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I got this recipe from https://pipingpotcurry.com/instant-pot-chana-dal/ . Using the Instant Pot or pressure cooker means that you don’t even have to soak the chickpeas. The only difference in our way of making it is that instead of 2 cups of water and 3/4 cup tomatoes we use a can of Rotel to give it some spiciness and decrease the water to 1 1/2 cups. We serve it over rice and add a layer of kale to give it extra fiber. It is definitely one of John’s favorite vegetarian/vegan meals.

I got the recipe for agghiotta di pesce spada (or swordfish with a sauce for the glutton) from Serious Eats a few weeks ago after buying some swordfish.The sauce was so delicious that I figured it would be good with almost any fish so I tried it with humble tilapia fillets. It totally elevated the fish. You can look up the whole recipe on Serious Eats or you can just use the portion of it below which only refers to the sauce.
Tomato olive sauce for fish
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium (8-ounce; 225 g) red onion, diced
1 1/2 pounds (680 g) small tomatoes, quartered, or one 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with juices, tomatoes roughly chopped
2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce, 21 g) salted capers, rinsed of excess salt
1/2 cup (2 ounces; 57 g) pitted mild green olives, such as Castelvetrano, halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons (1 ounce; 28 g) pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons (1/4 ounce; 8 g) minced flat-leaf parsley leaves and tender stems
Red wine vinegar and/or granulated sugar, to taste (optional)
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet along with the onion. Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until onion has softened but not browned, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, capers, and olives and cook, stirring, until tomatoes have broken down and their liquid has thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt. If desired, add 1 or 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar and a pinch or two of sugar to balance the sauce's flavor; whether or not you decide to do this will depend on the flavor of the tomatoes you're using, and how far into agrodolce ("sweet-sour") territory you want to push the sauce.
Reduce heat to medium. Stir in pine nuts and parsley, then return fish to the pan, nestling it into the sauce and cook until warmed through. Serve hot, warm, room temperature, or chilled.

We are all over the world this week with our menu—Italy, Morocco, Vietnam, and Spain and India coming up to finish off the week. After all our exciting culinary adventures this week maybe next week will feature steak and potatoes, burgers, and classic chicken!
We saw Jet Tila make this quick pho on Ready Jet Cook. We made it even simpler by using thinly sliced roast beef from the deli and spaghetti for the noodles. Left to my own devices I probably would have just put the vegetables, noodles, and beef in plain beef broth but John took the time to use all the aromatics and spices so that the broth tasted special.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/quick-beef-pho-7112948


The first time I made Moroccan chicken and chickpeas was back in 2020 and it looks like I have only made it a couple of times since then. After eating it on Wednesday I cannot imagine why I have not made it more often. The sweetness of the raisins plays so nicely against the sourness of the preserved lemon and all the warm spices add the flavors of Morocco. Since I have changed the recipe to just warming up small chunks of rotisserie chicken breast warmed in the sauce at the end, the recipe is easy and totally doable on a weeknight.
Here is my updated recipe –
https://recipekeeperonline.com/recipe/UlSLn-2eXESONHdx3wzMyw

I made the sauce for our dinner out of large can of tomato purée, an 14 ounce can of diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. The meatballs came from a bag of frozen meatballs. I garnished my plate with Parmesan cheese, fresh oregano and parsley, and olive oil.

We are finishing up our cooking week with a homey kind of dish that you might expect your mom or grandmother would make. This is especially true if you come from a very bland, non-ethnic background like I do. Growing up in our house, pasta was about as exotic as we would get. My mother would serve a plate of spaghetti with stewed tomatoes on top. I think my older sister still cooks mainly like our mother used to although she has reported cooking chili with grape jelly. Zounds!
I have to admit though, chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, and broccoli makes me happy.🙂

This was a pretty easy and quick dinner. John was in charge of the tuna and I was in charge of the sides. He marinated the tuna briefly in soy, garlic, and ginger. He added sesame seeds before putting it a hot frying pan for a short amount of time. It came out really good! I made a sauce for the vegetables consisting of oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, and a little water. I took a shortcut by buying a bag of fresh stir-fry vegetables and some pre-shredded carrots. John had made the rice earlier in the day so all I needed to do was heat it up in the microwave.

Tasca Tasca is a Portuguese tapas restaurant in downtown Sonoma. We have not eaten there for a while and the idea of ordering a selection of different things appealed to us. The menu offers tasting plates of 3,5, or 7 items. I decided on 3 and John on 5. Then I got talked into also getting the soup so I actually had 4 items. The items come in ramekins and you would think that it is not so much food. But it is a lot of food! I am glad that I got the soup, caldo verde (hot green), but I ate that first and then I was pretty full before I even started. Everything was tasty. I gave part of my pork slider to John and traded him my chicken drumsticks for his flats. Even with the trade I could not finish the chicken wings. I also could not eat all the beets. They were in really big chunks.

John chose the soup and chicken wings like I did along with a squid and white bean salad and braised tripe. His favorite was the squid salad. For his fifth item he got olive oil ice cream to share with me.
We were so full from our lunch that neither of us wanted any dinner! We do not dine out often so it was fun going out to lunch.
