i topped the chili with avocado, cheddar, scallions, cilantro and sour cream. i made a side of sweet corn cakes (like the kind you get at most chain tex mex places) to go with it. a little lighter than the standard corn bread. and an excellent accompaniment! it's hard to even see the chili through all the toppings, but i promise the flavor came through loud and clear!
01/26 i've had a craving for seafood the last few days, so wanted to try a salmon dish tonight. this is a recipe i came across on ye old pinterest.....salmon topped with an herbed cheese and onion mixture. it sounds a little odd. but it does look most enticing, so i decided to give it a shot. this year is all about new recipes after all! since the salmon was so rich, i kept the side dishes simple. a little of the left over cole slaw from sunday, and some green peas.
01/27 the snow days are over, and it's back to work today! tonight's meal was one for the crock pot. garlic and brown sugar chicken with broccoli over brown rice. my expectations for this meal were rather low. i was worried it would be overly sticky. or too garlicky. but i was pleasantly surprised. the tender chicken was easily shredded into a well balanced sauce. not too sweet, not too spicy, not too salty. the texture was like a barbecued chicken. but the flavor was a little more to the asian side. it's always a treat to find a recipe that is so easy and so good!
01/28 with the leftover brown rice from last night's dinner, i made one of my personal favorites. stuffed peppers. specifically red peppers stuffed with seasoned lean ground beef, tomato sauce, brown rice and just a little touch of parmesan. they taste like comfort food, but are actually reasonably healthy. i always add a packet of "good seasons italian dressing mix" to the ground beef. it adds an amazing depth of flavor!
i usually serve these with a simple garden salad. but since this year is about trying out new recipes? i opted for a "massaged baby kale salad" instead. yes. i was in my kitchen giving a spa treatment to a bowl of leafy greens. tip-if you ever put kale in a salad, it helps to massage it with just a touch of olive oil and salt for about 2 minutes. this will soften the tough fibers in the kale and make it much more pleasing to the palette. i tossed the newly relaxed and tension-free kale with the shallot-dijon vinaigrette i've become so fond of lately. think of that as the aroma therapy part of the massage. then i threw i some slivered almonds and dried cranberries. a most delicious alternative to a garden salad! (stop rolling your eyes mom....you wouldn't have even known it was kale). and i wasn't the only one who thought so, tony went back for seconds!
01/29 it's friday, and time for me to take a night off from the kitchen. tony had a wicked burger craving tonight, so we went to foster's grille. i got their lil char burger with bleu cheese and barbecue sauce, and a small side of onion rings. healthy? no. worth it? YES!!!!! it was the perfect way to end the work week!
01/30 as we're approaching the lunar new year, tony and i went to a "tet festival" tonight. so many vietnamese vendors and musicians! it was great people watching. they had table after table of local vietnamese cuisine. some familiar, some completely unrecognizable.... and none of it described in english. we were both curious to try the food, but it was just a little too chaotic and noisy to stay and have dinner. but the hankering for asian cuisine was in place.
we stumbled upon "cheng's asian house" in a nearby strip mall. i was expecting standard americanized chinese food. but we were both surprised by some amazing (and much more authentic) chinese offerings! we split scallion pancakes and potstickers as appetizers. i love anything dumpling-ish..... i had the shredded spicy duck, and tony had the "spicy pungent noodles". which sounds a little scary. but they were amazing!!! both dishes were wonderfully flavored, and the perfect level of spicy. you could feel the heat, but it didn't overwhelm the tastes of the meal. http://chengshouse.com
01/31 for tonight's meal i made one of tony's favorites. baked ziti. i lightened it up a little. a lot actually. i used whole wheat pasta (and about half the amount the recipe calls for). and in place of ground beef or sausage i used turkey meatballs. i cut way back on the cheese the recipe called for. i actually enjoy the lightened up version better than the original.
and thus ends my first month of my goal!!! i've had some favorite recipes from the past, and have tried some new ones as well. i'm enjoying the way this plan forces me to break out of culinary ruts. eleven more months to go!!
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