Last (Night's) Supper

When cooking, I've never been one to adhere to the recipe too closely, nor am I huge on using measuring tools (unless baking.) I taste throughout, sometimes leaving me full before the meal is prepared. Oops. Most of the time, I just make shit up. It turns out better this way. When I'm an old grandma, I hope to have the motivation to have my own handwritten cookbook to hand down to my kids' kids' kids with the measurements "a handful of this," "a little of that," et cetera. My grandmother's favorite cooking direction was, "Like so." For example a recipe for gravy would be, "You cook the meat like so, then you pour in some water, and cook up the fat like so." Cryptic, yet crystal clear, right?

I am learning that it is really hard to light food for photos, and I now understand why all the pics in chinese food restaurants look so gross. While the flash brings out the color, it makes everything else look kind of slimy. Oh well. You get the point.

Calypso Porkchop and Coconut Rice
-Marinate porkchop in olive oil, lime juice, minced garlic, jerk seasoning (thyme, allspice, black pepper, cinnamon, cayenne), and BF put some sort of hot pepper in there too, but it's not necessary.
-Boil rice (We used long grain) with equal parts coconut milk and water, and diced onions, salt, and pepper. (Once again BF put some kind of hot pepper in there too, but not necessary. The boy loves hot peppers. He pickled a huge jar of them that we've been using for months now.)
-Pan fry porkchop using marinade. Top with mango salsa. (Chopped mango, cilantro, red pepper.)

Vegetables
-Cut yellow squash, red peppers, and onions into strips.
-Heat 1/4 inch of water in a frying pan, and toss in veggies. Cover. Add snow peas after a few minutes.
-Mix olive oil, soy sauce, dijon mustard, dry ginger, dry garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar. Toss veggies in mixture, and saute for 4-5 min, and remove from heat.


And the night before:

Pesto Chicken Pasta
-Rub raw chicken breasts in pesto. (For pesto recipe, go here.)
-Boil pasta. (I like whole grain rotini.)
-Cut chicken into inch long strips, and saute in olive oil and minced garlic (I also like to throw some fresh basil in from our window herb garden.)
-Once chicken and pasta is cooked, drain pasta, and toss the two together, adding a little olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of pesto (give or take, depending on how much you're making).
-Throw in a handful of shredded parmesan or romano cheese, and toss while warm.

Asparagus Cherry Tomato Salad
-Cut ugly ends off asparagus. (Those things are expensive these days, btw!)
-Chop remaining asparagus into inch to 2 inch long pieces and blanche.*
-Do the same for tomatoes, and drain both of all water.
-For dressing: Mix approx 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp olive oil, a tsp balsamic vinegar, a clove of minced garlic, a squirt of dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.
-Toss asparagus in mixture first. When fully coated, add tomatoes.

*Blanche: Boil for about 3 minutes, then remove from heat and run under cold water to halt cooking process. This retains crispness and color.