August 17, 2016

WIAW 129 – August Heat

It’s been hot.

Well, all right, it is also August, so this should not be a surprise. And much of the country has been even hotter, including places that normally are not. I have several friends in the Pacific Northwest, and they’re not prepared for this! At least we are – and at least I have been able to mostly stay indoors, out of the heat and the thunderstorms which come along with August heat.We have had some fancy light shows!

So this has been a good time to continue playing with back office stuff, and you will probably see some visual changes here. The first one is right below! It has been suggested to me that adding a heading at the beginning of the cooking instructions – or in this case, the actual discussion of food – makes it easier for a reader to find that section quickly if they want to . (And skip my purple prose? Oh, well…) But really, if you return to a post to find that spot where I tell you how I form the patties, this should make it easier. (Feedback always welcome!)

What I Ate

At breakfast I shook up the tacos a bit. I’d just cooked a pork shoulder, and so had plenty of shredded pork on hand, so I used that, instead of beans (which I didn’t have because the pork bone was still in the slow cooker, making broth!) And I added a little cheese. You know, I have never made quesadillas, and I should really try them… for a little change, if nothing else! I have seen suggestions that they can be reheated, or even eaten cold – I’m not really sure about that, but it’s worth trying… it would give me more options.

If you have ever wondered why I eat so much salad in the summer, there are two reasons. One is, of course, that we both like salad very much. (And of course, it is easy, with my Personal Salad Bar method!) But also – our CSA gave us three – you read that right, three – large heads of lettuce last week! Romaine, red leaf, green leaf… We could have had collards instead of one, but I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days and the cooking greens were building up, too. Lettuce takes less work. We also have cucumbers (of course) and tomatoes (ditto,) celery, bell peppers, and so on. Obviously we feast on salad!

I have always liked tabbouli, and when I stopped eating wheat that was one of the dishes I was afraid I’d lose. Then I saw someone make it with quinoa! I played a bit, and now I make it with either quinoa and millet mixed, or millet alone. I find the millet a bit more chewy, which was what I liked about bulgur wheat. You can just see some at the bottom, peeping out from under the greens…

Then white beans, and hard cooked eggs as my protein source. And All The Vegetables… You see tomatoes and radishes, but down under the beans are scallions, cucumber slices, bits of green pepper… I don’t think I added any summer squash to this one, though I often do. And the oil and vinegar dressing – my usual fallback, no matter how many more interesting ones I occasionally make – included fresh basil and thyme.

At dinnertime I had put the rice on to cook, and started the pork chops on the grill, when the thunderstorm and migraine hit, more or less simultaneously. So the sauce I planned (that broth from the bone, fresh sage, and a roux cube) never happened, and the chard I was about to wash went back into the fridge. Rich and green muffins to the rescue! So I think those greens were a mix of kale and beet greens… but it could have been something else… and we ate the rice plain. (Well, I added a dab of butter.)