Butter-Roasted Turnips

Butter-Roasted Turnips and Turnip Greens

Like Hugh Acheson, my first relationship with the turnip was with the wrong turnip.

In the grocery store, the turnips are often large, sitting in a bin with their greens cut off.   They look like unwanted orphans -- like me -- I wanted to like them and experimented.  Roasting.  Boiling. Putting them in soups, stews and pot au feus.  There was always a stubborn bitterness that lingers.  

Last week at the farmers market, I saw a different kind of turnip.  Fresh greens affixed to small white globes -- a Japanese variety of turnips.  A bunch sold for $2.  I bought one bunch, hoping this time for a happy, tasting ending.  

While cleaning up my office, I picked up Hugh Acheson's Broad Fork and thought, where on the bookshelf will I put this.  Before I could accomplish that task, the book fell open to the page about turnips and I knew then, what I would make for my dinner.

He was right, the recipe is so simple; finding the right turnip is not.  But, I'll keep my eye out for these.

Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees.   Half these turnips and put cut side down in a pan with melted better.

Let them brown in the butter for about three minutes.  Then put them in the oven for another three minutes.

You should get this tasty sweet caramelization when you flip them cut side up.

While the turnips are in the oven, saute and wilt the greens in melted better.

Then combine (plate).

This dish was truly a revelation.  The young tender greens were delicious, the turnips fork tender adn sweet.  We gobbled it all up.  No leftovers.  You feel nourished and proud that you ate something from root to leaf.

Now if I could only find these turnips regularly, and at an affordable price.

Happy Cooking

If you have a crush on Giada -- who doesn't? -- this is the cookbook for you.  Lots of photos where Giada is smiling brightly, you could almost swear she's smiling at you.

If cooking has a tendency to stress you out, this cookbook is for you.  Giada looks so happy cooking that you'll want to cook too.  Her recipes look good, and are good for you = double happiness.

Happy Cooking offers 200 easy to follow recipes, time saving tips, food swaps and healthy eating strategies. Perfect gift for busy working folks who need some ideas, inspiration and support after a grueling day at the office.   The mini eggplant parmesans in the Snacks and Small Plates section look ravishing and whisper, make me!  The mussels with fennel and Italian beer look inviting.  If you want to eat well without the fuss, this book might make you happy.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Slow Fires

I'm slowly braising my brisket...and the UPS carrier delivers this wonderful book to me. What wonderful company this book makes while I find myself patiently building flavors to celebrate Hanukkah.

The recipes are grouped into 52 meals, one for each week of the year.  I guess I know what I'm making in 2016.  As Smillie freely admits, all these meals take time, but the rewards are joyful. The good news is that it's not difficult.  Foil-roasted beets and carrots is easy.  

Careful planning helps.  I know because that's what I do to get the meals on the table.  In my experience, when the reward is so tasty, I often forget how long I spent cooking.  Seriously.  A friend recently asked me how long I braised my brisket, and I completely underestimated.  How and why? Because when your food tastes great, when your friends rave about and request your brisket all year round -- you don't see this time as "lost," or "wasted."   Especially if you have a good book to read or a song to master on the piano in between inserting the fork into the meat to test resistance.  At any rate, Smillie offers a timetable on how to plan the meals.

Braising, Roasting, Grilling, Foundation & Finishes.  The photographs are mouthwatering.  I look forward to testing and tasting these recipes in the new year.  Clams in avocado chile butter, sold me. Grilled quail, one of my favorite birds.  You won't run out of inspiration.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Always Cooking

People often ask, what is it like to be in a interfaith marriage?

It's a lot of work.

I'm always in the kitchen.  Hanukkah, Christmas, Chinese New Year's, Passover, Easter.

But food bonds us, nourishes us, grounds us.

