Feast: Spring Break edition

A nice couple from Minnesota took our picture at the Grand Canyon, which was beautiful and cold, btw. I was not allergic to the Grand Canyon. It was great.

Everyone who has spoken to me in the last week and a half knows that I am allergic to Arizona. I mean, the American Southwest seems to be the only place I feel the need to dose myself with as much Claritin and Benadryl as my doctors friends will allow me to safely consume. Everywhere else, I can ingest copious amounts of local pollen and I am still uncongested and clear-eyed. However, you put me in Arizona or Texas and I become a red-eyed, scratchy-throated grump with the voice of a froggy, yankee Benedict Cumberbatch. And, no, that is not a good thing. The absolute worst part is that I couldn't taste things properly. This was a Serious Bummer, given that I love TexMex and Mexican food. 

This was a double bummer, because I really wanted to cook a bunch of food for my friends, people I love to pieces, and I only really felt like cooking the last couple of days of our trip. I've known my friends for over a decade now(!) and I can't imagine life without them. They have seen me at my absolute worst (and let me just say, it can be pretty bad) and yet they're still around, cheering me on and laughing at my lame jokes. Thanks, kids.

If I were a Photoshop wizard, I'd put Alex in that blank space to my left. South Mountain was a really pretty spot overlooking Phoenix.

Spring Break (mini-hiatus)

Hey, y'all! 

I am currently on spring break with my best friends from undergrad and that's why the blog seems...bleak. I will try to post again on Monday, with the summer rolls we made our last night together. It was a really awesome time and I highly recommend doing a make-your-own-summer-roll bar with your friends. It leads to great conversation and lots and lots of laughs.

I enjoyed a lot of great food while in Phoenix and will also be posting recipes inspired by my time here in the near future too. Because horchata. Because hot dogs with Cracker Jacks, bbq sauce, smoked gouda, and peanut butter. Because gooey salted chocolate brownies and iced Havana coffee. Because mole con pollo lonches (similar to Central American tortas).

Get ready!

Chickpea yoghurt dip with homemade tahini (or, not-hummus hummus)

I am a big fan of choices, having lots and lots of options. I like looking at a problem and seeing that there are 10 or 60 or 1000 ways to solve it. I think that's why I enjoy studying public policy and also why I have problems with indecision about everyday things (e.g. which movie to watch, how to do my hair, what dog food Buster should eat). My love of seeing many paths also makes it difficult for me to commit to just one thing, to have just one option forever. Thankfully, this tendency to be indecisive doesn't extend to important decisions, like where to go to grad school or which dog to rescue from the shelter.

This guy. I mean, who wouldn't take this little dog home to rip up your paper products and love you forever?

Vietnamese style coffee

You know how I was saying the other day that my brother likes to get me weird food-related gifts? Well, now I can add the phin filter to the list.

Cajeta

Oops, I forgot to post the cajeta recipe! It is so, so good. Like a combination of dulce de leche and a cinnamony butterscotch. If you don't like cinnamon, I'm sure you could make it without. I happen to love cinnamon (it may be my favorite spice) so I particularly love this sweet.

Feast, Meatless Monday edition

This is the last week before my spring break, so what were my immediate concerns? All of the vegetables I still had in the fridge, patiently waiting to be used or binned. I am determined to leave for spring break with nothing in the fridge that could rot into an awful surprise to greet me when I return. So, what to do? Use as much of the veggies as possible and invite some friends over to consume it. Since I had no animal protein, I figured we'd have a vegetarian feast. I think it was pretty awesome.
 
I made roasted cauliflower soup with garam masala and a chickpea yoghurt dip with homemade tahini. I had my friend Diva slice red peppers for the dip, while I baked some crispy kale and seeded a pomegranate. This added some nice color to the soup and dip, which were really . . . beige.

For dessert, I microwaved what remained of my cajeta and chocolate hazelnut spread and we used it as dessert topping (FYI, they both make baller ice cream toppings). A couple of us ate frozen vanilla Greek yoghurt and the rest went for the real deal and had vanilla ice cream with them. I had also purchased a giant pomelo, so I had Diva peel it and we consumed that too. All in all, I think it was pretty delicious.

Unfortunately, all of the food was made and consumed rapidly, so I don't have any photos except what you see above. Yeah, I'm disappointed in myself too. Trust me when I say though, that the dip and soup were really good. Or, don't trust me and make them yourself with the recipes I'll be posting in the next couple of days. You'll see. 

Chocolate hazelnut spread (Homemade Nutella)

I don't know anyone who isn't a fan of Nutella. It's like that scene in Shrek where Donkey talks about parfait. You don't remember? Let me remind you:

Donkey: You know what else everybody likes? Parfaits. Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's go get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious!

Nutella is like that. No one ever says, "Hell no, I don't like no Nutella!" This is all to say that you won't have any trouble sharing this if you choose to make it. Unless your friends have been crazy and given up chocolate or sweets for Lent. Then maybe wait until after Lent to make it if you plan on sharing . . . It's also okay to horde it all for yourself too. I never judge.

Tofu stir-fry with asparagus and carrots

Tofu has never been a weird ingredient for me. I ate it a lot growing up because it is a cheap protein that is really versatile and really healthy. I don't think people understand how great tofu can be, because they have only had it when it's been prepared badly. Yes, tofu can be spongy and soggy and the stuff of nightmarish food hellscapes, but that is true of a lot of foods to which you bring little knowledge and even less tolerance for error.

The magic of tofu is the fact that it will take on the flavor of whatever it's paired with. It's the culinary equivalent of a blank slate. Someday, I'll introduce you to the wonders of my friend Marissa's tofu chocolate pie. That day will come. Today is not that day, my chickens, because today's post is meant to empower tofu neophytes everywhere. Plus, Lent has just started, and I bet some of my friends (and the Internet) with Lenten ambitions probably gave up (red) meat. Now is the time to embrace tofu!

Lemon blueberry donuts

My brother is a very practical person. There is nothing extraneous in his life—he's economical and he asks me to provide peer-reviewed evidence whenever I make a categorical assertion about almost anything. This makes him sound insufferable, but I think that's because it suits me to paint him as such. :) What it really makes him is someone I can rely on to make careful, calculated decisions that are the product of much rational, levelheaded thought and research.

I need this in my life, because I'm often tilting at windmills and making gut decisions based on intuition and spontaneous thinking. Basically, I think he needs to trust his first instincts more often and he thinks I always need to do a little more research before jumping into something. This means we argue like crazy and—since we share the trait of pure mule-headed stubbornness—we often have to take a beat or two before we can speak calmly to one another as adults.

This is all to preface the fact that when he gets me gifts, my careful Dr. Jekyll sibling goes all Mr. Hyde on me. My birthday and Christmas gifts stretch the bounds of practicality. Pineapple corer, donut maker, and kitchen torch . . . A string of gifts that have made my mom double over with laughter. I am not super fond of uni-purpose kitchen implements (except my garlic press!) but I find that I use the donut maker pretty frequently. (I also can't wait to use the kitchen torch, because fire! and caramelization! and fire! Also, if you're confused about my use of 'because' as a preposition, don't be. The Atlantic has confirmed that linguists have confirmed its use as such. So there.)