Golden potato and greens soup

 This was pretty good .... but not the best.  We'll maybe try it one more time.

Here it was in NYT:  https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1025880-golden-potato-and-greens-soup#notes_section

I'd use 1/2 tsp chli flakes next time instead of 1 tsp.  Adding a bit of apple cider vinegar also seems like a good idea at the end.  

Our thought for next time was maybe get some yellow dal in there as well.

* shrug *. Let's try it!

Crunchiest salad ever

 Very delicious!  Maybe a little TOO crunchy.

Toasted black lentils

Soak 1 cup lentils in cold water for 30-60 min.  Drain.

Cook in 3 cups water for 15-30 min or until cooked but al dente.  Don't overcook!

Rinse and spread out in single layer on cookie sheet to dry.  Meanwhile pre-heat oven to 400F.

When dry, drizzle with ~1 tsp olive oil, salt, and any flavors you want: smoke paprika or cumin or garlic powder.  (We did garlic powder).

Toast for 15-20 min, scrabbling halfway through.  They will be VERY crispy!

Crunchy Red Cabbage Salad with Smoky Nuts

Ingredients

• For the Salad:

  • 3 cups finely shredded red cabbage
  • 2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
  • 1 apple (Granny Smith or Honeycrisp), julienned or thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup smoky almonds or pecans, roughly chopped (see note below)
  • 1/2 cup toasted black lentils (see other note)
  • 1/4 cup shredded carrots (optional, for color and crunch)
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or cilantro (optional)

• For the Dressing:  (we halved this)

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp honey (or maple syrup for vegan)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Prepare the Smoky Nuts:
   Toss 1/2 cup raw almonds or pecans some smoked paprika, a drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of salt. Toast in a skillet over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant. Let cool.  (We did it for ~8 min @ 400F in the small toaster oven.

2. Make the Salad:
   Combine the shredded red cabbage, sliced celery, apple, carrots (if using), and parsley in a large mixing bowl.

3. Make the Dressing:
   Whisk together olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper in a small bowl or shake in a jar.

4. Assemble:
   Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss well to combine. Sprinkle the smoky nuts and toasted lentils on top just before serving to retain their crunch.

ChatGPT jambalaya-style pasta

 We had a bunch of extra boring (and extra-boring) red-sauce pasta and I asked chat gpt to help me re-cook it into something more interesting.  It was great!

Sure! Here’s a recipe for a Jambalaya-Style Pasta using your already-cooked red-sauce pasta. This dish combines the bold, spicy flavors of jambalaya with the convenience of repurposing pasta.

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Jambalaya-Style Pasta

Serves: 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 lb andouille sausage, sliced into coins (or substitute smoked sausage)
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 lb chicken breast or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 cups cooked pasta with red sauce
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 green onions, sliced (for garnish)
• Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

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Instructions

1. Cook the Proteins:
   Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned. Remove and set aside.
   In the same skillet, cook the chicken until golden and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
   Finally, add the shrimp, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook just until pink. Remove and set aside.

2. Sauté the Vegetables:
   In the same skillet, add the onion, bell pepper, and celery. Cook for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds.

3. Add Seasoning:
   Sprinkle the smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, thyme, and oregano over the vegetables. Stir well to coat.

4. Deglaze the Pan:
   Pour in the chicken stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to release any flavorful bits. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes to reduce slightly.

5. Incorporate the Pasta:
   Add the cooked red-sauce pasta to the skillet, stirring to combine with the vegetables and stock. If the pasta is too thick, add a splash more stock to loosen it.

6. Return Proteins:
   Stir the sausage, chicken, and shrimp back into the skillet. Toss everything together and cook for 2-3 minutes until heated through.

7. Season and Serve:
   Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, or more cayenne if desired. Garnish with green onions and fresh parsley.

Thai Cashew Chicken

 This was really really, restaurant quality good.

1.5 lbs thighs cut into 3/4"-1" long pieces.  Combine 1 B soy sauce, 2 T flour, 2 T water, 1/4 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper (I think I did 10-12 grinds); whisk until smooth.  Coat chicken and marinate.   (recipe doesn't give time; I did ~15 min).

Make sauce.  Combine 2T soy sauce, 1.5 T Thai chili paste (Nam Prik Pao), 1 T white sugar, 1 T oyster sauce, 3 T water, and whisk until sugar disolves.

Heated big pan on high (9?) with 1.5-2 T oil until nearly smoking.  Added chicken in one batch since pan is large enough.  Let sit for 1.5 min until nicely browned, then scrabbled around to brown other side.  ~2-3 min total.  Transferred chicken to other bowl.  (it's ok if they're a little underdone as they'll cook another 2-3 min in the sauce).

Toasted 1C cashews in toaster over while this was happening.  (original recipe calls for pan frying).

Chopped vegetables: green beans to 1" lengths, 3-4 celery stalks to 1" lengths and 1/4" width, carrot thinly sliced.  I blanched the green beans in boiling water for ~1-2 min until dark green and then rinsed in cold.

Large mince 6 cloves garlic.  Original recipe also calls for red onion, but I added the white parts of 4-5 scallions cut to 1" lengths and halved.

Heat 1-2 T oil med-high (7-8), toss in garlic and onion.  Recipe says to let garlic get golden.  I stir-fried everything before that could happen.  After 1-2 min stir frying vegetables, added chicken back in and poured sauce over.  Let everything simmer for 1-2 min.  At the end add green parts of scallion cut to 1" lengths and the cashews.

I left out chlies, but you can also add dried red chilies at the stir-frying step along with the other aromatics.

SO GOOD!

Shrimp fried rice

 really good!

Made egg pancake with 3 eggs, dash of soy sauce, dash of sesame oil

Marinated ~ 7-8 shrimp in dash rice wine, 1/8 tsp white pepper, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 heaping tsp cornstarch

Fried 1 package oyster mushrooms cut up on temp 6 for ~ 4-5 min.

Blanched some 1 cm pieces of green beans.

Sauce:  3 tsp chicken broth, 1 tsp soy, 1/2 tsp dark soy, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar.

Put in oil and fried rice for a minute.

Added aromatics: 3 garlic cloves large mince, and 3 coins ginger and white part of 2 scallions chopped.

Added everything else.

Added sauce, and the chopped green part of the scallion.

Really really good!

Improv Singapore noodle

 Made an egg pancake (2 eggs, bit of soy sauce, bit of sesame oil)

Blanched green beans cut to 1" lengths

Had ~8-10 shell-on shrimp.  Marinated for 5 min in splash rice wine, bit of soy sauce, dash white pepper

Heated oil on 6, threw in shrimp + marinate, cooked 2 min per side.

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Had pre-cooked thin egg noodles.  Mixed it with thin rice noodles I'd soaked in hot water.

Added oil to pan, + thinly sliced red onion + 2 chopped garlic cloves + 6 ginger disks.  Added noodles.  After 30 sec added egg, shrimp and green beans.

Poured over sauce:

4 Tbsp chicken broth

1/2 Tbsp rice wine

1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce

1/2 Tbsp curry powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

bit of sesame oil

bit of white pepper

Really great!

Mushroom pea potato curry

Great flavor!  Somewhat involved.

Followed this recipe. except I added 1 cubed potato that I pre-boiled.

In the future, could make the sauce one day, then do the rest another day.  Might be nice with some toasted almonds on top.