Recipes & Reviews

I think I'm on a post-cold high, because I had such a great day today. Ever have one of those days where things just work? I had an awesome outfit (grey slacks with an eggplant colored top from the Gap and high heeled black shoes), my hair was tame and sleek like I like, and I had a killer lecture to give on hip-hop, which everyone was into talking about. When the alarm went off this morning, I thought, 'how can I make it so I work from home and only after 10am?' But when I started teaching at 8:30, I got into a groove and really enjoyed having something fun to do during the day. My week in bed was what I needed to recharge, I guess. Or maybe it was because True Blood was sooo good last night. New additions to vampire lore (sleeping in the ground with your maker on your first night magically makes you a vampire), plus great acting all around.

Michelle Forbes as the Maenad is an amazing casting choice. Oh, you don't know who Michelle Forbes is? Well here's a reminder:

Yeah, Ro Laren! My favorite Bajoran ice princess. My nerdy worlds are colliding.

After I got home today I made a tasty dinner. Chicken shawarma and felafel pita. My chicken shawarma recipe is as follows:

Cut chicken breast tenders into two strips. I used half of a package of chicken tenders. Chicken tenders are already small, but by cutting them in half, you get perfect sized pieces for a pita and the marinade penetrates well.

Chicken Shawarma Marinade
In a small tupperware container, mix together the following:
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one lemon + grated lemond rind from one half of the lemon
1 tablespoon of yellow curry powder
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. crushed pepper
1/4 of a medium sized onion, sliced

Marinate overnight, then fry them up in a pan or grill them.

Some cucumber, lettuce, tomato and hummus made up my fixin's.

I use ready-made felafel mix, but I'm thinking of trying home made, because the brand I bought wasn't so hot. Unless someone knows of good felafel mix (or a homemade recipe) you'd like to share??

I bought a ready-made rice mix at the last minute on my way home. It was a lentil rice mix that comes in one of those containers shaped kind of like Chinese take-out. I didn't like it too much. I think because it had coconut powder in it. I should have left it out. In fact, while cutting it open, I thought, "You don't like coconut in savory dishes. Why are you adding this?" But I did it anyway in respect for the recipe. I shouldn't have. Don't know what it is, but I don't like coconut in most savory dishes. I dislike coconut shrimp. I think the only time I have enjoyed anything remotely similar is the coconut milk used in some Thai soup recipes. But I love coconut sweet things. Mmmm..Almond Joy. Go figure?

To top it off, I made a tahini sauce of tahini paste, lemon juice, and garlic to spoon over everything.

My house still smells like curry! Yum.



To top off a great day, I usually enjoy an evening of semi-decent TV. Tonight's menu includes The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother. I gave up on Heroes. I thought it would be a tough break up, because I'd watched every episode since the beginning. Yes, even the gruelling second season. I was even into the villains become heroes/heroes become villains idea that they were messing with in the early episodes of the season. But then some things made me unhappy. First of all, time travel stories (with severe inconsistencies) always make me unhappy, but I think what really killed it is Mohinder's spidery-ness coupled with Clare's severe stupidity. Oh, and almost every other character has been practically assassinated. Great first season, Heroes. But you got cut off three weeks ago from my TiVo for making me angry. Those are the breaks.


All righty, that's enough for now. Doncha think?