12/04/2006, Home.
Serving Mama
Mom came over for dinner after a meeting in LA so we tossed a few things together and came out with an Indian feast - palak paneer, lentils in gravy, and spiced rice accompanied by yogurt, a medley of veggies and some (slightly out of place) fake chicken nuggets! On the side we had hot naan and a beautiful salad. Yes, we were hungry!
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11/27/2006, Home.
Ina, Graham and a Metric Ton of Food
My sister and Graham were in town for Thanksgiving so we had them over for dinner. I roasted a butternut squash with seasonings and onions, served with a skillet full of potatoes, veggie meatballs, peppers, onions and spices, a pot of lentils in a savory sauce, salad and naan.
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11/21/2006, Home.
Pizza for Four, Eaten by Two!
+ Corn crust, sprinkled liberally with sesame seeds;
+ A tangy peanut/tomato sauce with a spicy kick;
+ Roasted tomato mozzarella
+ Grilled corn kernels
+ Green and red peppers
+ Pineapple
+ Morningstar Farms’ veggie bacon
= Julia’s favorite pizza ever!
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11/12/2006, Home.
Leftover Soul
Short on time I scrounged through the fridge and dug up a spicy hot soul plate - fried rice with pepper sauce, collard greens, a few bites of stuffed yam, steamed broccoli, red beans and some roasted corn. 8 minutes from fridge to table, and about another 6 minutes from plate to gut!
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11/09/2006, Home
Now That's Soul!
Back to one of our new favorites, VegiSoul near USC - soul food gone vegan! I've been dropping hints for a week, since it's on Julia's way home, but she finally delivered. First, it's not VegiSoul without their stuffed yam dinner, a big sweet potato stuffed with veggie sausage, broc, onions and I don't know what else (but it's damned good!), served with collard greens and black beans. And after a long difficult wait, I finally got my first taste of their vegetarian "seafood" gumbo, and then a second and third taste; definitely the thing for cool weather and recovery from the flu. Tons of flavor, lots of chunks, a real gumbo minus the dead fish! Soul food? No, VegiSoul food!
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11/06/2006, Home
Flu Food
Still sick, and tastes have gone into hibernation. Julia couldn't stand the thought of eating anything but Top Ramen, for some very strange reason, so we ran down to Ralphs. While there I tried to convince her of some kind of compromise, but in the end she only relented to the extent that a can of condensed matzoh ball soup is any better than the ramen! When we got home, I popped a potato in the oven, rubbed with a little olive oil and kosher salt for a nice crusty skin. When it was done I split it open, and covered it with pepper, garlic, steamed and grilled veggies including mushrooms, brocolli, carrots and green beans, and a little sharp cheddar.
Julia ended up having a bowl of "chicken flavor" ramen, and seemed quite thrilled with it. To each his own!
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11/05/2006, Home
Satay, Salad and Soup
This cold/flu thing is getting to be a real drag - not least because my taste buds are all but shut down at the moment, and my appetite (and Julia's) is hard to predict. But last night there was one thing we could agree on - salad! A big salad started us off with all the fixin's - greens, sprouts, cucumber, carrot, tomato, hardboiled egg, fresh croutons, and I'm certain 4 or 5 other things, with a raspberry vinaigrette. On the side we had a grilled lemon-herb vegetarian chicken satay which was an instant favorite, and what remained of the incredibly spicy, sweet, rich apple butternut squash soup. Took about 10 minutes to toss this all together, and I'm still licking my chops!
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11/04/2006, Home
Seasonal Comfort Food
Saturday we did some grocery shopping at Whole Foods and at Trader Joes, so we're fully stocked. When we got home it was just starting to cool off, and I felt like cooking. I started by freshening up our crouton supply with another loaf; 6 cloves of garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper, fresh basil, and a mix of two types of parmesan and a bit of feta. After the croutons I made a batch of stuffing with cranberries, nuts and veggie sausage. At the same time I put some soup on - apple butternut squash with nutmeg and cayenne, a great conflict of hot, spicy, sweet and savory.
Eventually Julia demanded I bring things back to the task at hand: feeding her, now! So I quickly roasted half an acorn squash with cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and served it with stuffing, a bowl of soup with a dollop of sour cream, and a garden salad with raspberry vinaigrette. We both gave it 2 thumbs up.
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10/28/2006, Home
Fajitas for Two
We just wanted to pig out on something warm and tasty while we kicked back at home; a long week apart left us with no interest in going anywhere but home. I grilled up some Qorn "chicken" cutlets and then sliced them up with sauteed red and green peppers, tomatoes and onions. If you've never had Qorn, it's one of the most strangely realistic vegetarian meat substitutes, and comes in chicken, lamb and even beef varieties that cook, cut and taste like the real thing! To complete the fajitas spread I served up a bowl of black beans with a dollop of goat cheese, sour cream, roasted garlic salsa, perfectly ripened avocado, and freshly cooked tortillas (buy them raw, they are soo much better than pre-cooked!). Way better than going out!
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10/21/2006, Home
As Good As It Gets
Happy Birthday to Julia, Happy Birthday to you,
You look like a monkey, and you smell like one too!
So last night we were exhausted and really not all that hungry, so we skipped the pretense and cut straight to dessert. Trader Joe's has given us truly a bounty of fine, frozen goodies, from my new favorite - frozen roasted chestnuts (seriously, they are incredible!) - to the frozen naan we use at least twice a week with dinner. In celebration of Julia's latest milestone I heated up some little apple blossoms - basically fancy looking single-serving apple pies - and served them with another of natures great miracles, Cool Whip Lite! Frozen, rich creamy NASA food and warm, spicy apple pie with a perfect flakey, buttery crust. Damn fine meal. Damn fine.
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