In part, I attribute this to the fact I do less cooking and have assumed more of a management role in the kitchen since Keizo moved in. I plan the menu and make a grocery list while he takes care of the shopping and a lot of the prep work. This doesn't always work out quite as planned as he's much more of a free spirit in the kitchen, using recipes (or a photo) as inspiration, and then making things up as he goes along. While I wasn't particularly thrilled when he substituted black beans for lentils in a curry recipe, at least he's been experimenting in the kitchen long enough to make completely edible, and usually pretty tasty dishes.
Recipes were followed pretty closely for each of the standout meals from January, including taco/margarita night, a flavorful deep dish pizza, a creamy pasta dish and some homestyle Japanese cooking.
Shrimp Tacos - Another winner from Real Simple. Keizo made the filling, and I assembled the avocado creme and made a quick salsa from some odds and ends we had on hand: onions, bell pepper, lime juice and thawed pineapple chunks. The margaritas were basic, but oh so tasty after a busy week at work.
Moroccan Spiced Deep Dish Pizza - I bought Keizo a cast iron skillet for Christmas, and it quickly became a prominent player in our kitchen. This was our first ever attempt at deep dish pizza as well as the first time we used the skillet in the oven. The flavors in this recipe are intense and rather different from what we usually cook, but really my only complaint was how chewy the dough turned out.
Salmon and Lemon Bucatini - Back in December, friends gave us a code for a free Blue Apron delivery, and we ended up using the service for the rest of the month. This was one of the recipes we really liked, and decided to buy our own ingredients to make it again. The dish is tasty, comes together quickly, and hits all of the major food groups - what's not to like? We found this to be true of about half of the recipes from Blue Apron. We also got to try some new foods, cooking techniques and only shopped for breakfast and lunch staples. On the other hand, with the two-person option there were never any leftovers, and the pre-portioned ingredients arrived in a ton of packaging. We paused our deliveries through the end of January, but we're thinking about trying it again, maybe one week a month for new ideas.
Nikujaga - Literally "meat and potatoes" in Japanese, nikujaga is a simple, yet oh so tasty dish that really banishes the winter cold. Keizo mastered this meal, serving the nikujaga, miso soup, salad, and pickled daikon the traditional way on different plates. Maybe I can get used to this new management role after all ;-)
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