My Hanukkah Menu 2015

Russ and Daughters' Chopped Chicken Liver

Latkes

W/Homemade Apple Sauce & Sour Cream

Butter Lettuces w/Garden Fresh Watermelon Radishes & Farmers Market Baby Squash Ribbons

*One of my dinner guests was allergic to cucumbers, peppers and fresh fruit

Brisket w/Carrots and Parsnips, Red Wine Sauce

Roasted Asparagus w/splash Balsamic Vinegar

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees

Phoenix Claws and Jade Trees

Essential Techniques of Authentic Chinese Cooking

by Kian Lam Kho

The photographs (all 240 of them!) are stunning and it's the first thing that grabs your eye.   Kho reminds people that China has many regional cuisines, not just one and learn a little about the birth of China's vast and rich culinary culture.  He organizes his chapters by cooking methods, rather than region.  The section on frying is divided into light frying, deep frying, oil steeping, pan frying and yin yang frying.  If you're wondering what yin yang frying is, I don't blame you.   It refers to when you fry food in hot oil, then add cold oil to lower the temperature before bringing the temperature back up to finish.

Other chapters cover Boiling, Slow Cooking, Steaming, Smoking, Roasting, Soup Making.  Again, these chapters are divided into sections.   

This book is very comprehensive for lovers of traditional Chinese cuisine.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Lucky Peach, Lucky Me

Lucky Peach, Lucky Me!

I had the Momofuku cookbook and many of the recipes were quite involved, so I never really used it. So I looked forward to this cookbook promising recipes to dishes I might actually have the time to create.   The pantry is useful especially to novices.  For example, Hainan chicken is one of my favorite dishes, so I'm happy to have an easy tasty recipe.   The soy-braised short ribs look sumptuous and do-able, too.  My mother used to make the best lion's head meatballs so naturally I enjoyed reading Peter's version.  All the photos are worth a 1,000 calories (or more), and lucky me, all the recipes are "Chineasy."

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Domo Donabe

Donabe (doh-NAH-bay) is clay cooking vessel from Japan with a delicious and storied history.  It's very popular in the wintertime, great for sharing and making one-pot meals.  It reminds me of hot pot, popular in Chinese cuisine.

I've been looking to buy an attractive, authentic and affordable donabe for myself.  It hasn't been easy.

As Moore explains, typical donabe require little or not fat which is terrific news for your health.  The photographs are gorgeous, inspires you to cook -- a hallmark of a great cookbook.   She explains how you can care and use your donabe in a myriad of ways:  tagine, a steamer, a smoker.The recipes are divided by rice dishes, soups and stews, steamed and classic style.

You will spend many hours exploring and your body will thank you from head to toe.  If only cooler temperatures would pay a short visit Southern California.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

52 Ways to Love Baking

What a joy this Food52 Baking Book is, especially for occasional bakers like me.   The recipes are inviting and look easy, accessible.   The photographs are the icing on the cake, the buttercream.   The recipes that immediately cried out Make me! include:

Strawberry-Yogurt Snack Cake 

Raspberry Clafoutis

Olive Oil Ricotta Cake with Plums

Balsamic Macaroons with Chocolate Chips

Nectarine Slump

What I find inspiring is that delicious doesn't have to mean complicated.  So often when I dine at a fine restaurant, the desserts require a million ingredients and steps.  

In addition to sweets and breakfast goods, there is a section on savory baked goods -- flatbreads and pizzas.

This book is great for experienced and inexperienced bakers alike.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Easy Vegan

The word "vegan" has been known to strike fear in many of us who consider ourselves adventurous eaters.   We want to rebel against the restrictions.   Our tastebuds think boring and bland.  Then, of course, the panic of comprising a full meal driven by vegetables that will satisfy and delight?  Gena Hamshaw takes the fear out and puts the pleasure in Vegan with her new cookbook.

The recipes are easy to follow, basic and most do not call for umpteen trips for esoteric ingredients. The subtitle says it all:  60 vegetable-driven recipes for any kitchen.  Any kitchen, folks, so let's here it for Vegan Democracy.

