that I would go to for one thing: grilled mango and shrimp salad. It was the perfect lunch. Filling but light. Pretty healthy. Slightly extravagant for a week-day lunch. And when I saw the tiny, yellow, Champagne mangoes at Whole Foods I knew right away what I wanted to do with them. The shrimp got a quick marinating in some lime juice, olive oil, chili powder and garlic and were then cooked very quickly in a super hot pan. The mango was sliced into long, … Continue reading