The Zen of Cooking

For me, even when I come home from work very late (resulting in 8-10pm dinners) I usually take off my coat and head straight into the kitchen. I usually have general meal ideas built out per shopping, but often when my work schedule is overwhelming, like in the fall/winter season, I am often facing frequent creative approaches in the kitchen with bleary eyes, a sad tired back, and quite frankly an exhausted brain. I have several burns and cuts on my hands from minor cooking incidents over the past few months to show for it. Though I think I am either developing "chef's hands" or I am just drinking too much while cooking since these minor emergencies rarely cause me physical pain anymore, though they do cause bleeding and blistering!

Tonight was a wonderful marriage of fresh and convenience. Quick, flavorful and just enough chopping to soothe me. Just enough experimentation to satisfy. Quiet rhythms in movement and music. My stress melts away.

I played Imaad Wasif, a great artist we discovered as an opening act for a Yeah Yeah Yeahs concert. He is brilliant, a sort of nouveau Bob Dylan sort without the bizarre voice. I sat drinking wine post dinner at the dining table by myself just unwinding, thinking, melting. Good stuff.

But I put him on to begin my tai chi movements through the kitchen...

I made:
Trader Joes Masala Burgers - A wonderful veggie burger that had a lovely light masala flavor as well as the flavor of all the individual vegetables in it. More like a potato pancake than a soy based burger...in fact almost no soy in it at all...and only 120 calories a piece...even the boy loved them. They came well reccommended by belle bleue as well. We grilled them on the indoor grill.

One small zucchini and one small yellow squash - Sliced and tossed with fresh ground pepper, sea salt, and olive oil and then cooked in foil packet on grill (easy cleanup). Cook burgers and veggies together for 10 minutes. (Flip burgers once).

Basmati rice cooked as usual, but garnished in a new way. Right before serving tossed with pepper, salt and a drizzle of dark sesame oil...soooo lovely.

That's it. Good. Tasty. Quick. Simple. Healthy.

Our wine wasn't so hot though...Sicilia Nero d'Avola...drinkable, but nothing to write home about. Not sure where I got it, but I think Trader Joe's.

We are grateful for: The boy did well on an exam. I was grateful for the boy. I couldn't stop thinking on the commute home how happy I was to have him to go home to.

As an aside: Trader Joe's brand edamame is the best I have had. Much better than Kroger's, DeKalb Farmer's Market and Whole Foods' brand. The soy beans are plump, crisp, and pratically bursting with healthy green joy. Not to mention they cost half as much. Now I am listening to Traveling Wilburys, and I am happy even though I have to do some work now...

Pleasant High Calorie Dreams Y'all...

Perfect Pesto

I was washing my greens from the garden today and had put them out to dry on the "vegetable towel." (A towel forbidden to the men in my household to touch. It is reserved for food prep only) When I was overcome with how pretty my salad looked. I grabbed my camera and started snapping. Then I wondered where I would put these photos. So here I am. I'm not going to screw round. Just talk about what I am eating. How it makes me feel. My salad made me happy, so I wanted to share it. Then I finished the pesto I was making; it was perfect. I don't use a recipe, just kinda put things in the chopper/shredder and whirl away on a whim. Sometimes it is good; sometimes just okay. Tonight's was fairly pedestrian ingredient wise, but perfect in the balance of flavors.

Dinner for Dos
Main course

Basil and Parsley from our garden
Garlic
Parmesan Cheese
Pine Nuts
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper!
Bow Tie Pasta (They also make me happy)
A few Krinos oil cured olives
A smidge of leftover goats milk feta

Salad
Mesclun and Nasturium leaves and flowers from our garden
Cukes

In our house we "pray" before each meal. The way we pray is we each share something we are grateful for that day. It help us remember that there is at least something not @#!-y in our lives everyday.

Today we are grateful for: The lovely date we had last night: Pirates of the Carribbean and then a late dinner at Sweet Lowdown. We had lovely cocktails for a change versus wine, fried green tomatoes that were crispy and smeared with pimento cheese, a sweet and succulant double pork chop, soft shelled crab, the best sides I have had in a while: al dente collard greens and roasted fingerling potatoes, and closed down the house with the biggest cheese plate I have ever been served at a restaurant. Our lunch today was delightful because of it's size. The food here was delish, if the service was a bit bizarre...I asked about the foie gras the restaurant was known for, and our waiter said "What's foie gras!?!?" I had an urge to assume the "older woman who would lead this young fellow to his manhood" role by offering to take him out to get foie gras, but I was enjoying my cocktail so much, I let it go. Yep, it was a good date.