pbj

I just enjoyed a lovely sandwich, a sweet little number, chunky with blueberry. Lunch was chicken. Turmeric is my new favorite spice. I put it on early, with oil and maybe some pepper, let it soak, adding garlic powder and crushed red pepper along the way. At the end, I hit it with balsamic and some lemon, maybe, yeah, some lemon. Meanwhile, I was boiling brussels sprouts on the side, but as the chicken was going, I realized I was out of onions. Oh no! What to do? I love onion, and now I was left with a situation. So, I subbed sausage. Yep, chicken and knockwurst, a little bit of garlic, thyme, etc, and a side of brussels sprouts; ooh, and a V8. Further, this lunch was elided into smoothly from the dregs of the morning’s coffee, right on time so that I was cooking and still enjoying a lukewarm coffee and cream, and later, after working for a few hours, I went out for a nice latte.

pesto!

Great pasta. I hadn’t made pasta in such a long time. What a treat. Much better than the crap two dollar wine I paired it with. That’s tomatoes and pesto and garlic and onions over penne. As a rule, I always salt my noodles while they are boiling, this is important. When the water is starts going, add salt and or garlic salt to this. You need the noodles to be enjoyable in and of themselves; and don’t worry, they don’t get too salty tasting, much of this comes off in the straining. Plus, I hear from this guy that salt water boils faster. Now, I had the onions and garlic in their own pan on the side, with just a little bit of oil, and, after I strained the noodles (and I don’t own a colander, I use the plate I am to eat off as a stop and pour the excess water into the sink), I threw some diced tomatoes atop the noodles, salted the tomatoes directly with a splash of balsamic and then threw the other ingredients and the pesto on top for a last little splash of heat, before opening my wine. Problem is, now I am half drunk and stuffed and don’t want to be since I am about to go play music with friends and don’t want to piss them off.

recipe for success

Today was one of those the most important days in my dietary week. That’s right, today was the day rice was made.

I enjoy cooking a large amount of rice about once a week to have on hand. Firstly, rice cooks very slow so it’s best to make a lot of it. Secondly, keeping some grains in the fridge can really help round out any future meals. And thirdly, I find that grazing food rarely seems to be hearty, when I go for a quick snack I usually end up with sweets or fruit or crackers or beer, this way when I get hungry, I can just plunge a spoon right into my delicious Tupperware full of rice and get a little nosh before bedtime. Invest an hour once a week, and I guarantee: you will start seeing results immediately.

So how does he do it?

First, water and rice, a lot of rice, over high to medium heat.

Second, get some canned peas and/or carrots or beans going in a separate pot, low heat.

Third, chop and lightly fry an onion or pepper or some sort of vegetable.

When the rice is almost done (edible but not soft and perfect) drain the water, add a little butter, then add in the other ingredients, along with 2-3+ eggs. Make sure to stir these in quickly so there is no separation.

Now begin adding accessories. These can include capers, anchovies, garlic cloves, olives, tomatoes, pickles or herring, that didn’t need to be cooked. But let’s not go overboard, one of the perks of this method of cooking/preparing rice is that you can add more spices and ingredients to it next time when you reheat, depending upon what you pair it with, and really find something that can add a little character to your meal. And remember, just because you are a character, doesn’t mean you have character.

Salt, season, and spice, and you have yourself a bunch of rice.

All steps optional.

Check it out:

And the excess:

Now what to pair it with, you will see just below that I went simple with grilled cheese, tomatoes in balsamic and some proto-nazi atonalism (too soon?).