yummy yummy in my tummy

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Weekend Report, Snack Suggestion, Dinners This Week

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

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. 

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Dinners This Week

At 5:30 this morning, I was torn from a nightmare by a low discordant keening. I might describe it as “toddler impersonating whale calls,” but my husband said it was more “cat meets blender.” We watched Longlegs last night, so the noise quite easily could have been the moaning of Nic Cage at his most grotesque and terrifying. (Even though I enjoyed it, I am not recommending the movie; it was Weird AF.)

We confirmined that the noise was, somehow, our neighbor’s snowplow – which means that it persisted for quite some time, as their driveway is not short. I did not fall back to sleep.

On the positive side, we got a ton of snow over the weekend. Oh, how I adore snow. I love the trees lacquered in white, how everything – shadows, blue skies, bare trees – assumes an extra vibrancy against the snow. I love sunshine caught in billions of ice crystals and winked back at me as I walk. Grey skies seem more dramatic and moody; sunny days have an extra sheen of cheer. I love it I love it I love it.

Soup is on the menu tonight, and therefore takes one of three spots for dinners this week. But before we get into that, I want to report on dinners past because they were YUM.

Dinners Last Week

  • Sheet Pan Veggie Shawarma: This was easy (aside from the veggie chopping, which is easy but time consuming) (I listen to an audiobook while chopping) and SO good. Few things are better than a big pile of roasted veggies. The seasoning/marinade was delicious, although I ended up doubling it because I added some chicken tenders to the mix. They were a good addition, especially for my husband. Also, because I was on a Green Sauce High from the previous week’s Birchie-recommended meal, I made the cilantro yogurt sauce from this recipe and slapped it on top of my veggie shawarma. One of the best decisions I made all week.
  • Salmon Burgers: For some reason, I dillied and dallied and delayed in making these, but then finally I did make them, and they were easy and yummy as usual. The recipe is from Cook’s Illustrated, and I’ve got a photo of the recipe here in case you want to try them too. Oh! The remarkable thing about this meal is that I forced Carla to eat it, too. She loves salmon and eats it regularly. This is the closest thing to salmon possible. She DID eat it, even though she didn’t particularly like it (it has teeny tiny shallots minced in it).
  • Beef Birria Tacos: The first time I ate beef birria was in Phoenix at a taco place, and I fell instantly, irrevocably in love. (By the way, I learned from my recipe search that birria is traditionally made with goat, but I’m not big on goat so I used chuck roast.) The need to eat beef birria again has been growing stronger and stronger with each passing week. However, I could not for the life of me find a recipe that I wanted to follow. Too many ingredients or too few; equipment I didn’t want to use; too many steps. What I ended up doing was cobbling together a recipe out of a bunch of recipes online… and it was SO GOOD. The recipe made enough for at least three generous meals, and we immediately froze the remaining beef and consommé, and I cannot stop thinking about it. So rich and spicy and omg perfection. My husband took over the actual taco making, which involves dipping a corn tortilla in the consommé, frying it, adding cheese and beef, and then putting on my plate for immediate consumption. This one is a keeper from a taste standpoint, but from a work standpoint, I think it’s something I would make maybe once a year.

There’s really no way I can top last week’s meals, so I’m not even going to try. This week is not about flash and romance, but instead about solid, reliable faves. Also, chicken was on sale, so it’s all about the chicken. (Luckily, these are veggie-heavy meals so I can limit or completely ignore the chicken in my own servings.)

Dinners for the Week of February 17-25

  • Chicken and Zucchini Stir Fry: I am more in the mood for this Szechuan Stir Fry, but the bell pepper quality was very poor today, so I pivoted to chicken and zucchini stir fry instead. Of course, I have to go back to the grocery store to buy things I forgot to buy (namely: the two key ingredients of Ham Sandwich: the ham and the sandwich rolls), so perhaps I will peruse the peppers to see if the prospects are more perky.

  • Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas: The bell peppers may not have been crisp enough for stir fry, but they were of acceptable quality for fajitas.

Here’s hoping that tonight I dream of swimming in a sea of birria consommé.

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Salad Sunday

One of my all-time favorite salads is a Greek salad. This is surprising to me considering that I hate tomatoes, and tomatoes are a big part of a Greek salad. But tomatoes are easy enough to avoid, and I love the mix of textures and bright, briny flavors of a good Greek salad. How many times can I say Greek salad in one paragraph?

(Greek salad sidebar: One summer during graduate school, I studied abroad in Prague for a few weeks. Good food was difficult to come by, for a poor grad student. But one of my favorite things to do was go to a little restaurant just outside the old town square and order a Greek salad, bez rajčat. The salads, to my recollection, had no lettuce. They consisted of cubes of cucumber, cubes of feta, kalamata olives, and a beautiful tangy dressing. I am sure the waitstaff thought I was bonkers for rejecting the tomatoes, but they kindly made the salads tomato-free , and they were SO GOOD.) 

My husband and I usally roast a chicken breast to have with our Greek salad. If I am feeling fancy, I will also whip up some hummus and pita. (Or buy one or both of those things pre-made from the grocery store.) The last time I made hummus, I only used half a can of chickpeas, so I roasted the other half-can in the air fryer with a little salt and olive oil until they were crunchy, and added those to the salad too.  

SALAD INGREDIENTS (all to taste):·      

  • Romaine lettuce, chopped
  • Red onion, finely sliced
  • Cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced into thin half-moons
  • Cherry tomatoes (if you like that kind of thing)
  • Kalamata olives
  • Feta (the good kind, in brine), crumbled

CHICKEN MARINADE INGREDIENTS (adapted from Savory Nothings)

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar or more to taste
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon dried garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • ½ teaspoon salt or more to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon ground paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

  • Combine ingredients. Marinate chicken breast for 30 minutes. 
  • Pre-heat air fryer to 390 degrees for 4 minutes. Then air fry chicken breast for 8-12 minutes at 375 degrees.

VINAIGRETTE INGREDIENTS (from Love and Lemons)

  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

  • Whisk all ingredients together until emulsified.

Combine salad ingredients. Top with chicken (or roasted chickpeas) and vinaigrette. Enjoy!