Greetings from 2013! Sorry to disappear for a while, but I had a nice, long winter vacation and stayed away from technology for the most part. I’m excited to kick off a brand spankin’ new year, though, and to return to food blogging. So let’s get the party started with some tasty food from January 1.
My mom was in town for over a week, and it was wonderful to spend the holidays with my two favorite people. She very thoughtfully brought kitchen gifts, including these adorable single-serving ramekins. I broke them in (weird choice of words considering they are glass) with a crust-less quiche:
I used this recipe as a base and made the following modifications:
- Reduced the whole thing to half since it was only serving the two of us
- Instead of broccoli, I stirred in a tablespoon of cilantro pesto and three tablespoons of salsa fresca
- Omitted the thyme and nutmeg
- Used unsweetened coconut milk instead of regular milk
It looks like a lot of changes, but I followed the basic measurements and cooking instructions. The result was really tasty and easy — like, super duper easy. It would have been a great breakfast accompanied by toast or potatoes and fruit. However, I didn’t want to fill us up too much, though, because we had lucky noodles on the menu for lunch.
This was also incredibly easy.
- Cook udon noodles.
- Saute onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil. Add coarsely chopped oyster mushrooms. Deglaze with soy sauce. Add noodles and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil.
- Plate and top with sesame seeds, crushed red pepper, and Asian hot sauce.
Perfection! Mr. X told me to make twice as much next time because he loved it so much. While he isn’t the most finicky eater on the planet by a long shot, he still does have his favorites. Mushroom stir fry of any kind often makes the list.
We finished off the night with more luck in the form of black-eyed peas. I followed the recipe I posted exactly two years ago. I forgot to take a photo of last night’s dinner, so here are the legumes as part of today’s lunch:
I used fresh oregano instead of dried and had to omit the thyme (apparently we ran out and I forgot to get more). Last night, we served them with a big bunch of sauteed Swiss chard, and they were every bit as delicious as I remembered.
Are you superstitious about New Year’s luck? I’m not superstitious in the slightest, but I love cultural traditions, so eating “lucky” foods yesterday was a lot of fun.
Man, this looks delicious. I love udon noodles. And New Years isn’t New Years without black eyed peas!
It was a tasty day! And I agree. After hating black-eyed peas for years, I’ve finally learned to enjoy them. I was a very picky kid.