I drafted this post earlier today, and it clocked in at a lean, mean 137 words. That’s… too few words, even though I don’t have a whole lot to say.
I mean, the weekend with my friend was GREAT. It was just like no time had passed, and her children are delightful, and everyone had a great time together. Even though we had three whole extra people in our house, they were so easy. Also: I COOKED NOTHING. The only meals we ate at home were breakfasts. The only appliances I operated were the stick blender (smoothie), toaster (toast), and microwave (hot chocolate). My friend made eggs for herself and her kids, my kid and husband made their own breakfasts. The only time my oven was even on was during the afternoon when my kid and my friend’s younger kid had a cookie baking competition. During which my friend and I went for a leisurely four mile walk and returned to a completely clean kitchen and two kinds of cookies. We spent most of our time enjoying the gorgeous high-seventies weather at various outdoor spots.
Let’s see. What else can I tell you? Oh! I recently visited a South Asian market with Carla. She and I wandered the aisles, loading our arms with things to buy. Sweets for her, hot sauce for me. My husband would have loved this place, so we picked out a few snacky things for him to try. It was so hard! The selection was enormous, and I have ZERO reference points for South Asian food brands, which made the choosing a little overwhelming. I told myself I couldn’t go wrong and grabbed things at random.
My husband shared his snacks with me and two of them were So Good. I got this one because it came in an appealing green chutney flavor, and it was spicy and tangy and crunchy and I need more immediately. I got this one because it had a variety of shapes and textures, and because it said “sweet and spicy” on the package rather than simply “spicy.” It was, to be fair, more spicy than sweet, but it was so flavorful and crunchy and delicious. If you like spicy, flavorful, crunchy snacks, I highly recommend either of these. I could shovel bag after bag into my gob all day long.
Okay, that’s all I’ve got for you, which means…
…it’s that special time again: time to frown perplexedly into the middle distance, trying vainly to remember what, if anything, I have ever prepared or eaten for dinner.
Dinners for the Week of September 29-October 5
- Chickpea Salad Sandwich: I have a lot of bread on hand, and what better to make with bread than a sandwich? (I may also make these French toast “muffins” – I wonder if Carla would eat them for breakfast?)
- Ground Beef Tacos: Carla has requested tacos and tacos she will have.
- Cider Braised Pot Roast with Crispy Sage Potatoes: I made this once last fall and it was delicious. I think it’s about time to make it again, perhaps this time for visiting friends.
- Garlic Chicken and Broccoli with Lemon: This sounds simple and yummy. On the list it goes.
- Southwest Salmon Salad: My husband will eat his salad with chicken, but I’ll stick to salmon. And so will Carla, although she may opt out of the salad part.
I am also in the mood to make fall-y muffins, so if I have some time I may whip up a batch of these.
What’s your favorite savory snack food? Do you have a South Asian grocery store near you?
Growing up, my small rural hometown had no specialty groceries at all. Just two regular old American supermarkets. In fact, the only restaurants that served anything besides burgers, steak, or pizza were a couple of fast-food taco joints and a single Chinese restaurant. One of the things I love best about living near a mid-sized city is the variety of food options. It is so fun to be able to eat foods from all over the world without traveling more than an hour from my house, and to pop into a specialty grocery store whenever I want.
I love any cheesy crunchy snacks. Fried cheetos and Nacho Cheese Doritos are two favorites. We have an Indian store nearby but I’ve never been there. It sounds like your visit went very well!
You should go check it out, Margaret! So many fun things to try!
I’ve been to Asian markets but not a South Asian market. I love guessing my way through the snacks. I know what a rice cracker tastes like, but I don’t know all of the flavors, so it’s always a bit of a surprise.
Snack wise, I’m here for big flavor. The more extreme the better. Spicy is always good.
The pot roast and crispy potatoes is calling my name, and I have a feeling that it’s right up Hubs’s alley as well.
The pot roast and potatoes are SO good. Yum. I hope you both like it!
Glad your weekend went so well! And- that chickpea salad sandwich is calling my name. I have no idea what’s for dinner tonight, but it might be that.
Doesn’t it sound good, Jenny? I think that might be my selection for tonight as well.
I’m glad you had a good (and easy) visit with your friends. That’s the best.
I am back from a short trip to the West Coast, jet-lagged, groggy, and trying to come up with a shopping list for Beth, who thinks we might like to have dinner this week.
Doesn’t Beth know that there is no meal planning while jet-lagged??? I’m pretty sure that’s a law.
I’m trying to wrap my brain around South Asian. I mean, that’s pretty specific, no? Not just Asian?
My go-to snacks are usually a little salty, not spicy. I’m pretty boring: low-sodium almonds. Or some potato chips?
Maybe gummy bears? Those are slightly sweet, but I like the gooey texture.
Girl, I have was gonna make burgers tonight, now I think I’m going to make taco meat, and taco salads. Thanks for the inspiration.
Glad you had a great visit and it was stressless!!
Ooooh I love trying new snack from different international grocery stores! There is an Hmart (Korean) close to us and I shop there all the time. It does have an Indian aisle. I’m sure there is a South Asian market in the area, but I’ve never been. When I was visiting my brother in Berkeley, CA he took us to his favorite Indian restaurant which also happens to have a market attached and I bought cardomon and cloves and assam tea to make chai. I can find all these things at a regular grocery store, of course (well maybe not the assam tea), but it was so much cheaper at the Indian market. Oh I’ve recently really gotten into buying injera at the Ethiopian market. There are a lot of Ethiopian markets around us, and I’ve always been a little intimidated to go into them, but for fresh fluffy injera, I will go.
I love a savory snack! Chips. Jerky. Anything cheesy. Seaweed. I love the Trader Joe’s rice cracker mix. I would for sure eat all the things that you picked up at the South Asian market.
Your visit sounds so wonderful – I’m glad it worked out so well. What sort of sorcery did you use to get these kids to bake and clean up?
I am a sweet tooth. I just recently bought a Thai food snack at Costco and it claimed to be sweet and spicy and I want to ask them Where’s the sweet? in the same tone as the Where’s the beef commercials of a million years ago. They look like mini rice cakes, but they are not and they are not bad, necessarily, but they’re a tad spicy for my taste. I don’t like spice at all. We had turkey taco tonight. No one cares when I use ground turkey because there’s so many other flavors happening.
Suzanne, I am DYING inside right now because it is a new day and it means we need food. Again. Why does food prep and coming up with meal ideas seem so much more onerous some weeks than others. Maybe we’ll just have scrambled egg wraps alongside leftovers. I have nothing left in the imagination tank for food right now.
MOVING on. Snacks. I love snacks, but I feel like I tend to fill my body with nothing but garbage when I snack. Sigh. It’s been an issue lately.
I swear I’m not in a bad mood today, but clearly I am feeling some food angst 😉
We’re so lucky to live in such a diverse area with so many great markets. In my town alone, there are at least three Mexican grocery stores, a Polish market, and a Filipino grocery store—not to mention the Asian markets. Where Anna lives, closer to the city, there are even more. I love visiting markets from different countries—I always find the best things.
I love tacos too, Carla. Fist bump.