Dal

I ate Dal today. From the crockpot!

And cheese toast, a la Sandeep.

I miss you guys on this blog.

These are really good. Apparently they are at Whole Foods. They are cacao covered with 65% dark chocolate. As Sona pointed out "cacao" sounds similar to that noise that GOB from Arrested Development makes when he's acting like a chicken. So that's a bonus.

Snack Review: Dark Chocolate M&Ms

Dark Chocolate M&Ms taste suspiciously like regular M&Ms. Maybe that's why they have to print the word "Dark" on every single one of them, so you don't forget that you're eating something new and exciting, not boring old Plain M&Ms.

No fireworks here, which is not to say that I didn't shovel the whole bag of them into my mouth in a matter of seconds.

Hi.

Dinner that even the severely brain-damaged can make

After a day of walking, sunburning, beer-drinking, and late-lunch eating, I kinda still wanted dinner, but not that much dinner, and nothing that required turning on the stove, slicing multiple vegetables, or really any work whatsoever. This is what I came up with:

1 ripe avocado + cottage cheese + favorite salad dressing = crazy delicious.

A conversation at Whole Foods:

Checkout dude [bagging my groceries]: “Paper, or sunburn?”
Me [totally not getting the joke]: “Excuse me?”
CD: “Uh, is a plastic bag okay?”
Me: “Oh, yeah.”

Thus proving that overexposure to the sun not only damages your skin, but can seriously damage your brain. Either that, or I’m in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. Good thing avocados are high in vitamin E, which lowers risk of Alzheimer’s (clearly too late for me—save yourselves).

PS: I like Nancy's Cultured Lowfat Cottage Cheese, which is kind of tangy, and Girard’s champagne vinaigrette.

Your Salad is Salady

The first day of summer called for something between green salad and grilled cheese. A suggestion of my favorite Hellenic salad was roundly rejected, but this one received approval from a usually picky patron of Chez Jessica. I will update the Snack Blog when I suggest making it again and am met with resistance/gagging noises.

I quite enjoyed it. Serve on a summer day with tortilla chips and white wine.

Ingredients:
1 can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 large or 2 small tomatoes, chopped
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1 avocado, chopped
handful cilantro, chopped
kernels from 1 ear of corn
1 red bell pepper, chopped
handful crumbled feta cheese
apple cider vinegar
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Combine all vegetables and feta.
2. Dress with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper to taste.
3. Serve.

Have you ever read one of those recipes that alleges to be possible with only the ingredients you have at hand?

That never works. Unless you live at Safeway.

This one worked for me though, because I made it up! The inspiration is my desire to use up that giant jar of sundried tomatoes that my mom bought me at Costco before I move out of my apartment and have to take it with me.

I’ve got no clue what YOU have on hand, so sorry if you can’t make this without a trip to the grocery store. But I’d be happy to come to your house and try to fashion dinner out of whatever you’ve got, all Tyler Florence style. But I won’t be a big asshole like Tyler Florence.


Ingredients:
angel hair pasta (enough to serve one)
1–2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium tomato or 2 small, chopped
oil-packed sundried tomatoes, sliced
red chili flakes (to taste)
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon capers

1. Boil pasta in salted water. Drain, reserving some of the water
2. In the same pot, heat up garlic and olive oil. Add tomatoes (both kinds), chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Sautee for a minute or two.3. Add pasta, capers, and about ¼ cup reserved water. Toss. Serve with parmesan.

It's more sophisticated if you spell it "Maccheroni"

Trader Joe’s and Costco: two great tastes that taste great together. I had some prefab pesto from Costco (pretty darn good actually), and mac & cheese from TJ’s (79 cents!). I put them together, added some stuff I had lying in the fridge (yes, there is something in there besides Michelob Ultra), and ended up with what tasted like actual food in the span of about 15 minutes.

If you were to sauté some mushrooms with garlic to add at the end and top with chopped parsley, this might almost look like something you could serve to guests. Very, very casual guests. But hey, that’s my favorite kind.


Pesto Mac & Cheese

Ingredients
1 box Trader Joe’s Macaroni & White Cheddar
1 head of broccoli, chopped to bite-size pieces
2 big handfuls spinach leaves
2 big spoonfuls prepared pesto sauce
splash of milk
small chunk of butter

1. Boil macaroni in salted water until almost done. Throw in broccoli when there’s a minute or two left to go. Add spinach at the last second, stir, and drain.
2. Return to pot. Add a glug of milk, the butter, and the cheese powder and stir until combined. Add pesto and stir.
3. Season with pepper and serve.