Rainy day dinner

I picked up a can of Trader Joe's organic vegan split pea soup just to have as a quick meal, but it turned out to be the best split pea soup I've ever had. Two thumbs way up.

trader joe's does thai

i'm a big fan of thai food, red curry chicken especially. to be honest, i haven't ventured much further into thai cuisine because i love red curry so much (paired with thai iced teas. heaven). i was reading ainsley's entry on trader joe's yellow curry and became so excited at the prospect of cooking my own thai inspired dinner that i took the 15 minute drive to trader joe's that day to get started. i guess it was obvious, but not to me, as i was surprised that they also make red curry sauce (which already uses coconut milk as an ingredient instead of adding it additionally, so i saved a buck). i also modified the recipe and added some chicken as i am carnivorous and i felt my dinner needed some protein. this is kind of how i did it:

peel and slice three small red potatoes, add about 3 oz. shredded carrots (eyeball it, it really just depends on how carrot-y you want your dinner), boil in a pot until cooked

transfer to a large saucepan and pour 1/2 bottle of red curry sauce over the mixture. stir and let simmer on low heat.

if you're feeling adventurous, add pineapple! i mixed about 2 tbsp. crushed pineapple to this for that authentic thai flavor.

it'll look like this!

in a separate pan, cook up some chicken if you want. i bought some thinly sliced chicken cutlets and cut them into smaller bite-sized pieces. once that's ready, pour some more sauce over the chicken to taste. then transfer to the carrot and potato pot.i'm now going to have to apologize for the half-assed job i did photographing this. upcoming entries are going to include real live digital photos, instead of using my iphone/instagram for documentation. but back to the recipe! i served my red curry chicken over trader joe's microwaveable brown rice. serves three, andrew and his mom both told me it was delicious :)

(the rice, for reference. photo from cooking with trader joe's. this stuff comes in handy for almost everything. stays in the freezer and it ready in 3 minutes. convenience!)

this was a delicious, adventurous recipe that i will definitely be making again. i even had some red curry sauce left over and threw it on top of some whole grain couscous and tofu for a quick, healthy dinner tonight. if you try it, i hope you enjoy it!

kale!

today i want to talk about kale, which is my most favorite vegetable. and lucky for me, kale is considered the most nutritious vegetable in the entire world. kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K and vitamin C (and is okay on the calcium front, too!). kale contains special good-for-you chemicals which are rumored to boost DNA repair in cells and block the growth of cancer cells. so really, what's not to like? because it grows so close to the ground, raw kale can have a really earthy, almost bitter taste. but if you pretend you're a healthy, cancer-free rabbit who is chock full of vitamins, kale tastes like the most awesome thing you've ever eaten. my favorite way to prepare kale is to steam it (and throw some fun stuff into it). this cuts out most of the bitterness, leaving you with pure kale deliciousness. conveniently, i made some for dinner! here's how that went:

in a saucepan on medium heat, combine 2 tbsp. olive oil with one cup water

stir in that kale! cover

watch as your kale turns a beautiful bright green, turn down to low heat, still stirring occasionally

i'm a hungry girl, so i can't eat ONLY greens for dinner. tonight i decided to recreate a jamaican jerk tofu scramble with brown rice that i invented a few weeks ago.

you can add salt, pepper, really whatever you'd like to your kale. i'm into garlic.

meanwhile, in another pan..

i'm not going to pretend like i am an expert on making tofu dishes, because i most certainly am not. i know that it basically adopts the flavor of whatever you cook it with. so i drained the block of tofu, squeezed out excess moisture, and really just scrambled it in a non-stick pan. poured jamaican jerk marinade over the tofu to taste, added carrots and chickpeas (my favorite legume), stirred. and then stirred in brown rice.
not the most attractive dish, but the flavor and health benefits certainly makes up for that.
and there's dinner!

my boyfriend just told me he liked it, which makes me feel good because although he won't admit it, he's picky. i made so much that i even have enough to take to work with me tomorrow for lunch.

this kale appreciation post has been brought to you by trader joe's, and the vitamin K. hope you love it as much as i do! because it's really really good for you and healthy people make me happy.

in other news..
breakfast
boyfriend
bike fun

xo

good things 7/4 - 7/9

sitting here, making potstickers, wanting to share some stuff that's being going on. (the photos are all from my iphone, because unfortunately my canon, my most prized possesion, has a broken lens and i've been using it less frequently.)

andrew is my wonderful, sweet, supportive boyfriend. the two of us had to work the entire holiday weekend, but because he knows how much i enjoy explosives, we set up shop in a parking lot packed with fellow bystanders and watched the grucci fireworks display from bald hill. a low key yet memorable way to spend the 4th. while walking to the brookhaven amphitheater, we saw my name written in the sidewalk! and i never see my name anywhere. so i was pretty pumped on that. also, the sky was bright pink as the sun set which made sitting on the car for two hours way worth it.

a few days ago, we warmly welcomed our new house guest.


her name is charlotte and she will be with us for ten days while andrew's aunt is away on vacation. she is so sweet, so well behaved, and is filling the void in my heart that was growing deeper since turning down a job at the american guide dog foundation. it's safe to say that i love her.

charlotte anne <3

hung out with leanne (who is my bff) and max (who is her cat). we made pina coladas (also made jokes about how funny it is to drink pina coladas) and listened to a mixture of the decemberists and rolling thunder. it was a nice way to relax on my day off from work.



my sister and i spent some time with our nana and grandma, since my sister is home from college for the summer and because those ladies are the best.

what a woman who will almost force feed you treats has on her fridge.

my sister and i at montauk point (my most favorite thing about this island i reside on) in '93, maybe? found at my grandma's.

just finished this hilariously empowering book.


stumbled upon this and enjoyed it. felt a lot of this throughout the past few days. i'm happy to be surrounded by the people i cherish most.

and finally, here are my potstickers.

i prefer the trader joe's brand to any other brand

directions!
12" pan
place a single layer of potstickers in 2 tbsp. cooking oil (i always use olive oil)
cook for one minute on medium-high heat
add 1 cup warm water, cover, cook for 8-10 minutes (or until water evaporates)
uncover, cook for 1 minute until golden brown. and voilà! easy peasy. wish i had soyaki.
have a nice weekend! xo