Thai Fried Rice

Thai food is probably my most favorite food, in the entire world.  In fact, I like it so much that I have learned to cook the dishes I like, and my garden contains Thai Basil, Thai peppers and Chili peppers – all staples in these meals.

Thai Fried Rice is a main stay in my house.  I probably make it once a week, because it is just that easy. That, and I only just recently acquired a wok, and that thing is amazing. The only time it’s not amazing is when I toss the eggs in there to scramble them up real fast for inclusion in my rice.  They always stick.  Always. And I have to scrape the bottom of the pan to get it all off. So I’m torn on which is more annoying – the scraping, or getting a second pan dirty.

Probably the second pan.

This meal is deceptively simple, and takes about 5 minutes to cook, with maybe a 10 minute prep time to chop up some onion and scallions, and red bell peppers, in today’s version. It's also a great way to use up left over rice, and cooked chicken.  I really had other intentions for this evening’s meal, but what with trick-or-treaters coming, and my level of lazy after staying up too late and working out in the yard, I just wasn’t up for a big-deal dinner.

Is Halloween over yet?  I’m also tired of getting up and down and up down, and listening to the dogs bark like mad.  I put a baby gate up at the front door, on the outside, so I won’t have to worry about just opening the front door, which I think is pretty ingenious; because it takes a while to pass out candy when there are 8 kids standing there with bags out, expectant looks on their faces. It would have been even more ingenious if I hadn't gotten the idea from the guy down the street, whose house would win scariest-looking-house-on-the-block-on-days-other-than-Halloween contest.

Each and every time I drop a pair of mini chocolate goodness  in their bags (never just a single mini candy bar, come on, let’s not be stingy here) a secret part of me wonders if they hate my candy choices.  But then I realize they probably don't care, and I'm way over-analyzing the candy fest.

Tortellini Primavera

I made this dish tonight not even truly know what “Primavera” was, but I was fascinated by the photo they had in the book.  Turns out, it’s just chopped vegetables.  

Here’s the cool thing about this dinner  - it has 4 main ingredients that a year ago, I would have turned my nose up at.  Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Sun Dried Tomatoes, and Pesto.  I really couldn’t tell you why I was so afraid to try zucchini.  I had myself convinced it was going to taste like a cucumber, and every bite would remind me of the mall near the neighborhood I grew up in, that housed only the movie theatre, and Ziggy’s Boutique. 

I really loved Ziggy’s.  I think half of my 8^th grade wardrobe came from that shop, and I went often with my friend to make payments on our layaway clothing purchases of horrid late 80s and early 90s fashion.

But back to zucchini. If I had to guess, since I don’t know for sure, I tasted my first zucchini two months ago.  Raw.  It was fantastic. Now I am chopping them up and tossing them in salads, and making things like Primavera.

I also searched for sun dried tomatoes for weeks.  Weeks, I tell you.  I looked for them for so long that I can’t even remember the original dish I needed them for. 

I also think it’s really worth mentioning that the pesto in this recipe? I made it.  From scratch. And from Basil I grew in my own backyard. Going forward, I am pretty sure I will always have an herb garden. Using them is the highlight of every meal.

Shrimp Scampi with Spaghetti

Confession: I have never ordered shrimp scampi in a restaurant, and I probably never will.

Not because I didn't like shrimp, or for any reason about the contents of the dish, but mostly just because there was always something else that sounded more appetizing on the menu.  Like something smothered in Alfredo sauce, for example. That always used to win in a dining out decision.

I have it on good authority though, that this lower fat version of this meal is just as good as the 'real thing'. Since I never cook with butter anymore, this dish obviously has none of it (least of all a third of a cup, or more!), subbing a small amount of olive oil instead, and a bit of chicken broth with corn starch to create the creamy sauce it's all smothered in. I also used a high fiber spaghetti which I feel is better for you as far as pasta goes.

With 6 cloves of garlic in it though, I am safe from vampires for at least a week.

Halibut with Citrus and Olives

So, for the first time ever, I cooked Halibut. Admittedly, it's not my own recipe - it's one I found in a cookbook magazine while standing in the check out aisle with my groceries. I loved it!  It sort of saddens me to know all of the food I missed out on because I was afraid to try it. Now, I will try anything.  Bring it on.

I loved this recipe.  It was fantastically easy, with the most time spent waiting for the rice to cook.  The recipe actually called for instant rice.  Seriously? You can't cook your own rice for your food? I made real rice, folks. I'm pretty sure that made it taste about a thousand times better than the book's version.

After dinner, I enjoyed a full fat Arroz con Leche from the Latin market.It doesn't get much better than this.