Sandwich for lunch

Oiled/salted/broiled challah, yogurt onion spread, tomato, spinach, canadian bacon.

Fungus update

Still pretty but I think it might be nearly done.

Fungus 2

Fungus in the neighborhood

Its been raining quite a bit lately and this fungus has started growing over the last week in front of my place.  Beautiful.

Spanakopita

Its been on my mind since January when I moved to make spanakopita.  I don't know why, but I finally got around to it.  I've never made it before and I'm delighted it was so easy and turned out so well.  I looked at a lot of recipes online and just about the only commonality was that they called for spinach.  The variety of ingredients and amounts was surprising but encouraging.  I figured I could pretty much do anything and it should taste pretty good.

This is the recipe I made up informed by many I had read.

Spanakopita triangles

2 10 oz frozen spinach
1 large yellow onion
Olive oil
3 tablespoons of butter
Salt
Pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
8-10 oz of feta
2 eggs
1 package of phyllo

Put the phyllo and spinach in the refridgerator the night before to thaw.

Squeeze the water out of the spinach and put it in a large bowl.  Add 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and mix well, breaking the spinach up.

Sautee/sweat the diced yellow onion in olive oil with salt, pepper, and the other 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.

Add onion to spinach, mix.

Add crumbled feta to spinach and onion, mix.

Beat 2 eggs in a small bowl and add to spinach, mix well.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a small dish and have a pastry brush ready.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cut the phyllo into thirds and keep all phyllo under a damp cloth until you use it.  Spoon a large tablespoon (or more) on the lower left corner and fold to make a triangle.  Place on the baking sheet last fold down, brush top with butter.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown or until a toothpick in the center is clean.  The only goal is to set the egg and brown the phyllo.

Let them sit for 10 minutes, then eat.

Mine came out a little pale and soft but I still ate them and enjoyed them.  I decided to put them under the broiler for 2-3 minutes and that crisped them up nicely.

I had intended on putting garlic in them too but forgot.

They turned out really well for a first stab at a recipe and I very happily ate 4 of them for dinner.  

Spinach salad for dinner a few days

I've gotten into the habit of making spinach salad for dinner when I want something really tasty and fast. 

Lemongrette

Juice of 1 lemon
Splash of balsamic (to taste)
Salt and pepper
Garlic (to taste)
Spicey mustard (to taste)
Equal amount of olive oil to liquid in the bowl

Whisk to combine and it should thicken and become opaque almost immediately.

Salad

Sliced quartered red onion (to taste)
Lots of baby spinach

Put the red onion in the dressing and let it marinate for 10 minutes.  Add the baby spinach and carefully mix to coat the spinach, let it sit 10 mins.

You can add anything else you like:
Chicken
Cheese
Toasted nuts
Tomato
Cucumber
Avacado

In this picture I added some leftover mozzerella and toasted pecans.

A friend had asked to take a pic of the sink after dinner preparation, so here it is.  Very few dirty dishes with a meal like this.

Oh I also tore up some challah and had it with the salad.

Pizza!

Decided to make my own pizza dough with a quick recipe that only takes 10 minutes to whip up and top it with andouille and red onion.

Delicious!

Veggie sloppy joe

I've been wanting sloppy joe for awhile but I don't cook meat in my home so it seemed undoable.  While I was in the grocery I noticed Gimme Lean 'ground beef' style TVP.  After a couple of weeks I decided to give it a try.

It turned out surprisingly good.  All the familiar flavor notes are there that I remember from childhood, black pepper, onion, green pepper, and mustard.  The Gimme Lean even has a slight meaty flavor and texture but you'd never mistake it for real meat.  I wonder if a little cumin or a complex flavor like worcester sauce might add another meaty flavor aspect?

These sloppy joe are practically fat free thanks to the Gimme Lean, the only fat being from the olive oil everything was cooked in.  In that regard they are superior to the original recipe.

Veggie Sloppy Joe

1 pound Gimme Lean 'ground beef' style TVP
1 yellow onion
1 green pepper
Salt
Black pepper (I like using quite a bit in this recipe)
Olive Oil
1 can Hunts tomato sauce

Slice the onion and quarter it. Slice the green pepper into strips.  Saute the onion, green pepper, salt, and black pepper in olive oil until the peppers begin to soften.  Add the Gimme Lean and break it up into reasonable sized pieces, saute until the Gimme Lean is hot.  Add the Hunts tomato sauce and stir until its evenly distributed, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I like to serve it on a soft hamburger bun I can easily cut with a fork (recreating childhood experience here), but a firmer bun is great too, and add plenty of spicy mustard.

Axis Salon on Dupont

QR Code apalooza!  I wonder if they are coupons?

Breakfast at 1pm at La Madeleine

Delicious country french breakfast when I finally showered and got out of the apt after sleeping in til 11am.

Relic

Was at relic on Wednesday to get shitfaced with coworkers, I mean, have a few drinks.   Relic is a cute bar in bethesda with an odd theme.  Its alternately 18th century period?, cowboy, and allusions to fetish.  Yes, it is a confused little bar and the music is always out of joint with the decor, but they have neat chairs and good happy hour deals.

Trucks on scene

As I left this morning, trucks in our local area hopefully going to restore power.  65 hrs and counting.

Corner slice

For a slice of veggie.

Cafe Prezzo for brunch

Decided to try Cafe Prezzo for brunch in Bethesda.  I ordered the eggs benedict as my test meal.  I'm very impressed with the entire plate, table setting, and atmosphere.  The food is perfect, hash browns are buttery and salty, egg yolk firmed but very slightly runny, everything is hot, and the fruit is fresh.

Its very nice when you can go out and not have some aspect of the food or service be jacked.

Caribou boredom

Leads to snaps in the bathroom.  *yawn*

Pasta salad

I've never made this before and wanted to try it out.  I made up my own recipe and it's pretty good.

Pasta Salad

8 oz pasta
1 large handful of baby spinach
10 to 20 basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
One half of a red onion
One half green pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
8 oz frozen peas
3 tablespoons grated asiago
1 cooked chicken breast
Salt and pepper
Lime

New haircut

Hannah's barber shop in bethesda. So far I've gotten 3 or 4 good haircuts from them.

Hit cookies!

Love these and only $0.99 at the grocery.

Waiting for M&N pizza order

This was a couple weeks ago.  I had ordered chicken parm and decided to wait outside.

Fungus growing on a neighborhood tree