Chik'n w. Peppers & Pineapple

I've been imagining this dish for over a week.

I need to get pineapple. I became fixated on getting more pineapple into my life beginning a week and a half ago. At first, juice seemed the best way to incorporate pineapple into my diet. Then canned fruit, frozen, fresh - until I landed on whole, peeled, cored, pineapple at the grocery store. Two, please.

With about three quarters of one pineapple: dice the fruit up into medium-large dice. Add small dice red onion, chopped cilantro. Pineapple salsa.

Gardein Chick'n Scallopini pair nicely with sweet bell peppers, white onions, and brown rice along with the fresh salsa. Finish with a good dose of a chimichurri sauce and some creamy, fresh avocado slices.

Everything about this dish was tasty. The flavors really compliment one another and it was cool to see the flavors in my mind take shape in reality. Mr. Coconut quickly finished his dish and enjoyed it.

I was trying for fancy plating, but it did not turn out quite as I imagined. But it tasted great.

Mock Duck in Yellow Coconut Curry

Yum yum yum.  Just another easy-peasy curry.  One 15 oz can of coconut milk.  Some curry powder, veg broth = sauce done.

Mock duck fried up in a pan with soy sauce, garlic, hoisin, ginger, onion.  Broccoli and pineapple added, served over brown rice.

It only seems complicated because there are a few different parts to it, but really it's one of those simple "cook while watching TV" type of dishes that just satisfies and can leave leftovers for lunch tomorrow!  (Or breakfast.)

Coconut-Squash Curry Sauce - Two Ways

I have been cooking lots of new foods as well as trying new eateries lately, but I have not had proper posts about it. As the photos have been piling up, I have been putting off blogging more because I can't think of a time I will have to sit down and post all of them. Then an idea came to me: just do one or two posts a day for a while. Constant content for the blog, small amount of time to put it together.

Perfect.

So, enough jibba-jabba, let's talk about food!



This is AMAZING. In the words of Mr. Coconut, "the best thing I've eaten in 6 months." I was gifted a butternut squash from a co-worker's garden, and was pondering what to do. Butternut Squash soup? Just steamed? Roasted? So many possibilities...I saw I had a can of coconut milk and just started to experiment.

I began by peeling and cubing the squash, throwing it into a pot with a little water and steamed it. This was a medium-large squash, so there was a lot there, several cups of cubes. Then I added the coconut milk and some red curry paste. Stir stir stir. Mash mash mash. Whipped out the emulsion blender and pureed until smooth. It was really thick and soup-like. I added salt to taste, and then decided to add canned pineapple with the juice (not syrup).

While all of that was going on, I was boiling rice noodles and steaming frozen broccoli. Then, I decided to make semolina pasta as well because it seemed to be a great sauce for pasta. It was!!!

So, this sauce is really versatile. With the pasta, it was reminiscent of butternut squash ravioli. With the rice noodles, we added soy sauce and sesame seeds for more of an Asian flair. Either way, awesome. I will be honing this sauce more in the future. I would add onions, garlic, broth, and maybe more coconut milk.

Here's another photo:

What's in the Pantry: Saturday Night Edition

There's nothing to eat! I hear and think that a lot. In truth, I have a lot of staples in my pantry and fridge/freezer and when pasta just won't cut it, the tried and true become the stars.

This Saturday's dish? I am calling it "Broc-Caul-Lentil Curry" - pretty much what it sounds like. I started with about half an onion diced (small-medium dice), 4 cloves fresh garlic minced, 4-5 cloves roasted garlic minced, 1/2 cup (dry) brown lentils cooked separately until tender, 1 (10oz?) bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower, 10-12 pieces frozen pineapple, 1 can coconut milk, 1/2 can red curry paste, and some fresh ginger as well as some ground ginger.

Served over brown rice and wild rice. (I cooked wild rice while making this dish and already had brown rice ready to eat.)

So as stated above, I cooked some lentils separately with a veggie bouillon cube for flavor.

I diced and minced the onion and garlic, respectively. In a large saute pan, saute onion until tender, add a sprinkle of curry powder and some salt along with the roasted and fresh garlic. At this point I also shredded up some ginger and added that as well as some ground ginger. Stir lentils, perhaps add some more liquid to the lentils.

Next, I added to the large saute pan the bag of frozen broccoli and cauliflower. I added a little veggie broth that I had in the fridge to help steam the veggies. I added some frozen pineapple after a few minutes. I then added the can of coconut milk. The red curry paste I buy comes in cans the size of tuna fish cans, and it is REALLY spicy, so I added about 1/3-1/2 of the can of curry paste.

I dumped in the lentils, and stirred everything. Let cook until the pineapple and frozen veggies are heated through. Serve over rice of some kind. Orzo or cous cous would work too, or on it's own.

Pizza: Papa John's

Just a jazzed up piece of Papa John's pizza. I added a bunch of garlic sauce, some cumin, Parma!, and red pepper flakes. The toppings from PJ's were: Green Peppers and pineapple. Maybe onions as well, can't remember.

Nothing special, but still a nice treat.