After a weekend of Maple Pecan Spice Cake, I felt renewed and ready to face the world again. On Wednesday, P was scheduled to return from an extended visit with his family and I couldn't have been more excited to see him.
I was all set to greet him with steaming plates of Curried Chickpea Stew with Brown Rice Pilaf (thanks to Cooking Light). The dish is so fragrant - the finishing dolop of plain yogurt on top adds the perfect bit of creamy tang to complement the spices. I was out of cilantro, so sprinkled some fresh green onions on top instead, which worked beautifully with the flavours.
Right before P got in the door, I was looking through my calendar and
suddenly realized the date. Despite multiple entries on my phone and
reminders set, the damn thing hadn't reminded me that tomorrow is Uncle
B's birthday. There was no time to run out for a last minute gift and I was sure to run into Uncle B at work the next day, so I got into panic mode and decided to whip up a quick batch of cookies. When P walked in the door he got a very brief and distracted greeting, instead of the warm welcome I had been planning to give him.
The cookies I decided to make are a twice-tried Pumpkin-Cranberry recipe I'd found in the Milk & Cookies cookbook - Uncle B is crazy about pumpkin desserts. This recipe alone justifies the cookbook purchase. It is incredible! Luckily, I had bought a large can of pumpkin puree on Saturday (some higher power must have been influencing that decision). I didn't have any dried cranberries on hand, so substituted instead half dried currants and half raisins. They turned out extremely well, although I think the cranberries may balance the sweetness of the cookie a bit better than the currants. These cookies are soft and cakey, with a really moist crumb. They feel so light and soft going down, I could easily eat half a dozen without thinking. A big hit the next day with Uncle B (and everyone else at work passing by), and P didn't seem to mind the distracted greeting too much once he wolfed down 3 of these.
One beautiful little discovery this week was the world of roasted vegetable sandwiches. I cut up some slices of eggplant and roasted them with red pepper the previous night. For lunch the next day, we put the roasted eggplant and red pepper on slices ciabatta slathered with basil pesto, and topped the whole with with goat cheese and spinach. It was so tasty. I couldn't wait until the next day so I could make it again. If we ever open up a restaurant, this simple yet delicious little sandwich will definitely be on the menu.
Thursday night was fajita night - nothing too extraordinary about it. Unknowingly, I was setting myself up for a long weekend full of Mexican-inspired cuisine. Things could definitely be worse... I found a nice fajita spice recipe online for the chicken and vegetables, and I was able to cook the vegetables just perfectly - the onions were nicely caramelized. I think the finishing touch, though, was the spicy avocado lime cream. I saw this recipe while watching Chuck's Day Off and it has become an instant classic in our household. It's a nice substitute for guacamole and adds a fresh brightness to tacos and nachos that I love. I was missing the jalapeno peppers it called for, so used a little bit of chipotles in ancho chile sauce, which lended a good amount of heat and flavour to it.
To continue our Mexican-theme Friday night was dinner at Pancho Villa's for Uncle B's birthday - a nice Mexican restaurant nearby with amazing chimichangas. Saturday morning P and I made scrumptious breakfast burritos with a nice helping of the leftover spicy avocado-lime cream and scrambled eggs. What a nice way to start off the day! And next we'll be having some leftover fajitas tonight. Can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment