New Recipes: April

Keizo and I tried a record breaking number of new recipes in April. While he did most of the cooking, I like to think I pulled my weight with the meal planning and grocery-list making. It seemed to take most of Keizo's nearly three month visit for him to really grasp the concept of planning ahead and buying ingredients for multiple meals at one time. As much as I generally enjoy grocery shopping, it's not something I want to do everyday!

Waiting more than month between trying a recipe and writing it up here has both its pros and cons. In general, it gets harder to remember the details of each one, whether or not the recipe was followed exactly, which substitutions I would make next time etc; but on the other hand, it also gets easier to pick out the winners. 

Spring Pasta with Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes - Not exactly a winner, but I am sure I will be eating some variation on this theme (pasta + vegetables) several more times over the summer.

"Pizza Chicken" - Given the amount of gooey cheese in the photo, it shouldn't be a surprise that this recipe falls into the "make again" category. Running the oven in the summer is less than ideal though, so it may have to wait until fall.

Cheddar Beer Fondue - Although I was initially concerned we would set off the fire alarm, this ended up being a really fun meal. It was fun to make, fun to eat, and inspired several conversations about future uses for our "new" $8 fondue set. Our dipping items consisted of bread, sausage and roasted vegetables and I had a hard time choosing a favorite. One word of caution, the recipe is labeled as "date night," but contains a whopping 16 servings of cheese. I think next time I will halve it with the hope that we'll be able to get up from our chairs a bit more quickly afterwards.

Eggplant & Chickpea Curry - This is another "make again" recipe with lots of vegetables and chickpeas to give it some more staying power. Not nearly as entertaining as fondue, but definitely worth trying :-)

Bim Bim Bap - Somewhere under all those toppings is some rice and marinated ground turkey(?) I went a bit overboard with the garnishes trying to use up old produce and add on new farmer's market finds (see the pickled yellow beets in the middle? Delicious!) and drowned out the flavors of original recipe. I see more rice bowls in the future though, since the different components can be assembled ahead of time and combined later for a quick meal. Also, they're an excellent base for delectable pickled things from No. 1 Sons.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - I had high hopes for this recipe based on the photos and several roasted vegetable sandwiches with portobello mushrooms and goat cheese enjoyed over the years. The results weren't quite what I was hoping for, nor was the dish particularly satisfying as Keizo and I both had double servings.

Creamy Chicken Quinoa Casserole - This was one of Keizo's picks, and while creamy and comforting, it was also rather bland. It improved with some hot sauce, but is not one I am likely to make again.

Miso Broth Bowl with Soba - This meal was inspired by the cherry blossoms and our visit to Hana, a small Japanese grocery store located on U Street. I was impressed by their selection, and will definitely be making a return trip when I run out of my favorite Japanese pantry items like miso and okonomiyaki sauce. Now that the weather is warming up, I don't know if I would make this again anytime soon, but it was really tasty.

Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins - Wrapping up on a high note, these loaded potato skins were tasty and really filling. The chipotle peppers packed some heat, and we were also able to enjoy some of the leftover filling with tortilla chips.

Nine new recipes in a month was quite a lot; the past few weeks I have been relying on some old standbys and trying to use up some things from the freezer. Today, I made gazpacho for the first time, so there will be at least one new recipe in the May round up. When I write it up, however, is bit less certain.

Thank you for reading!

Shortcuts

I've been complaining about a lack of time a lot recently.  Clearly I have some time since I manage to put these posts together...but meals with minimum effort are the name of the game as the semester draws to an end.

Simple shortcuts of late include sauce from a jar: 

The jar says nothing about how spicy it is!  I was expecting mild, but it's more like HOT!  I also think that my spice tolerance has diminished living on the East Coast (lame excuse, since my diet hasn't changed that much, but even my "medium" salsa is tasting pretty fiery these days.)

Sauce from a jar, plus frozen vegetables from a bag and some chicken, served over brown rice.  The curry came together so quickly since nearly all of it was from a package that the rice seemed to take forever.

I ate this bowl as is, but when I finished off the leftovers I added a large dollop of plain yogurt to cool it down a bit.

*****

My oldest and favorite kitchen shortcut is a box of brownie mix.  My mom started leaving the brownie making to me when I was in 3rd or 4th grade; which looking back was the start of my on-going relationship with the kitchen.  The beginning of my on-going love affair with food is harder to pin-point, since I am fairly certain it began mere seconds after my birth.

Anyway, I was in a baking mood last Sunday and Duncan Hines did not disappoint!  Minimal effort with maximum results...

...especially when topped with some tiramisu flavored ice cream.  No matter how crunched for time I feel, there's always time for dessert.

Protein Punch

Dinner doesn't get on the table (or in my mouth) nearly quick enough these days.  As much I generally enjoy cooking, I am always hungry, (sweaty and tired) after exercising with my housemates, and I can't recall the last evening I didn't have school work that needed attention.  Plus, cooking usually requires cleaning up afterwards, and my dishwasher is back in Japan.

So, I've been eating lots of leftovers and quick meals of late, most of which taste fine and fit the bill.  But when I made this quick-n-easy salad a few weeks ago, it was one of the best things I had eaten for a while.

With this recipe as a starting point, I added some chickpeas and raisins and adjusted the spices to taste.

