dinner Archives - Page 3 of 5

oyakodon

01.06.2016

Hi friends! Happy 2016! How are you faring and/or eating this week? I’ve been ping-ponging between something like I must consume the healthiest superfood in the world, my stomach is drowning in butter and please don’t make me go cold turkey, my stomach needs more butter. After a little of each (hi there, Sunday night’s delivery pizza), I think this oyakodon is, happily, somewhere in between — something to comfort my butter-addled belly but still good for it, too. Oyakodon is always what comes to mind when I think of healing comfort food. A custard-y chicken and egg rice bowl, it’s warm, gently simmered, soft and savory. I first had it in the depths of a Boston winter on a sniffly sick day; it was one of our favorite meals in Japan after a rainy morning. It’s a homey, simple back-to-basics meal that just makes you feel cozy and good after a marathon of holiday eating, and especially now that winter has finally landed in New York (and getting myself out the door in the morning is looking like this), I feel like it’s pretty much perfect for that hug-in-a-bowl, comforting-but-nourishing in-between.

miso-glazed scallops

12.15.2015

It’s my dad’s birthday today! My brother and I are patting each other on the back because we enrolled him in a Beer of the Month club for his birthday this year and saved ~~ourselves~~ him from getting something like socks or his fourth Roger Federer cap. His two great loves are beer and tennis (well, and Chinese food), so part of me is wondering how we didn’t think of Beer of the Month before, but most of me is just super glad for the friends who enrolled B2 and me in Salsa of the Month for our wedding gift, because (1) it is totally awesome to get salsa on your doorstep and (2) I definitely nabbed that idea from them.

thanksgiving leftovers “red beans” & coconut rice

11.24.2015

I’m boring when it comes to leftovers. (Strategy: Remove from refrigerator and eat. Alternatively, freeze, forget about, then find three months later and still eat.) My mom, on the other hand, makes magic with them — I can’t remember a single time that she tossed out leftovers in our kitchen, or a time that we didn’t ask for the rest of our dinner to be packed up when we went out to eat. Instead, I can see her poised with an open clamshell container in one hand and a metal spatula in the other, mouth pursed, surveying her wok and trying to figure out how to upcycle last night’s takeout into inevitably more delicious fried rice, or stir-fried noodles, or a simmering pot of soup. Some of her recipes are ones where she even swears by leftovers, like her mapo tofu, which she won’t make unless she’s stir-fried giant prawns the day before and has the fiery-red broth left over. (Don’t tell her I gave away her secret ingredient.)

potato, garlic, & leek soup

11.10.2015

Every once in a blue moon, usually when we’re just about to fall asleep, B2 likes to come up with ideas for things I should cook next. I use “ideas” loosely, because it’s mostly a sleepy, intentionally goofy dialogue that consists of “what about …” followed by a long pause and things like “… homemade hot pockets!” (to be fair, that would be delicious) or “something with cheese” or “pumpkin toast.” (When I asked what pumpkin toast would be, like toasted pumpkin bread or toast with pumpkin on it or toasted pumpkin or what, his answer was, “You know. Pumpkin. Toast. Pumpkin toast.” And then he fell asleep. Two weeks later, I showed him this and he said, with glee, “See? It was a good idea!”)

kabocha & caramelized onion galette

10.21.2015

As much as I dread fall (mostly because of the season that-shall-not-be-named that comes after it), I have to admit that I secretly enjoy more things about it than any cold-weather hater should have the right to. There’s the undeniable coziness of multiple layers and fuzzy slippers, the soothing weight of a heavy comforter at night, the crisp in-between weather that’s cool enough for classy wool coats but not so cold that I’m resigned to rustly Michelin-Man puffer jackets; there’s the never-ending cornucopia of magical fall baking, from warm, spicy poached pears tucked into baked oatmeal and scones brushed with maple syrup to a surplus of pillowy baked bread and my very first challah. And, maybe best of all, there are magical things like virtual pumpkin parties, thanks to Sara of Cake Over Steak!

caramelized onion & roasted garlic pasta

10.14.2015

A couple of months ago I stumbled on this caramelized onion and yogurt pasta by Diane Kochilas. It’s just like it sounds — tangles of caramelized onions and thick, strained Greek yogurt, tossed with sunshine-yellow pasta and a few ladles of starchy water, then served with nothing more than a generous grating of salty cheese on top. Yogurt in pasta! And by all accounts, super delicious. I’ve been meaning to try it ever since, totally fascinated by the idea that you could get a rich, alfredo-like sauce from Greek yogurt instead of cream. The one thing that continues to surprise me as time goes on is how rich foods tend to overwhelm me easier and easier these days — clearly this blog shows that I still love it as much as I ever did, but somewhere along the way, slightly more nourishing alternatives, especially when they’re not “lighter” substitutes but just really genius ideas that happen to be good for you, got super exciting. (15-year-old belly with an appetite for Jack-in-the-Box breakfast sandwiches every morning, where did you go?!)

