Dinner - January 18, 2010

We have two dishes here based on the memory of some recipes. The roasted vegetables are based on Immer's Spicy Roasted Cauliflower and Okra. The beans are based on the white beans from the Pork Tenerloin with Pistachio-Gremolata Crust recipe from Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy.

For the vegetables I substituted bell peppers and zucchini for the okra. I varied the spices and used whole mustard seeds.

For the beans I used lime in place of the lemon, cilantro in place of the parsley, and avocado in place of the nuts and breadcrumbs.

I found the meal satisfying. We were looking for a meal with no pasta or rice and this fit the bill. For a refrigerator clean-out meal I will call it a success.

Dinner - July 6, 2009

Sometimes even in the summer you need an easy meal from the pantry. This may be familiar and is from the recipe "Smokin' Drunken Chili" in Myra Kornfeld's The Healthy Hedonist. I posted about this back in June. You can find the previous post here.

I again made this without the beer and with the avocado chopped and stirred into the pot. I also make this in the dutch oven as a one pot meal. This time I served it with corn chips from the store.

I have in my notes that I can make a double recipe in just under an hour so I am going to give this a 3 for a preparation rating as a good week night meal. I feel kind of funny giving something as humble as chili a 5 rating on taste but I would serve this to any meat eaters so I guess it earned it.

Dinner with Jiffer

Tonight we made Jiffer eat weird food. She said it was okay.

This was menu 3 from the summer section of Peter Berley's Fresh Food Fast (page 92). In the foreground is Seared Tofu with Spicy Black Beans and Mango Salsa and in the background is Chilled Avocado Soup with Lime and Jalapeño.

Avocado soup was super easy, quite unique, and pretty good. It is suggested to serve with a dollop of sour cream which we did not do. It also calls for some crispy fried tortilla strips on top. I did make these for Jiffer but I forgot to ask if she thought they added anything. This make 4 large servings. I ate the rest of the soup several days later and it was still a very pretty green. I want to try this soup again on smaller scale.

The black beans were on the bland side. Matt and I found they needed salt. The ginger smelled great when they were cooking but maybe they needed a little bit more. We used some organic black beans which are plain to start with so perhaps I would have had more success using S&W or adding some garlic and salt on my own.

The mangoes I had for the salsa where called Champagne Mangoes. Jiffer and I stood over the sink sucking every last bit off of them. These were the best mangoes I have ever had. I am glad we enjoyed them when we did because with the jalapeño in the salsa the enjoyment was not quite the same.

The recipe calls for staking the beans, tofu, and salsa on top of rice. I make a little white rice for Jiffer but Matt and I went without. The salsa was a little to spicy for me to completely enjoy. I am guessing if I had some rice that may have worked out to the right spice level.

The black beans and tofu rely on the salsa for the majority of the flavor. So anytime I have a ripe mango or two I would probably make this recipe again for me and Matt since the rest of the ingredients are pantry regulars. I don' think I will serve it to others. Thanks for trying it Jiffer.

Matt and I had an Albarino with this meal which appears to be about the right wine.