Quinoa burgers
March 5, 2022 8:22 AM
Some of my co-workers mentioned a food blog called Half Baked Harvest and when I hear good things about a food blog, I have to check it out. I've been scrolling through all her recipes deciding on one to make, and I settled on these quinoa burgers, which is kind of a complicated first recipe to try, but I still had quinoa from who-knows-when and I really wanted to use that up.
The recipe also called for making some caramelized onions and sweet potato fries. I love caramelized onions so I was all for that, and I also love sweet potato fries, but this was already getting too involved, so I just bought frozen fries. Plus I also decided to fry up some bacon.
Bacon?! Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a veggie burger?
Hey, my goal wasn't to make a veggie burger. It was to use up the rest of the quinoa. And I want my burger to taste good. The bacon added some nice texture to this.
Not that the burger tasted bad without the bacon. This came out surprisingly well and had plenty of flavor. The shredded cheese that melted into a gooey blob with crispy edges was a really nice touch. I always thought that getting sliced cheese is better for a burger, but no, definitely go for shredded and sprinkle the cheese all over, making sure some of it spills off the patty to create extra crispy cheese pieces.
I even took the time to sauté more onions and fry an over easy egg during lunch on a workday just so I could fully enjoy my last burger.
No hectic or busy workday is going to stop me from putting together a delicious gourmet lunch.
Pasta aglio e olio
March 2, 2022 9:33 PM
Whenever I go over to my friends' places and they cook for me, I find it so inspiring. Homemade food is always so good, and usually so simple. I go to restaurants and I eat take out, and I'm pretty much never impressed, but there is something about a homemade dish that is incredibly satisfying. Everything that my friends make, I want to make too.
A few weeks ago, one of my friends showed me this spaghetti aglio e olio recipe that she had been making a lot of. (It took me a few times of saying that dish out loud before I could remember it) It was pretty good, but my friend loves spicy foods and doesn't like things too salty, so she doubled the red pepper and added way less salt than the recipe called for, and well, it tasted very pepper-y to me. So I wanted to try making this myself.
Also, the recipe says Don't serve cheese with this and I know I'm basically asking to be told what to do when making a dish, but I don't appreciate recipes telling me not to add cheese to my pasta. So I searched for another recipe, and I was feeling Love & Lemons take on it more.
I was feeling fancy so I used bucatini instead of spaghetti, and I wanted some vegetable in this so I added some grape tomatoes. Cooked tomatoes are delicious and this dish was delicious and the noodles were so fun to eat 😊
New Year Tacos
February 4, 2022 10:19 PM
As part of my newly established Lunar New Year tradition, I made fish tacos! I have no idea how long I've been keeping these tilapia fillets in the freezer, but I'm really trying to actually clear out the food in my kitchen. I've made these spiced catfish tacos so many times, and it's become one of my go-to recipes.
In the past, I've sliced up the sweet potatoes in thin quarter circle shapes, but this time I went with dicing, and I think that makes their flavor stand out more in the taco. And in my continued effort to not accumulate more food in my kitchen, I bought a bag of "RAINBOW VEGGIE SLAW" instead of buying a head of cabbage. Plus it's easier since I don't have to cut up any cabbage.
I cooked five tilapia fillets and we just about finished all of it. That mayonnaise + lime + sugar dressing makes it so good. We just had a single half of a fillet left, which I ate the next day (as well as a pork taco using leftover pulled pork from another meal).
Hand pulled noodles
January 29, 2022 5:54 PM
Last May, I visited my dad. This was a hard trip for me because he wasn't feeling well, but I thought it was worth it to be with him to try and help him out. My sister also flew across the country to join for a few days, and I was really really happy that she was there. This was partly because she cooked and baked some amazing food, but really, I just appreciated how her presence was able to lift my spirits.
Red curry with chicken
January 27, 2022 9:12 PM
Along with the cream of mushroom, my aunt also left me large container of curry (to eat) and a tiny container of red curry paste (to cook). I wanted something simple, so I searched Budget Bytes for a curry recipe and I decided to make Braised Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Thighs.
Budget Bytes isn't really the place I turn to for Asian recipes, but I still like her take on them. They aren't as flavorful as I want, so whenever her recipes call for soy sauce or fish sauce, I know I need to quadruple that amount.
The other thing I did to increase flavorful-ness was add salt to the chicken. Another tip I got from Salt Fat Acid Heat is to season your chicken with salt well in advance. I seasoned these chicken thighs with salt about 8 hours before cooking. I also added peas because I didn't think the dish had enough veggies in it as is.
I'm really happy with how this turned out! I thought the curry had a good amount of flavor with just the right amount of kick for me. And tossing green onions and cilantro on top right before serving adds a nice crunch to the dish.