Was it only three posts ago that I told you all how grateful I was to be alive after an incredibly scary car accident?
Just ten short days later, I’m going to tell you again. I’m so grateful to be alive, and to be (relatively) okay.
Tag Archives: main dish
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Mexican Stuffed Peppers
For some reason, I always think that when I come back from a business trip, everything is going to settle down. I’ll arrive home at 5:30 with plenty of time to make a nice leisurely dinner, follow it with an evening run or bike ride, and still have time to get to bed early.
And for some (presumably related) reason, I appear to be completely disconnected with reality, which generally goes a little more like this: finish work at least an hour later than planned, leave bike in the office because I still haven’t fixed the roof rack on my car, remember that I have to stop at the grocery store for something or the other, fly in the door around 8 with dinner barely a tadpole of a thought, cook, scarf it down, conveniently disappear while Nor does the dishes, finish up extra work stuff, and run around like crazy trying to get into bed before it’s officially tomorrow.
If any of that sounds familiar, you probably appreciate a quick and easy meal as much as I do. These stuffed peppers are a lifesaver on hectic nights – even more so if I remember to make the filling over the weekend (I usually don’t). They also aren’t baked like many stuffed peppers – and with summer on the way and the thought of firing up the oven getting more unpleasant by the day, that’s a total bonus.
Roasted Tofu With Wasabi Dipping Sauce
I might need to rename this blog. I’m starting to see a theme. I wonder if “foodmostpeoplehate-butireallyloveandwantyoutoloveittoo.com” is already taken. First the brussels sprouts, and now tofu – maybe next time we’ll tackle lima beans.
Tofu and I do not go way back. When I attempted vegetarianism as a teenager, I successfully cut out meat from my diet; however, in doing so, I also invented an entirely new dietary classification known as “pizzatarian.” I wanted nothing to do with anything remotely healthy, let alone anything that contained the words “fermented” and “soybean.” I did suck down an alarming amount of processed fake meat (the creepy bacon that even has the fake fat marbling), but that was as close as I got to tofu until a few years ago.
At some point I will post the tofu recipe that won me over. This is the recipe that’s won a lot of other tofu skeptics over, though, and it’s so good and so deliciously simple that you should really probably make it tonight. The high-temperature roast gives the tofu the pleasing texture of the deep-fried tofu you often see in restaurants, without the fat and grease. The outside is perfectly browned and crispy, the inside chewy and soft. And with a side of wasabi dipping sauce, it’s nothing less than addictive. Pop out a plate in the afternoon as a quick snack, or serve for dinner with broccoli and rice. And enjoy – if I’d known how to make this in high school, Mama Celeste pizza would’ve gone out of business.
Portabella Steaks
Steak is steak. I will acknowledge that. Obviously a portabella steak isn’t that reminiscent of an actual steak – you don’t have to let it rest, you don’t have to sear it first, and you don’t have to ask your guests how they like it cooked, because it certainly will not have a cool pink center (if it does, there is something very wrong with your mushroom and you should immediately throw it away and send the grocery store a strongly-worded email). However, there really is something about a big juicy bite of a grilled portabella mushroom that reminds me of meat. Maybe that’s because it’s been years since I’ve eaten an actual steak and I’ve forgotten what they taste like, or maybe it’s because of the supposed umami* the mushroom embodies. Regardless, this is the one thing I feel like I can throw on a grill at a barbecue that doesn’t result in people casting sympathetic glances my way as they tear into their steaks. It’s hearty and fulfilling, and won’t leave you missing actual steak at all. It also goes from grocery bag to table in under 45 minutes (including marinating time). That being my first and pretty much only criteria for weeknight dinners, it’s heavily in the rotation around here.
*Umami is supposedly the fifth taste category that the human taste buds can discern – the one that doesn’t fit neatly into the previously defined sweet/sour/salty/bitter packages. Translated simply, it means “delicious,” but the umami flavor is generally defined as meaty, robust, or savory. Umami’s discoverer, Japanese researcher Kikunae Ikeda, identified the broken down form of the amino acid glutamate (L-glutamate) as the source of the umami taste. Guess what’s super-rich in glutamate and hence, really delicious when cooked? Yep – mushrooms. This is allegedly why mushrooms are so often used as a meat substitute, and why the texture and mouthfeel of a grilled portabella is so very steaky. I’m not sure I buy all of that, because I’m a simpleton and my reaction is more along the lines of “chomp chomp chomp, were you saying something?”
