Pork shoulder roast was only $.99/lb. How could we pass that up? John cooked it in the slow cooker which meant we were free to go out and do other things – like play tennis! He separated the meat from the fat, bone, and cooking liquid. After an overnight in the refrigerator he seared the meat for some crispines.
I had my dinner sandwich on a soft Kaiser roll with barbecue sauce and cabbage.
Pulled pork sandwich
We went out to dinner at a local Japanese restaurant. Sushi and sashimi are the dieter’s friend as you probably know. So it seemed like a good choice. I guess my biggest complaint about the place we went to is that I don’t know so much about the various menu choices and I need time to read through everything so I know what I want. Immediately after sitting down they wanted to take our order. After we sent the waitperson away she came back every two or three minutes wanting to know if we were ready. It made the whole dining experience pretty frantic.
Here is what we ordered –
First we got some edame
Next wakame which is a seaweed salad and very tasty
A little hamachi appetizer sashimi
Finally a roll – this one is John’s, it was called “Hole-In-One”
My roll is in the background. It was called “Big Mac” for no apparent reason except maybe because it had sesame seeds on top? I took some of mine home. It was just too much.
Every once in a while I feel like going out for Japanese food but I did not really find it very satisfying even though I got full before I could finish. I think I am more of a pizza and pasta kind of person.
Yesterday when I was looking at the fact that May 10th was National Shrimp Day, I noticed that May 11th was National Eat What You Want Day. I think I have mentioned that my favorite meat is a burger. So in honor of the day, that’s what I had for dinner. (And a salad)
Burger
May 12th is National Nutty Fudge Day but since I REALLY don’t like sweet things, you can rest assured that Nutty Fudge will not be on my menu!
I did not know that May 10th was National Shrimp Day here in the U.S. when I planned to make shrimp tacos. Just a lucky happenstance, I guess. (BTW May 10th is also a National Day for receptionists, third shift workers, school nurses, biking to work, lipids, and cleaning up your room. Apparently naming stuff National fill-in-the-blank Day is what Congress spends its time doing.)
Shrimp tacos and spicy black beans
John marinated and cooked the shrimp and I prepared the condiments and beans. I got a mango and peach salsa which went really well with the shrimp and I also made a crema from non-fat yogurt, cumin, and salt. The soft tortillas are corn. The beans were spiced up with some fire roasted Rotel tomatoes and jalapeños and adorned with sliced green onions and cilantro.
Happy National Shrimp Day!
I know I need to branch out from my incessant use of asparagus and penne for my meatless meal, But I love it! I tried to jazz it up a bit by adding shallots, lemon zest, garlic, and almonds plus a raw topping of chopped parsley, oregano, and more almonds. Oh, and a squeeze of the aforementioned lemon. You’ll see a bit of butter hiding atop my portion so if you are going the vegan route stick with olive oil. Don’t forget to reserve some pasta water to create your sauce!
Penne with asparagus, lemon, and almonds
Over the weekend we were on the road traveling home from Utah. So we ate out (I had eggplant Parmesan) and just got some take-out when we got home on Sunday. Now it is back to cooking.
Chicken breast with rutabagas and broccoli
As you can see this was a same-old same-old dinner. John just wanted the comfort of nothing exotic today. He used the sous vide method to cook the chicken and I took care of the vegetables.
We went food shopping after working on a menu for the week. We got a Boston butt (on sale for .99/lb.!)so there may be some exciting pork dish later in the week!
Dinner tonight was driven by the fact that I had a lot of leftover, too sweet farro. Yesterday I made a new recipe that called for farro cooked in apple cider. It was not a hit. So my goal was to use up some of the farro and find some way to mask its sweetness.
I added a bunch of fish sauce and vegetables and chickpeas but it did not quite do the trick. Then I tried vinegar and oil – still too sweet. Final attempt was several shakes of Tabasco, chopped cilantro, and cumin. Success! I served this along side a puckery cucumber, tomato, and onion salad. John grilled some chicken thighs and we had an acceptable dinner.
I tried a new recipe from New York Times Cooking, Farro with roasted squash, feta, and mint. My initial reaction is meh. The farro is cooked in apple cider and the roasted squash is roasted with sugar, oil, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt. So the whole thing is too sweet for my taste. Even the addition of feta and arugula did not do enough to tone down the sweet. I have lots of leftovers and I need to figure out a way to change the flavor profile. Most of the folks commenting on the New York Times Cooking site seemed pretty much to love it so I am definitely in the minority. You can find the recipe here.
Farro with roasted squash, feta, and mint
I used acorn squash unpeeled and sliced into rings and I cooked the farro according to America’s Test Kitchen oven method rather than boiling it as the recipe suggested. I served it a little warmer than room temperature on a bed of arugula with the mint and feta on top and dressed the dish with a light vinaigrette. For a vegan rendition omit the feta cheese.
I am making a new recipe tonight and wanted something quick and easy for lunch. Since I stopped at the grocery store for some ingredients for tonight’s dish, I picked up some pitas and stuffed them with chickpeas and salad.
Chickpea pitas
After lightly toasting the pitas I stuffed them with chickpeas, tomatoes, pepperoncini, arugula, and feta. I dressed the sandwich with a light vinaigrette.
Here it is the last of the ground beef from the freezer. This incarnation has it as an ingredient in a spaghetti sauce. As usual if you want to make the dish vegetarian omit the ground beef. It is just as good with lots of sautéed mushrooms.
Penne with meat and mushroom sauce
With all the doctoring I did to my jar of spaghetti sauce (I sautéed onions, ground beef, mushrooms, garlic, and tomato paste plus oregano and chili flakes) I might as well as have made the sauce entirely from scratch.
Also, this is too much for me to eat. There are leftovers in the refrigerator for John to eat on another night.
Omnivore 