Having finally been inspired to put together a nearly-full slate of new recipes for the week, I have not been organized enough to blog about them individually, so here's a catch-up post. After the crap we ate on the road Saturday, I felt a serious urge to make good things that at least nodded in the direction of healthfulness. (I have also been working out every day this week, have traded in my beloved bagels for yogurt and fruit, and my supper glass of wine for milk--though that last is at least partially because I have a cold, and one does not mix wine and NyQuil).
- Monday - Spicy Orange Chicken Stir-Fry. This one is a definite keeper. I've tried orange sauces before and always been put off by them, but this strikes the right balance between the sweet and other notes for my taste.
- Tuesday - Orecchiette with Caramelized Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, and Ricotta Cheese. Reserving judgment. There was no fresh basil at the store, and I think that would have made a big difference. The onions turned out nicely, but the dish as a whole was on the bland side. We'll try this one again before deciding if we really like it. Also had to use frozen sugar snaps, which I'm sure didn't help.
- Thursday -Pasta with Goat Cheese, Lemon, and Asparagus. I made this with fresh local asparagus from the farmers market, and it was very good and easy to put together. No tarragon at hand, so I used some herbes de Provence, which provided a nice flavor, if not quite what the recipe developer had in mind. A good one to keep in the spur-of-the-moment file, since most of the ingredients are things one usually has on hand. My only regret was not having bought even more asparagus than I did!
- Friday -Hoisin Pork Tenderloin with Asian Carrot Salad. Lest you think that we've gone vegetarian over here. My store was out of pork tenderloin. Which was supposed to be on sale this week--a buying error, the butcher explained a bit sheepishly, and gave me some pork loin at a markdown to apologize. It worked reasonably well. This is another simple one, hard to go wrong. For the dressing I used Newman's Own low-fat sesame-ginger, which is okay for a bottled dressing (why do they all have so much sugar? the fabled American sweet tooth at work?).
Also on Friday, my birthday presents from D arrived: a copy of
The Omnivore's Dilemma, and
Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet. I have started reading the former, and am learning fascinating things about corn sex.
2 comments:
I had my students read Omnivore's Dilemma and they seem to now be obsessed with corn, which is all one can ask, really. We also watched King Corn, which you should check out if your local library has it.
And Hot, Sour, etc., has the most gorgeous pictures ever.
I thought it was a very well-written book. I'm going to have to reread it; I'm trying to figure out how he managed to make CAFOs seem so appalling while not even dwelling on the gory details (at least, I didn't think he did).
And yes, it does. This is the third of their books I've gotten -- they are all so luscious-looking, I wish I had a coffee table to put them on.
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