Dr. Pepper Carnitas

You would think now that I am the proud owner of a crock pot (only took me a year to decide a) if my kitchen really had room and b) if I would really use it and c) if it was going to be worth the investment) I wouldn’t immediately return to slow cooking things in my oven with a pot.

But I think the oven method gives you a better char than the slow cooker, which can make things a bit mushy if you aren’t careful.

Now that the temperature in DC doesn’t make you wonder if it’d be cooler in Hell, I’m a lot less tentative about turning on my oven for hours at a time. Plus I have a gas stove and don’t pay for gas in my apartment complex, so it’s about the same in costs as turning on the slow cooker.

Chicken Curry

I had Indian food for the first time in middle school when my family visited London. It was a great trip – the British Museum! History! Sparkly objects! But the Indian food experiment was a disaster. We’d successfully experimented with Thai food earlier in the week (life-changing) and so we thought we’d try another new cuisine.

We were basically the only people in the restaurant and since we had no idea what we were doing, we asked our waiter what we should order. Sadly, the waiter didn’t account for our weak New England-raised taste buds. I got a dosa that was so spicy I basically drank the cucumber sauce it came with. I don’t remember if either of my sisters ate more than a bite of their meals. Only my father appeared to enjoy his meal.

Fast-forward about six years and I’m in Chicago for college. Had I heard you can get amazing Indian food in Devon? And it’s only an hour and a half away on public transit, totally worth it! Not wanting to look like a complete idiot, I agree to go and hope that someone orders something I can copy from. And that I can digest.

And when I got my meal, it was transformative. It was delicious! And spicy! Turns out I like spicy foods, who knew?

Since then, I’ve been a fiend. I live too close to my favorite Indian restaurant here in DC – it’s only a 20-minute walk! I drag visitors and friends alike there whenever I get a chance to suggest where to eat (or sometimes we alternate and go to the Thai restaurant next door. Again, thank you trip to England!).

But I’ve never cooked Indian before. And I’m fairly sure I still haven’t. I mean, yes this recipe uses curry powder, but I’m fairly sure in the world of food blogging that’s like claiming you’ve cooked Asian food when you make peanut butter noodles. In any case, this recipe is a keeper and definitely going into rotation. It’s delicious, creamy, and bursting with flavor. Though I’m thinking next time I might throw some lentils in there for kicks.

Or maybe I’ll get adventurous and try to make dal as a side dish.

Asian Glazed Chicken Breasts

To be completely honest, the only reason I initially tried this recipe is because I was out of peanut butter. Which meant I couldn’t try a new peanut chicken recipe I’d found. Still, I had all the other ingredients and thought this looked worth a try.

It’s awesome! It’s amazing how thick the glaze can get when cooked properly and the taste is great. I'm not kidding - I ended up kind of burning the glaze and still ate it. Part of that was sheer stubbornness (chicken is expensive!) but most of it was that it tasted really really good despite my cooking misadventure. Plus, doesn’t it look amazing?

Szechuan Spicy Eggplant with Ground Turkey

I’ll be completely honest – I don’t seem to follow the trend of most food bloggers who have extensive lists of things they’re planning on cooking next. I do have a massive, extremely organized bundle of recipes that look tasty, but when it comes down to it on Saturday mornings I tend to cook whatever shiny thing has caught my fancy at the moment.

Call me the magpie chef if you well.

In any case, I saw this gorgeous graffiti eggplant at the supermarket one Saturday morning and figured I’d buy it and figure out what to make with it when I got home. I vaguely remember my mother making a dish with ground pork, eggplant, and tofu so I picked up some ground turkey before I left (no, I don’t know why either. It made sense at the time). I figured I could probably make something tasty from the veggies in my fridge and the new ingredients I just picked up.

I was correct. This is a great recipe. The ingredient list may look a little ridiculously long, but I had pretty much all of it in my cupboard already. And it keeps really well – I ate it for lunch everyday for a week.

Hope you enjoy!