Gena gives you the basics in a section titled Vegan 101, putting you at ease from the beginning.  The photographs whet your appetite.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Homemade Kitchen: Real Food, Real People

You have a friend in Homemade Kitchen.
Alana Chernila's philosophy and approach to cooking is so warm and inviting.
Chernila comes across as someone you'd welcome in your kitchen AND as someone that would welcome you in hers.

Each chapter title nourishes you with confidence and conviction.
Start where you are.
Feed yourself.
Do your best and then let go.

At the outset, Chernila stresses that homemade food is the opposite of perfection, giving the cook freedom to experiment and explore, put his or her own stamp on the food.   This cookbook reminds you of the pleasure cooking can give.

The photographs are wonderful and the recipes are easy to follow.  Most of the recipes call for easily found ingredients.  Nothing too exotic, no cutting edge molecular gastronomy, no reinventing the wheel here.  Real food for real people.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Donning the Blue Apron

I usually enjoy grocery shopping and farmers markets, picking out my own produce and planning menus around what's in season, what looks best.   Now and then, I need a break from food shopping and menu planning to attend to rewrites and rehearsals, students, work.   So when a foodie friend offered me a free trial with Blue Apron, I couldn't wait to see what meals were coming in my basket.

To whet my appetite, my friend had been posting photos and sharing her experiences, comparing Blue Apron to Sun Basket.

The three meals I chose from Blue Apron were:

Pan-seared cod with pickled grapes & summer succotash 

I had to use my own tomatoes, as mine arrived heavily bruised, moldy, unusable

Pork Ramen w/fresh ramen noodles & summer vegetables

The pork was juicy

Blackened Chile-Dusted Chicken with zucchini rice & corn tomato saute

The Pros:

All the meals tasted delicious

Recipes are easy to follow

My husband willingly shared the chores and mise en place since there were clear directions

The calories are right

Fun to plate

Packaging is recyclable

The Cons:

Some of the garlic cloves on my bulb were dried out, brown 

My tomato was heavily bruised, moldy and unusable

My zucchini arrived w/pockmarks everywhere, too soft so I bought another one

No leftovers 

BOTTOM LINE:  Would I become a regular?  Semi-regular?  Well, it all depends on the menu.  Really.  Whet my appetite, Blue Apron, and up the quality control of ingredients.  We like protein and go easy on carbs.  Our diet is more paleo but not exclusively so which is why I chose the week that I did.   The menu options feature a lot of carbs -- rice, bread (sandwiches), pasta -- and less protein, which unfortunately doesn't appeal as much to us. 

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice

I'm not a dessert person, and nine times out of ten, I would choose savory over sweet as my final course of the evening.  This makes tasting menus and idineLA menus less appealing to me as they frequently feature a sickly sweet, super fattening, highly caloric dessert.  Can't I have two appetizers instead?

That said, I am excited to experiment with the recipes in Sugar & Spice.  Seneviratne addresses the same questions in this wonderful new cookbook.  How do we make our desserts healthier and more delicious?  More satisfying?   Especially at a time where most of us are watching our weight and counting our steps?

Go back to our spices.  What explorers once risked their lives to find and collect.   The recipes are organized by spices, and the recipes vary in difficulty and length of time required.  This book gives you great incentive to keep your spice rack fresh, and to use them up before they lose all their flavor. Can't wait to make the gingerbread even though it serves twelve.  Anyone care for a slice?

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Whet My Appetite: It's a Good Thing

Appetizers.  They are a good thing.  I'm sure Martha Stewart would agree.

Sounds so easy, unless most of your friends are foodies and will judge you.   Unless it's 100+ degrees and the thought of turning on the oven just kills any social desires.   Unless you find yourself too tired, or too bored with your usual repertoire.  Yes, I foresaw these obstacles long ago and purchased Martha Stewart's Hors D'Oeuvres as insurance.  Just in case I ran out of ideas, inspiration and appetite.

