thank you google

What happens when you have one small roasted spaghetti squash, forked into shreds, and about a pound of asparagus that needs to be eaten? You google "spaghetti squash asparagus" and find... a recipe for sesame spaghetti squash and asparagus, of course! There's a little prep, not much cooking, and it would be great with a splash or two of lemon juice. We'll add that next time.

broccoli night!

Last night, we had steamed broccoli tossed with (whoops) slightly overdone, but nonetheless delicious gnocchi, sauteed garlic and pine nuts, and some pesto that I made and froze late last summer. I can't believe there were leftovers, but I'll probably take them to work for a snack.

I also roasted and forked a spaghetti squash, most likely for use tonight. We might eat only half of the squash and freeze the rest for another night.

peasanty food

We had leftover roasted potatoes and onions and a few stalks of delicious asparagus, so I made an omelet for dinner with some grated cheddar added in. It had a slightly spanish taste, reminiscent of tapas bars on both sides of the Atlantic.

For a side dish, I made a variation on the Greek salads we had in Greece -- red pepper, tomatoes, scallions, feta, lemon juice, olive oil, and herbs with a little salt and pepper. Very fresh tasting.

kitchen is slowly reopening

We had a weekend away recently, followed by the absence of Mr. P for a few days. I've been throwing out leftovers like there was no tomorrow and the fridge smells much better for it. The crows out by the compost heap are happier too -- they've been partying for the last few days.

Somewhere in there, I made a fairly decent squash soup with some leftover rice, onions, and half a container of prepared veggie stock that I'd frozen. The whole thing thickened up. I added New Mexican chili powder and cumin, so we served guacamole and chips on the side.

Last night, we had a dinner guest. I made an excellent curry, if I do say so myself. I roasted cauliflower, paneer, and cumin seeds in one pan. In another, I roasted potatoes and onions. The cooking went fairly quickly -- toasted some seeds, added onions and chopped tomatoes, then all the cauliflower and paneer and half the onions and potatoes, some frozen peas, and toasted cashew nuts.

We served it with raita -- yogurt, seeded and chopped cucumber, toasted cumin and mustard seeds, and salt -- and rice and chutneys. For dessert, we had store-bought cake (I slaved over a hot shopping cart to make that!) and tea.

Cooking has left me rather uninspired of late, but at the grocery store yesterday, the produce reinvigorated me. The house is now nicely stocked with some fresh veggies, and I'm already imagining some of the tasty items we'll make in the next few days.

some old favorites with some new twists

Last night, I made a tomato sauce (fire roasted tomatoes, onions, mushrooms) to put on top of stuffed shells that I made and froze a while back. I revived the shells by steaming them. For a side dish, I heated frozen roasted corn, edamame, and pigeon peas, then tossed with toasted sesame oil, NM chile powder, a little vinegar, and a little soy.

Tonight, we made polenta, which was smooth and creamy. We served it under steamed broccoli and garlic, tossed with home made pesto and toasted pine nuts. Very quick, very good.

kitchen reopened after a hiatus

I was away attending to my mother while she recovered from surgery. Between her meds, dietary restrictions, and a bad reaction to Chinese food the first night (how does that *happen* when you eat vegetarian?), neither of us had strong appetites or particularly creative culinary urges.

I did a lot of errands and food shopping, mostly getting healthy convenience foods that she could easily prepare for herself, including a lot of tasty frozen vegetables. Friends brought dinner two of the three nights I was there. On that third night, she most wanted squash soup, which I made.

I sauteed onions and mushrooms, then added soup stock (the kind in the aseptic box -- I usually use half and freeze half right in the box), potatoes, butternut squash, marjoram, and some salt and pepper. The nice thing about this soup is that the potatoes continue to thicken it so that the leftovers are a little different from the original. You can also blend the whole thing but I didn't -- I thought we were both more in the mood for a less thick version the first night.

Since we returned home, I've been recovering and now feel nearly well. The one night I "cooked" last week, we had soup from an aseptic box with homemade croutons. It was about all I could handle. Since then, our eating has gotten a little more interesting.

Saturday night, we had plans but skipped them and stayed home. Mr. P made one of his famous thorens, and Indian dish with toasted coconut and mild spices and a green vegetable. This time, we used green beans (frozen, though I imagine fresh were available -- I didn't know when we'd next make the dish).

To accompany it, I made up some brown rice with wheat berries and a purple rice which turned the whole thing dark and mysterious -- it was chewy and good. I also heated up some Indian bread that we keep in the freezer. We get it at the Indian food store, and it's definitely not anything I could begin to make at home.

Last night, inspired by a friend who was making a similar dish, I made a melange of asparagus, potato, onion, and mushroom, with soy sauce, a little vinegar, ginger, and scallion, then at the end poured on a small amount of toasted sesame oil. We served it over more rice with some weird vegetable dumblings on the side.