I love a goal that takes concentrated forward motion over a long period of time - one I can't just sit and furiously knock out in one afternoon in trying to run from the anxiety of having it looming over my head. Cooking-related goals have been a home run for me in seeking something sincerely fun, actively creative, and forcibly long-term.
Maybe you don't feel the same, but for me, it's nearly impossible to abandon a cooking goal because I have to cook anyway in order to remain alive. So, if I'm cooking, I may as well do it with intention.
The preamble is meant to set up this point: as I get closer to reaching the completion of two of my favorite cookbooks, it's been interesting around here. I don't cook in any certain order, instead basing my decisions on what's struck my fancy for the week (or what ingredients are on BOGO, because I'm a BOGO queen). The predicament naturally created by this process is that the recipes left for the end of the journey are... at first (and second, and third, and fourth) glance uninteresting to me.
But, I'm a completionist at heart, and I won't say I've made every recipe in the cookbook until I've made every. recipe. in. the. cookbook.
To my pure delight, I have made so many dishes over the last couple of weeks that I have truly adored (all from Half Baked Harvest: Super Simple). Several of them have been meatless, just because I normally skip those types of recipes. Am I becoming sort of vegetarian on accident?! Did I borrow "The Weekday Vegetarians" by the beloved Jenny Rosenstrach from the library this week?!
Falafel Bowl with Avocado and Lemon Tahini - This was one that immediately made me think I could easily be a vegetarian and not miss meat. It was my first time even eating falafel, so needless to say, I had no clue what I was doing, but it was easy and amazing. Tieghan writes that "the falafel holds up really well in the fridge and is just as delicious served at room temperature as it is right out of the frying oil." I wouldn't say it's
just as delicious - having them hot and crispy was fairly magical - but yes, they hold up perfectly in the fridge, and yes, it makes me want to cook a double batch over the weekend and not think about lunch for five days.
Furthermore, not to publicly look like an absolutely noob, but I have not loved quinoa in the past - and when I went to make it this time around, the package suggested using chicken broth instead of water. Friends, I have fixed my problem with quinoa. Before, I thought it tasted dirty and bitter (just me???). With chicken broth (homemade, though I'm not elitist about it) it tasted... like it should.
Salsa Verde and Brown Rice Chicken Tortilla Soup - Threw the ingredients in the slow cooker just before lunch and was so happy to be doing darn near nothing at dinner time. All the flavor in this recipe comes from the inclusion of enchilada sauce and salsa verde (though I only used half of what the recipe called for because it was a LOT) which was interesting and delicious, but the toppings are what made it come together. On that topic, I'm thankful to be learning this lesson about the toppings, which I'm often too lazy or cheap to make sure I have on hand. Having a little blog pushed me on this, if only for the pictures - but now that I've discovered the difference it makes, I don't see myself giving up the habit.
* When I ate this soup, I realized I forgot to add the lime, so then I added some lime before my husband got home from work, about which he said that "it was a little heavy on the lime," but I would not know.
Moroccan Chickpea and Carrot Tagine - Here's another one that I'm tempted to make a double-batch of and be happily fed for a week. It was the first thing I've made in the InstantPot other than rice in literal years, just because it seemed easy and I didn't feel like standing over the stove for show. This was my first time using harissa and even though I bought the spicy kind, I did not find it to be nearly as spicy as I wanted. I was also all up in my head about whether harissa paste is the same thing as harissa sauce? Because I definitely bought sauce when the recipe called for paste... so to make up any potential difference in concentration, I used 50% more sauce than called for. It was still not spicy, so my dish drowned in Red Clay hot sauce, which has a uniquely vinegary base that is okay with me but not passable for my husband. My intention was to serve this over white rice, but my mom sent me home from lunch with some leftover yuca, which worked out magically.
Smoked Cream Cheese Dip with Honey, Red Onion, and Woodfired Garlic Rub - I winged it but putting those things together and sneaking it onto the smoker during Superbowl Sunday. Big hit.
Sun-Dried Tomato and Avocado Salad with Chicken - I had such low hopes for this show-stopping salad. There are several factors here that I did not think were setting me up for success, and they were as follows. Number one, I hate raw spinach as a salad base, I think it makes my mouth feel funny (or, I thought it did...). Number two, I strongly dislike sundried tomatoes (or, I thought I did...). Number three, bacon makes salads like these but it's such a hassle to have bacon available (or, I thought it was...)
I happened to have some leftover bacon from breakfast, so the chips fell perfectly. Although I refused to add it to the "bacon vinaigrette" as instructed, and instead took creative liberty in the form of doubling the bacon and adding it straight to the salad. Also, my new habit is to make a pack of bacon once a week in the oven and keep it in the fridge for stuff like this - or for breakfast. Anyway, back to the vinaigrette, I'm trying not to be an extremist but the more homemade ones I make, the more I'm confused why in the world I would buy the ones from the store that are shelf-stabilized by preservatives? Am I missing something here? It's not even cheaper nor is it that much more convenient to buy from the store. Consider me a convert.
The dill?! Amazing. The SMOKED CHICKEN MY HUSBAND MADE A FEW DAYS PRIOR?! Took it over the top. I can't wait to make this again and impress some dinner guests.
Burrata with Pepperonata and Tomatoes - This was one to cross off the list, and I figured since my eyes were bigger than my stomach when I bought fourteen pounds of grape tomatoes (#BOGOqueen), this was the perfect time to make it. I've never felt so in touch with my paternal Italian roots than when I was tasting this appetizer (which, okay, I had for dinner and it was NOT enough food...). But the burrata was fresh and incredible and this is another one that's easy and will impress some friends in the future. Tieghan recommends tossing leftovers with plain pasta for a fast dinner.
- Essentially a Kale Caesar with considerable bulk added due to the broccoli, which I chopped up super small before massaging the dressing into. This keeps in the fridge for a couple days. I added smoked chicken and skipped the avocado and eggs for my husband, but I loved this as-written*.
*This was supposed to be with "Eggy Fried Toast" but since I would have been the only one eating the toast, I didn't bother. If you come over, though, we will do the Eggy Fried Toast together.
