Dinner

Vegetable Stew

Back when I was working two jobs, I'd make this vegetable stew basically every week; I'd put it in the slow cooker Monday night (my night off), and portion it out early Tuesday morning into dinners for the week (lunches were generally sandwiches). It's cheap, it's filling, and it's delicious.

The exact ingredients vary every time, but it always includes a can of tomatoes, eggplant, and a can of chickpeas/ceci/garbanzo beans (depending on where you shop).

This week I went to Fresh Farms International Market, and found these Indian Eggplants (Dudes: $.98/lb.):

And all of these parsnips for 50 cents (I'm allergic to carrots, but not parsnips. Weird.):

And cebolitas (I can't find any information about them anywhere, but they're like if leeks and scallions had a baby. A tasty, tasty baby.):

I also bought what is referred to on the receipt as a Red Anci Pepper. It looks like this. It's more sweet than hot, and is so pretty with all the browns and greens in the dish. Some cilantro from the other night's stir fry also went in, as well as the rest of the bok choy, and a small zucchini.

If I were to write it out like a proper recipe, it might look something like this:

6 indian eggplants (about 3/4 lb), quartered lengthwise

4 small parsnips, quartered lengthwise and cut to 2-inch lengths

4 cebolitas, bulbs quartered lengthwise, stalks cut to 2-inch lengths

1 large red anci pepper, cleaned/cored and diced large

1/2 head bok choy, cut to 1-inch pieces

1 small zucchini, quarted lengthwise and sliced to 1 inch thickness

1/2 cup cilantro (not packed), chopped

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, including juice

1 can (15.5 oz) chickpeas/ceci/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 tsp cumin

1-2 tb olive oil

1 tsp salt

Mix in crockpot and cook on low overnight. Also works with dutch oven in a slow oven.

Weekend Dinner

(Or: In Which This:

Led to This:)

Scott and I walked the dog over to Rogers Park Fruit Market yesterday afternoon, and Scott went in and bought $13.66 worth of groceries while I walked the dog around the block. ("Blaze, leave it. No garbage-eating today. Leave it. Leave it. DROP IT. Come on. Come on, Blaze. Blaze, come. Blaze, heel. Blaze, heel. Blaze, leave it. Leave it. Leave it. Come on, let's go sit down.")

When we got home, I made this Vietnamese Lemongrass Marinade that's linked all over the internet (just search "lemongrass" and "marinade"), but with about a teaspoon of salt and some water instead of the fish sauce. (Someday I'll make a substitutions-table for food allergies, but I'm afraid someone will take my word for it and everything will go wrong.) Anyway, that's what the first picture details.

While the beef marinated, Scott made some jasmine brown rice ("I'm something of an expert at making rice, my dear," he said.) and washed and chopped a lot of vegetables, including:

Bok choy (1/2 head)

Jalapeno

Green onions

Cilantro

Mysterious wild-looking mushrooms

Bean sprouts

Then some things happened in two pans (one for the mushrooms/meat-minus-marinade, and one for everything else), involving lime juice and canola oil, and then: FOOD.

Everything had to get cooked in stages, because the wok got lost when we moved in September, but: 6 servings. $13.66. ($2.28 per serving.) And: DELICIOUS.

(Notice the tupperware container with vegetable trimmings: This next batch of soup will involve lemongrass. Oh, baby.)

Dinner

Last night for dinner I wasn't up to anything as epic as pan-fried 10-ingredient fish cakes, so:

1.) I made some mango chutney (diced mango, onion, Tajin, and curry powder; heat up in a small saucepan with a little bit of olive oil until the onions are clear).

2.) Scott made some kind of crazy coleslaw. I don't know what was going on over there, but it involved a 1/4-head of cabbage, parsley, lemon juice, and chili powder.

3.) I threw two defrosted hamburger patties onto the nonstick frying pan and, while those were cooking,

4.) Heat up some leftover red rice in the microwave.

The best part was trying to get some of each thing onto the fork at the same time.

The chutney will definitely be happening again. Oh, baby.

(Notice we had to get out the Big Plates for this one.)

Lunch for One

Lunch today is soup, salmon croquette, and biscuit (all leftovers).

Tuesday, I made the soup with stock from the bone from our Christmas ham and the neck from our Thanksgiving turkey, using the method from Simply Recipes (basic gist: pour some water over it, put it on the stove, and leave it alone for several hours). After I strained it in went some white beans I'd been soaking, a can of tomatoes, some more chopped onion, and dried marjoram and oregano. After a couple of hours, when the beans were done, I dropped in some zucchini chunks and frozen green beans (linked, because they're my favorite) and made some boxed-mix biscuits while they were cooking.

I use an egg and some water instead of milk for the biscuits, and I threw in some white whole wheat flour to make them a little more substantial. Mmmm, warm biscuits... (That's what she said...)

I made salmon croquettes last night, using Joy of Cooking's recipe, except (there's always an "except") I pan-fried them in a non-stick frying pan, with just enough olive oil to cover the bottom. I left them on the first side for several minutes, using my patented method for perfect pancakes: walk away and do something else so you don't touch them. The second side only took a minute or two. When each batch was done, they went into the 300 degree oven I was preheating for brownies. Making something else at the same time helps the Don't Touch It process.

The croquettes are good on their own, or with lemon juice or some good balsamic vinegar (we have some fig balsamic from Old Town Oil). The soup is good, but I put some Tapatio hot sauce in it, and that's just tasty.

I better finish eating before the cat eats my lunch.