This is very similar to a greek salad I did a little while back, but different enough and tasty enough to post again

2 1/2 cups Bistro Wild Rice Blend
1 cucumber, shredded
1 can black olives
1 can garbanzo beans
4 oz feta cheese
2 chicken breasts
1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped dill
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

For the side I roasted:
1 yam
and 1 ear corn
with salt and butter and some seasonings

To cook the rice, I started boiling about 3 cups water along with the excess cucumber juice, some of the olive water, and the bouillon cube. Once it was going, I poured in the rice, the cucumber, the olives, and the rinsed garbanzo beans. While this was cooking for about 35 minutes, I started the chicken. I seasoned it heavily with salt, pepper, and oregano and cooked each breast on a cast iron pan with oil until each side was brown and crispy.
While all of this was going down, I had the oven up to 45o, where I put the diced up yam and ear of corn until they cooked up right.
When the chicken rested, and the rice was almost done, I chopped up the chicken, and added it to the rice along with the herbs, feta, and the juice of the lemon. I mixed this all around, letting the heat wilt the herbs and the feta to melt and mix all in.

Graham cracker cupcakes with a chocolate ganache filling and a 7-minute frosting. The frosting is kind of like a quick spreadable marshmallow.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoons salt
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk

1. Mix the flour, crumbs, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Beat in the butter a couple tablespoons at a time.
3. Beat in sugar until combined.
4. Beat in eggs.
5. Add vanilla and milk and mix until just barely combined.
6. Pour into cupcake pan, filling cups a little over half full.
7. Bake at 400º for around 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
8. Let cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.

At this point, I used a paring knife to cut little cones out of the top of each one, then spooned in some ganache, replaced the cones, and heaped on some of the frosting. Right at the end I decided to sprinkle on some graham cracker crumbs I had left over.

Anda curry is a tomato curry with eggs poached directly in it near the end.


1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 teaspoons coriander seed, ground
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cayenne
2 pounds tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup fresh "coriander leaves" (I wound up subbing in some parsley because I had a brain fart and forgot that this is cilantro. Learn from my mistakes, children.)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
6-8 large eggs

1. Heat the oil in a sauce pan at medium-high heat.
2. Add the garlic and onion and fry until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the coriander, cumin, and turmeric and cook for another minute.
4. Add the cayenne, tomatoes, and salt and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
5. Lower the heat and stir in the "coriander" and garam masala (not too much or the next step will take too long like it did for me).
6. Gently break the eggs into the curry without breaking the yolks. Cover the saucepan with a lid and cook for around 3-4 minutes, or until the eggs are where you want them. Serve hot.

I am posting another pulled pork dinner I made even though the pork portion isn't too different than other times I've done this. The big thing I want to save here is the vinegar coleslaw. It was cheap, easy and really good. But first the pork variation that I pulled from my friend Ross.

So I seasoned the pork as normal, except in the crockpot I left out the wet ingredients like soy sauce and vinegar and let it sit instead on a bed of a half of an onion, chopped. I let it cook up for 8-10 hours on high until it was all tender. By the time it was done, many of the juices had seeped out. I pulled the pork from the liquid, put it in a hot skillet, pulled it, and let it get crispy in a few bits. I then used the remaining sauce from the crockpot to deglaze the pan along with some cider vinegar (apple juice would work well, too). Most of the liquid reduced down and left the mess very sticky and perfectly shredded.

Now to the coleslaw

1/2 head small purple cabbage

1/2 onion

4 whole carrots

1 head bok choy

1 cup apple cider vinegar

5 Tbls white sugar

1 Tbls black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp rosemary

I started off shredding the cabbage, carrots and boy chow into thin strips, and sliced up the onion to match the size of the other vegetables. I put it all in tupperware, and added the rest of the ingredients. The seasonings there may or may not have made much of a difference. I was mostly just aiming for an approximate flavor profile as the pork. Any spices you want could probably work. I put the top on the tupperware, gave it a good shake, and then let it sit in the refrigerator for about 4 hours, giving it a shake every hour or so to keep it coated. Then it was ready to serve.

Knowing veggies, you might want to adjust the amount of sugar and salt and vinegar depending on how much you get from the veggies. Also, after I let it sit overnight, the coleslaw was even better. Still really crisp and sweet and tangy. Good stuff.

So I found a great Asian supermarket that has cheap diverse produce and meats. Here is what I made with them tonight.

1 lbs squid tube

1 lbs green beans

1 lbs baby bok choy

3 carrots

1 large yellow bell pepper

1 bunch Thai basil

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

19 oz coconut milk

2 Tbls Mae Ploy green curry paste

2 cups sticky rice

1 cup

edemame

soy sauce

sriracha

To start off, I got the rice cooking first as according to the package. I chopped up the beans, carrots and bell pepper into strips about the same thickness, and sauteed them in some oil with a little salt. While they were softening up, I chopped up the bok choy. I snipped off the base, washed them, and then chopped the bigger leaves into small strips as well. I added the curry paste and let it mix in with the sauteing veggies and oil. I chopped up the thai basil and cilantro and set them aside until the end. The squid tubes I bought were already cleaned and the cartilage removed. I had two tubes, that I cut in half length-wise, and then sliced horizontally also the same thickness as the veggies. I added the coconut milk to the pan along with a half cup of water, and then tossed in the bok choy and squid. About this time, I put on small pot of water to boil the edemame. Right before the everything was done, I mixed in the basil and cilantro.

To finish the plate off, I added some soy sauce to the edemame, and sriracha to the rest. Good stuff.

I was very proud of this dish of spaghetti. It tasted very unlike my normal spaghetti does. Which isn't to say my normal spaghetti is bad, just that this was really good. And there was no meat, or spaghetti in it.

1 spaghetti squash

1 jar herb and garlic spaghetti sauce

1 green and 1 red bell pepper

1 cup chopped green beans

1 package Enoki mushrooms ( I got from the asian super market. If you have the option, I recommend these highly)

1 package fried puffed tofu (also from the asian market. If you want tofu, but with a thicker more tearable texture, these will be your friend)

olive oil

salt and pepper

So I started by baking the spaghetti squash, cut in half, with some salt for 1 hour at 350 degrees. In a large sauce pan, I sauteed the sliced bell peppers in olive oil until they were soft. I added the green beans, mushrooms, and sauce and simmered for 10 minutes. In another pan, I heated some veggie oil, and fried the puffed tofu, turning until crispy and set out on a paper towel. Once the squash was done, I shredded it with a fork and added it to the sauce along with the tofu and served. I put Parmesan on mine, but you could do nutritional yeast if you want to keep it vegan.