While Hors D'Oeuvres was voluminous and a little intimidating with its details in smaller fine print, appetizers is more casual and inviting.  The golden rules in the front are so useful for someone like me who tends to prepare way too much food and stress out.   Of course, to be fair, many of my friends are foodies with discriminating palates.   Stewart says her winning formula is 10 bite size hors d'oeuvres per guest, probably 12-14 per foodie?

Edamame with chile salt or with some heat (Garlic/soy blistered) is always a hit in my home. Roasted spiced chickpeas is another winner that doesn't require too much fuss.  I like the diversity of recipes so that you can choose a few really simple appetizers and a few that engage more of your culinary skills.   For example, I rarely deep-fry but Stewart's recipe for arancini looks quite tempting and do-able.   Signature cocktails have come back with a creative vengeance so her chapter entitled Sips is very handy.   The photos are spectacular and instill confidence that your spread will be visually stunning as well as nom nom delicious.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Students Make for Happy Lucy

Just finished a 40 min. video/chat with Lucy via ZOOM link. I gotta tell you she is one fine instructor. She's flexible, responsive and really in touch with the day-to-day problems of the student/writer.

 

I started out wanting to learn to do an adaptation and chose my own screenplay.  It became obvious, pretty quickly, that  I wasn't going to be able to divorce myself from the storyline or characters enough to think of the story on stage. Sooooo, we did a quick switch and I picked a movie I liked to adapt, to whit, "Casablanca". 

 

Again, pulling away from the original story and power of the actors proved to be really difficult, but Lucy was really good at pushing me and supporting me. The result is a one act play "Laszlo" (the title is explained in the Programme Note). 

 

Working with Lucy was a real eye-opener in terms of learning to see how my dialog and actions would play on stage.

 

Out On The Wire

Here in Los Angeles, we spend a lot of time in our cars, whether we like it or not.   Most of us don't. Listening to the stories on the radio, however, helps transport us to other worlds.   Helps us forget we're stuck in traffic.   Helps us be more interesting, compelling characters.

This graphic novel is a fun book to read wherever.  Helps you understand how stories get on the radio.   Explains what makes a good story great.   Why radio endures.

As a professional storyteller and a writing teacher/mentor, I often make the very same points Jessica Abel illustrates so well.   I just may  have to assign Jessica Abel's novel as required reading to my students.  Abel is a fellow University of Chicago alum so I'm thrilled for her success.

It's also fun to see names with faces.  So that's what Glynn Washington and Alix Spiegel look like. Everything you wanted to know about public radio, but didn't know whom to ask.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Fried Chicken

Fried Chicken is a guilty pleasure enjoyed by everyone I know.   My Pleasure Palate Meet-up group just did a fried chicken crawl in hopes of discovering the best fried chicken in Los Angeles.  No one can agree.  Is it the Korean fried chicken with gochuchang?  Southern fried buttermilk chicken? West African?  Perhaps, the best fried chicken was served by your grandmother?

That's why this book by Rebecca Lang is fabulous.  There's no need to choose between them when variety is at your finger tips.  Sometimes the best fried chicken is the one made in your kitchen.   Lang offers tips on what oils to you, how best to drain the oil (rack over paper towels),  shares the pros and cons of skillet frying vs. deep frying, and stresses you must use the freshest high-quality chicken.  After reading this book, the act of making fried chicken seems less daunting.

Please save me the wings.  The whole wing.  Don't throw that tip/nubbin away!

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Why I Mentor

Choosing Lucy Wang to mentor me turned out to be an excellent decision. I started working with her in December 2014 and since then, kept going back to her again and again. The reason why I keep going back to her is that I trust her deeply and fully: I trust her talent and capacity as a mentor and teacher. I trust her warmth and care as a human being. I trust her respect for the art of playwriting; that she understands what it is that drives us as writers; makes us want to write.

