Last night's dinner brought to us by Yumm and E !

In a pinch I turned to ye olde pantry and dinner turned out fabulously well - and with a minimum of work.

I began with one large sweet potato, peeled, diced, and set to boil. While the spud was cooking, I measured off three healthy servings (and by "healthy", I mean overfull portions) of frozen broccoli and added about one cup of chopped spinach. Mind you, I buy a good deal of frozen veggies and use them in everything! We buy fresh, too, but frozen produce is a boon for cooking meals.

Once the brocco/spinach combo was steaming in the skillet, I added a spoonful or two of the sweet tater water to keep the green bits from scorching onto the pan. I cut one medium-size onion into a small rough chop, tossing it with a little butter into the same pan with the greens. When the onion began to look translucent I combined the entire lot and added a tad more water from the tuber 'bath'.

Tater cooked through? Yup, and so I removed it from the heat; drained off the water (pouring a little more into the veggie mix); placed the cooked chunks - and about 1/2 cup of remaining liquid - into a bowl and placed that in microwave to keep warm.

Washed pan and began saffron rice.

Added one jar of Trader Joe's Masala Simmering Sauce, and about 6 oz of water (with which I rinsed the jar) - of course - that all went into the vegetable mix and NOT the rice. Once this began to bubble, I turned the heat way down and added one can of chicken - YES! I said "can" (remember, I'm working out of my pantry). Chopped the chunks into smallish pieces and distributed it throughout the veggie mix. From there I added only a pinch or two of salt and a good grinding of black pepper.

With the rice still simmering, I finished prepping the yam by adding a pat of butter, about 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, a sprinkle of cinnamon, less than a sprinkle of clove, and a smidgen of nutmeg. One tiny pinch of sea salt and a grinding of fresh black pepper finished the seasonings, then I mashed the cubes by hand.

Voila! Dinner in two pans and almost no chopping, and it was GOOOOOOOOOD!!

You may now drool ~

OK, back to work

Feeling peckish (and craving pizza) I left my current project on the table and headed to the kitchen where I created a masterpiece in a skillet!

Sadly, I discovered the larder was out of tomato paste (how did that happen?), and was running low on naan (a soft flat bread - for those non-foodies out there), but we had two naan remaining with which to make pizza for Karl and myself, so that was all that mattered for the moment!

I slivered onion and julienned artichoke hearts, then sauteed them together in a smattering of olive oil.  Oh, baby!

While the sauteing commenced, I mixed up a poor boy's pizza sauce using a small amount (about 1/2 cup) of a good, plain tomato sauce.  Had it been too watery I was prepared to reduce it a smidge, but fortunately I buy a good-quality store brand, no additives or do-dads included....so, yea! 

And yes, I chose sauce (in the absence of my beloved paste) over some other form of tomato pulp product. 

Before you ask "why tomato sauce and not your usual go-to of crushed tomatoes?" - I'll tell you.  ANY other form of tomato pulp is too wet to begin with.  Even after straining crushed tomatoes they would still be too wet for this sort of food....plus, why waste all of that tomato-y goodness when you don't have to?

Grabbed my mortar and pestle and ground up a mixture of anise, a shake of red pepper, anise, oregano, anise, fennel seed, basil, anise, basil, and a couple turns of freshly ground pepper (we don't call it black pepper in this house because not all the peppercorns in our pepper mix are black).  Added the ground rub and roughly a teaspoon of minced garlic (maybe more - OK, yeah, it was more) to the tomato sauce, and stood there like a doofus waiting to spread it over the warm naan.

Meanwhile, I started another skillet on med-to-low-medium heat; wiped the surface with a dab of olive oil and lightly heated the first side of a naan loaf.  Once the naan was turned, I spooned half of the tomato sauce mix over the warmed surface of the bread then liberally covered it with shredded "pizza mix" cheese (monty jack, mozzarella, and a bit of Parmesan). 

Spooned the now sauteed veggies onto the pizza, then quickly added wedges of hard salami over the entire thing (nope, we had no pepperoni).  By this time the cheese was melted beautifully which only helped to heat up the salami pieces, too.

