Wednesday, 2/18/26

 I was all excited to make a brown butter pasta from the NYT, until a little research revealed that I made it a few months ago and wasn't delighted. So I kind of mashed up a few pasta ideas: grated zucchini (a win because it was looking a bit tired), browned butter, onion, garlic, parmesan, sun-dried tomatoes and plenty of Calabrian chilis. The brown butter flavor doesn't really come through so may not be worth it; otherwise very good. Jason had some kielbasa with his but I didn't need it.

Tuesday, 2/17/26

 Tofu and broccoli (roasted together for simplicity), rice, peanut sauce. I used the peanut sauce recipe from the NYT that goes with the dumpling salad, with plenty of chili crisp. Delicious.

Monday, 2/16/26

 Pita, eggplant (the amazing never ending bag of fried eggplant from the freezer), cucumbers, roasted tomatoes, yogurt-tahini sauce. Our new favorite way to eat fried eggplant  (sorry, Parm).

Sunday, 2/15/26

 Priya for lunch=no dinner. Particularly tasty options there today, but Carter was sad because the chicken Tikka masala was a bit too spicy for him.

Saturday, 2/14/26

 Who doesn't want to spend Valentine's making kimbap with their sweetheart? Maybe not so romantic, but it was good. Usual ingredients.

Friday, 2/13/26

 Dinner with Jen and John. Jason made bread and I made a very subpar gingerbread from Sally's Baking. Dry as hell, even though I pulled it a good 10 minutes early. The comments were pretty mixed, but I forged on anyway....should have stuck to SK. Oh well, big dollops pf maple whipped cream helped. Dinner was two Blue Aprons: a beef and carrot thing served over a curried rice (looked blah, tasted great) and ravioli with a Bolognese (I forgot the spinach, oops). The sauce was really good----I would have just served it over regular pasta if it were me. Fire and Olympics watching.

Thursday, 2/12/26

 I was looking forward to this roasted carrot dish from a newsletter I get.  While the description waxed rhapsodic about lovely winter carrots from the farmer's market, guess what? A bag of baby carrots from Aldi (it's all they had) worked fine. I also didn't have harissa but Calabrian chilis worked perfectly. Oh, and I left out the cinnamon.  Obviously didn't use vegan feta, either. Despite my lowbrow ways, this was truly delicious. Jason made pita for us, and I also had some oven-dried tomatoes. I can't wait to make it again.

500g small carrots, washed, trimmed and halved lengthwise
extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Salt and pepper
2 15-ounces/425g cans chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons harissa paste
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey)
1 block (170g to 200g) vegan or dairy feta
juice and zest of 1 lemon (4 tablespoons juice, 1 tablespoon zest)
bread, to serve (optional)

Preheat oven to 425˚F / 220˚C.

Place the carrots onto a baking sheet and drizzle generously with olive oil. Add the cumin, cinnamon and season well with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes.

Place the chickpeas into a bowl. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper. Toss to coat.

Remove the carrots from the oven and give the tray a shake. Add the chickpeas and return the baking sheet to the oven until the carrots are golden and tender.

To make the whipped feta, place the feta, lemon juice and 4 tablespoons of water into a small blender or food processor. Blend until smooth and airy. If it’s too thick, add a touch more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is smooth and spreadable. Season with black pepper.

In a small bowl. Combine the harissa and maple syrup (or honey).

Remove the carrots and chickpeas from the oven and spoon over the harissa and maple mixture. Toss to coat the carrots and chickpeas.