Sunday, 3/15/26

 Cheesy pinto beans and rice, with green chiles, red peppers, zucchini and cherry tomatoes. I cooked the beans in the Instant Pot for I think 40 minutes? They got a tiny bit too soft but that was my fault. We were out of salsa so I doused my in taijin.

Saturday, 3/14/26

 I almost bailed on pupusas for dinner and made nachos instead, but with Jason's encouragement and help soldiered on and made them. I used some of the leftover rotisserie chicken, some cotija,  mozzarella and a healthy shake of taijin for the filling. Jason fried them up on the porch and honestly it was just as easy as nachos (but maybe not quite as cheesy and delicious?). Served with another fruit plate. I was feeling fancy this time:

why I didn't go into garde manger

Friday, 3/13/25

 Ramona day! We had lots of fun with the kid, and as a bonus picked up a rotisserie chicken in Chicopee while we were there dropping her off. I used it to make a quick ramen soup that wasn't really like ramen at all, but it was so good that  who cares. You make a quick stock with onions, garlic, soy sauce, and cilantro stems, then cook the noodles (angel hair in this case, because that's what we had) in the stock. Add some chicken to your bowl and you have a super cozy flavorful dinner. I thought the vibes were more like pho, so I served it with sriracha, lime, hoisin and scallions. Great use for the chicken.

Fun in Aldi

Thursday, 3/12/26

 I took the day off, so we took a little trip to the Mt. Holyoke bulb show in the morning and then had a leisurely afternoon with snacks, drinks and video games. Dinner was easy: bread and cheese (Aldi had some nice choices in stock) plus roasted cabbage with spicy fish sauce vinaigrette (the runaway hit of the meal). I just sliced the cabbage into thick slabs and roasted it on a pretty high heat (425) and it really was quite good.

 

Lots of tulip inspiration

Wednesday, 3/11/26

 Lentils diavolo (NYT), with orzo and roasted sweet potatoes. I didn't have much feta to garnish it with, so I made a little yogurt sauce with lime, cumin and chipotle pepper. This was great, except that the lentils took a long long time to cook (why didn't I remember to pre-soak them??). Jason was raving about them, having no memory I guess of the previous two times that I made this dish.

Tuesday, 3/10/26

 Yes, it was tofu, broccoli and rice again. But! It was still interesting! I braised the tofu in a skillet with a gochujaru sauce (thanks to Cook's Illustrated for the tip of not squishing the tofu for better sauce absorption) and served it as tofu bowls, with some lightly pickled cucumbers and pickled daikon. I didn't even resent cooking out on the porch since it was over 50 degrees and the whole Valley is losing their minds.

Monday, 3/9/25

 Smoked mozzarella ravioli (from Aldi) with tomato sauce from the freezer and a spinach salad (cherry tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, dried cranberries, feta, oil and Balsamic vinegar). Easy, quick and no leftovers.