With Lucy, you don’t just get a mentor who guides you with structuring your play and helping you improve dialogue and create a compelling plot. She’s not just a mentor who helps you identify your strengths and work on your weaknesses. She adjusts herself to her students’ temperament. If you have a crisis of confidence as an artist, if you suffer from doubts; she’ll be there for you. Standing by you and encouraging you but without a hint of pushiness. You just feel her presence and feel reassured.

When you submit your writing, Lucy’s feedback is prompt even when she’s in the midst of working on her own show. Even when she’s in the middle of travelling; even when there is a family crisis in her own private life. She gets back to you and her feedback is consistently specific and detailed. She reads your work thoroughly and gives you constructive criticism. I trust her so much that I look forward to her criticism. The more critical she is, the more confident I feel that my writing is going to improve. And every time, my writing does improve. I learn something new, I discover that I have skills I have not been aware of before. Lucy is just wonderful.

I count myself lucky to have Lucy as my mentor. With her I’m in safe hands. With her I can walk on unchartered ground, knowing that if I stumble and fall, Lucy will be there to help me stand up again and walk. She’s the best you can get. Go for her.

Nushin. A.

Everyday Detox

Megan Gilmore's book Everyday Detox serves as a helpful guide for anyone struggling to lead a healthier life.

She shows us how we can improve our health on a daily basis, and often, very simply.  No gimmicks here.  No food substitutes.  She has tips on how to improve digestion, how to shop, what items to stock in your pantry so that soon it will be second nature.  The recipes are easy to follow, featuring a diverse array of soups, salads, entrees and liquid refreshments.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

The Broad Fork

Having seen Hugh Acheson judge Top Chef, I was excited to review his cookbook The Broad Fork.   Even more so when I saw that inside the book cover is the question, What the hell do I do with kohrabi?"  For the past two questions, I grew kohlrabi -- green and purple -- and found myself facing the same question.  I usually sliced them thin and put them in salads.   A friend of mine in France eats them with mayonnaise.  When I gave them away, people inevitably asked me for more interesting ideas than just salad.  What about soup?  Hmm.  I knew I needed to add this cookbook to my collection.

The photos are gorgeous and inviting.  The book is divided into seasons.  Although the cover stresses vegetables and fruits, there are recipes are not exclusively vegetarian.  Many recipes do include protein.  Duck Breast with Indian Eggplant Pickle.  Roasted Lamb Loin with Celery Root Puree, Pomegranate and Celery Vinaigrette.  Sea Scallops with Buttered Kraut and Pecan Brown Butter. There are southern flourishes as Acheson pays homage to his roots.

Since I'm also an organic gardener, I appreciate recipes that push me to expand my boundaries and fully use my harvest.   For example, I never thought to turn my heirloom zucchini into squash pickles. Same with turnips, I never thought to pickle the stems.

The Broad Fork Broadens Your Horizons.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

Curing & Smoking

The River Cottage Curing & Smoking Handbook by Steven Lamb

Everything you've ever wanted to know about curing and smoking is in this handbook.   Steven Lamb captures and relays the romance and excitement of curing and smoking.  It's all about taking control of the food that enters and nourishes your body.   It sounds like a lot of work, and it is a commitment, but Lamb offers many helpful tips and easy recipes to get you started.   Some of his recipes take 2-3 minutes (smoked oysters) and some take a minimum of 19 days (bresola).  There's something for every palate.

If you enjoy eating smoked and cured meats, you'll enjoy reading this book.   Never say never.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for this review.

Yogurt -- It's not just for breakfast

Go to the yogurt section of any supermarket these days and you'll be overwhelmed by the selections and the varieties.  You could spend a lifetime there comparing labels.   I've done my fair share of sampling different yogurts so I was thrilled to review this book Yogurt by Janet Fletcher and expand my knowledge even further.

