I can't believe it's already February 1. January flew by and, as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, I can feel spring lingering just around the corner.
This week, I tried to keep my eats pretty simple after being so sick on Sunday and Monday. I made a batch of delicious "Mexican" turkey burgers Tuesday night that I've been eating the rest of the week:
Ground turkey
Sliced grape tomatoes (or any tomatoes you like)
Cilantro
Diced onion
Cumin
Mix all these together with some salt and pepper (and hot sauce, if you dare). Don't handle the meat too much, though, or else you'll overwork it and the burgers will become tough. I managed to get five burgers out of a package of meat. I sauteed three and broiled two - I think broiling was more successful as it cooked out a lot of the fat but kept the burgers juicy. After they were cooked, I quickly seared the broiled burgers to give them some color.
I topped mine with sauteed onions and tomatoes, TJ's corn salsa (my favorite), and sriracha and ate it on a bed of spinach. I loved the tomatoes in the burger!
On Friday night, Rob and I were hankering for some ethnic food. After some lengthy deliberation, we settled on Thai. After a quick glance through the pantry, we realized we could easily whip something up with what we had instead of spending money on take out. Dinner turned out pretty delicious (especially the chicken), so here's the recipe!
Thai Curry Chicken with Coconut Rice and Brussels Sprouts
Rice:
1 cup of rice (I used sushi rice but you can probably use any kind)
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1 Tbsp. of red curry paste
Salt and pepper
Rinse the sushi rice many times in water, swirling it with your fingers. Put the rice in a pot and add the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and cook for ten minutes. Remove the cover, add the curry, and keep at a low heat for another ten minutes.
Chicken:
Chicken breasts (I used leftover rotisserie chicken which was perfect and easy)
2 Tbsp red curry paste
1 Tbsp powdered ginger
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
Onion
Spinach
1/3 - 1/2 cup coconut milk
Lime
Sautee the vegetables in coconut oil and ginger. Add the chicken, coconut milk, and curry. Stir together until well combined and the flavors have settled (5-10 minutes). Squeeze lime juice over the food.
Brussels Sprouts:
B Sprouts
Ginger
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
1 clove of garlic
Sautee the brussel sprouts in coconut oil and garlic. Add the ginger and cook until browned.
On Friday night, Rob, Brett, Blanchard and I to Vietnam Grill, an unassuming spot way down South Boulevard, to try some pho. I've been wanting to try pho for a long time, Brett has been begging for a pho date, and the stars aligned on Friday. I obviously did a lot of research before dinner. I'd never had Vietnamese before and wanted to get something authentic. Rob and I ended up "splitting" a bowl of pho with skirt steak and brisket, and their house special "bun" (basically just vermicelli with some meatballs, egg rolls, and chicken). By splitting, I mean we traded bites. When Rob and I plan to split something but he likes his more than mine, we never actually split. Lucky for him, I wasn't too hungry and the spicy pho filled me up enough, but next time...he betta watch out.
The pho comes with a plate of bean sprouts, basil leaves, lime, and jalapeno. There are also a bunch of sauces on the table (Sriracha, hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and a house-made chili sauce). I followed Brett's lead since he was the pho expert at the table and dug in. All in all, tasty and velvety, but almost too much so. The heat made my throat kind of scratchy (is that normal, pho people?) but I'm glad we tried it.
We got ice cream cones at a drive-through after to cool off our burning throats, and Rob and I ended the evening watching Source Code with a fire in the fireplace. Pretty pho-nomenal Friday night.
November is already shaping up to be one of my favorite months this year. Bold statement? Yes, but the last four days have proven that this is the best month.
After a terrible trip to the dentist on Thursday (seriously, scheduling a dentist appointment the day after Halloween was the dumbest thing I've ever done), I picked up all the chili ingredients and got to work. This week's guests at family dinner: Brett & Joe (obviously), Meg, and Lindsay. Ashton came over later after her flag football game -- it was so great to see her before she headed to Wilmington to run the Battleship Half Marathon with Erica and Sara -- congrats!
