After a week off from cooking while sporting a contagious flu, I couldn't wait to get back in the kitchen. Using the microwave as the sole cooking utensil for the week for chicken noodle soup and ramen was kind of a treat, but being sick was certainly not. I'm really bad at "taking it easy," - I feel very guilty when I miss one of my extracurriculars. I can't help but push myself when faced with such a challenge as trivial as a common flu, but I've learned through the years that bodies can heal if we just give them time to rest.
As I often bring leftovers from my cooking adventures to work for lunch, thusly admitting myself into the secret society of work foodies. Several coworkers of mine and I love to talk food and recipes. I'm pretty sure I have a dull palette, but I do enjoy the challenges and variables that come with cooking a new dish, so I can still participate in said conversations. These coworkers have varying levels of seriousness when it comes to their cooking adventures - one loves the science of cooking like Alton Brown, while the other works from cooking magazines. The magazine girl left a magazine on my desk one day, and I photocopied a good number of recipes to try. There's something about this magazine where I trusted the ingredients and steps more than recipes I've found on the internet, maybe it's because I was told it's a very pricey magazine. Anywho, I followed the chickpea cakes recipe to a T, with the exception of adding shallots (because I don't really know what they are) and cilantro (Eleni has pointed out to me that there is a conglomerate of people in this world that despise cilantro, so I am very cilantro-conscious).
The highlight of my food shopping trip this week was coming across garam masala - once upon a time I spent a good amount of time looking for the spice in hopes to make chicken tikka masala, but to my dismay I came up short and settled on making a casserole that night. This measured tsp came in a prepackaged spice sampler, specifically packaged for efforts in making chicken tikka masala!!
The ingredients went together real easy, and cost about $25 total. I started cooking at 10:15 PM after getting home late from a rock climbing session and we plated up around 11:30 PM. I have enough leftovers to last about 5 or 6 meals. The part I was most nervous about was cooking the chickpea cakes, but Chris fortunately took over that step. Additionally, I made couscous, a pear salad, and cooked broccoli. Here's the chickpea cakes recipe:
The flavors were all there, and I don't think this cooking adventure could have gone more smoothly. I was a bit confused where the yogurt and cucumber medley came in, but it actually wound up serving as a dipping sauce for the chickpea cakes. The scallions didn't add much flavor, and I honestly don't know why they're included in various recipes (except maybe for miso soup, where they play a key role).
Once again, I forgot to take pictures until the last moments. Someday, somehow, I'll get better.
PS. In case you haven't noticed, this blog is undergoing construction. Someday in the near future I hope to learn HTML enough to add a fancy banner. I also hope to take a picture of EVOO for the aforementioned fancy banner that doesn't look like a bottle of pee.
'Til next time, little chefs!
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