Served over a bed of spinach & carrots, with fresh bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar on the side.

The chickpeas helped add volume and protein.  I read recently that I should be getting 46 grams of protein a day, which is way higher than I thought.  I also didn't realize how many things in my regular diet contain protein, (greek yogurt is one of my main sources, as well as the copious amounts of cheese I consume, and recently I've been eating a hard boiled egg at least every other day).  I counted up my protein intake on one random day, and it came out almost exactly to 46 grams!!  My foray into nutrition was kind of fun...maybe over the summer I will try and learn more about what I eat.

Solitary Suppers

It's nice to go out to eat or coordinate meals with my housemates, but more often than not, for convenience and budget, I dine alone.

PROS: I cater to my taste buds and my taste buds alone!  I almost always have leftovers.  No one can see me lick the plate.

CONS: I have gotten into the bad habit of watching TV while eating.  No one to help with the dishes.  Frozen cheese ravioli topped with pesto and more cheese does not equal a well balanced meal.

But, freezer temptations aside, I think I have done pretty well for myself lately.

 Fish tacos with "Mexi-Slaw"

Yakisoba topped with fried egg

Roasted Brussel Sprout & Tofu Salad with Peanut Dressing

Japanese Curry Spaghetti

Tuna Enchiladas

Loooooooong Day

Like my bike ride to campus---I mean "Grounds" as we say here at "The University"---my weeks start out all up hill. But once I get through 6 hours of class on Wednesday, it's smooth sailing on the way home/to the weekend.

Today seemed extra long since I went Downtown this morning for a class simulation/field trip at City Hall and then back to school for an hour before spending 3 hours working on a group presentation. At 5, I headed home only to turn around and head out again to attend a neighborhood planning meeting (1 of 3 required for the semester for the class that had the field trip.) The meeting ended at 7:30 and I was glad to come home to some leftovers.

Knowing that I would be attending the meeting, I moved "cooking night" up this week. Last night I tried to use up some of my large collection of vegetables in a giant pot of curry.

Sweet potatoes, potatoes, my last 4 baby carrots, bell pepper, eggplant and kale all got added to the pot. I also decided it was high time to use up some of the block of tofu that had been in my fridge for over a week. I was worried I had already left it too long, but it turns out it is some of the best tofu I've had in the US (Japan gets its own category. If you don't believe me, ask Andrew, tofu non-enthusiast for his unbiased opinion.) The brand I bought was Twin Oaks, the extra firm tofu variety with Italian Herbs. After I use up the rest of it, I will be hunting for some more!

In addition to the positive tofu experience, I also liked how kale tasted covered in curry better than when I tried to roast it in the oven. Which is a good thing, since Tuesday and Wednesday's dinners only used up half of the curry.

My favorite part though is the sweet potato. Don't be surprised to see a lot more of them as fall rolls around.

And now it's time for bed. おやすみ！

Hot-n-spicy

On Wednesday, Keizo's day off, we spent the afternoon in the Kurume tax office, trying to get my pension refund straightened out. An hour of paper work, one follow up phone call and some copies of my passport later, it should be on its way. Anyway, after dealing with all the bureaucracy, it was an especially nice treat to head to Naoko-sensei's house for a delicious dinner and some calligraphy practice. It was also very nice of her to send us home with some left over curry and pickled cabbage, which we put to good use for dinner the next day.

Real curry, made with a mix of spices rather than the cubes of roux that I always use. Mmmmm!

On the side, pan-fried eggplant and renkon with minced chicken. Keizo picked these up pre-assembled at the farm stand/travel stop near his practice ground. They were good, but needed some sort of dipping sauce to make the flavors really stand out.

Side #2 was some of Naoko-sensei's pickled hakusai and some store bought kimchi to zest it up a bit. Not as quite good as the authentic Korean kimchi she served us, but still yummy mixed with the pickled cabbage.

Even with the food all gone, it made for a colorful meal!

Tried and true

I doubt even celebrity TV chefs can make gourmet meals day in and day out. So considering my non-TV chef status and the frequency that I have been cooking lately (lunch and dinner, several days a week) it's not a surprise I have fallen back on some easy favorites.

First up is TACOS RICE! Tacos rice and I first fell in love during a vacation in Okinawa during my first stint in Japan. Steamy white rice, smothered with taco meat, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and salsa. Eating is believing. Of course it helped that I hadn't eaten real Mexican food for months prior to my introduction to tacos rice. But even after a year back in Arizona, I still think tacos rice is legit. Which is why it appeared on the table during a recent lunch hour.

And second, the ever popular KARE RAISU! Or in plain English, curry rice. I had no idea that curry was a popular Japanese convenience food. Not that it's the same "curry" you would find in India or Thailand; for starters, its about 1,000 times milder. I like my curry with tons and tons of vegetables. And only vegetables. But since I am cooking in lieu of rent these days, I also need to satisfy Keizo's dietary needs, so I believe I put some pork in this batch. Whatever was left over from dinner the night before. Plus carrots, onion, kabocha (Japanese pumpkin,) potatoes and some eggplant. Keizo made the salad, which is spinach with frozen mixed veggies and apple slices with a lemon shiso dressing. Oishikatta! (It was delicious)