Chia Grits

This morning I debated between my two breakfast options: Grits VS Oatmeal. I looked at the nutrition facts, pretty much the same thing besides the huge fiber difference... and the fact that you can put cheese in one. So my decision then became cheese or fiber.

I decided cheese. Then I decided both. At first I was going to just do a shot of chia seeds (fill a shot glass with juice add a table spool of chia seeds, wait a minute then shoot - this action makes me feel at home). But I had no juice so I decided I could probably just add it to the grits.

Make grits according to directions

Then Add:
Some Monteray (Monterrey/Monneray/Moneray) Jack Cheese
Salt
Curry Spice
Siracha
Chia Seeds

Vegetarian Lentil Gazpacho

I just had drinks with my biggest supporter of this food blog, my brother. As we sat there, him with his hot toddy, and me with my tequila and soda with pickle juice and hot sauce (totally awesome), I told him that at last I am starting the blog again. So starting it in fact, that I already started it a few days ago. I told him about the truffle asparagus on miso grits and a poached egg and he seemed so impressed that he was totally unimpressed. "That sounds good" he said almost disappointedly. Well this entry is for him. Although I have to say, this 'dish', not totally bad.

I was moving out of my apartment which I shared with five people into a normal person apartment. As I was finishing my packing I realized how hungry I was. I had already eaten all of the year old halloween candy from one of my roommates and had desimated my other roommates ramen supply so I decided to go deep into my old cubbord.

There was a can of lentil soup. Perf. I'll make lentil soup. Except it wasn't so much lentil soup as lentils in a can. Close enough.

Directions

Open lentil can
Pour in bacobits
Eat
Add more bacobits



I suppose you could heat it... I decided on more of a gazpacho brand. And if you really want to get fancy you could even use a bowl - but I had packed all those. Besides the can feels more rustic. Like camping.. maybe as I'm broke as hell I'll compare everything to being like camping... I like not having heat or toilet paper, like camping...

Miso-Truffle Asparagus over Italian-Soy Grits topped with a Poached Egg.

So I have decided to start this again. And start this off right. With a truffle-miso asparagus over Italian cheesy soy grits topped with a poached egg and roasted, maybe called fried, garlic.

I made this for three people and the rations were perfect. Perfect in the sense that they were the amount that people should eat and not in the sense of what people wanted to eat.

I tried doing something fancy which is slow poaching the eggs in their shell. To do this you are supposed to put the eggs in water that is 140-145 degrees (you should place either a baking rack or a steamer thing in the pot to put the eggs on so they don't touch the bottom of the pot). This is supposed to take 40 minutes. Bullshit bullshit and an hour twenty later no freaking eggs. I mean eggs, but just heated up versions of what they were before. So I freaked out a bit, fried some and then did my way of poaching eggs:

bring a pot of water to a boil. Put an egg in the pot. Wait a few minutes. Then pour everything into a strainer and don't give a shit about whether it looks cohesive.

For the grits I used slow cooking, ie 15 minutes instead of 5. I put about three cloves of minced garlic in with some herbs de provence (which after googling I discovered is not spelled herbs de provonce). This didn't taste too well because I hate herbs de provence. I hate saying it and I feel rediculous for typing it. I then decided it clearly needed soy sauce and miso, which would also make it compliment the asparagi.

Grits:
2 cups water brought to boil with three minced cloves of garlic and herbs de provence
1 tblespn red miso
1 tblsspn butter
1/2 cup Grits
splash of low sodium soy
About a 1.5 inch cube of Monterrey Jack (cause that's all I had left)
sprinkle salt to make up for low sodium nature of salt.

Oven at 350
cut off bottom inch of asparagi and peel the bottom inch that's left - only really if you have some thick ass asparagus like I did.
Line cookie sheet with aluminum then lay out asparagus.
Drizzle (read coat) with truffle oil and two - 100 minced garlic cloves, some salt and bake for like 15 minutes +/- for thickness of asapargus - don't over cook because asparagus without a crunch is stupid.

Put everything on the plate. I topped the poached egg with the remaining garlic that was on the pan with the asparagus.



Ok, so the picture looks disgusting - I probably should have taken the picture before I stabbed away at the egg. But this was one of the better things I have ever made.

Cottage Bagel

I don't know if it's part of growing up, but I fucking love breakfast now. Still not scrambled eggs cause they're gross. I thought it may be a good idea to go to whole foods and get a whole wheat everything bagel that I can scoop out and place low fat veggie cream cheese in and top with cucumbers. But none of this apparently exists in whole foods. Not even plain low fat cream cheese. But this morning I was feeling particularly determined and self righteous and refused to buy regular cream cheese. So cottage cheese is kind of similar... maybe I could mash it to make it more cream cheesey. So there's that. And I didn't feel like the maintenance of a cucumber so I bought sprouts.



This does not taste good because cottage cheese is not cream cheese. Not terrible. Not great.