I was a little nervous that the chili would only have 2 hours to cook, especially since I had originally wanted to make it in the slow cooker, but it turned out delicious. I used this recipe and added a teaspoon of cocoa powder and about 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree. It was definitely the best chili I've ever made. The kale, carrots, and sweet potatoes made this really hearty and healthy. I also made enough chili for the entire state of North Carolina, so I have lots of leftovers in the freezer for cold winter weekends. I also threw together some Jiffy corn muffins and added real corn for something special.
On Friday, I left work a little early and headed up to Boone for the weekend. One of Rob's friends from Wake Forest, also named Margot, has an absolutely gorgeous house there on top of a hill with amazing views of the mountains. A bunch of their friends were going up for the night for a little Halloween party and I was so excited about being in the mountains for a day. Tucker came, too! Margot has an adorable dog named Cappy and the two of them played together all night. Tuck was totally exhausted the rest of the weekend.
Halloween costumes
The view from Margot's deck
Tucker and Cappy
After some outlet shopping for Rob on Saturday morning, we headed back to Winston-Salem and napped all afternoon. Rob and I had a really good, low-key dinner on Saturday night at First Street Draught House after trying to get a table at two other restaurants. After getting an extra hour of sleep on Sunday thanks to Daylight Savings, I woke up to a hot cup of coffee in bed because my man couldn't sleep in. A 5k and 20 minute Insanity session later, we were back on the couch, eating turkey sandwiches and watching football. By the time I got home last night, I was totally exhausted and cooked up some collards, roasted sweet potatoes, and a fried egg for an easy dinner.
That sauce is greek yogurt + sriracha
I really had the best weekend. I love Rob's friends from school and can't believe that they only have a few weeks left before they'll all go their separate ways, working for accounting firms all over the country. As sad as it makes me that, after December, I might not see them for a while, I'd be lying if I said that I'm not counting down the days until Rob and I are finally in the same city.
After work on Wednesday, I picked up my CSA share -- lemongrass, garlic, apples, butternut squash, red kale -- and headed to the Teeter for a few more things. I needed to get some kind of protein for dinner and wanted to make a big enough meal that it could be used for lunch today and tomorrow. With my CSA share and some wilting veggies at home in mind, I decided to venture into the realm of the unknown: Asian cooking.
I grabbed some organic chicken tenderloins, a can of coconut milk, and fish sauce (which is made from anchovies - whaaaat?) for a more Thai-inspired dish. After a quick sweat sesh, I headed downstairs with iPad and random recipe in hand.
I sauteed onions, mushrooms, kale, broccoli, and sweet potatoes in coconut oil with some random spices. At this point, I knew I was making curry but couldn't find my curry powder anywhere, so I threw in ginger and other "asian" spices with crossed fingers and prayers to the Thai gods. The rest was easy: wash and cube the chicken, then sautee with the veggies until cooked. Add a can of coconut milk and some fish sauce. At this point, I found the curry powder tucked away and added a generous amount. I let everything simmer together for about 15 minutes while I cooked rice noodles that Hilary gave me. Everything was smelling pretty good, but I was suspicious: I've never used coconut milk before, and to be honest, it looked pretty nasty coming out of the can. Luckily, it tasted pretty good, but I'm the first to admit that (yet again) my dinner was ugly. Topped off with a little unsweetened coconut:
I had to add a couple squirts of Sriracha, but I was surprised with how everything blended together. I'll definitely make curry again in the future, but I want to experiment with curry paste instead of powder.
And yes, there's Sriracha and Texas Pete in the picture above. And Mom, that box in the upper-left corner is now empty! Thanks for the ten-pounds of shortbread that went straight to my tushy.
I spent the rest of the night alongside Richard, my soon-to-be-ex-roommate (so sad), watching the X-Factor and educating him on all things pop culture. Speaking of which...the three movies I can't wait to see this fall:
1) Pitch Perfect, featuring the fabulous Rebel Wilson as "Fat Amy":
2) Silver Linings Playbook:
3) And Trouble with the Curve:
Rob, I hope you've been saving your pennies because I have lots of movie dates planned in the next few weeks!