Now I don't know if I'll ever make my own yogurt -- never say never -- but Fletcher shows you how.

Yogurt is often a healthier substitution for sour cream, so I welcomed the recipes she offers for breakfast, lunch and dinner.    Grilled zucchini with yogurt sauce sounds wonderful especially when I have some zucchini growing in the garden.  I can picture it with grilled eggplant too.  The radish tzatziki sounds like a great way to use up the radishes sitting in my crisper, looking a little lonely.   Grated beet and yogurt salad with beet greens is a wonderful way to use the entire vegetable -- waste not, want not.  For folks with a sweet tooth, there's plenty of options including a golden yogurt cake, greek yogurt sorbet, greek yogurt panna cotta.  This book is full of good ideas.  Delicious and simple.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

Heart Your Body

Food tastes best when cooked with a lot of heart.  This book offers many easy recipes and easy techniques to foster a healthy heart.  We can't control all the risk factors for heart disease and stroke, but this cookbook shows you how you can control many of the most damaging risk factors.

The recipes in this book prove that food can be good for you and to you.  All the recipes sound delicious, flavorful and simple to make.  The ingredients are all easily found in the grocery store. Cook tips accompany most recipes.   The recipes are divided by 12 cooking methods -- grilling, braising, stir-frying, slow cooking, baking, et al -- and cover the globe.

Each recipe lists nutritional information per serving which is immensely helpful.  Calories, protein, cholesterol, fat, carbs, dietary exchanges.

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to live a healthier, more mindful lifestyle.  When you cook at home, you are more in control of the amounts of saturated and trans fats, sodium, and added sugars you consume.  One drawback is the book could have used more photographs.

Bottom line:   Heart your body, it's the only one you have.

I received this book from Blogging for books for this review.

Wet Your Whistle

I own a copy of Shake:  A New Perspective on Cocktails by Eric Prum and Josh Williams so I was delighted to review their latest, Infuse:  Oil.  Spirit.  Water.   The writing and recipes are delightful and refreshing.  I have a lemon tree, so their overnight limoncello recipe will come in very handy.

Even if you're like me and already infuse many of your oils and waters with herbs, fruits and vegetables, you'll still enjoy the inspiration this book gives and the approximate shelf lives for each infusion.  I especially appreciate the recipes for concoctions that are ready quickly to ease the crunch of last minute entertaining, and stress of unexpected guests.  

The photos are beautiful and definitely wet your whistle.   Now I need to find some of those mason taps to make pouring easier.

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

No More Excuses Diet

With three shows in the next eight weeks, one of which I'm performing in, I've got plenty of excuses (reasons) to stay in my seat, in front of the computer or in front of the stage (rehearsals).  So I looked forward to drawing inspiration from Maria Kang's story.

What I like most are her home exercises.  Easy reference.  I do belong to a gym, I trained with a personal trainer for years, but sometimes there really isn't enough time or energy in the day.  I know that sounds like an excuse, but as Kang points out, some excuse are valid.  Yes, valid!  Do I want critics to pan me?  Let my collaborators down?  I'm expected in rehearsal from 2-11 PM!     The home exercises are doable, do not require fancy equipment, and therefore they can actually motivate you.  It can be challenging to think of fun new workouts when you work out 3-5 times a week.  Your body grows accustomed and adjusts.

Second, so many diet books suggest impractical diets.  Smoothies and protein shakes galore, powders, supplements, eliminating carbs, expensive and or exotic ingredients -- again, I want something simple, doable, inviting and sustainable.  I am not going to spend thirty minutes juicing every morning, and two hours driving around Los Angeles looking for weirdo ingredients.  I don't want to lose all my friends because I'm eating things that are not commonly found anywhere within a radius of ten miles.  It's challenging enough when your foodie friends think of you as a "fitness freak," and dismiss your desire to lose five-ten pounds as petty.  But hey, I'm the one who has to live with my body.