Tom Kah Ramen Soup.

I fear with horror
Depletion of rice noodles
I have been hording

I was going to make plain tom kha gai, but I need space for new groceries.* I really like ramen and feel TKG is basically a broth that can be easily ramenized, in this case only if ramen was made with rice noodles.

*

1. Saute in sesame oil one onion, six garlic cloves, one cut up carrot and about one inch of grated ginger.
2. Pour in 1 box of chicken broth - I used organic by mistake. I hate organic chicken broth.
3. Add like three cups of water. I like quantity over quality.
4. I then added a stalk of lemon grass cut into 1.5 inch segments (large enough so people see them and do not choke and die. (people=me)).
5. Bring to Boil. 5.5 Add some more garlic. Because.

While I wait on this to boil I washed and cut up one small head of bok choy and sauteed it in sesame oil and soy sauce. I then turned it off. I brought one medium size pot of water to boil as well.

Back to the soup:
6. Add one can of light coconut milk and about half a lime worth of juice.
7. Bring to Boil.
8. Add thin small slices of chick.
9. Bring to Boil.
10. Once all cooked through turn off the stove and throw in some thin rice noodles. Stir them around and they will cook in like 5 minutes.

Then turn off the boiling water and give it a stir to cool it down a bit. Add a splash of vinegar and then poach an egg... I crack an egg into a tea cup and the slide it in. It takes about 3-4 minutes to cook and then you can scoop it up with a slitted spoon. Take out egg, lay it on soup. Reheat bok and put that on as well.

Tom Kah Gai Ramen

Chia Seeds

The best thing that came from the excursion into vegan eating was chia seeds. I don't know if they derive from the friendly childhood friend which may or may not mean they sprout instantly in your stomach a scooby doo or homer simpson. But they are really yummy, well not really cause they have no flavor, but they are really good for you. Like possibly challenging my atheism type good for you*. They are these little seeds that when soaked in water absorb the water and get a gelatinous casing.

There are many things you can do with Chia Seeds. The first is to simply make a chia gel which you can add to smoothies, juice... really anything because it's flavorless. It keeps for up to two weeks and is made by combining chia seeds and water at a 1 to 9 ratio. You mix them together, let it sit for a minute, mix again and then let it sit for twenty minutes.

If you add the seeds straight to juice it will absorb the juice and become like miniature bubble tea - don't chew it, crunchy juice is gross, but you can do as I do and swish it back and forth in my mouth until people around me get nauseous.

For a meal:

1/3 cup of chia
2/3 cup water
stir, sit minute, stir, sit twenty minutes
Add one finely grated clove of garlic and about 3/4 inch of ginger and pour in two tablespoons of soy sauce (I use WAY more).



It's really really good. I recently learned that a serving size is actually like two table spoons and that by eating this you are consuming 127% of your daily requirement of fiber... so there's that. But I'm ok with it.

My roommate says it tastes like Emily Jello. And I appreciate that. In fact, if the jelly company wants to make soy sauce garlic jello I will promise to buy it and promote it as a part time volunteer position.

*
Magnesium – 15 times more than Broccoli
Calcium – 6 times more than whole milk
Omega-3 – nearly 9 times the amount found in Salmon
Fiber – more than flax seed & 2 times more than bran flakes
Iron – nearly 3 times more than spinach
Protein – more than soy

I should probably not mention anything about atheism -- for some reason the kids in my class are all mad that I called religion institutionalized psychosis**. Maybe it's also the whole referring to them as kids thing... or trying to explain what the definition of literally literally means.

** Really? That's a bit extreme. I said it for you.

Pea Soup Bread Bowl w/ Fish

I'm cooking dinner for my boyfriend Jeremy tonight and I want to make something that is delicious and that he will like. I know he likes bread bowls, but I don't want to make broccoli cheddar soup because it's not healthy and requires me shopping thereby getting dressed for the day and possibly missing a law and order. I've had a bag of peas for years in my cupboard because no one uses dried beans or peas (are peas beans?).

I added:

1 Onion
Too much Water
Bag of split peas
5 Cloves of Garlic
3 Seasoning packets by that company that does all the seasoning-- goya? something that was without anejo? annijase? I think it means without anchovies. Anejo is teqila? That would have made the soup better.
Two pinches Smoked Salt.

I boiled this all together for like two hours. I then added a tablespoon of baco bits. I would have added more, but I ate them all. I added a lot more salt and then let it boil out a bit. It was way too watery so I made a... coagulating substance. I added like 1/4 a cup corn starch which I combined with water before adding. It's called a roo.

I poured this in a par-baked sourdough boule.

During this time I was marinating four tilapia fillets in butter garlic salt and some herbs of sorts. When ready I put a bunch of lemon and more salt on them and baked them at 350 for like ten minutes.



Jeremy did not eat the fish. Regardless of my staring at his plate. But he did eat the soup after hesitation. Pea Soup in a bread bowl almost success!!