Baked Chicken Gyros

I studied abroad in Athens during college. Oh it was a real hardship – historical monuments, museums, bank holidays, island hopping – I’m surprised they managed to squeeze class in there!

At the time I was living with other students from my university in a small apartment building.  There was a small plaza down the street from us which had the world’s best bakery as well as a great Gyro shop. We ate there so often we began to measure prices in units of gyros – that bag costs 10 gyros! That hostel is only 6 gyros, what a steal!

I miss that place – it used to pile fresh French fries to top off an already perfect sandwich.  Seriously, if you’ve never had an authentic gyro, you don’t know what you’re missing. The meat is slowly roasted on a split, and thin slivers are cut off to order. No sitting around and getting tough for this meat. I honestly don’t even know what meat I was eating at the time; I just pointed to whichever spit had the least amount on it (on the theory that the locals had probably been eating it the most, so clearly it was awesome) and hoped for the best.

You’d be surprised how often this method works, just make sure not to think too hard about what you could be eating. That way leads to madness and possibly upset stomachs.

In any case, when I found this recipe I had to give it a try. It was a good choice. Chicken marinated in yogurt plus tzatziki and onion? Pretty delicious, but you’ll definitely want to make sure to brush your teeth after eating!

Ginger-Sesame Chicken Wrap for Two

What makes wraps so amazing? Seriously, I sometimes think they must be made with unicorn blood or baby tears because I can eat the same ingredients on bread or in a wrap and I’ll usually prefer the wrap.

These wraps are really dependent on a good salad dressing. It provides the marinade for the chicken and is added to the wrap just before eating. If you never had Sesame-Ginger dressing, you’re in for a treat. I love Newman’s Own brand because it’s low-calorie, great tasting, and the proceeds go to charity, but use your favorite brand.

I tend to over stuff my wraps as you can see below, so feel no shame in doing what I do – hold them once you’ve finished rolling with one hand while wrangling the aluminum foil. This method also serves as your cardio for the day while you accidentally hold your breath while trying to work fast enough so the filling doesn’t fall out.

Enjoy!

Chicken Stir-fry with Mushrooms, Onions, and Broccoli

There are 12 billion chicken stir-fry recipes on the internet – so clearly the world needs 12 billion and 1. I constantly like to experiment with stir-fries; while I generally know what I want in my stir-fry, I tend to try new combinations in the marinades each time in hopes of finally finding the perfect one. I don’t know what I’ll do the day I finally find the magic marinade, probably keel over in a bowl of soy sauce from shock, but in the mean time I’m having a blast trying many many tasty experiments.

This one was initially described as an “Easy Kung Pao” recipe, which I didn’t really taste in the sauce. It didn’t have the same kick or flavoring that I tend to associate with one of my favorite take-out items which made me a bit upset. It was only by renaming it and ignoring the rest of the directions that I was happy with the end results. So I hope you enjoy this remixed recipe!

(Chicken) Tortilla Soup

What is it about tomatoes, black beans, corn, onion, and chili powder that smells and tastes so good? I image this soup would taste even better in the summer when you can get fresh corn, but even with frozen and canned vegetables this soup still tastes pretty amazing. This recipe makes a massive amount of soup, but a full freezer can be a wonderful thing.

Pork Potstickers

Whenever my family ordered Chinese food, I always insisted on potstickers. Our local place made them perfectly – thick, chewy dumpling with perfectly seasoned pork filling. I hated sharing them. It got to the point where other family members would look at me cautiously asking for permission to have a single potsticker with the same tones you ask a crazy person if they can give you the knife. You don't know how badly I always wanted to say no.

I’ve been curious how to make them for years, but once I realized you had to pleat dough I bailed. I can’t hang a picture straight (and there’s plenty of evidence of that in my living room), there was no way I was going to be able to make so many perfectly folded pleats in a baked good.

So this isn’t a perfect potsticker recipe. It’s a starter recipe. For when I feel ready to tackle the scary world of making my own potsticker skin dough and trying pleats. This one uses pre-made skins that I found at my grocery store and a modified seal. Directions below!