Kang proposes a diet 30% carbs 30% proteins 30% fats with the remaining 10% for light, planned splurges.   If you deny yourself total food groups, you'll revert to your old habits (Real food!) once, if not before, you've attained your goals.  This book is about the whole you, total life fitness.   Love your body, love this book.

I received this book from "Blogging for Books" in exchange for an honest review.

Seven Spoons

Tara O'Brady writes in her introduction, "I am less about innovation and more about getting supper on the table, but doing so thoughtfully, and beautifully, too."  If this sounds like you, this cookbook was written for you.

The photographs are lovely.  The recipes are chatty and inviting.  No recipe feels too difficult or inaccessible, giving the reader the gift of empowerment.  Yes, you can!  There's a lot on breakfast and sweets.   I like her fig honey and avocado toasts -- simple, but a luscious and artistic treat.  Her discovery that miso and tahini marry well together inspires me to try that combination.  Also love that her palate is global, and her section on staples is useful.  

I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

Lentils Du Puy

Everyone says lentils are good for you.
Healthy.  Nutritious.
So, of course, I avoided lentils.

Until I sampled a lentil dish at Cobras & Matadors (now an Umami Burger).  They were a little crispy which was revelation.

Until I read about the lentil du puy, what David Leibovitz calls the caviar of lentils.  A caviar a writer can afford?!

Okay, you sold me.

The key is not to overcook the lentils.  You have to keep a watchful eye, taste.  Sauteed the bacon and veggies separately, using what I had on hand which always makes me feel good.  Hate wasting food.  Drain the lentils, add a generous splash of good balsamic vinegar.  Mix in carrots, celery, home grown onions, and folded in the spinach last.  Season.  Roasted the shrimp separately as well.  Ten minutes in the oven at 425 degrees.

It's a satisfying weeknight meal.

Most Favored Dishes Part I

My relatives  used to insist the only food they'd ever eat was Chinese.

Then they told me we were going to Souplantation to celebrate a cousin's 12th birthday.

Souplantation?

You're kidding?  I had never been.

They had.  Plenty of times.  It's perfect for big family gatherings.

Curious, I had to witness my "Chinese food only please" relatives eating salad, pasta, clam chowder...

Despite the all you can eat buffet, I stuck to salad.  This surprised my relatives and they are quite direct.  They don't waste any time telling you you've gained weight, look older, and wasted your freedom in America pursuing the arts.   So my aunt told me she thought for sure, starving artist, and so Americanized, I would be piling on the plate, gobbling, gobbling, gobbling.

Did you eat beforehand?

No.

What do you guys eat at home?

Oh dear.  Trick question.  

Every meal I've had at Auntie's house has been Chinese.  My Uncle claimed that was the only thing he'd ever eat, and I believed him until last Sunday when I saw him gnaw at a baked potato.   For Mother's Day, next Sunday, I was told specifically to bring Chinese food.  None of that American stuff.  I noticed they didn't tell anyone else this.  I was singled out.

So of course, I had to start with an apologetic tone.  I'm not sure you would approve.  I don't cook Chinese.

Thank goodness for smartphone cameras, huh?  It cuts through language barriers.  I shared some photos of my creations with them.

Sardines

Black Cod

Pumpkin Chipolte Shrimp

Miso broth halibut, Santa Barbara prawn and mussels

Zucchini Spaghetti w/Tomatoes and Basil

Shaky Beef

Stone Crab Salad

 

Summer tomatoes

Veal Chop

Branzino with Blood Oranges

Blood orange olive oil cake

Skirt steak, broccolini, eggplant

Beets and Blueberries

Rack of lamb

Garlicky Green Beans

Persimmon salad

Now my relatives want me to open a restaurant.  Yeah, right.  Investors?

They also want me to cook for them early and often.  

The truth does not always set you free.  It raises expectations.  I might have been much better off with them thinking I ate junk food.