Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu. 10/21/18

Posted on October 21, 2018 by Beebamom

This is the third time we have made this dish and the best so far.  It is a combination of Chinese eggplant and extra firm tofu stir-fried together with onions, red bell pepper, and garlic. At the end you toss in a sauce made of soy sauce, fish sauce, water, red pepper flakes, and brown sugar. Finally you add a bunch of basil. I did not have Thai basil so I just used regular basil. This would be vegan except for the fish sauce but I do not know what the substitution for fish sauce is.

  • Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu and jasmine rice
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Why not eat breakfast for dinner? 10/19/18

Posted on October 20, 2018 by Beebamom

I make such a delicious breakfast for dinner. I take more time and care with it than I do in the morning when there is so much else to do. My dinner breakfast has carbs, protein, and vegetable. The green tomatoes I sort of fried are not the unripe type. These are fully ripe but green and come from my daughter’s garden. Their name is Aunt Ruby’s German Greens. While I am eating my yummy dinner breakfast John is preparing an omelet for himself. It’s a fine dinner. You should try it especially if you are in a hurry or super busy. Dinner in 5 minutes!

Scrambled eggs with chorizo, fried tomatoes, toast
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A swing and a miss. 10/18/18

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Beebamom

Sautéed cod with potatoes in a mussel-chorizo broth sounds pretty tasty. I found this recipe on the NYT Cooking site and the remarks said that the dish was an adaptation of one made by Eric Ripert, the famous NYC chef. It has a lot of steps. You have to prepare garlic roasted, sliced, and minced. There is a lot of cooking bits and setting aside while you cook the next bit. We do it all. I am chopping and mincing and slicing, peeling and mashing potatoes and John is sautéing and setting aside. Here is the finished dish.

Cod with potatoes in a mussel-chorizo broth

Close-up

But here is the problem. Those little pieces of chorizo take over the whole dish. The broth tastes like chorizo. The mussels taste like chorizo. So do the potatoes and the beautiful cod. We might as well have spent way less time and effort and just made chorizo broth and served it over potatoes or rice. What a disappointment!

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Vegan penne and asparagus 10/17/18

Posted on October 18, 2018 by Beebamom
We try to prepare one or two vegan or vegetarian meals a week. Penne with asparagus is one of our favorites. You could do this with any vegetable, really, but the shape of the cut asparagus mimics the shape of the penne and makes an attractive dish. The ingredients for tonight’s dinner are garlic, onion, asparagus, penne, and pasta water. That’s it. You can add Parmesan for a vegetarian dish or some sausage if you like.
  • Penne with asparagus
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Shrimp biryani. 10/16/18

Posted on October 17, 2018 by Beebamom

Originally this recipe for shrimp biryani was supposed to be made entirely in an Instant Pot. Since to use pressure cooking in cooking the shrimp needed jumbo shrimp and we only had smaller shrimp, we decide to cook the shrimp separately and just make the flavorful rice in the Instant Pot.

When we put it all together the dish is delicious! First we soak the basmati rice for 20 minutes and then drain. I cut up onion, garlic, ginger, and the curry leaves which I found at Ranch 99, a local Asian supermarket. John sautes the vegetables in the Instant Pot along with a bunch of spices. Then he adds the drained rice, tomatoes, and shrimp stock made from the shrimp tails. Cook on high for three minutes. Let steam off immediately and add the cooked shrimp and let the whole thing sit for  a few minutes under a kitchen towel.

Shrimp biryani

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Comforting chicken dinner. 10/15/18

Posted on October 16, 2018 by Beebamom
Even though it continues to be around 80F for a high, the mornings have gotten very cool and the house stays chilly throughout the day. I feel like it is okay to turn the oven on again! Monday is a comfort food, grounding day. Classic chicken dinner is definitely my go-to. John sous vides chicken breasts. I roast a butternut squash and quick-cook some asparagus. (Asparagus is on sale this week. It must be spring in South America!) A lot of times when planning this dinner I think, Boring! But then when I eat it I think, Ahh!

Chicken breast with gravy, roasted butternut squash, asparagus

 
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Weekly Menu 10/15-22/18

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Beebamom

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Sweet and salty grilled pork with herbs and citrus. 10/14/18

Posted on October 15, 2018 by Beebamom

This is a new recipe for us adapted from one I saw on The NY Times Cooking site. We do not usually cook pork because most cuts of pork are dry and tasteless. For this dish, though, we can use boneless pork spare ribs which come from a much tastier part of the pig. All it takes is a quick marinade in a fish sauce/brown sugar/lime juice concoction before John cooks on the very hot grill for a very short amount of time. In the meantime I make some rice and clean the hearty greens and herbs. Put it all together and you are done!

  • Sweet and salty grilled pork and citrus on a bed of rice, greens, and herbs
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BBQ chicken, Brussels sprout slaw, smashed potato salad. 10/13/18

Posted on October 14, 2018 by Beebamom

 We are supposed to be making Instant Pot Shrimp Biryani tonight but we cannot find curry leaves. Plus buying U-20 shrimp costs about $25.00 for a frozen pack. So while we are out at the store we have to change gears and find something else to prepare.

What we decide on after a good bit of dithering are chicken thighs on the grill with BBQ sauce, smashed new potatoes with olive oil and lemon thyme, and an extension of our leftover cole slaw. After looking at the quantity and  prices of cabbage I decide to buy eight Brussels sprouts and shred them on my mandoline. Sprouts and cabbage are in the same family and the result is that the cole slaw is improved by the addition of the hardier Brussels sprouts.

  • Grilled BBQ c;hicken thighs, smashed potato salad, Brussels sprout cole slaw
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It is still summer here. 10/12/18

Posted on October 13, 2018 by Beebamom

Here it is almost the middle of October and the high temperature yesterday was 89F. That is much too hot for this time of year. All the magazines and websites have articles extolling hardy fall dishes and I have no inclination to make them. Our daughter’s  tomatoes are still prolific so we are having gazpacho.

Gazpacho is so simple. I just put a bunch of vegetables, a little vinegar and oil, some hot sauce, and our daughter’s tomato purée in the blender. Since it is a little thick I add a bit of V8. What a quick dinner! (For a vegan soup omit sour cream)

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Gazpacho with a swirl of olive oil, a dollop of sour cream, and cucumber garnish

To make our dinner a bit more satisfying I make smashed chickpeas with olive oil and oregano plus tomato in a toasted pita pocket.

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Smashed chickpeas with olive oil, tomato, and oregano in toasted whole wheat pita

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