Called Karl out to grab half of the first pizza, and we both smiled as we bit into a crunchy bottom and a chewy top!

Now I have to try and stop thinking about that pizza as I sit back down at the sewing machine.

Yeah, right.

Clean up

Last night's dinner consisted of the leftover salmon, cut up and tossed into a pan of white sauce made with evaporated milk, chevre' cheese and herbs, and lightly sauteed onions and peas. All of that was ladled over Trader Joe's lemon and cracked pepper noodles.

[grunty-sigh] It was delicious! The perfect meal to end a perfect weather day.

Happiness on a plate! [sigh]

MEOW! [covered in grey velvet fur and wide green saucers for eyes]

It's early enough this morning, yet (now that fall is closer than ever, and the earth has shifted on its winter axis) that the sun hasn't begun to beam over the roof line to the edge of the porch, but Cleo doesn't know that. She can't be convinced to wait patiently, and wants what she wants - NOW. Wants what she has become accustomed to over the last four months - that after-breakfast sojourn to the "out" and her sunny spot in the grass, to roll and loll and eat and sniff the air and listen.

"Not yet," we tell her, but she trots to the door and waits; nose pressed to the seal, ears pricked and feet at the ready. If we don't move in her direction, she'll turn and give us the mournful meow, and that look.

The "I-don't-understand-what-you-don't-understand-why-aren't-we-outside-yet?-have-you-forgotten-how-to-open-the-door?" look.

It'll be at least three hours before the sun has reached the perfect position and dried her spot on the lawn enough to lie in, but you can't tell her that.

I want the "out", mom. Please. [blink]

Today will be warmer (as will tomorrow), in the mid-eighties say the weather weenies. Then, by weeks' end the temps will dip back into the seventies once more. YEA! Cool evenings and mildly temperate days - that's all I need. All I want, really; so I guess I can (sort of) empathize with the pup. [blink]

Today will consist of more cleaning up (a continuation of the past few days), de-cluttering, and bill paying. Perhaps a little more checkbook balancing, to boot!

Oh! [squeal of delight]

Dare I dream of it? Shall I utter it aloud?

Maybe even a bit of furniture reorg?

[squeal number two]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, shall we. Let's keep our heads, woman! 'One foot in front'...and all of that rot.

Still.......

Clean up on aisle three!

Mmmmm...nummers!

Made salmon, eggplant parmesan (in a crockpot, no less - after pan-frying the eggplant), and crudites with homemade tzadziki!

I feel good and the boys are happy, so something must have turned out right. ;)

Oh yeah, and......

Made a spicy tortilla soup and enchiladas for supper last night, including the mole' sauce to finish the job.

When the boys were younger I had to refrain from making things too spicy, but now that they are older - all bets are off.

Myself, I don't really like things "hot" just for the sake of adding the heat. I want to taste my food. If the spiciness is an after-effect of an ingredient or two, that's fine, but to make a dish 'toasty' without adding to - or horror of horrors - covering up the flavor....FORGEDDABOUDIT!

For me, the flavor of a meal is more important than (or at the very least, JUST as important as) being satisfied and full when you walk away from the table.

I can't savor the flavor if I am busy putting out fires.

I let Karl taste the mole sauce before the enchiladas were done, because he came out to the kitchen following his nose.

"What smells so good?" he salivated, looking over my shoulder.

So, I grabbed up a teaspoon and scooped out a small sample of the sauce for him. Although his eyes moistened a little, and he reached for a glass of water, he was smitten with the flavor. So much so, he snagged a cut piece of raw onion to dip into the sauce to try again!

Everybody has their own recipe, but mine has always been to saute' the red chili powder and paprika in about one-to-two tablespoons of olive oil before adding a good deal of garlic to saute'. Once those three things are aromatic and ready, I add the tomato sauce, a touch of salt and a good dose of freshly cracked black pepper, and then let it all simmer for a bit.

Mmmmmmmm.

The steak enchiladas disappeared quickly, and the soup remains for today at lunch.

What's for dinner? I don't know, so I guess it's time to go look in the freezer.