Chicken Stuffed with Almonds, Spinach, and Feta

I made plans with my friend Alisha to meet for dinner a few weeks ago. The plan was for her to come over to my apartment and I’d cook us dinner. I started to panic the Saturday before because I realized two important facts: 1) because of things such as this blog, people think I actually eat well every day, and 2) dinner parties suffer dramatically when the host serves Kraft mac ‘n cheese. Clearly some advanced planning was required.

I started searching for a recipe that would convey the image of sophistication and skill while also being relatively cheap and easy to make. This fit the bill perfectly. It looks impressive – stuffed chicken breasts with fancy sounding ingredients! – while actually taking under 20 minutes to prepare. It’s pretty healthy to boot. Served with some couscous, an apple-spinach salad, and a few black bottom cupcakes, the meal tasted and looked impressive.

Of course, our mini-dinner party never actually occurred due to illness, so I ended up with some very fancy leftovers to enjoy for a week. Still, worth it to know I have this in my back pocket next time I have a guest over for dinner!

Fauxmosas

Sometime I get into trouble with my approach to cooking. I tend to make a big dish on Sunday and eat it throughout the week for lunch. It makes it easy in the mornings to get ready to go, saves me money, and ensures that I eat a balanced meal at least once a day. However, sometimes I misjudge portions.

Take the recipe for Moroccan Stew I posted recently. When I originally made it, I thought it would last me about 4 meals – pretty typical. However, I misjudged badly. After six days, I still had some in the fridge. But I couldn’t bear to eat it as it was one more day. So I did what any sane person would do – wrapped it in puff pastry and baked it.

Fantastic decision.

Moroccan Chickpea Stew

I made this stew the same weekend as the Cauliflower Soup. I started looking for a chickpea soup recipe because one lonely can of chickpeas had been sitting in my cupboard for a couple months and I had no idea what to do with it. It isn’t quite cold enough for one of my favorite chickpea recipes and I can buy hummus easily. Luckily, I stumbled upon two Chickpea Soup recipes that I thought could be combined to make one great recipe. I loved the spices in the first, but the addition of lentils and rice (and turmeric!) made the second one pretty appealing as well.

This one takes quite a bit of time, but makes enough to last you and some friends the week. If you’re like me, however, and tend to make a couple big dishes to bring as lunch and as a few last-minute dinners, than I think you’ll enjoy this one. 

Beef and Bean Chili

There’s a constant battle in my house when the topic of chili comes up. No, not the traditional Texan chili (no beans) versus other states’ chili (beans); rather, it’s over how much spice we’re allowed to use. I like my chili spicy – if I can’t taste cumin in every bite it’s not worth it – but my family seems insistent on eating versions that mostly taste like tomatoes (though they would claim they simply like having feeling in their lips, to which I reply, “whimps”).

When I first started cooking on my own after realizing that I could cook anything I wanted to for any meal (I can have quiche for all three meals today!), the second most important culinary realization I had was that I was in control of the spices. I could add cumin, cayenne, chili powder, and jalapenos if I wanted to – and I do.

This recipe is one of my favorite comfort foods; it’s easy to make, relatively cheap, and fills you up. In other words, the perfect antidote for a cold, gray, rainy day. Sorry for the lack of pictures - chili is remarkably tricky to photograph!

Pork Meatballs

My sister Emma asked me to explore the wonderful world of meatballs after an experiment of hers went terribly terribly wrong. She mistakenly thought I would have a better idea of how to make them and could walk her step by step through the process. While I really like the recipe seen below, it wasn’t what I would call a crowning moment of cooking glory.

Here’s a sad confession – I don’t like touching raw meat. It’s one of the reasons I don’t have many meat recipes up on the blog (the other being that meat’s really expensive). The full body shudders and the facial expressions I made while rolling the meatballs would have you believe I was elbow deep in tarantulas or something. Luckily, the end result was totally worth subjecting myself to several five minute long hand washings.