bibim-bar! (a bibimbap party)

10.07.2015

We had a bibimbap party this weekend! I don’t know whether it’s a function of living in frenetic New York, or having a lot of lawyer friends who are forever sucked back into the office on weekends or late nights, or even just being supposedly “grown-up,” but sometimes it’s startling how easy it is to blink and find that it’s been months since we’ve caught up with some of our friends. So, because the answer to everything is always food, B2 and I made it our goal every couple of months to shove all our random crap into closets, actually Swiffer the floors for once, and have people over for a low-key potluck. Earlier this summer we had a taco party where I made my first pico de gallo ever (I know, how) and Jessica‘s amazing Chipotle-style corn salsa, and overestimated the amount of meat people would eat by about 200% (I still have taco meat in the freezer). And this weekend we had a bibim-bar!

tomato bisque & apple-bacon grilled cheese // a guest post for the pig & quill!

05.14.2015

Hi friends! I’m back! I’m just peeking in again this week to share a special little guest post for a radiant new mama — Emily from the Pig & Quill (whose baby shower from a few weeks ago was my excuse to nosh on about a year’s worth of cocktail franks) had her baby! I’m mildly obsessed with baby Lana James (and her fabulous name) so I can only imagine what it’s like for, you know, her actual parents — so I was super excited to be able to help out with a guest post while Emily and Chris are embarking on such an exciting new journey.

This tomato bisque and grilled cheese combo is one that I’ve actually been meaning to share since the tail end of last tomato season (oops) but it’s one of my absolute favorites, so I’m pumped it’s finally seeing the light of day. It’s one of my go-to freezer meals, so I figured it might be a good one to add to Emily’s arsenal — the soup is inspired by a creamy, comforting one from my college days, one that I loved to turn to when sick or when looking for a late-night pick-me-up after a long night in the library. It’s got an extra boost of umami from a few rashers of bacon, but a little less dairy to balance that out, and it’s perfect when paired with a grilled cheese amped up with tart apple slices and two different kinds of smoky cheese — in turn inspired by a great one B2 and I had at a quirky 24/7 coffee shop in downtown Honolulu. If you’re into making this for those rainy, slightly chilly late spring evenings we’re still having, canned tomatoes will do well while we wait — otherwise, it’s just a few weeks until their fresh cousins are back! And you can find the recipes over on the Pig & Quill this morning! Emily, thank you so much for having me, mama! Hugs and kisses and lots of soup to you and lovely Lana.

orecchiette with spring herb pesto & sausage

04.29.2015

Were you a school lunch or a packed lunch kid? I was mostly a lunch-buyer growing up — I had my fair share of Lunchables on field trips and PB&Js in those fold-top plastic Ziplocs-without-Ziplocs, but my school lunch memories are dominated by plastic trays sliding along metal rungs, boat-shaped French bread pizzas, clammy and not quite melted in the center; paper cartons of chocolate milk and foil-capped orange sherbet; hard-shell tacos that I’d gleefully crush into a makeshift taco salad.

spicy garlic eggplant & ground pork noodles

02.02.2015

There’s something so fun about seeing where someone grew up. Like the first time I visited B2 in Hawaii — I mean, it’s pretty crazy to see what it’s like to grow up in a place like Hawaii to begin with, but I got overly sentimental seeing his old elementary school classrooms, the Banyan tree he used to climb during recess, the route he ran through Manoa for cross-country, his high school late-night hangout spots (you know, just places like this beach, no big deal.) As well as you know a person, it just feels like there’s a little something extra that falls into place when you know where they came from, too.

That first trip, B2 took me to a little Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant in Honolulu called Pietro’s, because it was a place he frequented in high school. So it’s entirely possible that my glowing impression of it was just a product of my rose-colored “oh my gosh this is the fabric of his existence” sentimentality, but I don’t think so — fusion can be a tricky thing to pull off, and that place knew how to play it. My favorite dish of theirs was a spicy spaghetti with ground beef, chilies and delicate Japanese eggplant — good, simple, un-fussy pasta with just a little Japanese touch.