Dork Reports

I haven’t cooked a single meal since returning from South America three months ago. For a while, I didn’t really eat. Then I went out for some meals, got invited over for a few meals, but the bulk of my food has been provided for me by my dad. Essentially I’ve been eating pretty healthy at home. My dad has been on a no leftover, no salt, no oil kick for certain dishes which kind of makes things have no flavor. Other things he cooks pretty damn well. For example, the broccoli above was cooked by him. No matter how hard I try I can’t seem to match how the salt and garlic infuses into the broccoli and still comes out green yet tender-crisp.

Since I don’t eat out as much these days and haven’t been cooking I’ve pretty much been eating Chinese food every day. Given the choice I’d eat Mexican food every day. Over the course of a couple weeks I kept finding my expensive dried mushrooms (that are great in pasta) randomly tossed in my dad’s favorite tomato and tofu soup. I couldn’t say anything since it’s not like I was cooking. A few weeks ago after constantly being hungry and looking for something to eat that wasn’t a bunch of raw Chinese vegetables, I drove to Trader Joe’s and bought some cheese, something I realized I was desperately missing from my diet. Basically, I’ve been driven back to the kitchen because I miss non-Chinese food, especially after spending last year trying out tons of dishes from the Food Network.

Lately the meals have been coming earlier and earlier so when I declared at 11:45 AM that I was going to cook lunch, the broccoli was already prepped and the rice already cooking. (Dinner has been prepped these days by 5:30 PM which leaves me scouring for food into the late hours of the evening.) It took me about an hour to prep and cook my two dishes: Curried Quinoa and Corn and Green Bean Salad, so by the time it was done, I’m sure my dad was starving.

The quinoa was particularly tedious to prepare for such a simple looking outcome. Because quinoa is coated with a substance that makes it bitter if not thoroughly rinsed, I had to struggle with that for a good ten to fifteen minutes. A good kitchen investment is a fine strainer. I don’t have one so I had to improvise by swishing the quinoa in a bowl of water and carefully straining it with a sharp steamer, losing a good amount of “grain” each time. It’s so damn floaty, unlike rice. Plus this shit’s somewhat expensive so I was trying to go slowly so as not to lose too much of it in the sink. Then, I had to grind coriander seeds til it was powdery. I poured out way too much for what was supposed to amount to a heaping teaspoon, and seeds kept flying out of my mortar with every grinding motion. Now I gotta go back and find spots where turmeric powder poofed out of the bag onto the counter and clean up.

The corn salad just takes time to prepare because the corn needs to be cooked then cooled down enough to cut off the kernels. Then the same has to happen with the green beans but at that point I was so busy cutting the corn that I over cooked the green beans. I got this recipe from Caren, maker of the best mac n cheese. I substituted cashews for hazelnuts. Trader Joe’s didn’t have the latter which is fine since hazelnuts remind me of how queasy I felt after having hazelnut hot chocolate. It’s probably another nut allergy I just haven’t acknowledged yet since I encounter them so infrequently.

Recipes below:
Curried Quinoa Recipe (from quinoa-recipes.com)

Serves six to eight

Ingredients:
1 Cup Quinoa
1½ Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
½ Onion Diced (about 4 or 5 oz.)
1 Tsp. Grated Fresh Ginger Root
½ Fresh Green Chile
(Finely Chopped)
1 Heaping Tsp. Turmeric
1 Heaping Tsp. Coriander
¼ Tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1¾ Cups Water
½ Cup Fresh or Frozen Peas
Salt to Taste

Serves Six to Eight

1. Rinse quinoa with cold water. Use a fine mesh filter or coffee filter. If you’re a klutz like me use the fine mesh filter or a lot of quinoa is going to wind up in the sink!

Quinoa is coated with a natural substance called saponin that protects the grain by repelling insects and birds. Rinsing the quinoa is important to avoid a raw or bitter taste. You can tell if there is saponin by the production of a soapy looking “suds” when the seeds are swished in water.

2. Place oil and diced onions in a heavy saucepan. Saute the onions on medium high heat for four to five minutes.
3. Add the ginger root, chile, and quinoa. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
A fine, white spiral appears around the grain as it cooks.
4. Stir in the turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, and salt. Cook for one minute stirring constantly.
5. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Stir in peas. Cover and cook for four or five minutes or until peas are tender and all the water has been absorbed.
7. Fluff with a fork before serving.

Sweet Corn Salad with Green Beans and Hazelnuts

Takes 45 mins to make.  Serves 8.

1/2 cups hazelnuts
9 ears of corn, shucked
1 pound green beans
1/4 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound cherry tomatoes (3 cups), halved
2 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced

1.  Preheat the oven at 350.  Put the hazelnuts in a pie plate and toast them in the oven for 8 mins or until they are golden brown.  Let the nuts cool, then rub them together in a kitchen towel to remove the skins.  Transfer the hazelnuts to a work surface and coarsely chop them.
2.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add the ears of corn and boil them over moderately high heat until they are just tender, about 4 mins.  With tongs, transfer the corn to a rimmed baking sheet.  When the corn is cool enough to handle, cut the kernels from the cobs.
3.  Add the green beans to the large pot and boil until the are crisp-tender, about 3 mins.  Drain and rinse the beans under cold water.  Pat the beans dry and cut them into 1-inch lengths.
4.  In a large bowl, combine olive oil with the vinegar; season the dressing with salt and pepper.  Add the tomatoes, scallions, corn kernels, and green beans and toss to combine.  Sprinkle the salad with toasted hazelnuts and serve!

Broccoli and garlic stir-fry

Get your dad to make it