Saturday, 2/14/25

 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.

Wednesday, 2/11/26

 I didn't actually make kielbasa-barley soup from the NYT; I just loosely used the idea. It did feature kielbasa, but we served it over egg noodles. This was fine, nothing special. Maybe the barley was actually the key.

Tuesday, 2/10/26

 Our planned Thursday dinner with Jodi got moved to tonight; she made burrito fillings and we brought chips and guacamole. The kielbasa soup will wait.

Monday, 2/9/26

 Even though it isn't complicated, the stupidly named Marry Me chicken (from the NYT) felt like too much for a week night. It did not help one tiny bit to be on the cold porch, possibly getting chilblains. There are just so many ingredients (tomato paste, cream, onions, garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes plus my own additions of mushrooms and calabrian chilis) and it just needs some futzing to balance the flavors. I also made it with chicken thighs instead of breasts (as that is what we had) and I don't think it was an improvement. Anyhow, the end product was pretty good; served with regular rice.

Sunday, 2/8/26

 Tacos dorados, inspired by a recipe from the NYT. I see that I have actually made this twice before; I didn't like it the first time so I wonder why I tried again? Anyhow, we seem to have it down now, because they came together pretty quickly, despite all the steps. I had made the potato filling on Saturday, and chopped some sweet potatoes beforehand as well, to speed things along. Served with guacamole and some salsa that Jodi refused to eat and so gave to us.