Thai Iced Tea Popsicles
Yum.
I have a sweet tooth and I love Thai iced tea. In fact, I think it’s tragic when I find myself at a Thai restaurant around eight or nine o’clock in the evening, and I know that I won’t be able to sleep if I consume all of that caffeine and sugar (the sugar probably being the worse of the two). So instead I have to settle for having just one little sip of everyone else’s Thai iced teas at the table. Tragic.
If you share my 6pm-caffeine-cut-off woes, then maybe the best solution of all is to brew your own Thai iced tea at home, and drink it any time of day. The nice part is that you can make it a little healthier, by using just a bit of milk and maybe no sugar at all instead of the sweetened condensed milk. You can also simmer up your own boba (tapioca bubbles/pearls) at home. And the absolute best part of this plan? You can make Thai iced tea POPSICLES.
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Turkey Lentil Soup with Kale
Kale is magical. Exhibit A: this recipe for hearty lentil soup with turkey. The perfect cold and flu remedy, especially if you douse it with lemon juice and/or hot sauce. Just add kale and suddenly the soup also gets a boost of leafy green nutrition and freshness.*
The magic of kale is in its adaptability. There are so many savory dishes out there that could be improved by just adding (or substituting) kale. I’ve added kale to chickpeas and pumpkin in a tagine (blog post coming… someday). I used kale instead of spinach in this Saag Paneer recipe. I used kale instead of broccoli rabe in this awesome and garlicky pasta recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I make kale salads, kale chips, and kale with toasted coconut.**
Kale is so versatile, it can be tossed onto a tray in the oven or dunked in a soup at the last minute, and it will taste delectable either way. On the other hand, as I discovered with this recipe, if you happen to stir it into your soup a little on the early side, the kale will simmer away nicely for ages and will not disintegrate or wilt, spinach-style. The sturdy kale leaves hold up quite nicely and give the soup an extra dose of richness. (Is richness the right word? Yes, I think so. Or maybe I just associate kale a little too strongly with olive oil…)
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Asparagus Risotto with Shrimp, Lemon, and Goat Cheese
I’ve decided to make more of an effort to cook things from my cookbooks instead of from the internet.
Of course this takes advance planning– not my specialty in the kitchen. And even if I can make it to the grocery store with a specific menu plan intact, it often all falls apart, as I sway between bouts of indecision. Should I try that new recipe after all? But what about that ____ in the fridge? I don’t want it to go bad; maybe I should spontaneously change my plans to cook something that includes that ingredient! Or even more often: ____ are on sale/in season!? Maybe I should buy those instead of what’s on my list and come up with a recipe around that…
That’s when the internet comes in handy: tailored recipes including every possible combination of your farmer’s market finds along with whatever ingredients you might have cluttering up your cabinets or poised to fall out of your freezer.
But there’s something nice about a plan and a cookbook. You can purchase fresh ingredients, your cookbook will undoubtedly tolerate some chaotic mid-cooking sauce spillage better than your laptop would, and just think of the anticipation! (I’ve written before about how I think anticipation is sometimes half the seasoning.)
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Steamed Artichoke with Spicy Mayonnaise Dipping Sauce
I love the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market (second only in my heart to the best farmer’s market ever in Madison, WI), but sometimes I have trouble waking up on Saturday mornings. (Or when I do wake up early on the weekends, I want to stay in and make a fancy breakfast.)
That’s why it was a little bit life-changing to have a local farmer’s market store open in my neighborhood. Now I’ve found a new place for organic kale (although because it’s organic, my girlfriend feels the need to be extra vigilant about checking the leaves for tiny insects), and for the occasional impulse-buy of an artichoke.
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Onigiri (Rice Balls) with Pickled Plum
Ever make too much rice and wonder what to do with the leftovers? I often have this problem, and not just with rice. Sometimes (= Thanksgiving) leftovers are awesome, but plain old rice as a leftover is particularly sad.* Refrigerated rice tends to dry out and harden, its nutty flavor growing blander as it’s chilled.
The way I see it, when your main course is the limiting reagent that runs out first, leaving you with half a pot of rice, your only good options are:
1) Stick it in the fridge, and use it to make fried rice the next night.
2) Stick it in the fridge, and later top it with furikake flavorings (or make Ochazuke).
3) If it’s short-grained (sticky) Japanese rice, you can make onigiri!
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Lentil Green Bean Salad with Vinaigrette
I have been craving this kind of salad recently.
Maybe it’s the transitioning of the seasons, as hearty winter meals are supplanted by fresh spring salads. Maybe it’s the tang of vinegar and the crunch of al dente green beans. Or maybe it’s just the eternal tastiness of lentils and the convenience of getting your protein and your salad all mixed into one.
Continue Reading: “Lentil Green Bean Salad with Vinaigrette”…
